Gareth’s eyes widened the moment he turned and saw the situation clearly, his pupils shrinking slightly as the reality of it settled in his mind, and the others at the entrance also froze in place, their grips on their weapons tightening instinctively as their confidence began to slip away without them even realizing it.

For a brief moment, a few of them thought about rushing forward anyway, throwing everything they had at Vera despite the Acu-Vector Mk.I. aimed directly at them, but the moment their eyes shifted to Felix...

Kneeling and held down, unable to move.

That thought died immediately.

"Hahaha..." Gareth let out a dry laugh, the sound low and strained as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to steady his thoughts. "This is... unexpected, Lyra."

"You really think so?" Lyra replied, smiling faintly as she adjusted the position of her scythe, the blade brushing just slightly closer to Felix’s throat—not cutting, but enough to remind him of how little space there was between him and death.

Felix’s breathing grew uneven.

"What is the meaning of this, Lyra?" he snapped, his voice rising sharply, but there was something unstable beneath it now. "Do you even understand what you are doing right now?"

"Is this really the moment for you to be shouting? You really are an idiot..." Vera’s voice came out calmly, cutting through his anger like a thin blade.

She looked at him not with anger, not with hatred.

Just... mild disappointment.

She tilted her head slightly.

"No... you’re not just an idiot," she continued, her tone soft, almost thoughtful. "You are a very committed one. It takes effort to be this consistently foolish."

Then her gaze shifted toward the entrance.

"Go down," she said, smiling gently.

The smile was soft, but the air behind it...

Extremely cold.

The group instinctively stepped back a few steps down.

"And you believe we will just obey you like that?" Freed stepped forward from the crowd, adjusting his glasses, his voice steady even though his eyes had already flickered once toward Felix.

Bang!

The gunshot cracked through the room, the bullet struck the ground right in front of his foot.

Dust rose.

Freed froze mid-step.

Vera didn’t even look at him.

"Hey... Felix boy," she said, placing a finger lightly against her lips as if thinking. "Did you gather people like yourself on purpose, or did it just happen naturally?"

"Freed has always been an idiot, Lady Vera," Nina added calmly, the muzzle of her revolver still smoking slightly.

"This fool still doesn’t understand what the situation is," Lyra said, her tone flat.

"Should I just kill him?" Nina asked, her eyes narrowing, her finger already resting on the trigger.

"Calm down, both of you," Gareth raised his hands slightly, stepping forward just enough to show he wasn’t acting aggressively.

"What do you mean calm down?!"

Felix’s voice exploded, it wasn’t controlled anymore or calculated like it used to be.

It cracked.

"I have been watching this...this nonsense...trying to understand what is happening, and you are telling them to calm down?!"

Felix had been watching everything in silence, his thoughts trying to catch up with what was happening in front of him, but nothing aligned properly, nothing made sense no matter how many times he replayed the scene in his head.

Lyra...

The daughter of his mother’s close friend.

Someone who had been placed beside him, just like Gareth. Someone who was supposed to be his, someone who had always stood behind him without hesitation and Gareth too.

Both of them acknowledged me... right?

His teeth pressed together tightly, the muscles on his jaw twitching as disbelief slowly twisted into something darker, something uglier, and his face began to lose the calm pride it once held.

It warped.

"Is the little human-stool fetish boy finally speaking?" Vera said, her voice light, almost amused, her lips curving into a small smile that looked innocent at first glance, but the words behind it sank deep like poison.

Felix’s head snapped toward her.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut UPPPPPPPPP!!"

His voice tore through the room, loud and uncontrolled, echoing off the walls of the tower, spilling out through the open spaces and reaching those outside, causing several people to stiffen as unease crept into their hearts.

"Lyra..." he turned sharply, his eyes bloodshot now, veins rising visibly along his temples as his hands clenched so hard his fingers trembled.

"You bitch..."

His voice dropped, but it carried more weight now, more instability.

"What did she offer you? Huh?"

He glared with his breath uneven.

"What did that bitch say to you that made you do this to me?!"

The words broke apart at the end, his voice no longer controlled.

Lyra only laughed softly, almost playful.

"Hehehe..."

"Isn’t it obvious?" she said, tilting her head slightly, her tone casual, but her eyes were serious. "It’s because she’s Lady Vera."

Felix froze.

"...Huh?"

The single sound came out empty.

His mind stalled for a second...

No thought formed.

Then confusion rushed in, then denial, then anger again.

Is this bitch... joking?

"And Sir Felix..." Lyra continued, her expression shifting completely now, her voice turning firm, sharp, and respectful in a way she had never spoken to him before.

