Fifty minutes had passed. Fifty minutes of orchestrated chaos, and I could feel the shift in the very air of the Ashborn Battle Zone. The VR battlefield wasn't quiet anymore. The distant, desperate sounds of screams, the sharp clang of steel, and the low, guttural roar of spells ripping the land apart had become a constant, ambient background music composed by a demon DJ. The sky, a bruised purple, flickered with the light of distant explosions.
It was time.
I rose from the broken patio chair of the ruined cafe, my movements slow and deliberate. My plan to wait, to let the other players exhaust themselves, was proceeding perfectly. But my other objective, the one forced upon me by a sentient, matchmaking System, required a more… proactive approach.
Then I saw them.
Two girls, stepping into the clearing ahead. They moved with the cautious grace of seasoned hunters, their eyes scanning the ruined landscape. Elegant. Deadly. And, thanks to Ashen's memories, painfully familiar.
If memory served right—and it always did—they were Juliana Vance and Clara Reed, inseparable friends and rivals from a minor noble house.
Well… not for long.
A slow, evil grin spread across my face. This was too perfect.
Juliana, the more sharp-eyed and cocky of the two, spotted me leaning against a crumbling wall. Her hand immediately went to the hilt of her sword.
"Hey, Mr. Exiled," she called out, her voice laced with the casual arrogance of her station. "Mind if we have the honor of beating your ass and claiming the bounty on your head?"
"Sure, Lady Juliana," I said smoothly, pushing myself off the wall. My voice was calm, almost friendly. "But may I ask something before we begin the festivities?"
"Go on," she shrugged, sharing an amused look with Clara.
I nodded solemnly, my expression shifting to one of grave concern. Time to set the trap.
"So… I've been hearing some interesting rumors lately," I began, my voice low and confidential. "About you. And about Prince Eren Whitehound."
She blinked, her bravado faltering for a second. "What?"
"Specifically…" I leaned in, as if sharing a terrible secret. "That you're in love with him. That you have been for years. Secretly stalking him. Studying his every move. Even taking… private photos of him when he's training, like some kind of high-budget paparazzi."
Juliana's face drained of all color. Clara gasped beside her.
"You're lying," Juliana whispered, her voice trembling.
"Am I?" I smiled, a sad, sympathetic expression on my face. "You see, a few of those… private photos… somehow made their way to Eren. Just before the assessment began. He was… not pleased."
Her voice cracked, the sound sharp and brittle in the quiet clearing. "I… how—no one knew. It was a secret between just the two of us—!"
Her eyes, wide with horror and betrayal, snapped to her friend.
Clara immediately held up her hands, her face a mask of panicked denial. "He's bluffing! Jules, don't listen to him! He's trying to divide us!"
But the seed of doubt had been planted. Juliana took a stumbling step back, her gaze locked on the girl she had trusted with her deepest secret.
"You… You promised," she whispered, the words choked with heartbreak. "I trusted you."
I poured gasoline on the fire, my voice a soft, pitying murmur.
"Maybe it was jealousy? Maybe spite? Who knows. Girls do crazy things when they're competing for the same prince, after all."
Their eyes locked. One pair filled with shattered trust, the other with desperate denial. Magic, raw and emotional, began to crackle in the air between them. Friendship, forged over years, collapsed in a single, tragic moment.
Let them fight.
I stepped back, melting into the shadows of the ruined cafe, my hands behind my head. I whistled a jaunty, off-key tune while they tore into each other. Spells flew, their vibrant colors a stark contrast to the ugly emotions fueling them. Hair got yanked. Swords, once used in synchronized training drills, now danced with a desperate, clumsy fury.
It was glorious.
Eventually, only Juliana stood, her body bruised and trembling, her fine robes torn, her mascara half-melted in the digital rain that had begun to fall.
"I—I'm ruined," she sobbed, dropping her sword. "How can I ever show my face to him again? I'm screwed…"
I stepped out of the shadows, giving her a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry," I said gently. "He'll never see you here…"
I stepped closer, my own shadow stretching beneath her, long and menacing.
"Because I'll help you vanish from this place."
Her eyes widened in confusion, then terror.
BOOM!
A Shadow Bomb, small but potent, exploded at her feet, blasting her across the clearing. She fell into my trap like a moth into a flamethrower.
I turned away, not even checking to see if she was still breathing.
[DING! VR SYSTEM UPDATE: Juliana Vance Eliminated]
→ 15 Students Remaining
"Nice."
One step closer to the top.
Then—in the distance, through the skeletal trees, I spotted something that made my stomach twist.
A flash of golden hair. A burst of lightning.
Aurelia.
She was surrounded, struggling against two opponents who moved with a terrifying, synchronized grace.
And not just anyone—the Whitehound siblings.
Noora and Eren.
The freak duo who could probably turn me into red paste in seconds if they caught me alone.
"Damn it…"
I couldn't send Volkin. He was my ace, my hidden trump card for the final fight. Revealing him now would be tactical suicide. I couldn't risk it.
So do I leave her? Let them finish her off and avoid an unnecessary, high-risk confrontation? The logical part of my brain, the part that was focused on survival, screamed yes.
But then the system chimed in, its voice smug and infuriatingly helpful.
[SYSTEM ADVICE MODE: ENABLED]
"Aurelia Dawncrest can serve as a powerful tactical counter to the protagonist, Rin."
"She possesses a rare Lightning Affinity. Rin, as you know, relies on Water-based magic. If terrain and timing are used properly, you hold a significant advantage in any future confrontation. Her survival is strategically beneficial."
"Tch… Fine."
"I'll save her," I muttered to myself. "Besides, I've got some old scores to settle with the Whitehounds."
I crept into position, my Shadow Veil masking my presence as I moved through the undergrowth. The Whitehounds didn't notice me yet; they were too focused on overwhelming Aurelia, their attacks a relentless barrage of ice and steel.
I summoned the shadows, my control more fluid, more natural than ever before.
Silently.
Shape shifting. Building. Bending.
Shadow Creation: Arrows.
Dozens of them materialized from the darkness around me, sleek and silent, each one laced with a potent, disruptive dark mana.
"Let's make an entrance."
I fired.
The arrows flew like a swarm of bats from hell, slicing through the air without a sound. Silent. Deadly.
Two aimed for Eren's left flank, forcing him to break his attack pattern. Three more shot toward Noora's blind spot, disrupting her spell-casting. A whole cluster rained down from above, designed not to wound, but to create chaos.
Their eyes, wide with surprise, snapped toward me—too late.
"Round two, Whitehounds," I whispered, a predatory grin spreading across my face. "Let's dance."
To be continued…