Atticus couldn't understand their strange language, not even close, but he instinctively knew that what the man on the wall had just said was bad, incredibly bad.
And his instinct proved to be true as the captain at the front of the group suddenly stood up straight from the bow and instantly removed his helmet, revealing his completely bald and white head.
Then, the man's gaze turned away from the captain and focused on the rest of the group, not uttering a word. His gaze was more than enough.
Atticus's mind spun, his heart pounding in his chest.
This was a master rank they were dealing with. If he had been at his full power, Atticus wouldn't put this man in his eyes. But he wasn't, and currently an expert rank individual was a big problem, not to mention a master rank.
If he was caught, Atticus doubted he could escape, especially when Aurora was with him.
Atticus's thoughts raced like a sprinter nearing the finish line, each idea flashing by in a blur as he desperately looked for an escape route out of this situation.
His mind felt like a tangled web of threads, each one leading to a dead end or a dangerous outcome.
He was grasping at mental straws, hoping to latch onto something, anything, that could save him from the impending disaster.
Every second felt like an eternity as he frantically sifted through his memories, searching for a solution.
But despite all of this, nothing, absolutely nothing came to mind.
They were screwed.
Atticus's hand clenched hard, subtly lowering his hand towards his back. He made hand gestures to Aurora, who instantly narrowed her eyes, her expression focused.
They were simple gestures that even a toddler would understand: get ready to run.
Atticus manipulated the water in each dead soldier, healing the cuts on their necks. He then controlled them, their hands moving upwards and grabbing their helmets and slowly started pulling upwards.
Atticus's plan was as simple as it was idiotic. He was going to create a distraction despite how small it was. All he needed was a slight chance, and he was going to give it his all.
The forms of the dead soldiers slowly removed their helmets.
Atticus made sure they were still bowed so that the man wouldn't be able to see their eyes. He could control a lot of things in their bodies, but their eyes weren't one of them.
They each removed their helmets and placed them by their sides.
Then, the man's gaze turned towards the figures of the two who still hadn't removed their helmets, Atticus and Aurora.
Atticus placed his arms on his helmet, and Aurora, seeing this, also mimicked his movements. The pace at which they both pulled off their helmets was akin to a snail's pace, utterly slow.
The tension of the moment was palpable, and this was even more so back at the coliseum. At this point in time, every single one of the students' hearts was pounding, multiple finger indentations had already formed on the handles of their seats.
The area where the Ravensteins were seated was utterly silent, each of them already holding hands, praying to only the gods know who. Even the ever-serious Hella wasn't excluded.
But out of everyone in the coliseum, surprisingly, the one who was most anxious was Gon, the host. Gon had already bitten through all of his fingernails, moving on to the skin.
'Please, no, please, no,' he had placed everything he had on this bet. Gon had simply been that confident considering all of his wins. If Atticus was discovered by this man now, it would be all over!
He'd end up broke!
Gon could feel the gazes of other operators on him, gazes that were filled with nothing more than mockery. But he completely ignored them and focused on Atticus's screen.
'Please, a miracle, a miracle,' Gon had constantly witnessed Atticus showcase miracles upon miracles constantly. Although the situation was saying otherwise, Gon couldn't help but hope for one. With his eyes closed, he prayed.
In the next moment, it was as though something or someone answered Gon's prayer.
An explosion, as loud as it was deafening, suddenly resounded followed by the surprised exclamations of the millions of youths watching the screen.
Gon's gaze snapped open, his eyes focusing back on the screen where a new development had come into play. The scene was akin to audiences watching and reacting to a movie at a cinema.
Atticus and Aurora's movements stopped simultaneously, their gazes fixed on the figure of the man on top of the wall.
The explosion that had just sounded had come from within the city, and the man's gaze had just snapped towards the direction it came from, his gaze narrowed.
Without as much as a single glance, the man suddenly entered the compartment he came out from in a hurry, its form going back into the wall.
Before any of them could wonder what was going on, a small door suddenly opened up at the bottom of the wall.
The captain suddenly turned towards Atticus and the other group members and said something Atticus couldn't understand, but he could feel the urgency in his tone.
Without waiting for a response, the captain ran towards the opened door and immediately entered.
A heavy exhale escaped Atticus's mouth, his form staggering forward one step as he stopped his actions of orchestrating their breathing and their heartbeats.
Aurora turned to look at him, her gaze worried. But she didn't move; she knew better than to make that mistake here.
Atticus quickly got himself back together and controlled the three bodies, their figures moving towards and entering the small door that had opened up with Atticus and Aurora following behind.
As soon as they entered, the door closed behind them.
Entering through the door, Atticus and Aurora were met with a pristine white, long hallway-like space.
'This must be inside the wall,' Atticus thought.
Their steps didn't pause, and after a few moments of walking, they reached the other end, stepping through the opened door.
For the second time in a few minutes, Atticus and Aurora's gazes widened once more as their eyes landed upon the city of the bone race.
Everything was… white.