Eloa hesitated before following.
She looked down at the tags in her hand, then glanced up the misty slope where Jimmy had vanished.
"…Wait…"
She clutched the tags tighter and hurried after him, boots crunching lightly on damp gravel.
But as she reached a bend near a mossy ridge, she slowed.
There he was — not gone at all.
Jimmy was sitting quietly on a flat stone, legs relaxed, biting into a pale yellow fruit. Luna sat nearby, tail flicking softly.
Eloa blinked. "You're… not gone?"
Jimmy looked up and said by sign. "Didn't say I was leaving yet."
She shuffled closer, unsure. Vorovnyx — Pookie — rumbled behind her, sniffing the air with curious snorts.
Jimmy reached into a small pouch and tossed her a fruit. "Here."
She caught it clumsily. "Oh, um—thank you…"
She stared at the fruit.
Pookie, however, did not.
He lunged forward and chomped it out of her hand with surprising speed.
"P-Pookie!" she gasped. "You didn't even—!"
Pookie gave a loud huff and licked his lips, looking directly at Jimmy.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow and slowly offered another fruit.
Just as Pookie was about to snatch it—
"No!" Eloa said quickly. "Pookie, no more!"
Pookie paused, paw still half-raised.
"Turn around!" she ordered, blushing.
Pookie groaned and slowly spun in a sulky circle.
"…Voooor…" he mumbled.
Jimmy smirked and pulled back the fruit. "He talks back?"
Eloa covered her face a little. "Only when he's pretending to behave."
Jimmy tilted his watch toward her. A green glyph pulsed.
"Eleven left."
Eloa blinked. "Still… eleven?"
"No. Eleven people. Scattered. We're near the top."
Her eyes widened. "T-That means… I mean… I'm… in your… team?"
Jimmy gave a small nod. "Yeah."
There was a beat of silence.
Then—
CHOMP!
Pookie spun back around and took the fruit straight from Jimmy's hand.
Eloa gasped. "Pookie!! Bad!"
But Pookie just grinned, juice dripping from his jaws. "We're in team now."
"…That's not how teams work!" she whispered.
Jimmy just shrugged.
Eloa, flustered but smiling, grabbed Pookie's ear and started dragging him forward.
"Come on… we're going to the top now…"
Jimmy stood, following. He gave Luna a glance, who simply nodded in amused agreement.
As they walked behind Eloa and her very unwilling bear—
Jimmy murmured to Luna, "She's stronger than she thinks."
Pookie turned his head dramatically. "I heard that. I am strong."
Eloa tugged harder. "Pookie, stop listening!"
The mountain mist began to thin.
And the climb to the top began.
..................................
After climbing another winding stretch of mist-slick path, the trees began to thin, revealing a jagged ridge with moss-covered stones and oddly twisted trunks.
Jimmy raised a hand.
"Stop."
All four of them halted — Eloa, Pookie, Luna, and Jimmy himself. The air had shifted — tense, still.
Jimmy crouched low, brushing his hand across the soil. He narrowed his eyes.
"There are traps here. I can feel them… weight triggers, maybe buried glyphs."
Eloa looked around nervously. "T-Traps? B-but we didn't see anything..."
Jimmy gestured to a line of shallow cuts in a stone nearby. "See those? Warning signs. Whoever set these wanted to slow people down."
Then he glanced at her.
"Can Vorovnyx tunnel?"
Eloa nodded. "Y-Yes. He can move underground. He's good at digging."
Jimmy gave a firm nod. "Good. Tell him to tear up the terrain ahead. If anything's buried, we'll know."
Eloa gently tapped Pookie's shoulder. "Okay, Pookie… be careful. Go under and make some noise."
Pookie gave a gruff "Vorr." Then, with a mighty stomp, he cracked the earth and slid underground, burrowing swiftly with growls and grinding stone.
Jimmy pointed. "That tree trunk first — uproot it."
A loud CRUNCH echoed as the trunk jolted and lifted unnaturally. Pookie burst out from beneath, roots flying in every direction.
Jimmy immediately turned to Luna.
"Freeze that patch. Seal it."
Luna raised her head, and a shimmering mist of frost coiled around her mane. In a blink, she launched a focused stream of icy energy, flash-freezing the crater Pookie made. The ground solidified — slick and sealed, disabling any hidden glyph traps in the process.
"Nice," Jimmy muttered.
He looked ahead.
"Alright. Let's do this faster."
Pookie dove underground again, this time bursting out every few meters, shattering rocks, shredding old logs, and collapsing potential trap points. Luna followed just behind, freezing the exposed ground, sealing any unstable spots and laying down a frosty path.
Jimmy and Eloa followed closely, boots crunching over hardened ice and scattered debris.
Despite the cold mist around them, a strange rhythm began to form — dig, destroy, freeze, move.
Dig. Destroy. Freeze. Move.
Even Eloa began to smile between steps.
"He… he likes this," she said, watching Pookie erupt from the soil with another victorious roar.
Jimmy smirked. "So does she.,."
"Like us…?" Eloa asked, then instantly looked down, flustered. "I-I mean the team! I meant the team is… syncing."
Jimmy didn't respond, but a faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
# author's note: (◔◡◔)~(￣▽￣)~*༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ\(0^◇^0)/( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°)( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°)
The trees began to part ahead.
A rocky stairway carved into the mountain appeared — the path to the summit.
One last trap zone behind them.
And now?
The path was clear.
......................
The mist had begun to thin, but tension was rising.
