Chapter 46: Who Decides the Final Escape?

Vera stood rooted to the spot. Her amber eyes lingered where the glowing text had faded, remaining silent for a long while. Then she turned back to face everyone, hand resting atop the leather pouch at her hip that held the four fragments. Her voice was not loud, yet every word carried clearly to every ear.

"The meaning of this rule is plain. Either we tear each other apart hunting fragments, with only six escaping and the rest trapped. Or we pick one among us to gather every shard. That person will then decide who gets to leave."

She paused.

"I propose we choose a representative from our group. This person must win and claim all fragments. At the very least, it guarantees our own people are prioritized."

Martha’s rough voice cut in. "But this person has to win everything. If she falls and her fragments get seized by outsiders, we lose all say over even those six spots."

Emon leaned against the wall, Silver‑Eye folding its wings and settling on his lap. His gaze rested on Vera’s face for a moment. "You already have a plan."

Vera did not deny it. She unslung the leather pouch from her waist and hefted it in her hand. The four fragments clinked sharply against one another inside. "I hold valid claim to these shards. Emon fought one match, Cecil fought one, Victor fought two. I am the only one who has not stepped into combat yet, yet I secured the fragments. If I am to take this position, I need your consent. Should you refuse —" she tightened the drawstring and fastened the pouch back at her hip "— then we follow the rules and wear each other down, and see who ends up grabbing enough fragments."

Silence hung around the stone platform. Gwendolyn perched on Cecil’s shoulder, her tail swaying slowly along the edge of his collar. She spoke only for him to hear. "What she says holds truth, though not the whole truth. She really is our most suitable candidate. Her fire‑affiliated spirit beast holds an advantage against most elements within competition mode. And since she keeps the fragments safe, others cannot snatch them for now."

Cecil gave no reply. He watched Vera. Her amber eyes burned steadily beneath the blue‑white vault light, like lamps no wind could blow out.

Freddy spoke first. "If we make you our representative and you win through to the end — who will you take with you?"

A faint smile tugged at Vera’s lips. It was neither mockery nor jest, more like I expected you to ask this, and I have my answer ready. "Among the six, Lena is my sister. She leaves for certain. For the remaining five —" her glance swept across every face "— Martha, Emon, Cecil, Freddy, Lydia. Oliver, Edwin and Victor — I do not know you three well enough yet. Still, I can adjust the order if you are willing to stay on a secondary list."

"Adjust the order?" Oliver’s voice rang out from the side of the group, pitched higher than usual. "Are you saying Edwin and I get stuck waiting on a backup list? What if there are not enough spots?"

"What if we fight for our own fragments?" Edwin said. His tone was quieter than Oliver’s, yet equally clear. "If I win shards for myself, my place does not depend on someone else’s mercy."

Freddy stood beside Cecil, hand resting on Turner’s back. The small grey ferret twitched its ears. "Edwin makes a fair point. Right now, the people we can trust are those who came through the portal together — Cecil, me, Lydia, Oliver, Edwin. All five of us from Group‑B. If only six can escape, the five of us ought to stick together."

Martha leaned against the wall, her gravelly tone cutting through. "Then the five of you plus Gwendolyn fill all six slots. What about the rest of us?"

"Then everyone competes for themselves," Oliver retorted, sharp‑willed in a way he rarely showed. "Whoever collects the most fragments gets the final say. If Vera hoards all shards and decides departures alone, we are left waiting to be picked or discarded."

Vera’s amber eyes flicked between Oliver and Edwin, then settled on Cecil. "Cecil, what is your stance?"

Cecil stood amid the crowd. The cold aura from his right hand had dissipated. He could feel factions shifting all around him. Freddy and Lydia stood close by his side.

Oliver and Edwin positioned themselves a short distance opposite. Vera stood with Lena and Martha by the stone platform, while Emon and Victor remained neutral on the other flank.

"The five of us stepped through the portal together," Cecil said. "If six people are to leave, Oliver and Edwin should not be relegated to a backup list."

Vera said nothing. Lena whispered behind her, "...What about us?"

Silence fell once more around the platform. Victor pushed off from the stone pillar and brushed dust from his cloak. The golden flecks within his dark‑brown pupils glinted faintly. "You will get nowhere bickering like this. Let me play peacemaker."

He spread both hands. "Every side is lobbying to secure their own people’s escape. Here is the fairest solution: split into three teams. Whichever team amasses the greatest number of fragments gets to decide the allocation of escape spots."

Emon lifted his head from the wall. "How will these three teams be divided?"

Victor held up three fingers. "Team One: Vera leads her allies — Lena, Martha, Emon. The four of you already operate as one unit and cannot be easily split. Team Two: Cecil with his Group‑B companions — Freddy, Lydia, Oliver, Edwin. All five of you entered through the same portal and will not abandon one another. Team Three —" he pointed at himself, then jerked his chin toward the far side of the arena "— I will join Leon and his people. Three of them survived from the Storm Gate. Add me, and that makes seven total."

Tense stillness hung over the platform. Freddy’s voice carried obvious reluctance. "You want to side with Leon?"

