No matter how much he tried to ignore it, Nigel had never been the kind of person to leave someone behind.

  "I see… thanks," William muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

  Dovak suddenly pressed his palm to the ground. "Someone’s coming." His tone sharpened. "It’s a woman."

  Nigel stilled. "How far?"

  "Close."

  William’s throat tightened. "What do we do?"

  Nigel’s response was calm. Too calm.

  "Not many options. We wait. If she comes at us with bad intentions, it’s three against one. Shouldn’t take long to get rid of her."

  The cold, matter-of-fact way he said it sent a chill down William’s spine.

  He suddenly remembered the first words he had ever heard Nigel say.

  "No need to start killing each other just yet."

  Had he misunderstood?

  Maybe Nigel hadn’t been advocating for peace.

  Maybe he had been lulling his opponent into a false sense of security before striking.

  Was that what he was doing now?

  The thought terrified him.

  But… he had saved his life.

  That had to count for something.

  William swallowed hard. "And… what if she doesn’t want to fight?"

  "Then we all go on our way and prevent unnecessary killing, " Nigel replied.

  William exhaled, tension easing from his shoulders.

  Dovak, however, wasn’t relaxed. He pressed his ear to the ground, his expression turning serious. "Wait a second… I can feel metal vibrations. Coming from her."

  Nigel’s fingers tightened around Reaper’s handle. "A weapon?"

  Dovak shook his head. "No… it’s different. The vibrations aren’t separate from her body. It’s like they’re fused together."

  That was enough of an answer.

  "Guess we’ll find out soon enough," Nigel murmured, weapon still in hand.

  Minutes passed.

  The night air was still, the alley around them silent.

  Too silent.

  Dovak’s posture suddenly tensed.

  "She’s close." His voice dropped to a whisper.

  They pressed against the alley wall, barely breathing.

  She was just a few meters away.

  Yet they still hadn’t heard a single footstep.

  Then—her presence changed.

  She stopped moving.

  A voice, smooth and steady, cut through the silence.

  "If you’re planning an ambush," she called out, "I should let you know—I already heard all three of you."

  Nigel exhaled quietly. She had picked up on them before Dovak sensed her vibrations.

  Interesting.

  Dovak was the first to step forward, then Nigel, then William.

  "That wasn’t our intention, miss," Dovak said, his usual confidence returning.

  The woman's silhouette stood just beyond the alley’s dim light. She was poised, unreadable, watching them with a quiet patience that put Nigel on edge.

  "Then why were you waiting for me?"

  Nigel met her gaze. "We were only going to attack if you showed hostility first."

  A pause.

  Then—"I see."

  William, who had stayed silent until now, finally took a better look at her.

  She wasn’t much older than them.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  A sleeveless military-style shirt, matching cargo pants. Everything about her was practical, built for movement, efficiency.

  But what caught his attention wasn’t her outfit, it was the way she stood. Like someone who had never once doubted their ability to survive.

  But her most striking feature wasn’t her presence.

  It was the exoskeleton fused to her body.

  Unlike the bulky, external exosuits used in older generations, hers barely protruded from the skin, seamlessly integrated into her arms—and likely her legs as well.

  Her hands weren’t flesh and bone.

  They were metal.

  Her face was mostly concealed by a sleek black helmet, revealing only pale skin, soft pink lips, and a few strands of red hair that had slipped free.

  She studied them, unbothered.

  "So?" she asked.

  Nigel and Dovak exchanged glances. Neither spoke.

  William, however, stepped forward.

  "Excuse me," he said, voice more nervous than he probably intended. "Would you like to join our team? I think the more of us there are, the bett—"

  "No."

  She cut him off without hesitation.

  "I barely know you. For all I know, you could be planning to kill me."

  William froze.

  Nigel rubbed his chin. "Fair."

  Dovak grinned slightly. "If we wanted to attack you, we’d have done it already." He spread his arms. "See? No sudden moves."

  She wasn’t amused.

  "Listen." She had already started turning away. "I don’t intend to fight you. I also don’t intend to join you. I have more important things to deal with. If you survive and we cross paths again, I might reconsider."

  She stepped past them but paused briefly, glancing over her shoulder.

  Her eyes locked onto Dovak.

  "And constantly tracking vibrations is a double-edged sword." Her tone was calm, almost indifferent. "You can find anyone… but anyone with half a brain can find you too."

  Dovak’s smirk faded slightly.

  Before he could respond, she was gone—vanishing between the buildings as if she had never been there.

  Silence settled between them.

  Not the tense, dangerous kind.

  A relieved kind.

  Because even though none of them had wanted to fight her, somewhere deep inside, they all knew the truth.

  Even if they had attacked her together, she might have won.

  Dovak was the first to break the quiet.

  He ripped a strip of dried meat from his ration pack, chewing lazily. "So. Did you see that exoskeleton?"

