"Jump, jump, jump, jump!" Genius shouted from behind Haru.

"Shut up, you’re distracting me!"

"She’s almost got us!"

"It would be good if you came down and helped!"

"Dude, I don’t have any mana! It would be good if we shared..."

"Get down!"

A beam of light passed by Haru; it was Seline’s spear flying.

He had to turn in mid-air, with a sudden movement causing Genius to fall from his back.

Genius landed on a small platform, slipped, and grabbed the edges with his hands.

"Ah, damn it!" he said, trying to get up.

A hand was extended to him.

"Ah, thanks..."

But as the hand pulled him, he noticed who it was.

It was Seline, spear in the other hand, hood covering her face.

"Fuck it!"

Haru appeared, already attacking, delivering six kicks to Seline in mid-air, spinning her body.

Each kick was imbued with Valtherion flames, red fire exploding with each contact.

She had to let go of Genius, defending herself with her spear, blocking the kicks.

She jumped away from Haru, creating distance.

"Valtherion flames..." she remembered from their last fight. "The last time he unleashed his Aura... he burned me..."

She touched her forehead inside her hood, the burn still there, stinging.

"And it’s not just a mere healing spell that passes... and it burns so much..."

And when Haru realized it, Genius was falling.

"Aahhh!"

"Damn it!" Haru jumped. "Hang on!"

Another beam of light passed quickly through him. "Hmm..."

Genius fell, there were platforms in sight, but he didn’t have enough mana to maneuver.

"I knew I should have trained my mana cultivation!"

The beam that had passed Haru was Seline’s spear that had reached Genius.

And suddenly Seline appeared in the same spot as the spear, teleporting, grabbing Genius by the collar, and propelling herself to a nearby platform, throwing him to safety.

"GENIUS!" Haru shouted.

Seline jumped back to another platform.

Haru fell immediately afterward, piercing the spot where she had been.

Vorath slammed hard into the platform, cracking it.

Genius climbed onto Haru’s back again.

"Jump... jump, jump!"

"Stay calm!" Haru said, turning to Seline on the other platform.

"What do you want?" Haru asked loudly.

Father Elias called out another name in the distance, another Gamer being captured, a scream echoing.

"Don’t bargain with witches, Haru!" Genius protested.

"She saved you!" Haru replied. "If she wanted to kill us, she would have already killed you..." Staring intently at Seline.

"Thinking about it..." Genius processed, "...she wasn’t fighting with the same intensity as in the courtyard..."

"That’s true... and that spear could have hit me. But she saved me."

Father Elias spoke another name, chains grabbing someone in the distance.

"What do you want!?" Genius shouted at Seline.

She didn’t answer immediately, but then, her voice came out calm and firm:

"I heard it before. There’s no need to repeat it."

She paused.

"I wish my enemies strength and courage... so that I won’t be ashamed to finish them off."

She looked directly at the two of them.

"I want to finish you off. But not this way."

"So you want to get out of here..." Haru said slowly, "...and finish what we started?"

Seline stared at them without answering, in tense silence.

"Yeah, shit, Haru..." Genius murmured. "She’s an Elf..."

"So what!?"

"So what that Elves have a code of honor related to fighting!"

Genius explained quickly as he jumped with Haru to another platform:

"If an Elf starts a fight with you, they need to finish it. Honorably. In fair combat."

He breathed heavily.

"If the fight is interrupted, especially by third parties, the Elf is bound. They have to resolve that before moving on."

He looked at Seline.

"Whoever she is in the other world... I’m sure she was an Elf..."

"So..." Haru processed, "...she can’t kill us here because it would be dishonorable?"

"Exactly. She wants a fair fight. One against one. Or two against one without interference. Not this... mess," Genius said, gesturing around: Resonance, Father Elias, chains, platforms disappearing.

"What if we refuse?" Haru asked.

Genius replied: "Then she’ll hunt us for the rest of our lives. Elven Code is absolute. There’s no escape."

Haru looked at Seline. Then at Genius. Then at the chaos around them.

"So... we make a deal?" Haru said, jumping to a platform closer to Seline.

Seline finally spoke:

"You help me get out of this trap. I won’t attack you here."

She paused.

"When we’re out... we’ll finish what we started. No interference. No cheating whatsoever."

"What if we lose?" Genius asked.

"You die honorably..."

"What if we win?"

"You won’t win," Seline said, laughing from behind her hood.

Silence.

Father Elias spoke another name, his voice echoing, another captured Gamer.

The platforms continued to slowly shrink.

Haru and Genius exchanged glances.

"What do you think?" Haru asked quietly.

"I think we have no choice..." Genius replied. "And... elves don’t lie..."

Haru turned to Seline.