"He holds fragments," Victor shot a glance toward Leon’s position. "I spotted a leather pouch hanging at his waist earlier, shaped much like Vera’s. He has fought at least one trial and won. If we aim to gather all shards, we cannot ignore his piece."

Cecil followed Victor’s line of sight. Leon stood on the edge of the spectator stands roughly twenty paces away. Thunder Griffin crouched at his feet, its golden plumage glowing softly under the blue‑white radiance. Sure enough, a dark small leather pouch, tied shut with cord, hung from his hip, similar to Vera’s. Sensing Cecil’s gaze, Leon turned his head and met his eyes. No expression crossed his face; he merely tilted his chin upward, a silent gesture that read You see me. So what?

Vera finally spoke, her tone returning to its usual calm composure. "Three teams. The side with the most fragments makes the final call. If our team wins, we take our people out. If yours wins, you take yours. If Leon’s team prevails —" she glanced toward Victor "— then he holds the power of decision."

Oliver straightened. Robin spread its wings on his shoulder then folded them again. "Agreed. Each team fights their own trials. The side with greater spoils rules."

Lydia set Ivy down from her wrist so the serpent coiled across her shoulders, its emerald scales tensing slightly. "Our five stay as one. No splitting us apart."

Cecil nodded. He glanced at Gwendolyn. Her tail brushed lightly across the nape of his neck, signalling assent.

Vera secured her pouch tightly at her hip and nodded toward Cecil. "Three teams it is. Fight as many trials as you can. When all is done, every fragment gets laid out for assembly. Whichever side holds the most shards decides everything."

Victor hopped down from the stone pillar. His dark‑purple bat poked half its head out from his collar, the silver‑veined edges of its wing membranes glinting in the light. "I am going over to Leon."

He took two steps then glanced back over his shoulder. "Let us be clear beforehand. Should my team come out on top, I will not deliberately leave any of you stranded. Spots will be distributed based on contribution."

He walked away, the hem of his dark‑grey cloak dragging a faint shadow across the luminous blue‑white runes, heading toward Leon’s location.

Emon pushed himself off the wall, Silver‑Eye perching upon his shoulder. "I stand with Vera," he stated evenly. "I have no other real choice."

Martha roused her rock bear Ollie from the ground. The beast shook its fur and let out a low rumbling huff. "So be it. Three teams. Might and victory get the final word."

The crowd around the stone platform began to disperse. Vera led Lena, Martha and Emon toward the eastern section of the trial grounds. Victor joined Leon and his seven‑member group, who gathered in shadow beneath the western spectator stands. Cecil’s five companions remained where they were, staring at one another. Freddy broke the quiet first. "...So we really are competing against Leon now?"

Cecil stood at the edge of the stone platform and watched the three factions go their separate ways. Vera moved toward the eastern grounds with Lena half a step behind her. The multicoloured butterfly fluttered out of Lena’s braids and hovered beside her shoulder, its blue‑violet wings shimmering like a slowly turning medallion under the blue‑white dome light. Victor had already linked up with Leon. The seven figures murmured quietly in the western shadows, Thunder Griffin’s golden feathers still glinting faintly in the dimness.

Cecil tore his gaze away and turned back to his four allies: Freddy, Lydia, Oliver and Edwin. All four pairs of eyes rested on him. Their spirit beasts perched on shoulders or at their feet, waiting silently.

Freddy lowered his voice. "Do you think we stand a chance? Us five Group‑B kids going up against two other teams. One has Vera, Martha, and Emon, that auditor who bested a hawk spirit beast. The other is Leon’s elite Group‑A plus Victor’s swarm of bats. We —" he paused "— can we truly go toe‑to‑toe with them?"

Cecil did not answer straight away. He looked down at his right hand. A thin layer of frost condensed beneath his robe, then melted and vanished. After a moment, he spoke in steady, unvarnished honesty. "I have no guarantee of victory."

Oliver’s shoulders tensed.

"The opposing teams possess far greater individual power," Cecil continued, speaking deliberately as if laying out facts he had already weighed. "Vera’s fire centipede can overwhelm most foes when fully unleashed. We have witnessed how destructive Leon’s Thunder Griffin is in real combat. Victor’s sonic swarm attacks are nearly impossible to counter amid chaotic skirmishes."

"Then —" Lydia’s brows drew together "— you sound as if you have already given up."

Cecil lifted his eyes to meet hers. "This is not surrender. I am stating reality. Our strength does not lie in individual prowess."

He looked at each of his four companions. "It lies in teamwork. Separately, none of our spirit beasts are outstanding. But we have trained four full days fighting as a unit. The other two factions are busy scrambling for fragments, and their coordination cannot match ours. If the trial grounds allow team combat, we can close the power gap through synergy. If only single duels are permitted —"

he paused "— our path becomes simpler. The five of us take turns entering trials, bringing our strongest elemental advantages to bear, and claim as many fragments as we can. For opponents too tough for us to defeat, let the rival teams wear them down. Then we move in to finish them off."