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“What should I do…?”

Erica’s voice trembled as she held three Holy Dragon’s Hearts in her hands.

Even if she discarded the Holy Dragon’s Hearts now, the bounty had already been issued. As long as Erica remained in the competition, the bounty wouldn’t vanish for one hour.

Although Erica could use offensive magic, those who advanced to the second round were all formidable opponents. Those, like Erica, who had managed to progress with unconventional skills were rare.

Hence, Erica had abandoned the intention to retaliate and was now contemplating whether surrendering might lead to less suffering.

“Found you.”

A rush of air heralded the arrival of a petite figure descending from the sky.

Before the newcomer could speak, Erica swiftly set down the Holy Dragon’s Hearts, clutched her head, and sought refuge in a corner. The series of actions were executed seamlessly, as though rehearsed countless times.

“I surrender! Take all the Holy Dragon’s Hearts. Please don’t harm me; I fear pain!”

Lilith tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Is this a trap?”

“It’s not a trap! It’s not! I’m merely a healer with limited offensive capabilities. I found these Holy Dragon’s Hearts in the lake.”

To demonstrate her harmlessness, Erica clutched her head even tighter.

Lilith stared at Erica, who appeared on the verge of curling up into a ball. Concluding she needn’t fear any traps, Lilith strode over confidently and picked up the Holy Dragon’s Hearts from the ground.

Seconds passed without incident.

“I guess this isn’t really a trap, after all.”

Lilith observed the girl as she weighed the Holy Dragon’s Hearts in her hand. She seemed ordinary in terms of strength and aura.

Erica watched as Lilith retrieved the Holy Dragon’s Hearts, then said smugly, “See? I told you I didn’t lie to you, did I? My grandma always told me that liars will have to swallow a hundred needles.”

“Hm, you’re quite an adorable one.”

Lilith suddenly approached and lifted her chin. After scrutinizing her face for a while, she sighed. “Don’t tell me you managed to advance to the second round by solely relying on your adorable face?”

“A-Adorable…? Who are you calling adorable!”

Erica blushed in embarrassment. When she finally got a clear look at Lilith’s appearance, she blinked in disbelief before indignantly retorting, “You have an adorable face too! Who are you to look down on me?”

“Because no one can ever make me cower in a corner like a little fearful rabbit,” Lilith remarked with a soft chuckle.

“Hmph, what’s wrong with being a rabbit? They’re cute,” Erica retorted with a pout.

“Rabbits are cute, indeed. And not only are they cute, they smell delightful when they’re in the pot.”

Ignoring Erica’s glare—which would never be able to intimidate anyone—Lilith glanced around and asked, “So, am I the first to reach here?”

“Uh-huh. I gave you all the Holy Dragon’s Hearts, you’d better not hit me,” Erica replied uneasily. Despite Lilith’s innocent appearance, Erica was still convinced that she was the weakest link in this little world.

“I’m not interested in bullying the weak,” Lilith stated before her gaze shifted into the distance.

Utilizing the dragon’s vision, Lilith noticed a small black dot hovering in the distance. She wasn’t sure whether that person had mistaken Lilith as Erica’s ally, but they promptly departed upon sensing Lilith’s gaze.

“No way… So cautious?” Lilith was taken aback. She had anticipated encountering a few individuals with inflated egos who would embark on a relentless spree of robbing everyone in sight. However, she encountered only one such person. The rest were scaredy cats.

A degree of caution in the early stages was prudent, but fleeing at the mere sight of a glance? Wasn’t that excessively paranoid?

Unbeknownst to Lilith, this iteration of the tournament differed significantly from previous ones.

While some of the previous participants were powerful, their overall strength was fairly evenly distributed. Even the strongest among them didn’t possess overwhelming superiority, leaving room for others to rise through bursts of effort.

However, in this tournament, many participants had been vanquished by the peerless might of Princess Estelle and Princess Luna.

Since participants with considerable individual strength, such as the two princesses, held a distinct advantage in this second round, a lingering fear persisted among the other participants. This fear compelled them to exercise heightened caution.

In truth, many participants had silently adopted a common strategy—conserve strength until the final day when they would confront the two princesses.

By minimizing conflict among themselves, they hoped to witness the anticipated clash between the two princesses in the sisterly showdown.

Regardless of the underlying motives, Lilith remained discontented with the prevailing situation.

“Well, let’s conduct an experiment,” Lilith proposed, suddenly drawing closer to Erica with a friendly smile playing on her lips.

“Wh-what experiment…?” Erica felt a shiver down her spine for some reason.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to harm you. It’s just a small experiment,” Lilith reassured, taking Erica’s wrist and prompting her to open her palm.

“Here, this is for you.”

Handing Erica the Holy Dragon’s Heart, Lilith revealed not only the three that Erica previously possessed but two additional ones—one belonging to Lilith herself and the other left behind by Princess Estelle, who had been eliminated earlier.

Since Raymond was not a participant, he didn’t possess a Holy Dragon’s Heart.

“W-W-Why… are… you giving these to me?” Erica’s hands trembled as she held the three Holy Dragon’s Hearts, let alone five. Her voice quivered as she spoke.

“Don’t worry. I’ll only be eliminated if I lose all my Holy Dragon’s Hearts for over an hour.”

It’s not you that I’m worried about!—That was what Erica was tempted to say.

After allowing Erica to collect the Holy Dragon’s Hearts, Lilith gazed up at the sky and said, “Well, what’s going to happen next?”

A few minutes later, a golden light emanated from Erica’s body, shooting skyward once more. Fifteen minutes later, an icy female voice appeared in everyone’s ears once again.

“Second bounty of day one: Erica. Holy Dragon’s Heart acquired: five.”

“I knew it. The location will be reported every fifteen minutes during the bounty period, along with the updated number of Holy Dragon’s Hearts held by the target,” Lilith murmured, gazing at the sky.

“Does this… change anything?” Erica asked timidly.

“Not for now,” Lilith replied.

More like this might intimidate the already timid participants into believing Erica was a formidable opponent.

“How about… this then?”

Lilith instructed Erica to place four Holy Dragon’s Hearts on the ground while keeping one for herself.

Fifteen minutes later…

“Third bounty of day one: Erica. Holy Dragon’s Heart acquired: five.”

“Looks like that didn’t work,” Lilith mumbled to herself.

Lilith took back her two Holy Dragon’s Hearts from Erica and allowed her to keep three.