- Surprise -

All of them returned as the second round has ended.

Khun Ageruo Agnes managed to transfer the Sweet Fish right on time. It was supposed to be victory, but the atmosphere seemed to be tense.

Hoaqin had successfully absorbed the two of his siblings, Vicente and David. Wangnan's Team found David with the help of Daniel in that one month of training and decided to work together. But since David wasn't registered in this match, he could only borrow Wangnan's body to work together with Vicente to defeat Hoaqin which turned out to be wrong.

Hoaqin claimed that the spell that he found to make all of them became one was received from the demon by himself. He didn't found it, but received. No matter how David wished for his own freedom and life or how Vicente wanted to be the center again, at the end, both of them were destined to be absorbed by him. Anna, the obedient girl who listened to her brothers' words also ended up being absorbed by Hoaqin who was now almost completed.

After defeating Buelsar Elliot, Bam learned that if Hoaqin had became one, then he will be a slayer named 'White' who was extremely dangerous. He and the others wanted to work together to try to separate Hoaqin and Vicente again which failed for Hoaqin had absorbed his siblings completely. No matter how many times Bam stabbed Hoaqin or White with the White Heavenly Mirror, Vicente, David and Anna won't come back.

Daniel betrayed Hoaqin since he thought that Hoaqin might not be able to fulfill his wish. The sole reason he worked with the demon who used to be his enemy was because he believed that Hoaqin could bring Roen back. He just needed someone to bring Roen back and he was willing to do anything for it. But now that Hoaqin had defeated Vicente and even figured out that he had betrayed him, of course, the deal between the two of them was broken. There was no need for Hoaqin to revive Roen for Daniel.

If Khun didn't quickly transfer the Sweet Fish to the core, then something bad would have happened to Bam. Since he had fulfilled his task and won this second round, all the regulars should stop fighting unless they wanted to be disqualified.

Poro Poe who watched everything realized that Hoaqin had betrayed Daniel. He clenched his fists tightly.

'Hoaqin..... That devil....He clearly back stabbed Daniel. Jue Viole Grace must win this round!'

He had changed his mind. Instead of helping Hoaqin, it would have been better if he worked together with Jue Viole Grace. He had decided to help Viole to win this round.

"So is this the core?" Boro asked.

Hanwool carried Daniel who was wounded because of the fight with Hoaqin earlier.

"Are you alright, Daniel?" Bam asked.

"I'm fine....just put that big guy in the back sleep" Daniel responded, referring to Aka who was in no better condition than him, or maybe worse.

"Are you okay, Aka?" One of the regulars who followed Aka asked. Two regulars who followed Aka assisted him to stand up and walk.

"It's time for you to leave the game and stay!" the regular advised to him. "You are not in the good condition to go on!"

"We lost Moontari because of me" Aka disagreed. "I can't just rest.....when I've come this far. I won't...give up now!"

Moontari died because of the fight that he had with Buelsar once. Buelsar fought with Moontari and sliced him into half and then Bam defeated Buelsar before knowing the truth that Hoaqin was actually a dangerous person.

"Bam" Khun who sat on his lighthouse while waiting for the others to come called his name. With a smile, he said, "You've made it."

"Khun.....!" Bam was also relieved to see Khun and Rak safe and sound. "So did you, crocodile! You've all made it here, what a relief! But where is Charlotte?"

"I don't now. I haven't seen her either" Khun answered.

"She probably finds herself lost again" Altaira who has been eavesdropping on their conversation said. Ignoring Bam who raised one of his eyebrows, Altaira added, "I wonder who her teammate is, you know. Who do you think will be her teammate?"

"I think everyone is here already, aside from Charlotte herself" Khun answered.

"You missed one person" Altaira disagreed. "Do you remember the white haired male? Celeste's big brother?"

"Ah....Noah!" Bam remembered him.

"It seems like my innocent and adorable younger sister ends up with him, huh?" Altaira said. "I wonder what the two of them are doing right now until they haven't came back yet. Could it be that they encountered some danger........?"

