"That’s not the answer we were waiting for."

Vaelous crossed his arms, while a smug smile spread across his face.

"You were their leader back then, and a leader should know everything happening within his team. What a disappointment."

He shook his head, and as though it were a signal, Brant stepped forward. Nothing remained of Lyra except her academy backpack. For a reason, the backpack was durable enough to survive the hounds onslaught on its owner. He picked it up from where it had been left and turned toward the others.

"Lyra left behind all her crystals. We’ll divide them among ourselves, but the one responsible for her death won’t get a share."

"You..." Darius was momentarily speechless. The conversation had shifted so suddenly that he could hardly believe Brant’s shamelessness.

"Before we do that," Selene suddenly joined the ongoing debate, "we need to decide who’s to blame. Silas refuses to give us answers, which makes him the prime suspect."

"Hey, watch what you’re saying. Losing Lyra is terrible, but don’t let it cloud your judgment."

Silas remained silent during all this. It felt like they were debating about someone else, not themselves. And yet, he kept memorising every moment of this situation, while Darius spoke up in his defence, Brant paid the latter no attention and kept targeting Silas, while Selene looked as if Lyra was her bestie.

"Whether he’s the killer or not, one thing is certain: your leader should have done better."

Vaelous added fuel to the flames before adding with a calm smile.

"Even a Lisan Al-Gaia should be more capable than this. You were led astray from the very first battle, but that ends now. I’ll personally lead your fights from this point onward."

Turning to the others, he completely ignored Silas, who had become the centre of everyone’s hostility.

"As for the cores and crystals, keep them. I’m not so stingy as to claim rewards earned through a victory all of you helped secure, or crave leftovers from a dead teammate."

Silas clenched his fists but remained silent. If Vaelous truly intended to help them, why had he abandoned them during the first battle? That snake had planned this from the beginning.

Yet his expression remained calm, showing none of the fury boiling beneath the surface.

"As for the future," Brant said after Vaelous stepped back, "we can’t keep someone who might betray us. We shouldn’t share cores with Silas anymore; he shouldn’t fight together with us."

’Here comes the barking dog.’

Silas inwardly sneered while maintaining his poker face.

"Stop accusing him of something you can’t prove."

Darius stepped between the two.

"He’s the reason we managed to kill those frog monsters in the first wave. If he had bad intentions, he wouldn’t have helped us survive."

"But he’s the one who killed Lyra..."

"Did you see him do it?"

Darius cut him off and looked around.

"Did anyone see him harm her?"

"He was the closest to her," Selene shot back.

"We can’t risk letting him get close to any of us." Leon paused, as his mind was starting to weigh what he heard and knew, trying to conclude for himself.

"I’ve heard many stories about Lisan Al-Gaia," Cassian said with a conflicted expression. "Most of them sound impossible, but I can’t deny what I feel about what everyone said. I’m not saying Silas killed her, but I wouldn’t feel safe with him watching my back. I’d always be wondering if something might happen."

Darius fought desperately to defend his friend. It wasn’t simply because they were friends. He genuinely believed Silas was being framed, caught in some hidden scheme he couldn’t yet see.

Unfortunately, he had no evidence. Unfortunately, he held no power in the team. The problem wasn’t Lyra’s death alone; the main problem was what Silas truly was.

Lisan Al-Gaia were feared and envied by Enhancers everywhere, and Silas was now paying the price of that fear, envy, and hatred.

"Words won’t solve anything."

Vaelous stepped forward once more.

"Let’s vote. Who agrees that Silas should leave the team?"

The timing of the interruption crushed whatever hope Darius still had. Worse, Vaelous hadn’t asked whether Silas should stay. He had framed the question around expelling him from the start.

The result was exactly what Darius expected; everyone else voted to remove Silas from the team.

"Then it’s settled."

Brant puffed out his chest as though he had accomplished something great.

"Silas is no longer part of this team. He won’t receive any cores, he won’t fight with us, and he won’t stay with us."

"As if I care."

For the first time, Silas finally spoke. Throughout the entire spectacle, he had watched in silence as though it had nothing to do with him.

"If not for me, none of you would’ve survived the first attack."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away, leaving behind a group of stunned and confused youngsters.

"Don’t come crying to me later."

Silas left without looking back. He knew the snake who had turned everyone against him wouldn’t stop at Lyra. He still didn’t know why Vaelous had done it, but one fact remained: the person closest to Lyra before her death had been Vaelous himself.

What puzzled him even more was that Lyra wasn’t the strongest member of the team. She had been the weakest. She posed zero threat to any of them, not to mention the stronger C-Enhancer Vaelous was. Yet every clue in Silas’ mind pointed toward Vaelous somehow being involved in her death.

As Silas replayed the battle in his mind, carefully examining every detail, he became increasingly certain. Vaelous had passed directly by Lyra during the chaos.

But no one had noticed, not even Silas. The battle had been too chaotic for anyone to pay attention to what Vaelous was doing. Still, Silas didn’t dwell on it for long.

The mere thought he casually had grew to a stubborn belief that lingered in the back of his mind; Vaelous wouldn’t stop here. If he had started, he would continue killing. And sooner or later, he would come for Silas as well.

’Just wait, you bastard.’

A cold glint flashed through his eyes.

’You’ll die by my hands before you come at me.’