Chapter 300: Plot Twist
The next platform the team landed on changed its descent and ascent speed dramatically after they touched down, as unlike the one before it, this one didn’t wobble at all, yet its pacing was entirely different.
The drop was sharp, almost sudden, while the rise that followed was painfully slow and uneven, as though the platform no longer cared to obey any rhythm at all.
There was no predictable pattern to its motion anymore, which made predicting the timing of the next jump very hard, as the team now had to wing it on vibes alone.
"Well, this changes the dynamic completely," Karl said as he steadied his footing near the center. "If we can’t reliably predict how each island reacts after we land on it, then mapping a clean path forward is going to be near impossible."
Everyone nodded quietly, eyes already on the next platform, as they realized that from this point onward, every jump was sure to be a gamble.
They waited roughly twenty minutes to make the third jump.
Then, as the next island finally drifted within range and its surface aligned for just a brief moment, they leapt—
*Thud*
All four of them cleared the four-meter gap with ease, landing one after another with soft, controlled impacts.
This new platform was larger than any of the ones before.
Not only was it broad and stable, but it was also perfectly flat and slow-moving, as this was the first platform they’d stepped onto that didn’t alter its trajectory after being landed on.
"I think we’ll be here for a while," Raiden said, watching the platform ahead drift in long, lazy arcs, far out of reach for the foreseeable future.
"Yeah... half an hour, maybe an hour and a half," Leo added after timing the rotations, before dropping down onto his back and lying flat against the cool stone.
With no disagreements, the others followed suit and took the chance to rest, while Karl silently unfastened his gear and pulled out a compact burner plate, setting it up near the center of the platform where the wind was weakest.
He got to work preparing a proper meal.
The scent that followed was surprisingly pleasant—warm and earthy, with a faint herbal edge—and after days of chewing through dense nutrient bricks and choking down flavorless energy vials, it felt like a luxury.
They settled into place, not in a circle, but scattered across the platform—each man facing a different direction, their eyes occasionally scanning the drifting islands above, as even in rest, none of them let their guard fully down.
Leo sat near the edge, his arms resting loosely over his knees as the endless twilight painted his features in shades of ash and gray. He didn’t speak. Just stared out at the sky in silence, his thoughts finally still.
The canyon’s music drifted upward in soft waves, quieter now—no longer something to be heard, but something simply there, like a second layer of air wrapping around the wind.
When Karl handed him a warm tin bowl, Leo nodded once in thanks and accepted it. His fingers curled around the metal without resistance, and he began eating slowly, chewing methodically, not just for energy, but for the illusion of peace.
For a moment, it almost felt like he was back in the normal world.
Back where dinner wasn’t followed by a dozen near-death encounters.
Time passed slowly.
Nothing moved.
For the first time in days, there were no enemies on their trail. No cursed terrain beneath their feet. No looming sense of collapse pressing down on their every breath.
Just stone. Wind. Sky. And silence.
Eventually, Leo allowed himself to stretch out fully, his legs flat, his hands folded beneath his head, his gaze unfocused as the light above dulled just slightly.
He didn’t mean to sleep.
He told himself he’d just rest his eyes. Just until his shoulders stopped aching. Just until the weight behind his skull faded.
But exhaustion had already made the choice for him.
His breathing slowed.
His hands loosened.
And beneath the soft, eternal hum rising from the canyon floor...
Leo drifted off.
—-------
(45 minutes later)
"Skyshard, wake up," Raiden’s voice rang in his ears, sharp and steady, as Leo’s eyes snapped open and his body responded without hesitation.
He was up and alert in an instant, years of conditioning washing away the fog of rest, as he rose to his feet and moved toward the ledge without a word.
"It’s time to make the next jump," Raiden said, already watching the platform ahead, as Leo joined him and began studying the movement patterns— counting the rise, tracking the dip, and measuring the distance, before finally nodding in affirmation once the timing lined up.
"I’ll go first—" Leo declared, before launching himself off the edge the moment the arcs aligned, as he made the jump with ease.
Raiden followed immediately after, his leap slightly shorter but still controlled, as he landed near Leo and rolled his shoulders out of habit.