"Lady Vera isn’t someone you should call that."

Her grip on the scythe tightened slightly.

"Watch your mouth."

Something inside Felix cracked.

His eyes widened, then slowly lost focus, the red spreading further as his thoughts began to collapse into each other, unable to hold shape anymore.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

He was going out of it.

Completely.

Gareth watched him for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh, his usual calm expression returning as if he had already accepted the situation.

"How long, Lyra?" he asked, his tone steady, as though they were discussing something ordinary.

"Since before the Trial of Steel was even mentioned," she replied without hesitation, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Did you all forget?" she added lightly. "I’ve always been a fan girl, of Lady Vera."

Gareth blinked once, then again.

"...Yes. I knew that part," he admitted, rubbing his forehead slowly. "But I didn’t think it meant this much. There are many people who admire her in every group too."

His gaze shifted back to Felix.

Felix’s lips moved.

"It’s a lie..."

The words were quiet, barely sounding.

"It’s all a lie..."

His shoulders trembled slightly, then suddenly...

"It’s a lie!"

He shouted again, louder this time, his voice cracking completely, no longer carrying authority, no longer carrying control, only raw emotion spilling out without restraint.

"Argh..."

Vera raised a hand and lightly covered one of her eyes as if she had grown tired of looking at something unpleasant.

"You have been shouting for quite a while now," she said calmly as she began walking toward him.

Her steps were slow, measured.

Unhurried.

Felix saw her coming.

His breathing hitched; body stiffened.

He was frightened.

"Kill me then!" he suddenly shouted again, his voice breaking again as desperation mixed with anger.

"You’ve already won, haven’t you?!"

"Kill me! Kill me now!"

The people at the entrance stared in disbelief.

This was Felix, the one who carried himself like someone untouchable, the one who looked down on everyone.

Now...

Reduced to shouting like this.

Reduced to begging, even if he didn’t realize it himself.

"I thought you already understood why I came here," Vera said as she stopped in front of him.

She crouched down slowly.

Their eyes met.

Her gaze was calm and empty.

"All of this," she continued, resting her cheek lightly against her palm, her elbow supported on her knee, "is exactly what you said it was."

"A lesson."

She tilted her head slightly, studying his expression as if observing something mildly interesting.

"It’s almost impressive," she added softly. "You walked into your own downfall without me needing to push you."

Her eyes shifted briefly toward Gareth, then returned to Felix.

"You believed that having Gareth..."

Then Lyra.

"And Lyra..."

Her lips curved faintly.

"...meant you were standing at the top of the world."

A quiet chuckle left her lips.

"If it were Veda... or Henry... or even Zack..." she continued, her tone thoughtful now, "they would still be thinking of how to survive in a situation like this."

Her gaze sharpened slightly.

"But you..."

She leaned closer.

"You stopped thinking the moment things didn’t go your way."

The muzzle of her gun lifted slowly pressed gently against his nose.

"You are weak, Felix."

She said flatly.

"Yeah, your Cognis is high," she continued. "Your strategies are decent, but tell me..."

Her eyes held nothing.

"...was any of that truly yours?"

Felix’s breathing broke again.

His fingers dug into the ground; blood began to seep out.

"You only focus on yourself," Vera went on, her tone steady, almost bored. "You never once considered the people around you."

"And yet you thought that would take you to the top."

She leaned closer again, her voice lowering slightly.

"One small success... and this dog starts barking like it is a lion."

Felix’s pupils shook.

His thoughts...

Gone.

Replaced by noise, by doubt, by fear.

"And the most amusing part..." Vera said, straightening slightly.

She spread her hands a little.

"You don’t even know who else belongs to me amongst your group members."

Felix’s eyes snapped upward.

Gareth, Page, the people at the entrance, outside.

Anyone.

Everyone.

Suspicion flooded in, instantly.

"You don’t know if it’s Gareth..." she continued casually.

"Or Page...Or someone standing right there...Or someone outside."

She tilted her head again.

"Who knows?"

Felix’s breathing turned erratic.

His grip tightened further; blood dripped faster with his mind finally...

Collapsed completely.

Vera stood up smoothly, dusting her coat lightly as if she had finished something trivial.

"Walk with me, guys," Vera said in a light, almost careless tone, as if she had not just dismantled everything Felix stood on.

She turned without waiting for a reply and began walking toward the exit, her steps calm, steady, and completely unbothered.

The people standing at the entrance didn’t move at first due to their bodies stiffened, their hands also tightened on their weapons with no one speaking or stepping forward.

They were reluctant...Not because they wanted to resist...

But because they didn’t understand what they were supposed to do anymore.

