The maid stood motionless by the door, posture upright and discreet, part of the décor yet radiating silent threat. She didn't need to speak; simply being there, still and watchful, made it clear she wasn't just a servant. Charlie, Luke, Mason, Allison, Evangeline, and Ronan held a tense line before Erza. Every glance carried the same understanding: one wrong move could cost them everything. The air smelled of cold stone and iron, laced with the sweet, unsettling perfume Erza wore.

"Lady Erza…" Ronan began softly, aiming for diplomacy. "We didn't come here to cause trouble. As you know, we're all—"

Erza lifted her hand before he could finish. The gesture was slow but absolute, like a command that required no words.

"Did I say you could speak?" Her voice was velvet, her smile almost warm, but her eyes shimmered with authority and danger.

Luke, standing to the side, tracked every detail: the angle of her body, the way she sat, the distance to the door. Even reclined in a chair, surrounded by silence, she seemed defended by an invisible army. If he struck now, he'd be stepping into a game he couldn't win. Still, his mind mapped every exit, every weakness, trying to solve the puzzle of the woman in front of him.

What does she really want?

Erza didn't look like someone who would summon enemies just to stab them in the back. Pride and precision radiated from her. If she betrayed, it would be done flawlessly, with a show of superiority, not a coward's cheap shot. Luke imagined her as the type to let an opponent believe they had the upper hand, only to crush them with elegance. Yet at the end of the day, she was still an assassin — and assassins, however refined, knew how to strike low when needed. He kept his muscles coiled, ready for anything.

"Kidding," Erza said at last, her voice gliding through the air like silk. "This is a conversation, isn't it? If only I spoke, it would be a monologue."

She leaned forward and gestured gracefully to the chairs arranged nearby. "Please, sit."

Allison said, "Erza, we're not sitting. We don't have time. People are dying out there."

Erza sighed, as if already bored. "Well, Allison, more than anyone you know I don't care about that. But if you won't sit, I'm hardly going to force you." A faint smile curved her lips, almost playful.

"I want to make a deal with you, Erza," Allison said.

Erza's eyes slid toward her, lids narrowing. "Darling, in the art of negotiation you don't reveal how desperate you are." She rose with the calm of someone in complete control, setting her wineglass down with a soft clink.

"You're here because I called you. Let me lead the discussion."

Mason narrowed his eyes. "Lady Erza, you understand why we're here, don't you? For someone of your rank and ambition, staying in this tutorial can't be what you want."

Erza laughed lightly, biting at a fingernail as though bored, then exhaled. "You're not entirely wrong. I don't want to be in this world. But I'm a priestess. If my order told me to leap into a volcano, I'd do it with a smile."

She stepped forward, heels clicking against the stone. Luke's attention sharpened. Having Erza up and moving, even without visible weapons, was more dangerous than her sitting still.

Suddenly her gaze snapped to Charlie. "You're strange," she murmured, almost curious. "Everyone has a heartbeat. The kukri-wielder's is the quietest of all. But yours... It's like there's nothing inside you at all. How curious."

Erza turned her gaze away and drifted toward a door at the back, where the hallway dissolved into shadow. Her voice was unhurried, intimate, as if she were telling a secret. "I made a pact with Bartholomew, as you already know. I'm bound to protect anyone who threatens this fortress, and Bartholomew himself. Within these walls, I am his faithful guardian. But…"

Her eyes settled on Allison. "My master Siegfried gave me a clear order: 'Do nothing that interferes with the tutorial.' That also means I shouldn't try to complete the mission myself. I must let the others in the tutorial carry things forward."

The pause that followed thickened the air, as though the stone itself had grown heavier.

"The problem," she went on, "is that at this moment my agreement with Bartholomew is void. It was one thing to face Marshall's people invading this place. They had no intention of completing the mission. And then there's you."

Her left hand turned in a lazy arc and, with a flicker of light, a karambit appeared between her fingers. The curved blade glinted in the dim light. She twirled it idly, an ornament more than a weapon, though no one in the room doubted how quickly she could use it.

"You came here to activate a mechanism, didn't you?"

"Correct," Allison replied, her voice steady.

"That means if I kill you, you who are on your way to activate it, I'd be disobeying my master." The blade spun again, effortless in her hand. "Isn't it curious? My deal with Bartholomew collides head-on with Siegfried's command. And on top of it all, Bartholomew himself broke the damned deal he made with me."

The blade stopped spinning, its tip resting toward the floor, an extension of her arm. Her voice remained calm, but every word coiled tighter, like wire around a throat.

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"He disabled the mechanism and put this fortress in danger. By the terms of our pact, he became a threat to the fortress itself. I should kill him. But at the same time, I can't. The contract also says I must protect him while he's inside. Isn't that funny? Bartholomew built the trap that now holds him."

A humorless laugh slipped from her lips. "Sometimes I wonder how stupid people can be. In a desperate moment, he should have stayed cautious, strategic, as always. Instead, he tripped over his own arrogance."

Allison stepped forward. "And what exactly does that mean, Erza?"

"It means something simple." Her tone was soft but unshakable. "My word is worth more than any gold in this world. If I've given it, I won't retract it. I will protect this fortress as promised, even though he's jeopardized everything."

She ran a finger along the edge of the blade, drawing a bead of blood as if it were nothing. "So I will continue guarding this place. You came to activate the mechanism, by your own admission. The time for our deal has come, Allison."

