Half a day later, in Death Forest, seven or eight kilometers north-northeast of Central Tower.
"Just as I thought. No one followed me."
High atop a massive branch, Hada Ichiba steadied himself against the trunk beside him and looked back at the silent expanse behind him, so quiet it seemed devoid of any living thing. He sighed helplessly.
To be honest, he had still held onto a sliver of hope. He had wondered whether there might be someone bold enough to take the risk, or someone unwilling to give up. After all, killing him meant claiming one Earth Scroll and two Heaven Scrolls. He might become the last gamble for teams whose strength gap was simply too great, leaving them no choice but to surrender their scrolls to survive.
But in truth, he had been too optimistic.
There was no such luck.
By now, the news that no one should provoke Hada Ichiba had probably spread to everyone. Aside from a few proud genius teams, likely no one had any interest in him anymore.
Not only were they no longer interested, but if they spotted him from afar, they would probably turn and run.
And here I went out of my way to show off the scrolls on me.
What a bunch of cowards.
After sighing, this thought crossed Hada Ichiba's mind.
He seemed rather dissatisfied that no one had caught up with him.
"Still... this should be the best spot."
The next moment, he cast aside that dissatisfaction. After surveying his surroundings, he muttered those words.
At that moment, he stood atop an enormous ancient tree. Tangled vines surrounded him, hiding him completely. In the gaps between the vines, several faint glints could be seen. They were clearly carefully placed transparent Steel Wires. Hada Ichiba had made arrangements around