Chapter 20: Unexpected Twist
Leo's gamble to stay on the terrace paid off.
For the last half hour of the test, nobody dared to set foot on the terrace, giving Leo and Felix a free ride to qualification.
Whether it was due to fear, fatigue, or simply the fact that most of the remaining contestants were too preoccupied with their own fights, the terrace remained undisturbed.
125 Pairs Remaining.
As soon as the number on the Counter hit 125, a loud horn blared across the prison grounds, marking the end of the brutal qualification test.
Leo's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the horn, the sudden loud noise startling him.
However, once the initial shock faded, relief quickly flooded through him, a heavy weight lifting from his chest.
He had made it. He had survived.
'I actually survived,' he thought, the realization settling over him like a soothing balm.
But as relief gave way to reflection, another thought surfaced, the question of 'What now?'
Leo's gaze dropped to the Counter strapped to his waist, its red digits now frozen at 125. The number signified his success, his progress. But beyond that, it offered no answers.
'Do I finally get the answers I've been searching for? About this place? About myself?' he wondered, but before he could delve deeper into the subject, his thoughts were interrupted by an excited shriek.
"We did it! We actually did it, Leo!" Felix cried, his voice brimming with unrestrained joy.
Before Leo could react, Felix charged toward him, arms outstretched for an exuberant hug.
"No, no! We are not at the hug stage yet–" Leo rejected, trying to prevent Felix from hugging him, but the fatty seemed undeterred.
He kept charging towards Leo despite Leo's protest, only for the teleportation crystal to flare into life at the last second, teleporting both of them out of the prison terrace in an instant.
*********
When the glow of the teleportation crystal subsided, Leo found himself standing in a strange, sterile room, with Felix being beside him a few feet away.
The confusion arising from sudden teleportation seemed to have stopped him from following through on the hug plan, as he folded his arms and studied the new surroundings he found himself in cautiously.
The new space was enormous, a vast sea of white tiles, each marked with a single black circle in its center.
As Felix scanned the room, he managed to count 125 tiles in total, each one housing a pair of contestants, all of whom seemed equally as confused as him at the sudden teleportation.
"What the hell is this place?" Felix muttered, while rubbing his temples.
"Why's everyone just... standing around? What's going on?"
Leo didn't answer immediately, his focus fixed on their surroundings.
The room was unnervingly empty—no visible exits, no obvious indicators of what was to come. Just the stark whiteness and the oppressive weight of uncertainty.
"Leo?" Felix pressed, his voice louder this time, tinged with worry.
"What are we supposed to do now?" he asked again, but before Leo could respond, a sharp click echoed from above, followed by a mechanical hiss.
Leo snapped his head upward just in time to see transparent glass sheets descending from the ceiling.
The sound was haunting—a low, rhythmic thud-thud-thud as each sheet slid into place with precise, unnerving efficiency.
Click.
Clunk.
The glass panels locked into the ground, forming perfectly sealed cubes around each pair, isolating them from one another.
The faint reverberations of the glass settling traveled through the floor, sending a chill up Leo's spine.
"What the—?!" Felix yelped, his hands pressing against the glass wall now enclosing them. He tapped on it nervously, his voice rising in panic. "Leo! What is this?! Why are we in a damn box?!"
Leo remained silent, his jaw tightening as he observed the grid of glass cells around them. The faint reflections of the other contestants' confused faces mirrored their own unease.
Bzzzz~~
At that moment, a sudden burst of static cut through the tension, followed by a voice booming from hidden speakers.
"Congratulations to all contestants for making it this far," the deep, authoritative tone announced, silencing the room.
The voice was unmistakable, it was Major Silver Paige.
"The first stage was designed to assess how you function as a team. Whether you could protect a weak target, or collaborate with a strong ally. But teamwork will only take you so far."
The Major's words carried a chilling weight, his tone both measured and merciless.
"The second stage will determine if you have what it takes to become an assassin."
Leo's stomach clenched as the words hung in the air, a sense of dread creeping over him. He had thought that the entrance test was already over, but apparently it was not.
"The academy accepts only 125 individuals each calendar year," the Major continued. "And we are not about to break that tradition now."
"Out of the 125 pairs standing before me, only one candidate from each pair will be permitted to enroll. The other 125 must lose their lives."
A collective gasp rippled through the room, muffled by the glass walls, while Felix stumbled back from the pane, his face pale as a sheet.
"This can't be happening," Felix muttered, his voice cracking. "They're not serious, are they?"
Leo said nothing, his attention fixed on the Major's voice as it continued.
"This is a fight to the death," the Major declared, his tone cold and unyielding.
"You have 25 minutes....."
"Fail to win, and both candidates in a pair will be disqualified."
"Win, and you will earn a chance to become one of the universe's finest assassins."
Static crackled once again as the Major's voice disappeared, leaving only the oppressive silence of the room behind.
Felix turned to Leo, his hands trembling. "Leo... what do we do?!" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
But Leo didn't answer. His sharp gaze remained locked on the dagger in his hand, his mind already racing through the grim reality they faced.