Bob and Karl came next, each clearing the jump without issue, as the fourth platform barely shifted beneath their combined weight.
"Woohoo, another easy jump!" Karl celebrated after making it. However, it was only then that the team realized that the platform they were on had completely stopped moving.
It was imperceptible at first, as the slow moving platform slowed down even more until it grinded to a halt.
However, once it stopped completely, the team could observe how their position was stationary compared to their environment, and that was when they realized that they were in a peril.
From here, the platform ahead was visibly higher, with it being at least 30 meters high even at its lowest point.
And while the jump itself was not far in terms of distance, the elevation made it nearly impossible to reach with a regular leap, no matter how well-timed.
"Well fuck.... I did not expect that—" Karl said, as his excitement turned to depression real fast.
Leo stared at the gap, then at the ledge beneath his boots, as he calculated the best path forward.
"I think we can make it with a boost. If one of us stays behind and gives a physical boost, we can make it to the other side.
And once three of us have crossed, two of us can dangle Karl from over the ledge by his feet, use him as a human hook, while the last one makes the jump—" Leo proposed, as after thinking about it for a while, both Bob and Raiden nodded.
"Alright, but who stays behind? I’m heavy so I say I go first—" Bob said, as Leo nodded and volunteered to come last.
"I’ll go last... come on, I’m ready to boost you," Leo said, clutching his palms together and bending slightly at the knees, as Bob gave him a firm nod and stepped back to prepare for the run-up.
With a short charge and a well-timed jump, Bob planted his boot into Leo’s hands as Leo launched him upward with perfect form, sending him clean across the gap, where he landed with a slight skid before finding his balance.
Raiden came next.
No words were exchanged between them. He just gave Leo a nod and ran forward, hitting the boost point with smooth precision, as Leo thrust upward once more, sending Raiden into a clean arc that ended in a solid landing beside Bob.
Karl was last.
He dusted off his palms, gave Leo a quick grin, and backed up a few paces, before running forward and launching off the boost with practiced ease.
His landing was graceful, almost theatrical, as he came to a soft stop near the others and turned around without missing a beat.
Leo exhaled once, relaxing his hands and stepping back to prepare for his own jump.
This was nothing new.
Just a final leap.
He took a few slow steps back, gauged the distance, and waited for the platform’s dip to settle into its next rise.
Meanwhile Raiden and Bob gripped Karl by the ankles, lowering him slowly until his arms dangled toward the ledge, fingers outstretched to catch Leo’s hand.
Then as everything was ready, he sprinted forward.
The canyon wind rushed past his ears once again as he hurled himself into the air, every muscle locked on a single target— Karl’s outstretched hand waiting just beyond the edge.
*Woosh*
He made the jump precisely, jumping a monstrous 25 meters with sheer power, as he stretched his body to its limits, arms reaching out to the maximum as his momentum carried him across the gap.
He saw Karl’s eyes.
He saw the calm in his face as he waited to catch the outstretched palm.
However, just after he jumped, he saw that calm demeanor change real quick, as his face contorted into an evil smile.
’Huh?’ Leo wondered, as right when he was supposed to catch Karl’s palm, he shrunk it back, pulling it just out of reach, as his fingers brushed the edge.
It wasn’t a flinch.
It wasn’t a slip.
It was deliberate.
Karl’s fingers retracted with perfect timing, as the smile widened faintly and his lips moved in silence.
"The cult sends its regards."
The words weren’t spoken, but were rather mouthed with intent—just enough that Raiden and Bob would never hear them, but Leo would see them being lipped, and would think about them in his final moments.
’The fuck?’
Leo wondered, his eyes widening in disbelief as he twisted mid-air, his fingers scraping empty air while his weight began to drop.
There was no time to react.
No ledge to grab.
No hand reaching back.
Only the feeling of his stomach collapsing inward as gravity took full hold and he fell.
’Am I going to die here?’ Leo wondered, as no scream left his mouth and the world around him slowed down.
The wind roared past him, louder than before, and the pale twilight above began to fade from view, shrinking further with every second, as the black abyss below opened wide to swallow him whole.
And in that endless moment—
As betrayal wrapped itself tighter than the wind ever could—
Leo finally realized who the problem in his group really was.