Lyra moved.

She pushed Felix forward without hesitation, the blade of her scythe resting lightly against his neck, the edge brushing just enough to remind him that even the smallest mistake would cost him everything.

At the same time, Nina raised her gun slightly, the muzzle pressing toward the side of his head.

Seeing this, the group began to move.

Slowly and quietly.

Gareth followed behind them, his usual calm expression still present, but his eyes carried a faint confusion, as if even he had not fully processed how quickly everything had turned.

When they stepped out of the tower and into the open space, the people outside froze immediately.

Their conversations stopped; their movements halted with every gaze turning toward the scene in front of them.

Lyra...

One of their strongest fighters and one of Felix’s most trusted.

Now walking besides, him...Holding a scythe to his neck and Nina...

Pointing a gun at him without hesitation.

This was clearly far from the sight they should have been seeing.

No one spoke with how the cold air felt heavier.

The silence pressed down.

They walked all the way to the gate of the castle.

"Open the gates," Vera said, turning slightly toward one of the boys standing at the left side.

Her tone didn’t rise.

She didn’t need to repeat herself.

The boy flinched slightly, then nodded quickly, his hands moving in a hurry as he signaled the others.

The heavy gate creaked open.

The sound dragged through the quiet air.

"Alright," Vera said lightly, lifting her hand and giving a small wave, as if she had just finished visiting rather than dismantling someone’s entire authority.

"That was entertaining. I’ll be going now."

Her eyes shifted briefly to Lyra, then she winked.

Lyra smiled, nodding with her grip on Felix tighten just slightly before she acted.

She kicked Felix forward with just enough force to send him stumbling back toward his own people.

Gareth stepped forward immediately and caught him before he could hit the ground, his hand steady as he held him up.

At that moment...

They all just watched like statues as Vera, Nina and Lyra walked away.

Calm and unhurried, as if nothing behind them mattered anymore.

Nina turned for a brief second, her face twisting into a mocking expression as she stuck out her tongue and raised her middle finger toward them, then she turned back and just like that...

They were gone.

The gate remained open for a few seconds longer before someone finally moved to close it.

Silence settled again with the sound of the gate closing, making the place feel heavy and very uncomfortable.

"...Did they take the flag?" Freed asked slowly, his voice uncertain, still trying to piece together what had just happened.

"No," Gareth replied quietly, his gaze fixed on Felix. "She didn’t."

Felix’s body trembled, hands clenched tighter and tighter again, blood continued dripping down his fingers and falling onto the ground in uneven drops.

He didn’t seem to notice or maybe he couldn’t feel it anymore.

My third humiliation...

The thought came slowly, dragging itself through his mind.

First... that maggot they call Ezra...

His teeth clenched harder.

Then... that useless Veda...

His breathing grew heavier.

And now... her...

His shoulders began to shake.

Every single time...

His thoughts started looping.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Every single time...

She stands above me.

Why?

Why does she always stand ahead of me...?

His lips split slightly as he bit down harder, blood mixing with the taste in his mouth, but it wasn’t enough to stop the pressure building inside his chest.

His thoughts no longer made sense.

Faces blurred.

Voices overlapped.

Lyra, Gareth, Page, Everyone.

Who...? Who else...?

His eyes widened suddenly with suspicion spreading fast and violent like something breaking loose.

He couldn’t trust anyone anymore, not even himself.

His breathing snapped.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The scream tore out of him completely, raw and broken, carrying everything he could not process, everything he could not accept, everything he could not control.

The sound echoed far into the afternoon sun, even in the distance it could still be heard.

***

"And that’s what happened," Gena said, lifting a cup of water and drinking it in one go, her shoulders relaxing slightly after finishing the story.

Ezra leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxed, but his eyes were focused, processing every detail she had just explained.

"So, with this..." Gena continued, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "we should expect Felix’s group to crumble, and his rank to drop."

"They won’t crumble, that easily" Ezra replied calmly, folding his arms across his chest.

His voice was steady and certain.

"But his rank will surely drop," he added after a short pause.

He looked down slightly, his thoughts moving quietly.

Vera didn’t just humiliate him...She broke the way he sees people.

Now he can’t even trust anyone the way he used to.

Ezra laughed slightly because the word trust wasn’t new to him.

Felix was the type who always placed himself first...But still believed others followed him because he was special.

He tapped his finger lightly against the arm of the chair.

But now...That delusion is gone, now he knows his presence alone means nothing.

He leaned back further.

"Interesting," Ezra muttered.

A faint smile formed on his lips.

He picked up the cup of warm water and finished it slowly, the heat spreading through his body as he relaxed his body on the chair.