"Deal. But you have to actively help us. Not just not attack."

Seline considered, and then: "Accepted."

She jumped onto the platform near them, still keeping her distance, but now parallel instead of chasing.

"What’s the plan?" she asked directly.

"I have one with a 98% chance of failure..." Genius added.

"Even better than 100%." Haru replied...

"But first..." Genius said, looking at Haru intently, "...you have to tell me if that scene was intentional."

"What scene...?" Haru asked.

Then he understood.

"No..." he said, staring down intently.

Seline perceived the sincerity and looked at the platform. Genius looked too.

Haru’s reflection was multiple.

It wasn’t one face. There were several, passing by, overlapping, constantly changing.

Different faces. Different ages. Different identities.

Seline admired the scene, her eyes widening slightly.

"I kind of have many souls inside me..." Haru explained softly.

"I forgot the names of people like that..." Seline thought aloud. "And if I find the name, I can get an idea of who the character behind the mask is..."

Genius smiled with clear understanding.

"Exactly! Perfect! Each platform then only reads one soul. And like Tokyo..."

"Tokyo!?" Seline exclaimed.

"Tokyo." Haru raised his hand, introducing himself.

"Croissant." Genius said.

Pause.

"Vladimir Putin!?"

"VLADIMIR PUTIN!?" They both exclaimed together.

"Anyway, continuing..."

"And since Tokyo is many..." Genius continued, "...then he weighs too much. That explains why Father Elias hesitated to say your name. Because you’re not one."

He paused dramatically.

"The burning question is, how many times would he have to call out?"

"A hundred times..." Haru said.

"A hundred spirits inside him!? This guy must be much stronger than he looks, or he has a lot of mana," Seline exclaimed mentally.

Genius smiled more, a plan forming in his head.

"The chances of failure are still 98%... so this is the plan."

After Genius explained the plan, he stood there on the same platform as Seline.

"Now all we have to do is wait."

Haru jumped from platform to platform.

"I have to concentrate..."

"First phase. I realized three things:"

"1. The Codex needs a fixed identity. Everything there works because the system can define people."

"2. The more Gamers in a place... the more chaotic the reading becomes."

"3. The platforms are ’addresses’. That is: the Codex tracks individuals by spiritual position."

Haru, jumping, began to release his Aura, his corrupted energy expanding.

"The first time I fought Tokyo... I remember his Aura screaming voices. Better yet: identities."

Whispers began to echo where he passed:

*"HERE..."*

*"DEVOUR..."*

*"BURN..."*

*"PAIN..."*

He stopped on a platform where a Gamer was, alone and frightened.

"Stay here," Haru said. [Mind Whisper]

The idea of staying there deeply affected the Gamer, penetrating his mind without him realizing it, and he decided to stay. But the Gamer wasn’t the target, nor was the Priest.

But rather... a spirit inside Haru.

Haru left something there, and the others couldn’t see it, only feel it.

"It worked..." he thought. "Reading Vandris’s diary helped."

Father Elias saw this and was indignant; after all, he wanted Haru, so he ordered a set of angelic rings to seize him.

A set of chains came out, but Haru dodged, constantly stepping on platforms with Gamers.

"Stay here..." he kept saying.

Mind Whisper activating repeatedly.

34 platforms... 67... 98...

"Haru is turning the Gamers and the platforms into logic bombs..." Genius murmured, observing.

"Observe... the Priest stopped saying names."

The Codex displayed several names at once, pages turning on their own, symbols scrambling.

"Name of the Anomalous One..." The Priest said a random name.

The currents went, catching the wrong Gamer.

The Gamer shouted: "THAT’S NOT MY NAME!"

Another Gamer: "WAIT, THAT’S MY NAME!"

Chaos ensued.

And then Haru understood the true power.

"The more people jump, cross paths, step on contaminated platforms... the more Veritas goes crazy."

One of the Gamers with his team on a platform noticed Haru jumping.

"It’s that Gamer!.... Tok...Tokyo!!!" He pointed.

But which one? They all looked the same, all wearing black clothes and almost identical masks.

"The son of a bitch... he’s bugging the platforms! They’re bugged!"

Chains came for that team.

Instinctively, one of them gave another member a push, letting the chains take them away.

```

[SAFE ZONE: ALERT]

◊ Squad: The Avengers

◊ Status: HOSTILE

◊ Bounty active for elimination

```

Because of that act, the entire Squad was reported, their HUDs marked in red.

"Ah, fuck it! We were out of platforms too!"

Then the chaos began:

Pushing others. Forcing people to stay. Using others as shields. Throwing people onto the contaminated platforms.

Survival destroyed cooperation.

On the other hand, Elias smiled.

"Rats and Veritas... are rats running from the truth."