  William nodded, still processing. "It was fused to her body. That’s not normal, right?"

  "Not at all," Nigel said. "Most exoskeletons are worn like armor, not implanted." He exhaled. "If I had to guess… she probably hits harder than the three of us combined."

  Dovak chuckled. "Yeah, I got that impression."

  "But…" Nigel continued, gaze thoughtful. "She’s strong, but I don’t think she’s too far ahead of us."

  William barely registered what his teammates were saying.

  His mind was stuck on that woman.

  The only part of her he had seen clearly was the lower half of her face. A delicate nose, sharp lips, and strands of red hair swaying lightly as she moved.

  He found himself wishing he had seen the rest of her face.

  "Hey."

  Nigel snapped his fingers in front of him, pulling him back to reality.

  "S-Sorry, I got distracted," William mumbled.

  "We need to move," Nigel said. "We still don’t know when this event will end, and there are only eight hours left before this Stage ends. We need to collect more Diamantines."

  "On the hunt, then!" Dovak grinned. "I bet there are teams out there slaughtering everyone in sight. We should go for them first."

  "Look," Nigel said, his tone firm. "Maybe killing isn’t pleasant, but if we barely trust each other, I don’t think we should go soft on anyone we run into. That girl just now was the exception because she did not try to attack us. If someone does not show hostility, we let them go. But if they do…” He tapped Reaper’s handle. "We take them out."

  "Understood," William said, his voice steady.

  With that, the three of them moved through the tight streets of the city.

  Occasionally, a wide avenue appeared just a block or two away, but they avoided it.

  Too open. Too exposed.

  Still, no matter how much they tried to stick to the shadows, the shifting city always seemed to pull them back toward the main roads.

  Nothing stayed the same for long.

  Nearly an hour passed with no encounters.

  Nigel was beginning to suspect they were walking in circles.

  Then—

  They found a building.

  It was shorter than the surrounding structures, with massive glass doors and windows covered in faded posters advertising products and sales.

  "A supermarket?" Nigel muttered, stepping closer. His eyes scanned the signs in confusion. "What the hell is this?"

  He pointed at a picture of a strange metal can with symbols written across a green label.

  The letters looked ancient.

  Almost like the writing of civilizations lost to time.

  "Check this out," William said, pointing at another poster a few meters away.

  It showed a woman.

  She was young, dressed in a flowing purple gown, her skin a deep bronze, her eyes an unnatural shade of fluorescent green. She wore a radiant smile, holding a glass bottle filled with an unknown liquid, its label covered in the same indecipherable script.

  "A… Druid?" Dovak said, furrowing his brow. He recognized her at a glance. "Why the hell would there be an advertisement featuring a Druid… written in their language… in a Tournament Stage?"

  "Maybe it’s just decoration," Nigel suggested. "But hold on—what exactly is a Druid?"

  Dovak crossed his arms. "They’re an ancient race… supposedly as old as the Genesis Gods, even previous to whatever was before the Rings. But no one has seen a real one in ages. People think they went extinct."

  "Like the Debianites," he added, his voice quieter.

  Nigel raised an eyebrow.

  That was interesting.

  But it wasn’t worth dwelling on. Not with everything at stake.

  William, however, felt something spark inside him.

  Curiosity.

  "What happened to your people?" he asked.

  His usual shyness was gone.

  When it came to knowledge—William never hesitated.

  "It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you when things calm down."

  William frowned but didn’t push further. "Alright… then what if—"

  A thunderous explosion cut him off.

  A section of a nearby building erupted, sending concrete and debris flying. The shockwave sent a tremor through the ground, and the three barely dodged the falling wreckage. Their eyes met. No words needed. They moved.

  Nigel, Dovak, and William pressed themselves against the supermarket’s outer wall, taking cover. From there, they had a clear view of the destruction.

  Dovak narrowed his eyes. "I see something."

  Through the smoke and fire, a massive black tank rolled forward. Its turret swiveled slowly, scanning for targets.

  "I think they saw us but missed the shot," Nigel muttered. "We need to get inside. We can’t take on a tank."

  Dovak nodded. "Agreed."

  They slipped through one of the entrances, moving as quietly as possible.

  "Gotcha!"

  A voice blared through an external speaker, metallic and distorted.

  Then—another deafening blast.

  The shell struck just behind them, close enough to throw William off balance. He staggered, disoriented.

  Nigel grabbed his arm and hauled him inside.

  Dovak whistled. "Hell of a shot, pal. You almost hit something." He laughed, but his grip tightened on his weapon.

  "Get ready!" Nigel barked, shaking William to snap him back to focus.

  With a grinding roar, the tank plowed straight into the supermarket entrance.

  The impact sent walls crumbling, steel beams twisting, and shattered glass raining down. By the time the dust settled, the behemoth of a machine was wedged between the wreckage, blocking their only way out.

  Another fight was about to start.