Drake Group.

    On the top floor of the Drake Group''s office, a middle-aged man was leading a meeting attended by more than twenty people.

    "Sir!" Suddenly, a young secretary came to the room.

    "What? Can''t you see that I''m in a meeting right now?" The middle-aged man looked annoyed.

    "But I believe you should take this, sir. The call comes from the commander of the underground city."

    "Mmhm?" The middle-aged man squinted his eyes. The people in the room were also quite curious why such a person would contact them. He ended up tapping his device a few times, projecting a screen that identified the commander.

    "Mr. Eric. I am the commander of Rizben Underground City, Steiner. I apologize for disturbing you all of a sudden, but I think you''d like to listen to this."

    The commander briefly explained the situation and ended it with, "And from what we saw, your group was present when our team investigated it."

    Eric couldn''t believe what he had just heard. "Are you sure it''s Ivan? There might be someone else who killed them."

    Although he knew Ivan was extremely talented, he still didn''t think he was able to kill such a powerful beast.

    "We could only confirm it when the competition ended. However, judging from the time we found out about the snake and their appearance..." The commander didn''t continue, but the message was pretty clear.

    "I see. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, Commander Steiner. If you have some free time, let me invite you for a drink."

    "It''s not a problem." The commander hung up.

    Eric looked astounded for a moment while the others couldn''t help but stand up.

    "Congratulations, Mr. Eric."

    "Congratulations for getting an extremely talented individual, Mr. Eric."

    "Haha... Haha... Thank you, thank you!" Eric couldn''t contain his smile. Although the commander had specifically said that they couldn''t confirm it until the competition ended, he didn''t think there was anyone else that could harm a Tier 2 beast other than Ivan in the competition.

    He was overwhelmed by the news that he didn''t care about the blunder the military had made and simply thought this was actually an opportunity for their Drake Group.

    Little did they know, what truly happened couldn''t be any more different.

    ...

    The third day.

    The commander stood at the west gate personally because he wanted to see the hero who managed to take down the Tier 2 snake.

    He was looking at the scoreboard that had been updated by the examiners.

    1. Flying Guard (7#) - 870 points.

    2. Severity (12#) - 850 points.

    3. Undying (39#) - 840 points.

    "Hoho... There is still one hour left before the competition ends, but these people have submitted their results." An old man smiled, looking at the scoreboard. "Isn''t it good, Commander Steiner?"

    "Well, each of the top teams has killed one or two Tier 1 beasts. Meaning that they manage to kill twenty to thirty beasts every day. And seeing that all of them manage to return, the result is indeed pretty good."

    "Still, the top scorers usually use as much time as they can, no?" The old man smiled.

    "Indeed. It seems that you are pretty interested in this, Mr. Rusth." The commander glanced at the old man.

    "Hehehe. Of course, I am quite excited. I want to see the result of my grandson-in-law." The old man looked excited, obviously looking forward to seeing a score higher than any other competitor because of the news about the Tier 2 snake. "This is why you''re so shortsighted."

    The old man turned his head to the side, looking at a woman in her late thirties sitting on the sofa.

    She had long brown hair gently resting on her back. Her bang covered her right eye and her small eyes made her face look cold and distant.

    "Lovelia." The old man nodded and came to her, wondering about the essence. At the same time, he was staring at this Ivan.

    "Hello, sir." Ivan politely greeted him.

    "Mhmm. A promising young man." The old man smiled. "Please take care of Lovelia."

    "Yes, sir. I will definitely protect her."

    The old man then whispered to her, asking, "Lovelia. Where is—"

    Before he finished his words, another wave of cheers erupted in the camp."

    "Oi. Look at that! The first place changes again!"

    "What?!" The old man raised his head, gasping in disbelief.

    1. Xovereign (#4) - 2130 points.

    "How? How did they..." The old man couldn''t believe what he saw. "Who are they? How could they achieve such a place?"

    He couldn''t believe that the number one position was actually taken by a nameless group. However, it didn''t stop there.

    More and more groups shocked the camp.

    "2170 points!"

    "Hey. It''s 2200 points!"

    "How in the world do they get 2300 points?!"

    Every single group couldn''t contain their shock because the people in these four groups were not really famous. In fact, their evolution rates weren''t that high.

    Yet, they could actually defeat the most promising group in the competition.

    "What is this? Where is the group you''re proud of?" The woman grinned, finding enjoyment in the result.

    "You..." The old man gritted his teeth and turned to the commander. "Where is the Tier 2 essence?"

    The commander was looking at the screen, wondering the same thing. Did he make a mistake? Was it someone else who killed the Tier 2 snake? But the time frame was so small that it shouldn''t be possible.

    "Tier 2 essence?"

    "What the hell is he talking about?"

    The people were confused, never hearing anything about Tier 2. However, Ivan and the others became tense as if they knew something.

    It was at this time that Kanaria''s voice echoed in everyone''s ears.

    "Are you talking about this, old man?"

    "!!!" They all couldn''t help but turn around, seeing Kanaria walking with her group. Since this was a competition Kanaria had to win, both Jay and Clovis allowed Kanaria to take the spotlight.

    In that instant, the cold woman suddenly appeared in front of Kanaria, looking at her.

    "Eh? Mom?!" Kanaria blinked a few times. "What are you doing here?"

    "I am worried about you." The woman shook her head helplessly. "It seems that you are fine."

    "Yes, of course, I''m fine." Kanaria tilted her head in confusion. "Is there something wrong?"

    "Did you mention Tier 2 essence earlier?"

    "If you''re talking about the snake, then I have it with me." Kanaria nodded with a serious expression.

    The woman couldn''t help but make a satisfied smile. She immediately dragged Kanaria to the examiner and asked, "Where is the tube? Let''s register your result."