Four edges. Four Person.... One prize!
Leo stood firmly across from Ophis, his gaze unwavering. On the opposite side, Valra faced Pride with narrowed eyes. All four of them were locked in a tense state and focused on the sa target at the centre—the Arcanum Eidolon.
Ophis smirked, her lips curling as she lazily scanned the trio. Just one wrong step, even a shift in weight, could tilt the entire stone platform they were all standing on.
She was their only hope to reach the relic.
Her eyes, locked with Valra’s glare, were sharp, filled with distrust and suppressed rage. It was obvious Valra didn’t like her.
Not that Ophis cared.
And Pride? Definitely not an option.
That left one.
"Little boy, I’ll take the relic, and then we all get out of here alive. It’s a win-win, don’t you think?"
Ophis tilted her head slightly, looking at Leo with an amused expression and the faintest trace of mockery.
Leo didn’t answer. His face was blank, unreadable.
Ophis suddenly stepped forward—her boot pressing heavily on the edge of the platform.
Everyone flinched.
The platform groaned. A shudder ran through its core as the balance shifted dangerously. Ophis watched with curiosity as the others adjusted their stances in a hurry, spreading their legs to stabilise themselves, their eyes briefly filled with panic.
"What do you think now?"
Ophis asked, her tone laced with mischief, her voice smooth like a predator playing with her prey.
Leo’s jaw clenched. He took a breath, then gave a short nod.
"L-Leo?"
Valra frowned deeply, her brows furrowed in concern.
"Our safety cos first,"
Leo replied, his voice calm but firm. His eyes flicked to Pride, who t his look with a small nod and slowly lowered her sword.
Ophis smiled. She hadn’t expected this.
No fight, no drama? Just cooperation? That was rare. Perhaps, fate truly was smiling on her today.
Inwardly, she exhaled, relief warming her chest. She wasn’t going to die today... not by her father’s hand, at least.
"Well then—"
"Hold on. How exactly do you plan to take it?"
Leo cut in, a subtle smirk forming on his face. "Obviously, if you move on your own, the platform will collapse. So... we need to move together, step by step, keeping the balance. Right?"
She tilted her head, considering his logic.
"Makes sense... but," she humd softly, her expression turning cautious, "what if one of you uses this chance to betray and snatch the relic? I can’t ignore the possibility."
Her gaze swept over all three of them, landing squarely on Pride for a mont.
"We won’t try anything. Believe , our lives matter more than that," Leo said, his tone growing more serious, steady. "You know ... don’t you?"
Ophis looked at him long and hard.
Did she know him? Kind of.
Enough to understand he was different. After all, he had spared her before. Even hesitated when it ca to killing that bastard Kai.
Maybe... just maybe... she could place a little faith in him.
"Fine," she said at last, shrugging with a grin. "But I’ll be..."
Without warning, she leapt forward—two steps in one motion. The entire platform tilted, violently.
"OI!"
"Brat!"
"Tsk!"
The others panicked, spreading their legs wide, shifting weight frantically to regain control of the platform.
"... two steps ahead of you,"
Ophis finished smugly, glancing back at them with a satisfied grin. The expressions on their faces—annoyed, furious, barely composed—made her chuckle.
She liked it.
"Wait... isn’t it closing?"
Valra’s voice cut through the mont. She stared at the relic. The stone petals, each one carved with runes, were slowly folding inward. The brilliant flas that hissed at the core began to flicker, dimming like a dying torch.
"Looks like we’re running out of ti," Pride added grimly, her face hardening.
There was no ti left to argue or plan. They had to move—now. Step by step, they inched forward, the platform groaning under every shift of weight. It trembled, tilted, but they managed to hold their ground, barely keeping it steady. Every movent sent their bodies shaking, muscles tight with strain and fear.
Leo’s legs trembled uncontrollably. Sweat poured down his face, soaking into his shirt. The tension was unbearable. One wrong step, one misjudgnt—and everything would fall apart.
He would lose Valra, his girlfriend, and Pride, his trusted partner.
And if he hesitated, he’d lose sothing else—One billion.
The stakes were crushing him. His breath grew heavy. His heart pounded.
He had to make a decision.
Family?
One billion?
As they crept closer, every second a tightrope, the relic’s petals closed even more. Just one, barely two, remained open now.
Ti was almost gone.
Leo quickly glanced at Pride. She t his gaze instantly. They didn’t speak. There was no need... A nod.
Understanding passed between them.
Pride turned to Valra.
Another nod.
Ophis, anwhile, kept her focus solely on the relic. The prize was right in front of her. Close enough to taste. She didn’t care what the others were planning. She knew, deep in her gut, that no matter what they did—she was going to win this.
Finally, she stood before the relic. Her breath hitched, awe and tension swelling in her chest as a chilling sensation seeped into her body. The closer she got, the colder it beca, yet it wasn’t unpleasant.
It was like inhaling a strange, purer kind of air—one that cald her nerves and made her senses spin in a dazed, dreamlike haze.
Her hands slowly rose, fingers trembling, reaching toward the glowing relic. The last of the petals creaked closed, leaving just one open. To all watching, ti felt as if it had slowed to a crawl.
Her fingers were about to grace the surface of the ancient, humming relic when—
Sssshhh!
A sudden gust sliced the silence. A single, curved deck card slashed through the air and appeared between her finger and the relic, forcing her to jerk back in surprise.
"What the—"
Before she could finish,
THUD!!
With brutal force, Pride slamd her foot against the platform, sending a violent tremor across its surface. In a blur of motion, she lunged forward and tackled Ophis, shoving her aside just as Valra leapt from the far side, landing hard to counterbalance the tilt.
Her boots skidding and creaking as yellow flas erupted beneath her feet to stabilise the tilt.
For a split second, the platform stabilised.
But it didn’t last.
The montum shifted violently. The entire structure began to tip again, this ti collapsing dangerously toward Pride and Ophis’s side.
"Hold it—!" Valra growled.
With a fierce stomp, Valra drove her foot down with all her strength. A pulse of yellow fla surged out from under her boots, lashing toward the centre. The shock of her strike created just enough counter-force.
Pride saw the mont. Without hesitation, she seized it. Still gripping Ophis like a prisoner, she used Valra’s blast as a springboard and launched herself upward—one arm wrapped tightly around Ophis’s torso like a protective, iron embrace.
And then Leo moved—his eyes burning with urgency, feet kicking off the unsteady stone.
In less than a heartbeat, all four were airborne... Their bodies twisted in motion, arms stretched out, fingers wide open.
All of them were aiming for the relic.
In that single blink, the entire world fell silent.
Their hands reached toward it—fingertips brushing the space around it, breath frozen in their lungs.
Leo’s fingers, just a little farther—
The last petal slowly closed atop the bloom, flas curling around it, until only the thinnest wisp remained...
A breathless grin flickered on Leo’s face as his fingertip grazed the relic’s cold surface—
"Do you think I’ll let you take it? Hehe~"
Clang. Clang...
A cold, tallic rattle echoed through the void. Before anyone could react, in a heartbeat—
BOOOMMMM!!!
A massive, mist-shrouded flail—a spiked iron ball, huge crashed down onto the relic.
The impact shattered the platform in an instant, reducing it to a thousand fragnts.
Crack.
TTRRRRRR!!!
Everyone’s eyes widened as they were hurled backwards by the shockwave. Leo, Valra, and Pride, still gripping Ophis, were sent flying, fragnts of the shattered platform tumbling around them.
Thud!
They crashed into the darkness below.... vanishing into the void along with the crumbling remains of the platform.
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