Leonel's lip twitched when he saw Hallis being treated like a strung up chicken in Aina's hand. It took all the will power he could muster not to laugh. It really was too much seeing a grown man being treated like this.
However, with how serious the situation was, he still managed to keep his calm. What he was surprised about, though, was the fact that these so-called seniors had actually not left already.
The underground network of mines of this world were impossibly vast. From Leonel's understanding, there were even some mine tunnels that could be followed from one end of the world to another. This was considered to be the special quirk of this world that was more than 90% land.
The vast majority of mine tunnels, though, had a span of a few tens of kilometers. But, this was more than enough for an escape, especially since the Oryx saw in infrared.
Infrared couldn't see through polished, shining and cool surfaces. So, what better place would there be to hide if not a mine of ores? It could be said that as soon as they made it here, they had a better than 70% probability of surviving until morning and making it to the mountain pass.
This was why the actions of the seniors were just that much more selfish.
Though it was true that more people would lead more traces and leave a longer trail to be followed – and, more people would also make hiding far more difficult should it become necessary – even with all of that factored in, there was a still better than 60% probability that they would survive to the end of this.
Still, this only made the fact that these seniors hadn't left yet all the more surprising. How did they get caught up here?
Seeing the looks on their faces, though, Leonel concluded that they definitely didn't mean for this to happen. They had been caught off guard by the timing and speed of everything. To make matters worse, they were still arguing about which path they should be taking and how best to handle the situation.
Some of them thought that hiding was still best. The creatures in these tunnels were no joke and only became worse the further you traveled. Something like trying to find another exit was something they had never tried before and would obviously require traveling quite far into this danger zone.
The opposing side was against hiding. As dangerous as these creatures were, could they be more dangerous than the Oryx? Waiting like sitting ducks and hoping they wouldn't be found was ridiculous, especially since it wasn't like the Oryx would just give up in the morning.
These tunnels were a disadvantage to the Oryx in the night. But, in the morning, it ironically became an advantage to them. It was far better for their hunt to take place in the dim lights of the tunnels as opposed to the bright lights of the sky.
Unfortunately, before they could settle their argument, Aina's speed had caught them completely off guard.
It should have taken a normal freshmen two or three minutes to get here, even if they went all out. Yet, Aina had gotten here barely a minute after Seith and that was even including the time she spent killing Senior Lu.
Leonel grasped the entire situation with a look. Seeing that a stalemate was suddenly at hand, he saw that another opportunity had fallen right into his lap.
His expression darkened. "Why haven't you all left? It can't be that you still plan to deal with us? And you call yourselves seniors?"
Leonel's words placed the freshmen even more on guard.
If they planned on using the freshmen as bait to lure the Oryx away, it would be too difficult for them to resist. If not for Leonel and Aina, even if they outnumbered the seniors, they really didn't stand a chance.
Miya and the others frowned. However, they soon sneered, feeling that they had nothing to fear. Even if Aina and Leonel could beat them one on one, they outnumbered the two of them and the other freshmen were nothing but canon fodder.
"If you dare to follow us, don't blame us for being rude." Miya said coldly.
Leonel's gaze narrowed.
Even those who had sided with hiding knew that it was impossible now. With all these freshmen here, there only chance at survival was to run.
But, the freshmen seemed to take things the hardest. Even up until this point, their so-called seniors still refused to raise a single helping hand. In fact, they would be fools if they didn't realize that the earlier words they had spoken about letting them into the mine was nothing but garbage. They always meant to let them all die from the very beginning.
'I think that's about enough for now.' Leonel thought to himself.
Aina threw Hallis over to them, not flinching as he tumbled to the floor.
A clear line of division was drawn between the freshmen and seniors, the atmosphere not vanishing even after the white belts had disappeared down their own path.
Though the seniors had gone, though, there was no sense of relief amongst the freshmen. The seniors knew everything about the tunnels but they knew next to nothing. Wouldn't they end up walking around aimlessly until they were found by the Oryx and died?
Leonel let the atmosphere stew for a while, keeping a pensive expression on his face.
"How did you catch up to us so fast?"
The sudden voice made Leonel smile. He couldn't help but grab onto Aina's small hand and squeeze it a bit.
"How? I just followed the smell of apple."
Aina was speechless. "Are you a dog or something?"
Leonel grinned but didn't respond. He had learned long ago that Internal Sight was just an extension of his senses. Whether it be sight, touch or hearing, he could do it all. In the past, he refused to do this because he had been traumatized by some terrible smells. The potency of smelling with your nose versus your Internal Sight were on two completely different levels.
But, luckily, his Aina smelled quite pleasant.
Leonel saw the festering atmosphere of the freshmen and finally felt that it was time.
'It's been about four and a half minutes since the tunnel collapsed. The Oryx should almost be through. Now is the best time.'
"Alright everyone, I will lead you out." Leonel said confidently.
What no one expected was for Leonel to actually succeed. Just a few hours later, the group found themselves above ground again. But, this time, right before them all, there was a mountain pass they had been thinking of even in their dreams.
Leonel's gaze flashed with a dangerous light. No one seemed to know how much he had accomplished in just his first mission outing but himself and Aina.. He would quite enjoy watching Hero Peak and its allies crumble bit by bit.