Dante looked at the last two members who hadn't spoken to the Goddess: Rina and Talia. Their faces were pale in the strange twilight, their eyes wide with the weight of what they had just learned.
"You two are last," Dante said, his voice low and steady, cutting through the tense silence. "And your questions are the most important. They will decide not just how we survive, but if we survive."
He turned to Rina, the team's smart biologist. Her quiet, sharp mind was a great tool. "We have fire and ice, but we have no way to fix what gets broken. Ask the Goddess what healing methods exist in this world, magical or natural. We need a healer, Rina. Find out if that's even possible."
She gave a single, firm nod, the fear in her eyes replaced by a sense of purpose.
Finally, his eyes landed on Talia. She stood with the stillness of a fencer, her hand on her hip, her expression hard to read.
"The final question is yours," he said, his voice dropping, "and it is the most important one. It's the one that will guide our entire plan from this moment until the end. I need you to ask this, and I need you to remember her answer word for word."
She met his gaze, her own sharp and focused.
"Ask her this," he ordered. "Goddess, describe the exact rule that forces only six survivors. What specific thing happens that stops the seventh person from winning?"
Talia's eyes widened slightly as she understood. She knew the terrible importance of the question. It was not just about rules; it was about how, exactly, they would be forced to kill each other.
"Go," Dante said. "Get your skills, get your answers, and come back."
They turned without a word and walked towards the glowing light. The wait was painful.
The minutes dragged on, each one filled with the distant shouting and panicked cries of the other students who were just starting to understand how horrible their situation was.
The small group stood like a statue, all eyes fixed on the door to the goddess's room.
Rina returned first, her soft face filled with a deep seriousness.
"I asked," she began, her voice barely a whisper. "She said that while this world is filled with things that can kill, life is strong. She then granted me this."
Rina held out her hand. A soft, green-gold light grew from her palm. It wasn't angry like Erica's fire or cold like Masha's ice. It was warm, alive, and pulsed with a gentle energy that seemed to calm the very air around it.
"What is it?" Masha asked, stepping closer, looking surprised and impressed.
"She called it Vitae Weaving," Rina explained. "I can control biological life force. I can speed up healing, clean out poisons, and knit skin back together. But it uses my own energy, and I can't regrow limbs or cure death. It's a healing skill."
A wave of relief passed through the group. A healer. It was a role so important Dante hadn't dared hope for it.
Rina was no longer just the smart biology student; she was their lifeline. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are now the most important person in this group," he said, his voice firm. "No one is allowed to die as long as you are standing. We will protect you at all costs."
Just as her words settled, Talia returned. The color was gone from her face. She looked at Dante, and in her eyes, he saw their dark, unchangeable future.
"She answered," Talia said, her voice tight. "She grew sad when I asked. She said the old pact demands a price of heroism, and the price is final. The Bone Dragon doesn't just guard the exit. When it dies, its soul shatters into six pieces called Hero's Marks. Only a person who absorbs a Hero's Mark can pass through the final gate into a kingdom. There are only six marks. Once they are claimed, the gate opens for a short time and then seals forever. Anyone left behind is considered part of the price. The forest eats them."
The truth hit them like a punch. It wasn't a race.
You didn't just have to kill the final boss; you had to grab a piece of its soul while ninety-three other desperate people tried to do the same. The system wasn't just allowing betrayal; it was designed to force it.
"Her skill," Dante said, his voice a low whisper, breaking the horrified silence. "What is your skill?"
Talia drew the blade she'd gotten from the goddess, a simple, sleek rapier. "She called it Kinetic Eye," she replied, her voice regaining its strength. "I can see the flow of energy. I can see the path of an attack before it's finished. I can see the weak spots in a wall, the twitch of a muscle before a person moves. I can see the path to victory."
A perfect skill for a duelist. And in a world where they would have to fight each other for the final prize, a duelist was exactly what they needed.
As if on cue, the bright light from the goddess's room began to fade.
A gasp went through the hall as her presence, which had been both a comfort and a terror, began to leave. The silver specks of light vanished, and the warm glow was replaced by the cold, strange twilight filtering through the broken roof.
The sounds of the forest, the clicks of unseen creatures and the groan of old trees, rushed in to fill the silence.
The game of questions was over. The plan for their war was complete. They had a map, a healer, weapons, and the terrible, final truth.
Dante ignored the mean-looking student who caught his eye from across the hall, the one who grinned and drew a finger across his throat.
He was a predator, yes, but he was a clueless one. He was still playing the old game. They were playing a new one.
He turned his back on him and spoke to his team, his voice leaving no room for doubt.
"The Goddess is gone," he said. "The trial has begun. We move now, northeast. Stay together. Stay silent. And prepare to fight."