"So, when are we going to start?" Jade asked as she looked away from Audrey.

"Tomorrow morning... You all can take the rest of the day off and relax while preparing for tomorrow. That way no one can hide behind not being in their peak states when they lose" Muku replied.

The girls who understood that he was just trying to get a reaction out of them didn't react this time.

Most of them went back to the mansion to do their individual activities.

And as expected, Jade went down from the platform to look for beasts to fight... She was probably the only one in the group who relaxed through an intense battle...

Only Muku and Audrey were left on the platform. The others, including Hope left.

While Hope had long given up on being in first place, she felt that second place or third was still achievable. So she unwillingly left her brother's side to prepare.

.....

"So... How confident are you in winning?" Muku asked Audrey as the two just sat on their chairs while admiring the sky and the greenery below.

"Hmm... Very much confident I'd say. But then again, one can't be too sure with those girls. Who knows what they will pull out? Honestly, I'm kinda happy that they can't use mana. If they could, winning would probably be out of the situation in this type of battle for whoever started the fight" Audrey replied calmly.

She then took a sip of the homemade orange juice they had... Which tasted way better than before the apocalypse since everything including fruits was made better by mana.

Honestly, the more they lived in the apocalypse, the more it felt like normal life with just slightly different problems... Yeah, that's right, in the eyes of the strong, beasts weren't really a big problem after a while.

Especially now with Muku around... The dude could oneshot the current strongest beasts on the planet after all.

Sure, there were probably some who could fight him on equal grounds and some a lot stronger... But they had Raya too on top of Muku. So, even if they couldn't win, they would probably be able to survive anything easily enough if they joined hands.

There was still their fusion form which they had only used once when they were much weaker. Sure, there was outside help back then, which made them rival Pseudo R6s.

But now, with their current strength combined, they could probably reach that strength level and could take on any threat.

Anyway, the point is, the group was living a rather lax life for the most part which allowed them to look into things like fruit gathering and such...

"That's great because I'm placing my bets on you winning the entire thing. And yeah, you're right, a battle involving mana will be rather chaotic... Which gives me an idea for the battle before everyone advances to R6. No that's going to be some chaotic stuff! I can barely wait" Muku replied.

His excitement increased more and more the more he spoke as crazy ideas formed in his mind.

"While I'm conflicted and honoured, wouldn't it make more sense to place your bet on Jade? After all, the girl is literally the perfect specimen for this kind of thing. Not to mention that she's now a level stronger than me physically, due to her bloodline... And why are you so obsessed with battles?!" Audrey replied.

"Well, I can't deny that. However, Jade can be quite excitable. Especially when it comes to battles. Which is okay when dealing with beasts since most of them are like her anyway. However, you're different. Even if you're one of the good ones, all humans are quite cunning in battle and will capitalise on every opportunity given. And besides, you're as much of a beast as she is in physical conflict even if she's stronger. So yeah, you're my choice... As for why I'm obsessed with battles... Well, I don't know, I just am. I was a big UFC and Wrestling fan before the apocalypse, so that might have played a part. And it's not like this is solely for my entertainment, it also deepens team bonds while giving everyone involved experience like I mentioned long ago..." Muku replied and took a sip of his own drink.

He had to admit that he was glad the girls thought of this idea... Interestingly enough, it was actually Elsa who thought of it when the others just thought of the watermelon-size oranges as just that.

And she was also the one who made the orange juice with her water element which made it taste even better.... If civilisation were ever restored and they were short on money, they could easily piggyback off Elsa's orange juice creation to climb up in society and even become rich with it.

That's how impressed it was... Though the chances of civilisation being restored were quite small.

Especially with the forever-intensifying threat from the beasts. If the beasts had stopped at R3 lower, maybe humans would have had a chance to eventually claim everything back.

However, R4s and beyond, were just as smart if not smarter than humans, so yeah, any plans to reclaim the planet were highly unlikely to succeed.

And usually in such scenarios, the strongest humans, who are probably Muku's group would be the pioneers of such a task.

Whoever, literally none of them had such thoughts. Like, being the rulers of the whole planet was up for grabs but they didn't give a damn. They weren't going by the script at all!

But hey, maybe there was someone or someones out there trying to reclaim the world. Maybe one day they would cross paths with Muku's group.

As for what would happen then, it would all depend on the other party's actions.

After all, Muku wasn't above destroying humanity's hope if it got in his way.

I mean, humans weren't some noble race which deserved saving anyway. They were literally knowingly killing the planet before the apocalypse.

Which fortunately was completely fixed by the first wave of mana.

Like all nuclear energy and other harmful substances humans created were destroyed by mana before they could even make sense of what was happening. Just like how guns and such immediately stopped working... It was almost like mana specifically targeted the dumb race...

"Oh, so that's how you see things? Well, let me remind you that Jade has surprised us many times before. Who knows what she'll do now? So don't blame me too much if I lose... As for the fighting thing, your answer was more innocent than I thought. I thought you just had a fetish for seeing beautiful girls fighting" Audrey replied with a teasing smile on her face.

"Mmm, good point. But I'll stick to you. And how dare you suspect me of such a thing! It's not a fetish to like seeing beautiful girls fight, many men like it. It's just how we're wired okay!" Muku defended himself passionately with no shame at all.

"Sigh. I'll never understand men" Audrey gave up.

"You know other men?" Muku replied as his expression darkened.

"Oh my! Hahahahaha. What was that?! Hahaha," Audrey who didn't expect the sudden and unwarranted burst of jealousy from Muku was immediately brought to laughter.

"It was a joke! I just remembered it from somewhere. Anyway, I'll also never understand women, so we're the same" Muku defended himself.

"Oh, so you also know other women?" Audrey replied in an amused tone.

"Oh come on! I'm literally the only man I'm our group!" Muku replied in exasperation.

"Yeah well, they are all technically still girls and I'm the only woman you should know. Hmph!" Audrey switched things up as she began being the unreasonable one.

The two's banter went on like that as they enjoyed each other's company.

They couldn't be happier than they were in that moment. After all, literally everything was perfect. Everyone was together and was all healthy.

However, despite the happiness, they didn't forget about the impending World Evolution. They knew very well that they were currently living in the calm before the storm.

But that was even more reason to be happy now when they still could be. It was also a way of calming down their nerves.

After all, none of them knew what to expect when the time came. And who knew when they'd be able to just relax and laugh like now.

So yeah, the process was necessary.

In fact, the two even planned a banquet after the gauntlet to just enjoy each other's company with the rest of the team.

It would double down as a celebration of Muku's return which they hadn't celebrated yet since they immediately started training after dealing with various agent matters...

...

Somewhere many kilometres away from Muku's group.

Chris and Scarlett could be seen standing behind a man in a black robe facing away from them.

"So, what have you decided brother?" The man spoke without turning back.

"Well, I have lost my whole team and my position in Tactoa which is now after my life. And you're my blood brother so... Yeah, I'll help you conquer the world" Chris replied seriously as one of his hands squeezed Scarlett's hand a bit as he thought about his fallen brothers.

"Great! Now we only need our sister and the whole family will be back together. Where did you say she was again?" The man replied as he turned around to look at Chris...