In the arena, right next to the iing barriers about to overtake them, Kevin turned to Lily and Alya, who were leading the group.


    "Seriously, what are we doing!? If we don''t pick up the pace, the boundaries will overtake us, and we''ll be eliminated."


    Shaking his head, Liam sighed before saying.


    "Kevin, for the hundredth time, we''re just trying to stay alive. We already got looted up, and all have weapons, so there''s no need for us to explore."


    Pointing at the barriers, slowly creeping nearer and nearer to them, Liam continued.


    "As long as we stay by these barriers, we can''t be attacked."


    Thinking for a moment, Ruby questioned Lily''s n.


    "What if we get trapped and encircled? With their alliance numbers, over half the school, they could just block us off. Then we wouldn''t be able to escape the barrier and be forced to fight for our lives."


    Dismissing Ruby''s worries with the wave of a hand, Lily said.


    "Keep in mind that this alliance consists of over four hundred students who have never interacted before this. They could never carry out aplex n like that, and even if they did, it''s not like we couldn''t fight out way through."


    Besides Lily, Alya slowly nodded her head, showing some hesitancy about Lily''s n but agreeing with it overall.


    Seeing Kevin and Ruby done questioning, Liam sped up the front and pulled Lily aside for a moment.


    Making sure nobody else was listening, Liam whispered in Lily''s ears.


    "What about... him? What if he shows up...?"


    Recalling his defeat back in the carriage, Liam was already filled with rage, but he knew better than to let his emotions get the better of him.


    However, Liam wasn''t just filled with rage... but rather a sense of curiosity and sadness.


    How had Ren known about all his moves and skills?


    There were trillions of aspects and abilities in the world, yet Ren had somehow managed to know every single Liam used without even thinking.


    For example, during Liam''s sky plunge, Ren had already dodged the attack far before he had evene close to the ground.


    It was as if... Ren had known his abilities and aspects from the start of the battle... maybe even before that.


    Not only that, it felt like Ren had trained himself specifically to dodge his attacks, as he was able to dodge Liam''s barrage of sword attacks without blinking an eye.


    Did he have a trait or ability or even skill that allowed him to see the abilities of others?


    That was the most obvious answer by far... however, there was a little seed of doubt in Liam''s mind that was beginning to grow.


    ...was there a spy inside the main cast?


    They were the only ones who had seen Liam''s full capabilities and attacks as he had sparred against them and fought with them countless times.


    Was someone... feeding information about his abilities and attacks to Ren?


    Although Liam didn''t want to believe it... he couldn''t stop the thought from growing in his mind.


    Liam hadn''t dared express this thought, especially with the state their group was in now after Kevin''s injury and Alya''s subsequent abadonement.


    But now that things wereing back for the better, with them even receiving the help of the principal along with the student council president for their next mission, the idea had to be entertained.


    ncing backward at Alya, Ruby, Kevin, Irene, and Zach, Liam felt ashamed to the core.


    It was shameful that he was suspicious of the very same people who had risked their lives to help him and fight with him.


    Their bond was not one that could be broken.


    At least, that was what Liam thought before Zach''s injury and Alya''s temporary leave from the main cast.


    Now... he had realized just how fragile their rtionship was.


    A rtionship that had built through countless near-death experiences and months could be destroyed... in a matter of seconds.


    How... cruel and unfair was that?


    Liam had always taken their rtionship for granted, thinking that these people would always be at his side... yet now, he realized just how precious they were to her.


    That was why every time he felt the suspicious rise in his chest when he looked at them, he wanted to puke.


    He had to let out his suspicions somewhere... anywhere.


    Tell anybody... just so it would disappear.


    Just so things could go back to normal.


    Turning to Lily, Liam let out a sigh before leaning down and putting his mouth to her ear.


    Lily was the first person Liam had met at the academy... the second person in the entire world to treat him like a human.


    All his life, he had been treated as inferior and had been called insults because of his background.


    And just when the first person to have helped him left, Lily appeared in the form of a helping hand.


    She wouldn''t betray him... she couldn''t in a million years.


    They were now in a battle royale.


    A team battle royale.


    Liam needed to fully trust his teammates, and he knew that.


    One single second of hesitation could lead to his or the other members of the main cast being eliminated.


    With these feelings flowing through his head, Liam wasn''t confident that he could follow his teammates as usual.


    "it''s now... or never."


    Looking at Lily''s purple and blue hair fly backward due to the calm breeze, Liam whispered.


    "Hey...don''t you think it''s weird that Ren... beat me."


    Realizing how cocky he sounded, Liam paused for a moment before continuing.


    "I mean... how he already knew all of my moves. And when I asked him about it... he didn''t even deny it; instead, he simply epted it with his silence and shifted the topic."


    Surprisingly, Lily didn''t show any surprise at Liam''s question; instead, she sighed as if she had expected the question to be asked long ago.


    Did she know something?


    No... she couldn''t have.