"…" Sherry speechlessly looked at the burning forest on the TV Screen.
Zion, seated beside her, fed Tiona some potato chips, seemingly unbothered.
Sherry's reaction was more or less the same as most Wanderers who had also seen the burning forest in Island Number 4.
Due to Erica's control, all the Wanderers had perished—the only exceptions being Shana, Diana, and Mildred.
Even the winners who had spawned a second time outside of the fiery inferno were swiftly dealt with, completely eliminating them from the tournament.
When everyone else was outside the picture, the Sorceress glanced at her "friends," who were all glaring at her, making her chuckle.
"Okay, the small fries have been eliminated," Erica said. "Now, let's decide who stays. Naturally, I'll be one of the two people staying. How about the three of you fight each other, then we can have a second winner. Of course, if you don't want to fight, that's fine as well. I'll just eliminate the three of you and leave one behind."
Mildred was grating her teeth so hard, and the only thought in her mind was how much tempted she was to unleash a barrage of arrows at Erica. However, she knew that it would be for naught.
She then glanced at her friends, who were glancing back at her.
"How do we settle this?" Mildred asked.
"Scissor, paper, stone?" Shana proposed.
Diana hesitated before nodding in agreement.
This was the only way that they could resolve things "peacefully" without endangering their friendship.
However, the three of them already agreed that after this event was over, they would give Erica some peace of mind and make her treat them to a cafe that specializes in desserts as her way of atoning for her crimes!
Seeing her friends decide the second winner the old-fashioned way, Erica covered her lips and giggled.
Truth be told, if she hadn't seen Zion burn an entire forest to force the Ratmen Army to withdraw, she would have never thought of doing it in this competition.
After seeing the fiery inferno that she created, everyone, who was watching the battle at home, had all come to a conclusion.
Erica + Forest = Disaster.
A few minutes later, and after a brutal battle of rock, paper, and scissors, the one who emerged victorious was Mildred.
Because of this, Shana and Diana allowed her to eliminate them so that she could proceed to the next round.
"Don't worry. I promise I'll avenge the two of you!" Mildred said making her two friends feel a little better.
Erica watched this scene with a faint smile on her face.
Although she had to admit that Mildred had the chance to defeat her if they fought, she was confident that she would still emerge victorious in the end.
And so, the battle in Island Number 4 ended faster than the rest, leaving only Erica and Mildred behind.
Meanwhile, in Island Number 1…
Roland and Joshua were currently running in different directions as they were under the siege of more than three Wanderers at the same time.
Clark, Terence, and two more Wanderers, who had agreed to eliminate the two members from the Hero Party first, spotted Roland and immediately went for the offensive.
Roland, who had fought Clark in the past, didn't dare to underestimate him.
If this was a one-on-one battle, then he would not hesitate to fight against him. But he wasn't just fighting a single person.
There were four of them, and Roland knew better than to engage in a battle that he had a small chance of winning.
'I must regroup with Joshua first,' Roland thought as he ran as fast as he could. 'As long as we can join together, we will be able to overturn this scenario.'
He didn't know that Joshua was thinking of the same thing.
The latter was fighting against three young men who had won the Championship in other Competitions, which granted them the status of Seeded Candidates in the League of Myths and Legends.
They weren't part of the Monarch Clans or the Prestigious Families.
However, they were bribed and given enough perks to join the Anti-Hero Coalition, a group dead set on eliminating the Hero Party, whom everyone believed to be the strongest competitors in the tournament. Of course, there were also members of this group in Island Number 4.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't have any chance to team up after Erica set the entire forest ablaze.
'Just two more minutes,' Joshua thought as he cast several spells that hindered his opponents from getting close to him.
Truth be told, if he went all-out, he believed that he had a high chance of defeating his pursuers.
However, he didn't want to show his trump cards so early in the tournament.
So, he was still holding back.
Thirteen had given him hellish training that helped him learn to fight multiple opponents at once.
He was the Sage of the Hero Party and wielded offensive, supportive, and debuffing abilities, making him nearly a one-man army.
But Thirteen had drilled into his head that he mustn't underestimate his opponents.
In fact, he had fought Zion numerous times already, and the outcome of each battle was him losing.
None of his attacks landed on the teenage boy, and he felt like the latter could predict when and where his spells would arrive.
It was simply too mind-boggling for Joshua, who was quite confident in his abilities.
Since then, he was no longer the arrogant young man, who thought of everyone, with the exception of his party members, as beneath him.
Suddenly, his communicator came to life, and a projection of a map appeared in front of him.
There, he saw a group of people running in one direction, which seemed to be following a single blinking dot.
'That must be Roland,' Joshua thought as he immediately altered his course to run toward his friend.
Roland, who was also paying attention to his map, saw the same scene, which made him believe that Joshua was in the same situation as him.
Because of this, he didn't hesitate to run in the same direction as his friend, who was also being pursued by many people.
Although it might become troublesome if more people joined up against the two of them, he still believed that they would be able to come out on top.