As Jimmy walked with Eloa and the two Whisps along the frozen-cleared path, he glanced at the device on his wrist. The glowing green interface pulsed softly, then blinked.
[REMAINING TEAMS: 9]
He frowned.
"…Still nine?" he muttered.
Eloa peeked over, fingers fidgeting with her sleeve. "D-Do you think they already took the flags and went into hiding…?"
Jimmy narrowed his eyes. "Unlikely. If that were the case, we'd have seen more movement on the terrain grid."
He paused for a breath, gaze sharpening.
"I think… they're being eliminated. Quietly."
Eloa's face paled. "E-Eliminated? B-By who?"
Jimmy didn't answer immediately. His voice was calm, low. "We don't have time to guess. Let's move—fast."
He turned to Luna. "Get ready."
Then to the others: "Everyone—hold onto Luna."
Eloa blinked. "W-What?"
Before she could react, Vorovnyx suddenly leapt, wrapping himself tightly around her neck like a giant, fuzzy black-and-white koala. His round ears wobbled, and he clung with surprising strength.
"P-Pookie—! N-No, get off!" she flailed slightly.
Jimmy held out a hand to stop her. "It's fine. He's… just efficient."
Eloa looked unsure, lips puffed in protest, but then Jimmy placed a hand gently on Luna's shoulder and nodded for her to do the same.
"Hold tight," Jimmy said. "We're going full speed."
With a sharp breath, Luna crouched low, paws digging into the frozen ground. Her mane crackled faintly, electricity charging in the mist.
And then—
FLASH.
They shot forward like a silver-blue blur, Luna dashing with stunning speed, her hooves gliding over ice and snow.
Trees blurred past. Wind roared in their ears. Branches cracked. Frozen terrain peeled away behind them in their slipstream.
Within five minutes, they reached the summit.
And what stood before them was unexpected.
A wide pond, crystalline and still, lay spread across the top plateau like a mirror. In its very center stood a lone pedestal, and mounted upon it were several battle-worn flags — green, blue, red, and yellow — flapping gently in the mountain breeze.
Eloa's mouth parted in awe.
"…We made it."
Jimmy stepped forward, but then — beep.
All of their badges flickered.
Then dimmed.
Then—OFF.
The Codex flashed, and a message scrolled across both of their wrist displays in glowing golden text:
[CONGRATULATIONS.]
YOU HAVE ENTERED THE FINAL PHASE.
ALL POINTS ARE NOW VOID.
TRUST NO ONE.
"…Final phase," Jimmy muttered.
He looked up at the pond again. There was a strange feeling in the air now — as if they'd just crossed into a different arena. Quieter. Heavier.
More… watched.
Eloa swallowed and whispered, "T-That means we're the last ones here?"
Jimmy didn't answer.
He simply took one step forward.
"…Or the last ones alive."
...........................
Jimmy stepped forward, eyes narrowing at the flags standing upright in the middle of the shimmering pond.
"There—let's go for those lower flags first," he said calmly, pointing to a cluster of smaller flags swaying near the water's edge.
But just as they prepared to move—
Chaos.
A thunderous splash erupted ahead. Seven figures appeared across the clearing, locked in battle with a massive, deep-green alligator-like Whisp, its back plated with rock-like armor, its glowing orange eyes scanning calmly. Each step it took left a dent in the terrain.
Eloa gasped, shrinking beside Jimmy. "T-That's…"
Jimmy's eyes widened slightly.
"A Guardian Whisp," he muttered. "Advanced level."
All seven of the opposing member's Whisps were engaged in a desperate fight — water exploded, vines cracked, wind blades howled. But something was wrong.
Jimmy observed the alligator.
It moved... too slowly. Defensive. Controlled. It wasn't trying to win. It was stalling.
"…He's not fighting properly," Jimmy said aloud, frowning.
He glanced down at his timer.
[Time Remaining: 00:30:00]
[Next Update: 2s → 4s → 6s → 8s → …]
His eyes narrowed. The seconds were ticking unnaturally fast. The timer wasn't counting normally — every leap doubled until it raced past a minute in less than thirty seconds.
He clenched his jaw. "It started a while ago… and now it's accelerating."
Eloa leaned over his shoulder, reading. "S-So… the time isn't just for reaching the flags. I-I think…"
Her voice dropped in realization.
"…They give you a small window to grab the flags, and then… you have to survive for fifteen minutes. But if one team grabs the flag while others don't…"
She looked at him, pale.
"…The others will be forced to hunt them to survive. That's brutal…"
Jimmy folded his arms. "It's worse. This guardian Whisp—it's not just guarding. It's the bait."
He turned away from the scene, retreating into the shade of a tilted tree trunk. "Come on. Hide."
Eloa stumbled after him, whispering, "W-What's the plan?"
Jimmy crouched low, his face unreadable.
"…We wait. Just last two minutes."
"But… how?" she whispered, eyes flicking toward the raging fight ahead.
Jimmy smirked faintly.
"Why would we need a plan?" he said, tilting his head. "They already made enough mess for us."
Atmosphere as They Wait
The wind grew colder.
Behind the cover of tall shrubs and half-melted rocks, Jimmy and Eloa watched the chaos unfold. Water lashed out. A crystal-armored beast charged the guardian but was sent flying.
The timer continued skipping.
00:28:52… 00:28:44… 00:28:30…
The Guardian suddenly turned its head — not toward its attackers, but toward the flags. Its orange eyes glowed again.
Jimmy's gaze narrowed. "He's going to step away soon. That means the flags are about to be free."
To be Continued...