The sound in the hall broke down with increasing tumult every next minute.
Now, fear had a sound--one of shouts, quick breaths and shoes scraping across the floor.
Plans, however, none of the students really cared about, sparked little fights over. Breaks, despite the alliances formed, broke in a flash.
The instant the Goddess said only six would survive, all that was human in the crowd felt dead.
Dante and his team were still standing. They were simply a few amidst the storm of chaos all about them.
He followed the spread of panic; every scream melted before him into the desperate grab for control. His mind, however, stayed cold.
In the circle, order existed, albeit weakly.
He swung his gaze to the last two who had not gone to the Goddess yet. Rina and Talia. Both were tense. Their faces were pale under the dim silver light filtering down through the broken ceiling.
"You two are last," Dante said with an even pulse and steady voice, cutting through the noise like a blade. "Your questions decide everything that comes next. Ask them well."
First, he looked at Rina. She looked into his eyes. Neither her mind nor body was at ease. Calm under pressure, she was the team's thinker. She was the biologist with a healthy respect for how things live and die.
"We have power," said Dante, "but do not have recovery. Ask the Goddess about healing. How life can be restored in this world. Magic, medicine, anything. If healing exists, we need to know how."
Rina sighed and replied, "Understood."
Then he turned his gaze to Talia.
The fencer stood tall and calm. Her expression betrayed nothing.
"Yours is the most important question," was his soft murmur. "Ask her this: What enforces the rule that only six people survive? What happens to the seventh?"
Talia's eyes flickered with understanding. She did not look frightened. She appeared contemplative instead. She already guessed that the answer would not be pleasant.
"Go," said Dante. "Get your skills. Get the truth. Then come back."
They turned and vanished through the glowing aperture.
Waiting was worse than fighting.
Every minute stretched thinner. All the sounds of panic became background sounds-there was nothing sharp in it, just a dull and constant thrum, like a heartbeat.
Some students still begged the Goddess to change the rules. Others screamed at each other over who deserved to live.
The light dimmed.
In well-formed silence, Dante's circle stood shoulder to shoulder, tense, still.
Then the door opened.
Rina appeared, calm but grave in expression. She raised a hand. A thin green-gold light glowed softly in her palm, alive, somehow soothing.
"I asked about healing," she spoke, almost intoning. "The Goddess told me that even in a world of death, life finds a way to survive. Then she gave me this.'
The light pulsed once, almost like breathing.
Rina carried on. "She called it Vitae Weaving. I am capable of controlling life energy. I can heal wounds, remove poison, and cleanse sickness. But it costs me energy. I cannot fix everything. No limbs re-growing, no resurrection."
Masha stepped close; her eyes were wide: "So you really do have healing?"
Rina nodded. "Yes. If I am still standing."
The air lightened just a little. For the first time since the strike had come down, a flicker of hope ignited within their circle.
Dante placed a hand on her shoulder, firm yet sincere. "You just became the most important person in this team. You are our lifeline. If you go down, we all go down. So we will make sure that never happens."
Rina bowed her head slightly. She fought to repress a nervous smile. "I will do my best."
In a few minutes, Talia re-emerged.
Almost imperceptibly, some of her characteristic calm cracked. All the color had drained from her face.
"She answered," Talia said. Her voice was quiet but steady. "And she did not like the question."
The team waited. Nobody interrupted.
Talia continued, "She said this world's law was written long before she became its guardian.... The Bone Dragon guards not only the exit. Upon death, its soul fragments into six pieces called the Hero's Marks. Each mark binds itself to whoever claims it. Those with a mark can exit through the gate into another kingdom. But there are only six. Once the marks are taken, the gate opens for a brief time. Then it closes forever. Anyone left behind is consumed by the forest."
The silence that followed weighted.
Even the sounds of chaos around them seemed to fade.
Dante's eyes hardened. "So that is the rule," he said. "The system is not just about surviving. It is about forcing us to turn one against the other."
Erica muttered, "That\u2019s insane."
Rina shuddered. "It makes predators out of us."
Dante nodded once. "Exactly."
He looked at Talia's hand. She was still holding the weapon that she had received from the Goddess. A sleek silver rapier.
"What about your skill?" he asked.
She drew the blade and took a slow breath. Her eyes shimmered faintly with light. "Kinetic Eye," she said. "I can see the flow of movement. The way energy travels through bodies and objects. I can predict attacks before they happen and see where things will break."
Jin let out a low whistle. "That is deadly."
Dante said, "It is, and exactly what we need."
The picture was clear now.
Fire and ice. Sword and defense. Knowledge and healing. Logic and instincts.
Each member of the team slotted into its place.
Still, Dante felt a cold weight of what was to come.
The battle would be against time, fear, and soon-to-be enemies in the forest. Not against monsters.
The last glimmer of a divine light slowly drifted away.
The Goddess was gone.
The hall darkened. Shadows stretched long across the cracked floor. Outside, the forest whispered. It was alive and present.
The world around them turned from a stage into a hunting ground.
Gasps and curses erupted from the mass, now dawning upon the full realization that without the Goddess, they were on their own.
Dante's eyes swept across the room.
He spotted a tall boy near the back. The boy was gathering strong students around him. The boy met Dante's gaze and smirked. Slowly, he raised his hand and dragged a finger across his throat.
Dante did not flinch.
He turned away. That boy still thought this was a game about strength. He had no idea the real game had already started.
He faced his team. "The Goddess is gone," he said in a quiet voice. "The trial has begun. We move northeast. Stay together. Stay alert. Do not talk to anyone else."
Neil whispered. "It begins."
Dante looked at them one by one. His voice was steady and low. "From here on, every step matters. Every word. Every choice. We are not going to die in this forest. We will outlast them all."
He turned toward the open doorway. The forest beyond waited. It was dark and endless.
Leaves rustled. The wind carried faint whispers that almost sounded like voices.
Dante stepped forward first. The others followed without a sound.
The Trial of Verdant had begun.
And with it, the slow birth of both heroes and monsters.