In a corridor of the Grand Arena,

  Hulim and the other two moved quickly.

  "Based on the direction those men were heading earlier, they must have concentrated all the nobles in one of the small stadiums."

  Unlike the Grand Arena’s main stadium, the small ones were all indoor venues—easy to seal off, making them perfect for temporarily detaining large numbers of people.

  "There must be many guards there now. Our plan is to sneak in, rescue the hostages from the inside, then gather our forces and fight our way out."

  Tap! Tap! Tap......

  Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from the opposite direction.

  "We found them! Over here——!"

  The corridor was wide; Hulim and the others had no time to hide and were immediately spotted.

  "You rats, don’t even think about causing trouble! Capture them all!"

  A leading Rank B armed man waved his hand, and the rest charged forward in a swarm.

  Seeing this, Boguna prepared to attack.

  But Luigi, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, positioning himself in front of the two.

  "Luigi?"

  Hulim looked at him in confusion.

  Luigi replied calmly:

  "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to hold them off here. Please continue onward to your destination via another route."

  "Huh? What are you saying——"

  "Is this okay?"

  "It’s fine."

  "Alright."

  Hulim nodded and turned to leave.

  "Wait! What are you two doing?!"

  Boguna couldn’t understand their actions at all.

  Hulim glanced back at him.

  "Luigi can handle this. Leave the rescuing to us."

  With that, she turned again and ran forward.

  "......"

  Boguna stared dumbfounded at Hulim as she left without hesitation, then at Luigi’s back. Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, his gaze darkening as he looked at Luigi.

  In the end, he chose to chase after Hulim......

  "What a self-sacrificing fool! You really think you can do anything alone?"

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  For some reason, the Rank B leader paid no mind to the two who had fled. Instead, he focused all his attention on Luigi.

  "Let me show you how foolish your actions are! Kill him——!"

  Clang——!

  Almost as soon as the Rank B leader finished speaking, a flash of sword light illuminated the corridor.

  The long sword Luigi had never unsheathed throughout the tournament was finally drawn.

  ......

  In one of the Grand Arena’s small stadiums,

  numerous unconscious nobles from various Federation tribes lay on the ground. Armed men continued to carry more unconscious nobles into the venue.

  Unnoticed by anyone, a white-furred cat-eared girl secretly opened one eye......

  This is bad......

  Who are these people? How dare they do something like this? And what’s happening outside? With such a serious incident, the council should have taken action by now, but......

  Tsk, the situation is completely unclear!

  And that fool Mirei too!

  Miko’s gaze fell on Mirei, who was sound asleep.

  She even had the antidote with her, yet she still got hit perfectly—impressive in its own way!

  But......

  Oh well. Even if she were awake, she couldn’t help much. Better to stay asleep; at least she’s safe for now.

  As Miko secretly scanned the entire venue,

  two armed men walked over, each carrying an unconscious noble. They placed them near Miko.

  Miko quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be unconscious.

  "......Just put them here."

  "Got it."

  The two set the new nobles down not far from Miko.

  They didn’t tie them up or search them—just left them lying on the ground casually.

  Perhaps they trusted the white mist’s effects. More likely, there were too many hostages; doing so would have been too much work.

  It was easier to just drop them and leave.

  But this worked out perfectly for Miko......

  After placing the nobles, the two didn’t leave immediately. Instead, they slacked off for a moment.

  "This job is so boring! I wish I could go wreak havoc in the city too!"

  One of them complained.

  "Cut it out. Don’t complain to me—if the captains hear you, they’ll punish you, and I’ll get dragged into it too."

  "You’re no fun! Do you really think they’ll hear us? Didn’t they say the captains are out catching those rats causing trouble in the arena? If you were that worried, would you be slacking off with me?"

  "Hmm, good point."

  "Tch, whatever!"

  The man clicked his tongue, then kicked the noble lying at his feet.

  "There are way too many hostages! We’ll have to move them all later. Just thinking about that work makes my head hurt! Can’t we reduce the number? Kill some and only keep the important targets?"

  "We can’t. This stupid Federation has so many council members and tribes—if we’re going to coerce them, we need all of them. Missing even one could be a huge loss. Look, you can complain, but don’t actually do anything stupid. The captains will kill you!"

  "What are you talking about? Do I look like someone who doesn’t know his place? Alright, alright, looking at these guys annoys me. Let’s get back to work! Ugh, can’t these guys just walk here themselves......"

  "Heh, if they could walk, we’d be in trouble......"

  Their voices faded into the distance.

  Once they were completely out of earshot, Miko opened her eyes again.

  She carefully observed her surroundings.

  It didn’t take long for her to grasp the entire venue’s situation.

  There were roughly twenty to thirty armed men scattered around, but they were mainly guarding against external threats, not paying any attention to the hostages inside.

  And, as the two men had mentioned, there were no Upper-Rank Powerhouse leaders among them.

  This gave Miko a perfect opportunity.

  "I still have plenty of antidote left......"

  "From what I heard, there are people fighting back against these guys in the arena...... Could it be Hulim?"

  Miko wasn’t sure, but Hulim also had the antidote, so she was likely unharmed. Since she was in the contestants' waiting room, she should have rescued the other Quarterfinalists if she acted quickly.

  The Quarterfinalists—with multiple Rank B powerhouses—were a formidable force.

  "I can’t just wait here. I have to do something to help them!"

  With that thought, Miko began to scan the numerous nobles in the venue.

  Many of these nobles were at least Rank C, and some were powerful Rank Bs. If she could wake them up, it would definitely turn the tide......

  Soon, Miko locked onto a figure.

  "That person...... If I’m not mistaken, they’re an Upper-Rank Powerhouse at Rank B."

  Having identified her first target, Miko began to slowly move without attracting attention, inching closer to the noble.

  Whenever someone glanced in her direction, she froze. Once the gaze passed, she continued moving.

  Her progress was extremely slow, but the distance between her and the target was steadily shrinking.

  Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Grand Arena......

  Hulim was rushing toward the small stadium as fast as she could.