Her face stayed smooth, almost maternal, but her eyes were cold and precise. "If you activate the mechanism, the fortress is no longer in danger, and I can fulfill my pact with Bartholomew. If I activate it, I'd have to kill him myself… and I can't. So I wash my hands of it."

She spread her arms like a hostess presenting a feast. "The deal is this: promise me you'll go and activate the mechanism so I can return to sleep. I hate being woken up."

The group exchanged heavy looks. The offer was tempting, safe passage at least for now, but steeped in risk.

"You're going to let us pass?" Allison asked.

"Yes. Go through that door. None of my servants will touch you. I sent them to kill the Midnight Wardens in the Safe Zone." Erza inclined her head slightly. "Good luck. This gray zone in my contract lasts only a few hours. After that, if you're still inside, you die."

Erza extended one finger toward the door. The gesture looked harmless, yet it carried the weight of a verdict.

"Thank you, Erza," Allison said. The group began moving, cautious and coiled, every eye alert. Luke already had his kukris in hand, and Charlie hovered close, ready to raise her barrier at the first sign of trouble.

"But…" Erza's voice slid through the room, soft but absolute.

Black strands unfurled from the floor in front of the door, weaving together like living roots until they formed a thin but solid curtain. The temperature seemed to drop.

"Only two of you may pass," she announced.

Her chin tilted as she took them all in. "And the two nobles, Allison and Mason, will not be among them. I won't allow two nobles with advanced training and powerful class mutations to go through. That would hardly be fair. Out of the four remaining… two may face Bartholomew. Consider it a balanced fight."

"You're joking," Allison said flatly.

"Joking? Me? No." Erza's smile cut like glass. "I'm serious. Only two. Consider this a gift. Did you really think I'd let all six of you in to face him? But if you disagree, you're free to draw your weapons and try to kill me. Whoever survives may continue. What do you say?"

The group exchanged glances, the decision settling over them like a blade at their throats. Only two, Luke, Princess Charlie, Ronan, and Evangeline. It landed on them with the weight of a death sentence. If the two who entered fell, no one else would be allowed to advance. One shot, no do-overs. And honestly, if it meant avoiding a fight with Erza Grimhart, it might be the best option they were going to get.

"I'll take the deal," Luke said at last, breaking the silence.

Every head turned.

"In fact, if you'd said only one could go," Luke added with a crooked smile that didn't quite hide his nerves, "that would've been a hell of an offer too."

"Oh, look at that. Someone here actually appreciates my generosity." Erza reclined in her chair again, watching them like a patron at a play.

"I'm going," Luke declared. "I've got unfinished business with Bartholomew."

"We all do," Evangeline muttered, folding her arms.

Ronan's eyes narrowed. "That's not how we decide. We vote. You're running the lowest mana of all of us. Evangeline and I make a better team. We've fought together plenty of times. She can lock him down, right?"

Evangeline nodded. "Though I can only trigger my epic skill once more. Any other cast, even minor, will kill my chance to use it."

"No," Luke shot back. "I'm going. That bastard set Angelica up to die. I need to be there when he falls."

"Oh, this is getting entertaining," Erza murmured, her chin resting in her palm, eyes bright with amusement.

"And besides, Ronan," Luke continued, "if Bartholomew drops to his knees and begs, you might forgive him. And then you'd die for it."

Their words clashed like steel, each argument sharper than the last. Mason tried to cut in. "Your reasons are all valid, but we're running out of time. When her servants return, we're as good as dead."

"That's true," Erza said lightly. "If my girls return and the mechanism isn't active yet, you die. That's the deal."

Allison hesitated. She wanted to stand beside Luke, but pragmatism whispered otherwise. Evangeline and Ronan together were a hammer and shield, a proven duo. Luke was different, versatile, able to strike from any range, improvising when the plan collapsed. He had the lowest health and mana of them all, but he was also the one who never froze when things went wrong. Charlie was their tank, but her synergy with Luke was what made her shine.

"Can we vote outside?" Luke asked quietly. "In private. Talking about how we're going to kill Erza's protected pet while she's listening doesn't feel like a smart move."

"We don't have time," Ronan shot back. "Every second we waste here costs people their lives in the Safe Zone."

Luke exhaled, then turned toward the hall. "Lady Erza, would it be a problem if my group stepped out for a private discussion?"

"No problem at all," she said, spinning the empty glass between her fingers.

They left the room in silence. Ronan trailed Luke with a scowl, Evangeline and Charlie close behind, Allison bringing up the rear. Their footsteps echoed off the gray stone corridor. With every turn Luke pushed farther, seeking a stretch of hallway where the walls felt less like ears.

When he finally stopped, his eyes swept the shadows. "I'm not saying anything out loud. Pretty sure she can hear us."

He opened his hands, revealing his plan, just a small, silent gesture. The others stared, their faces twisting with disbelief before nervous grins flickered to life. None of them had expected that.

***

Erza Grimhart sat back in the armchair and let out a bored sigh. Things had taken a strange turn over the past few days. Yet she continued to follow the plan, the order her master Siegfried had given her months ago. He had given her a name, someone she was meant to kill, and now the moment had finally arrived.

Only two returned through the door. Ronan… and…

"Your name is Luke, isn't it?" Erza asked, her smile unchanged.

"That's right."

"Then it's the two of you, it seems." She tipped her chin toward the door. "Good luck."

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