Everyone in the room turned toward the door the moment it opened.

The man who walked in was the same one who had briefed the Awakened earlier in the grand hall. He stepped inside calmly and shut the door behind him. Instantly, every pair of eyes locked onto him.

He smiled faintly.

"I'm sure all of you are waiting for instructions regarding the tournament and how you'll be participating," he said. "Your role, however, is different from the others."

He clasped his hands behind his back.

"I won't waste your time. The Awakened participating in the tournament proper have already been teleported to the Geisha Ruins. Once there, they'll receive their crystals and begin the survival stage."

He paused, letting that sink in.

"As for you twenty, your case is different. We don't believe you need to be tested for survival. Frankly, we believe each of you can survive one way or another."

His smile sharpened slightly.

"So instead, we intend to use you as a catalyst."

Murmurs spread faintly across the room.

"You will be used to increase eliminations during the first stage of the tournament," he continued. "While others struggle against monsters or the environment, they will also have to deal with you."

Luka narrowed his eyes.

"I can already guess where this is going," he said. "You want us to eliminate other Awakened."

"Exactly," the man replied without hesitation. "We want you to be the force that pushes them out. Monsters can be avoided. Other contestants can be outplayed. But escaping the Twenty Chosen? That's a different matter entirely."

His gaze swept across the room.

"You are to push any Awakened you encounter to the brink, force them to surrender and eliminate them from the tournament."

"And this will not go unrewarded," he added. "For every Awakened you force out, you will gain points. These points will be useful later in the tournament."

Someone opened their mouth to ask, but he raised a hand.

"I cannot tell you what they will be used for yet. Just know this, more is better. Gather as many points as you can."

He rolled his thumb across the ring on his finger.

Twenty rings floated out into the air, each one gliding toward a different person.

Aren caught his and examined it. A simple silver ring, engraved with unfamiliar patterns. This made his third special ring now.

"Inside those rings are essentials," the man said. "Unlike the other participants, you will not need to scavenge immediately. Your status grants you certain privileges."

He continued, "Each ring contains supplies and a map. That map will lead you to a designated resource point within the Geisha Ruins. If you exhaust both your personal storage and what's inside this ring, that location will be your lifeline."

He straightened.

"You will remain inside the ruins for one full week."

A pause.

"Unlike the others, you will not be given a crystal."

The room remained silent.

"You cannot surrender. You cannot withdraw. You either stay until the end, or die trying."

Still, no one reacted.

They had expected as much.

They trusted their strength. Their preparation. Their rings were stocked, and every one of them believed they could handle whatever came.

Seeing their resolve, the man nodded.

"In sixty seconds, you will be teleported to the Geisha Ruins to begin your role in the tournament."

He turned toward the door.

"I wish all twenty of you the best of luck. Carry out your duties faithfully."

The door closed behind him.

No one spoke.

They simply waited.

After a minute, the room lit up. Runes etched into the walls glowed as space itself began to warp. The pressure built, twisting reality around them.

Elena turned toward Aren.

"Sometimes," she said softly, "we have to learn to let some things go… because we love them."

And then, they vanished.

[... ]

Aren opened his eyes to a dead land.

That was the first thought that crossed his mind. The ground before him looked as if it had never known life, dry, dark, cracked, and steeped in an aura of complete desolation. There was no grass, no wind, no sound. Just silence that felt heavy.

He lifted his gaze.

In the distance stood a massive city, far larger than even War God City. But it wasn't a city anymore, it was a ruin. Completely destroyed. Collapsed towers, shattered structures, and broken walls stretched endlessly. Even the sky above it was darkened, clouds swirling unnaturally. The energy leaking from the city made his spine tingle even from this far away.

So this is the Geisha Ruins.

He turned around to check his surroundings, only to see more dead land stretching endlessly behind him. When he took a step forward in that direction, his foot stopped short.

An invisible wall.

He placed his palm against it. Solid. Sturdy. Completely impassable.

Aren narrowed his eyes. Just from touching it, he could tell, it was stronger than anything he could hope to break.

"So this is the barrier of the Geisha Ruins," he muttered.

Turning back toward the ruined city, he didn't hesitate. He summoned Fang and mounted its back.

"Let's go," he said.

Fang immediately launched forward, sprinting at full speed toward the ruins.

Right now, Aren had only two goals in mind.

First, gather as many points as possible.

Second, find his group.

If he could locate them early, he could protect them from the other Twenty Chosen and make sure they passed the first stage of the tournament. More importantly, he could ensure that no one laid a hand on Athena.

The problem was obvious.

The city was massive.

Finding them would be difficult, especially when everyone was trying not to be found.

He was about halfway to the ruins when he felt it.

The ground rumbled.

His instincts flared.

Aren leaped off Fang's back as something burst from the ground beneath them. A massive creature snapped its jaws shut where Fang had been only an instant earlier.

Fang twisted midair and retaliated immediately, unleashing fire and lightning point-blank.

BOOM!

The air shook violently as the creature was blasted backward, slamming hard into the ground. Fang landed beside Aren, both of them skidding a few feet before coming to a stop.

Aren looked up.

It was an insect, like a giant dung beetle. Its armored body was massive, its mandibles jagged and sharp. It snapped its fangs repeatedly.

Snap. Snap.

The sound echoed unnaturally across the land.

And then Aren felt it.

Movement.

The ground around them erupted as more of the creatures burst out, forming a semicircle.

Aren counted quickly.

Twelve.

All of them enormous. All of them radiating power.

"Awakened monsters," he muttered, frowning.

He exhaled slowly.

"I don't have time for this."

Shadows rippled beneath his feet as he summoned Riker and multiple shadow wolves. One after another, they emerged, growling and ready to attack.

"I'm speedrunning this shit," Aren said flatly.

The shadow wolves surged forward alongside Fang, tearing into the beetles without hesitation. Riker charged ahead as well, engaging three of the beetles on his own.

Aren didn't join the fight.

He walked.

He moved past the battle as explosions, roars, and screeches erupted behind him. The beetles were too busy being mauled to pay attention to him.

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