"Well, you don't have to worry about her" Bam said. He didn't hide his disliking towards Altaira like the usual. "She isn't weak. She will be safe and sound."

"I know that, of course" Altaira responded. "Oh, and by the way, mind telling us what happened with that Aka and Daniel? What happened to them?"

"Well...."

Bam explained to them everything. He said to them that they had a fight with Hoaqin, failed to stop Hoaqin from being one or to stop him from absorbing his siblings and that Hoaqin has set a dangerous spell that will be activated once he had returned to his completed form. The spell will let him devour all the living beings in the train and use their souls for his own good.

"No wonder he is a slayer" Altaira commented. "Cares only for himself, huh? How selfish. There I thought that-- never mind."

Altaira was about to say that Rachel was a selfish person. But considering that the brown haired man was obsessed with Rachel and will surely argue with him if he says something bad about her, he chose to shut his mouth instead. He didn't want to waste his breath to argue about someone like Rachel.

Before the two of them could ask who he was referring to, he immediately looked around and changed the topic, "Anyway, where is that lil' brat? Don't tell me she is dead. She hasn't fight with me for my little trick in the first round! She can't die yet!"

"If you are asking to be beaten up, Charlotte isn't the only one who could help you. We could" Khun nonchalantly said.

"Rest assured brother" Charlotte who they were looking for suddenly appeared. "If you want to be beaten up, I could always lend you a hand."

"Charlotte!!" Bam called her name with a happy smile.

Charlotte smiled wider to have her name called by the protagonist. She ran towards Bam and the two males from Khun Family.

"Where were you?" Altaira asked before Bam could. "You look quite pale."

"I got lost" Charlotte answered. "The pipes are just like maze. And Noah doesn't really help me though."

"Why? He enjoys getting lost in the pipes with you?" Altaira asked jokingly.

But he didn't expect to hear the words that came from Charlotte's mouth.

"It seems so--ah--I don't know about it anymore!" Charlotte said while scratching the back of her head. "He just replied that he will follow me wherever I goes and didn't even help me with the map. He said that getting strayed in the pipes together doesn't seem a bad thing though. So, I had to work about it alone before getting here-- to the core."

Altaira's smile stiffened before it slowly disappeared from his face.

"That Noah is sure a weirdo" he said. "Be careful around him."

"Ah, don't worry about it, he won't harm me" Charlotte casually replied. "Anyway, I have one thing to ask for, brother."

"What is it?" Bam was curious.

"Let me fight for the third round" she answered straightly and without beating around the bush. "I want to try to fight with Hoaqin."

The three of them, Altaira, Bam and Khun, remained quiet for several seconds when they heard Charlotte's request before the three of them shouted in sync, "WHAT?!"

"I said I want to try to fight with Hoaqin!" Charlotte repeated again. She didn't seem to understand the reason of their reaction and even playfully smiled. "Let me try it, brothers."

".......Have you finally gone mad?"

The question that Altaira asked was the question that the two others also wanted to ask for her.

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

The third round began to start.

"All the survivors that have reached the core have gathered here" Poro Poe said loudly. "Alright, starting now. We will begin the final third round of the Dallar Show. The name of this game, in which both of the teams put their lives and Dallars on the line, is--"

Before he could finish his speech, he was interrupted by someone.

"Wait, wait a minute" an unfamiliar female voice interrupted him. "You still haven't introduced the most important participant."

"W-who?" Poro Poe who was startled turned his head to a direction where he was greeted by someone who was flying on the air.

"Me?" The female answered, though she sounded like she was unsure. "I guess you could say, I'm the last remaining puzzle piece in this game."

"T-the last puzzle piece? Then you must be Hoaqin's last clone!" said Poro Poe who was taken back.

The maiden had long white hair, dressed in gray dress while holding her sword. Her eyes were red, unlike her other siblings who had white eyes.

Her appearance had shocked all of them there, including White who was supposed to be the older brother of his last clone.

