The leader of the first team moved in front of the cylindrical evaluation tool. He pulled out two black mana stones and dropped it inside the drum.

DING!

[200]

With a disappointed look he then moved back from the drum. After he left, the leader of the second team came forward. He dropped a nightmare class mana stone and a blue cryo lily in the drum.

[200]

He had the same score as the first team. One by one the leaders started evaluating their points.

[100]

.

[300]

.

[100]

.

[200]

The team from the Ranatosh duchy scored 200, except the nightmare beast mana stone Luke left with them, they seemed to have hunted another one on their own.

The leader nodded at Luke as he passed by his side. Luke was glad seeing their performance. The team which almost died at the hands of the nightmare beast, now hunted one on their own, this showed their will and hard work, striving to grow stronger.

After almost all the teams were done with their evaluation, with none of the teams scoring more than 500, there were now only three teams left, Luke's, Adriana's and Raven's.

Adriana stepped forward, moving towards the evaluation drum. After reaching in front of it, she started dropping mana stones and cryo lilies one after another from her dimensional pouch.

The spectators were shocked. Adriana had put 10 nightmare class mana stones and about 28 blue cryo lilies. While none of the teams could hunt more than three beasts, here she was with ten hunts on her table.

The magic device took some time for the evaluation and after a few seconds the number appeared on the crystal screen.

DING!

[3800]

Gasps of shocks followed. They couldn't believe this was a team that was competing with them. Adriana's team scores were miles apart from the previous teams. They unconsciously looked towards Luke and his team, trying to guess what score they would get who could hunt a half-disaster class.

Adriana sighed helplessly. She then turned around and moved back to her team. Jane and Jordan also had a disappointed look on their faces. Though they scored such a high number, they knew the winner was not them, as there were two stronger teams still left with the evaluation.

Raven moved. Reaching in front of the drum, he started dropping his loot one after another. Everyone's eyes opened wide. There were massive number of stones and cryo lilies coming out of his dimensional ring.

The crowd lost it when a crimson cryo lily came out of the ring as a wave of shocked gasps followed.

After evaluating their results for some time, the magic device projected the score with a ding.

[5800]

Raven and his team had hunted 30 beasts, they collected 18 blue cryo lilies and a single crimson cryo lily, totaling their points to 5800.

The nobles and officials were surprised and started discussing among them. Vorthane had a grin on his face, and even Cahill nodded in praise.

With a content smile, Raven walked back. He smirked looking at Luke, as if challenging him, saying, beat that if you can.

Luke shook his head, laughing. He then moved forward. Reaching in front of the device, he started dropping his loots inside.

About 20 mana stones, 28 blue cryo lilies and a crimson cryo lily fell inside, when he was finally done.

The crowd went numb. When the others teams struggled to find a single blue cryo lily, these three teams brought them out in double digits, and two of them even found a crimson lily. The three teams seemed to be in a league of their own.

The device started evaluation and after a few seconds the score appeared.

DING!

[5800]

Both Raven and Luke's scores had tied. But Raven and his team's face fell immediately. Seeing the score tied, they realized who the winner is now.

"Adding the 250 points from the half-disaster class mana stone, your total score now comes to 6050." Vorthane announced.

"We have a clear winner now. It's team Luke from the Gemburn adventurer's guild."

Cheers erupted among the crowd. The spectators joined in the celebration as Luke and his team were like heroes to them, who had not only caught the heretics but also won the competition with flying colors.

Luke ran towards his team. All four of them hugged each other and started jumping around in a circle. Excitement high among them.

Adriana smiled looking at the four of them, seeing them jumping around excitedly. Raven and his team had disappointment written all over their faces, but they didn't demean or show any anger upon the loss.

They were all standing here alive because of Luke. Or else, they would have been part of the list of missing teams.

"Congratulations to team Luke for winning this tournament. Also, thank you all the teams for your participation and enthusiasm for a fair and exciting competition."

"The award ceremony will be held in the palace tomorrow. His majesty himself will reward the winners. And along with the winning team, all the participating teams are invited for the evening dinner in the palace." Vorthane announced, smiling ear to ear.

Finally, he couldn't control his ecstasy seeing the crimson cryo lilies being brought by the two teams. His plan had finally set in motion.

*****

"The Bloodbands have declared war on us leader. They are moving towards our territory right now." Zankoku said.

"How many are there?" Ames asked.

"About 500." Said Lamia.

"And what is our numbers?"

"150." Lamia said in a solemn tone.

The three of them were in Ames's office room. Ames was being informed about the situation with the Bloodbands, who were marching towards their territory, ready for the territorial war.

"What do you think we should do in this situation?" Ames asked looking towards both Lamia and Zankoku.

"Since it was them who have started this war, we cannot act weak and not retaliate. But the numbers are in their favor, they also have backing of Tiger, the inner zone boss. And…I've heard that he's very protective of his territory and the people under him." Lamia said in a grave tone.

"We're still not strong enough to handle him." she added.

"Weakness has no role in the demon king's rule. We'll wipe those out who bare their fangs at us, no matter he's a tiger or a dragon." Zankoku said, his voice hoarse from holding all that anger.

Ames chuckled at his response. He knew Zankoku would say something like this. But the truth was that, he himself agreed with him on this.

"Are Shatun and Carmilla back?" Ames asked.

"Yes. They arrived just an hour ago." Said Lamia.

"Good."

"Numbers don't matter in a war. It depends on how many skilled generals one has." Ames said with a smirk, looking at the two of them. "And I'm proud that I have a few very skilled generals with me."

"They've definitely started this, but it will be us who will end it."

"Zankoku! Do you think there is a need for me to participate in this war?" Ames asked.

"Not at all leader!" Zankoku bellowed.

"Then I make you the commander. By the time the sun sets, I want the head of the leader of Bloodbands, on my table."

"As you command my liege." A wide grin spread on Zankoku's face as he bowed towards Ames, accepting his command excitedly.

****

"Is it alright to start a war without informing the higher ups leader?" One of the bloodband members at the captain rank asked the leader, who was walking forward with his chest held up high, followed by the huge number of gang members behind him.

"Don't worry, these are just small fries. They had to bring their whole gang to deal with just 10 members of ours. If I disturb the higher ups for such small things, they'd just be annoyed."

"Even if they do get offended, when we offer them this new territory, they'd instead pat our backs. Haha!" The leader said with a hearty laugh.

The captain was not sure about his leader's claims. What he had heard was, their gang members were killed by two young children, not by the whole gang. Still, he helplessly followed behind the leader, going to the war with an uncertain and skeptical mind.

The streets were empty. All the shops and taverns were closed. The 500 men marched through the street in confidence with swords, spears, halberds and all kinds of weapons in their hands.

When they were about to reach the border of their territory, they saw six figures standing just a few meters behind the territorial border, in their own region.

When they finally reached at the edge, all of them came to a stop and the figures became visible.

The six figures standing with a calm and bored expression on their faces were Zankoku, Lamia, Shatun, Carmilla, Akari and Haruto.

"Why are you bastards so slow, my legs hurt waiting for you all."

"Come fast…let me feed my blade until its full today." Zankoku said with a wide grin on his face, his hand on the katana, as he slightly flicked the blade out of his sheath with the thumb.

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