Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

The battle could start at any time, but Thomas, who was restricted from taking the initiative to attack, remained standing still. So, the one who took the first action was naturally Winter, who considered herself the captain and squad leader.

They seemed to have already devised a battle plan.

As Winter kept his gaze fixed on Tomat as he retreated, everyone else followed suit, facing Tomat and slowly backing away, gradually increasing the distance between them.

Gummy, holding his shield, was positioned at the very back of the formation, closest to Tomat, while Summer and Bonebreaker were on either side of him. Winter was in the center, and Truth was the one who had retreated to the furthest distance.

They stood guard at Tomat, while turning the group toward the multi-story ruins behind them.

"When the opponent is unlikely to use wide-range attack tactics, retreating to a place with more complex terrain features and using the environment to increase mobility is more like luring the enemy deeper than retreating."

Putting aside her question about how well the Bonebreaker cooperated in the battle, Dobermann also had more respect for Winter, the ambitious Ursus girl who had only been on the island for a little over a week. After all, she had originally thought that Winter would adopt a straightforward assault tactic, just like her personality.

"Beep beep beep..."

Thomas's detector began to tick.

About a minute after the other person disappeared into the building, he finally took a step, as if he had been invited.

"Come on."

[Main Text] Rhodes Island Walk Guide: Chapter Eight: Combat Will

The advantage of being able to conceal oneself in complex environments is that one can use surrounding objects to hide one's figure.

Although such an "advantage" can be completely lost once the premise of sensing the breath is established.

However, Winter and the others were unaware of Tomat's ability, but they were still aware that they had lost that advantage.

The reason was that they saw the device on Tomat's face—even without anyone explaining it, anyone with common sense could tell what its function was.

“That equipment might expose our location. A normal person would assume we came into the building to find more cover, but we already know that ‘he knows our location,’ and we need to pretend we ‘don’t know.’”

Inside the building, Winter is explaining the current situation to those around her.

"Hmm... Sister Winter's explanation is so complicated, Gumi doesn't know if she even understands it."

The heavy vault door was easily carried by Gummy to cover everyone's movement, but she didn't seem to understand Winter's tactics.

"So... a surprise attack tactic that pretends it's not a surprise attack tactic?" Lie Xia wanted to scratch her head, but the boxing gloves on her hands wouldn't allow her to do so. She even started to worry about what to do if her nose itched. "That's really your style."

"It's turning into a nested tactic like the Ursus dolls; the rest is just a matter of whether the opponent can anticipate our moves..."

Although Truth possesses ranged Originium Arts attack capabilities, she mostly uses impacts to create some degree of stagnation for the target. This is why she was able to join the team as a prospective support operator. In this battle, to achieve the victory conditions, it is necessary to engage in close combat with Tomat.

The opponent may possess close-combat capabilities far exceeding those of the Shattered Bones. Therefore, in a more favorable environment, it would be essential to use her Originium Arts to create opportunities that would be more advantageous for Frost and the others to launch a surprise attack.

"Hopefully Alex hasn't woken up yet..."

"Bonebreaker" removed the gas mask from her face because it was too stuffy for someone who didn't need it and it restricted her vision.

And the face beneath the mask was indeed Misha's.

"Honestly, even if he hadn't started this fight, the problems between Alex and you would have been resolved sooner or later... and I don't think that your choice to accept his provocation will solve the problem any faster... regardless of winning or losing."

Misha sighed, bewildered by this battle that seemed somewhat incomprehensible yet had been deliberately provoked.

She knew that Broken Bones accepted this to avenge a so-called blow, but she was unsure what the members of the Ursus Student Self-Government Group were planning.

Misha only knew that neither side actually wanted to solve the original problem; they were just using this opportunity to do what they wanted.

Just like back in Lungmen, people from Rhodes Island and Reunion came to her, one offering her protection and the other offering her a place to go. Rather than saying which side was more sincere, she could only sense which side had a stronger ulterior motive. In the end, it still turned into a fight between them. If the person who took her away hadn't actually been her brother's skeletal fragments, she probably would have experienced a lot of unpleasant things as well. Although just being knocked unconscious and taken away by her own brother was enough to hurt her.

Now, Misha chose to replace her brother when he wanted to force himself to fight, not because she was so confident that she was stronger than Broken Bones, but because she thought that winning or losing wouldn't solve the problem anyway, so she might as well end this farce quickly and prevent Broken Bones from getting injured again.

Hopefully, the sleeping pills from that Blood Demon Sarkaz doctor are strong enough, otherwise she'll really have to consider the "anesthesia stick" from another doctor, Adaklis.

Image: "Physical Anesthesia Device", Location: "Images/1602856366-100197741-106096379.jpg"

"Therefore, it is always the outsiders who get caught up in the trouble who see things most clearly, while the participants always disregard others for their own calculations."

Winter had rehearsed all scenarios: whether it was barging in directly through the front door, climbing in through the window, or any other situation that appeared before her.

But she didn't expect that the other party would make a sound from below her feet—that is, from the floor below them in the building.

Lie Xia, who was on guard duty, and others did not see Tomat approaching from the windowsill or other places.

However, he responded from a distance where he could hear his own conversation.

Winter and the others knew their location would be discovered, but they hadn't considered what to do "if they didn't know the other party's location."

Although there are many places to take cover nearby, there is only one road leading to this building.

Tomat even deliberately exposed himself without being noticed...

"Downstairs! Everyone, be careful!"

Winter's command, as powerful as the roar of a wild beast, reached everyone's ears. Misha hurriedly put on her mask and drew the dagger, which she was not yet familiar with.