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!!" White pointed his sword to the last remaining puzzle piece with the offended look. "NONE OF MY SIBLINGS LOOKED LIKE YOU!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

This made Khun even more confused. He glanced to his right side where there was Charlotte standing and was even more surprised.

The brown haired girl was smiling as she watched the surprise before them. Surely, this surprise wasn't expected by the referee himself and since this was the moment that she has been waiting for, she couldn't help but to smile that everything was the same with the plot.

"Don't tell me you've seen this coming" he said towards her.

"Of course" Charlotte responded.

"Well, but don't you feel it too?" The white haired maiden asked after hearing White's question. "The tremendous power within me, it would be impossible for me to have such power if I weren't your clone. "

"Another clone?" White asked, still can't accept the truth before him. "You?"

"That's right" she answered.

The white haired maiden glanced towards a direction. She glanced towards Bam. She disappeared and then reappeared behind and in the middle of Charlotte and Bam.

"Are you the one who is fighting with Hoaqin?" She asked Bam. She observed him for quite awhile before she added, "A slayer candidate...you look too kind to be roaming around in the darkness."

"Ah, you get it wrong, miss" Charlotte said and tapped her shoulder. "I'm going to fight for this third round."

"You? Are you the Jue Viole Grace?"

"No, I'm Charlotte" she introduced herself. "Or Nox."

"Nox, huh?" The white haired maiden looked at her and observed her. "Are you sure you could defeat him?" Leaning close towards her, the white haired maiden added, "You look quite pale."

Charlotte just tilted her head hearing it.

"Hey!" Khun called the white haired maiden with the tone of irritation. "What are you doing? Get back!"

"Screw off, woman!!" Rak added.

The white haired maiden made a humph and then returned back to fly next to Poro Poe.

"Who's this rowdy bunch?" She asked, a bit displeased.

"Alright, this looks like it could be fun. I should join this game too" the white haired maiden said.

"What?!" Poro Poe was surprised.

"First, I'll watch the game and then I'll help whoever I like" she suggested. "That would be okay right?"

"W-well--!"

"WHAT ARE YOU BABBLING ABOUT?" White disagreed. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE ONE OF MY CLONES! THEN OBVIOUSLY YOU SHOULD BE ON MY SIDE!"

"Shut up. I'm deducting five points from you."

"WHAT?!"

"I may be one of your clones, White, but I never said I was on your side. You have to show me you have the right to possess this power. I know very well about the kinds of things that you've done outside there."

White, "....."

The white haired maiden looked again at Poro Poe, "You don't mind, do you? I already talked about it with FUG. When this is settled, I'll keep the promise that you and FUG made."

Poro Poe was taken back when he heard that. When he heard about the white haired maiden's words, the first and only thing that came to his mind was the figure of the orange haired girl with a sweet and friendly smile.

'Roen!'

"........very well" he responded and agreed. "Then I will allow her game intrusion. She may choose whatever team to help in the battle!"

"WHAT?!" This time, White's voice was even louder than before.

"Eh, eh, eh!" Charlotte raised her hand that was holding her fan. "Don't forget about me as well! I want to participate in this third round!"

"You?" Poro Poe looked doubtful.

"Yeah, me!" She pointed to herself. "I also have the right to play right? After all, I'm also a slayer candidate!"

"What about Jue Viole Grace?"

"Ah, my brother needs some rest" Charlotte answered, holding Bam's arm. "And besides, I could defeat him on my own! No worries!"

White frowned when he heard that.

Poro Poe pondered about it for awhile before he then added, "Very well then! Nox will be replacing Jue Viole Grace for the third round!"

At this point, White wasn't even surprised and bothered to ask 'what' anymore. Lots of things had happened and he felt that he won't be surprised with whatever coming towards him considering the appearance of his last clone and her betrayal that had just hit him hard.

"Are you sure you will do this?" Bam asked.

Charlotte nodded her head, "Rest assured! I will win!"

Khun, "........"

"Now, then!" Poro Poe continued his speech to start the third round. "We will begin the final game of the Dallar Show!! The game is called....! !"