Meanwhile, Liexia and Gummy were positioned towards the back of this spacious floor, maintaining a semi-floating state for cover. Their Originium Arts, along with the turning of the pages, transformed into halos that illuminated the room and prepared Truth for casting spells.

There is only one entrance to this floor.

"Everyone, attack him all at once the moment he appears!"

But suddenly they felt the floor beneath their feet shaking.

No one was standing in the open space at the very center of the floor, and directly below it was the direction from which Tomat's voice had come.

Suddenly, a crack appeared—and then it expanded instantly, with a figure emerging amidst shattered concrete blocks and dust.

Thomas had no intention of going through the main entrance; he successfully encountered Winter in a way that Winter had never imagined.

But this didn't leave Winter at a loss.

Because he has now turned what was originally a frontal confrontation that left him with a way out into a situation where he is surrounded with no way to retreat.

This is actually better—at least that's what Winter thinks.

Now all she has to do is turn around, run back to Tomat in the middle of the floor, and give him a good whack with an axe.

The fluttering papers emitted a soft glow. As an old friend who had known each other for a long time, even without Winter's command in this sudden situation, Truth still unleashed the impact of Originium Arts without hesitation, directly attacking Tomat who was still in the dust.

Gummy was slightly panicked, but she stayed close to Truth, who needed to be protected, guarding the vault door shield and becoming Truth's best cover, while giving Lie Xia enough space to fight back.

Winter was fast enough that the moment the Originium Arts that could easily repel an adult Ursus man and cause him to become dizzy, weak, and sluggish struck Tomat, she swung her battle axe at the target.

But she missed – not because she couldn't feel the target, but because she couldn't even feel the grip on the weapon.

Did your hand slip and the weapon fly out?

How is that possible? There are soldiers who can't even hold their own weapons?

"Looking for a weapon? It's on the wall behind your companion."

He was only inches away from Tomat, but Winter still subconsciously looked in the direction Tomat was pointing.

That was the Winter's Battle Axe, its tip completely embedded in the wall, with what appeared to be a few strands of blue hair stuck in it.

Truth had stopped turning the pages of the book, and as if startled, turned around to look at the wall behind him, his head missing a small part of his hair.

Similarly, neither Gummy nor Liexia, who were supposed to protect the truth, noticed the flying axe that had almost killed their companion.

"The tail...it was the tail that grabbed her weapon, then disarmed her and threw it away..."

Misha, however, witnessed what happened in that instant.

The wind pressure from the flick of its tail was enough to blow away the dust that hadn't yet dissipated, and Tomat even poked Winter's cheek, which was still momentarily dazed, with the tip of its furry tail.

"According to regulations, there was no tampering."

The readings from the detector Tomat wore on his face showed a slight change.

"What's wrong? Your fighting strength has dropped? Can I take that as admitting defeat?"

[Main Text] Rhodes Island Stroll Guide: Chapter Nine Berserker's Flying Axe

Although I've heard that the Phildia race has thick, scaly tails that they can use to strangle their enemies.

But none of the Ursus present had ever heard of any other race having a tail as long and powerful as some Felins.

In reality, the tail is sometimes a weakness for many races; if it is pulled, they will either experience spinal pain or become weak all over.

But Tomat disarmed himself with that seemingly soft and flexible tail.

"Your combat power has decreased by about one-third. In terms of actual strength, that's equivalent to you increasing by almost double in the short period of time. If it were a surprise attack, it could probably severely injure or even kill an opponent of the same level who has given up their vigilance."

The increase or decrease of the combat capability detector's value is not simply an addition.

Two people with a combat power of 5 do not mean that they can defeat a person with a combat power of 10 when they fight together.

A person with a combat power of only six or seven does not necessarily mean that they are only slightly stronger than a person with a combat power of five.

"With a normal range of around 6 to 7, it could probably easily defeat an adult armed with a gun."

Thomas spoke fluently to her using vocabulary that was completely incomprehensible to Winter.

Winter, who discovers that her opponent can use the tail, which is not covered by the rules, to attack her, yet hesitates to act, also realizes the gap between herself and her opponent.

But Winter did not give up—she bent down and opened her arms as if to grab Tomat in front of her.

Faced with the harsh winter, Tommat moved back just enough to avoid her grab, instead of choosing to give her a not-so-gentle "caress" with his tail.

But that was just a misdirection. The moment Winter pressed down, Bonebreaker, who had not attacked before but was hiding behind her with two daggers, leaped up and slashed at Tomat's body with his unsharpened blades.

Winter also raised his shoulder and charged at Tomat in a lunge motion, but Tomat easily dodged the attack of Shattered Bones and Winter's impact.

But instead of turning around and attacking Tomat again after missing his target, Winter continued to run forward—towards the direction where Truth, Gummy, and Liexia were. Liexia, understanding the situation, immediately rushed from that direction to fill Winter's gap.

Winter and her companions were not weak; at least they were fast enough that by the time they completed the personnel change, the broken bones from the failed attack had not yet completely fallen to the ground.

"Drink!"

Before even hitting the ground, Shattered Bones kicked back with all his might, striking Tomat's head mid-air. His agile moves were nothing like those of an amateur.

"This guy seems even more convincing at fixing matches than the person actually is..."

By taking a step forward and crouching down, Tomat dodged the fierce kick from Broken Bones' long black-stockinged legs by lowering his head. The next moment, he was met with a series of high-speed jabs from Lie Xia, who was advancing with boxing footwork.

Under the relentless attack, he continued to retreat without retaliating, eventually reaching the edge of the floor, where the walls were already cracked and on the verge of collapse.

"Successful!"

Seeing that Tomat had nowhere to retreat, Lie Xia threw a punch at the same time as Shattered Bone swung his dagger at Tomat again.