"But what bug bit you...? I've never seen you like this," Leander said, seeming to enjoy the spectacle.
"I just wanted to pass that damn exam to save my life, but now... IT'S ALL OVER!"
"Of course we understand you just wanted to pass the exam," Sarah said while helping Beth to her feet, "that's why you were capable of stealing money from your own father."
"You were also capable of cheating and bribing the professor," Ludwig added.
"And you caused Shin's death..." Aurora said that.
"I didn't cause anyone's death! Stop saying that! It was just an accident!"
"It wasn't an accident, you killed him," Aurora reaffirmed.
"NO!"
Talon brought his hands to his head, gripping his hair tightly.
"No... no, no, no..."
His fingers dug in firmly.
"I just... I just wanted... I didn't..."
The images came back. Shin screaming. The arm descending. His decision to run toward the core.
"God... my God..."
His knees gave out, and he fell to the ground.
'I... I did it... I killed him...'
Hugging himself, he rocked back and forth.
'It's my fault... everything is my fault... I can't keep lying to myself anymore.'
"His blood is on your hands... And it will be forever."
"I-I was scared..." Talon stammered. "I couldn't think straight... it was irrational... I didn't want—"
"Stop lying." Aurora was firm. "You approached the golem like it was nothing. You didn't even hesitate. You ran straight toward the core while Shin begged you to help him. So it's simple. You just didn't want to help Shin. And that's the plain truth."
"AND WHAT ELSE COULD I DO?! I'M IN BIG TROUBLE! BUT YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND! BECAUSE IT'S MUCH EASIER FOR YOU TO CRITICIZE ME!"
His voice cracked between screams and sobs.
"We all go through problems, Talon," Aurora responded, calmly. "But that doesn't justify everything you did."
She slowly approached him.
"Tell me something... what did you think you were going to get from all this? To pass and become a Sentinel knowing you don't even meet the basics, which is using magic?"
Her tone became harsher.
"Did you think you'd go unnoticed? That no one would know how pathetic and useless you are?"
Talon looked up at her, frightened.
"Well, let me tell you that wasn't going to happen," Aurora continued mercilessly. "Because once the final exam is over, we all rejoin society. And that means telling what happened here. So most likely everyone will find out what garbage you are."
She paused, letting each word sink in.
"You can't use magic. You can't face a single monster. You bribed. You stole. You killed someone who didn't deserve it..."
Her voice lowered, becoming even colder.
"What will everyone think of you? What will your family think of you?"
Silence fell for a moment.
"What will happen to Shin's family when they find out what you did to him?"
At that moment, Talon remembered all the beautiful moments they had shared since childhood, and how nothing would return. It broke his heart.
"You're finished, Talon."
Aurora leaned slightly toward him.
"Now tell me... was it worth it?"
Her words echoed in Talon's ears in an endless loop. His eyes slowly moved toward Shin's motionless body.
"Shin..."
The word came out as a broken whisper.
Talon began to drag himself across the floor. His hands trembled. His legs didn't respond properly.
"Shin... I..."
He approached the corpse. Every inch was agony.
"I ruined everything... everything..."
Reaching him, his hands touched Shin's cold arm.
"Sorry... sorry, sorry, sorry..."
Tears fell uncontrollably.
"I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have done it... I should have helped you... I should have..."
His voice broke with each word.
"FORGIVE ME!" he screamed, clinging to the body. "PLEASE, FORGIVE ME!"
Sobbing violently, his forehead pressed against Shin's shoulder.
"I ruined everything... because of me... everything ended like this... everything is my fault..."
His hands clutched the bloodstained clothes.
"I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DIE! I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!"
His body trembled uncontrollably.
"You were my friend... my only friend... and I... I... I KILLED YOU!"
"Sorry... sorry... SORRY!"
He repeated the word over and over, like a desperate mantra. As if saying it enough times could bring him back. As if he could erase what he had done.
But Shin didn't respond. He would never respond.
The silence in the chamber was heavy, broken only by Talon's sobs.
"Let's go..." Ludwig spoke. "There's no point in staying anymore... Besides, the exam is over."
Ludwig was the first to move, looking away. Sarah followed him, wiping away her tears. Eryndor walked toward the boss lair's exit without looking back.
Aurora stopped next to Talon. Looking down at him, with a mixture of pain and contempt on her face, she spoke.
"No matter how hard you try," she said in a flat voice, "he can't hear you anymore."
And she walked away, leaving her words as a final sentence.
Leander stood a few meters away, watching Talon clinging to the corpse.
"From the moment I first saw you I knew you were pathetic, black sheep," he murmured. "But... today you outdid yourself."
And he left. Everyone disappeared toward the chamber's exit. Except one.
Beth remained near Talon, simply watching him.
Talon abruptly lifted his head from where he was kneeling beside the corpse, seeing how everyone was heading toward the exit.
"WAIT!" His voice resonated desperately in the chamber. "PLEASE, I BEG YOU! DON'T TELL ANYONE WHAT HAPPENED HERE!"
But no one turned around.
"MY LIFE IS ALREADY RUINED! I'VE ALREADY LOST EVERYTHING FROM NOT PASSING THE EXAM!"
His sobs weren't heard.
"DON'T CONTRIBUTE MORE TO THAT! PLEASE!"
Then leaning forward, still on his knees, he continued, "I BEG YOU! DON'T SAY ANYTHING! PLEASE!"
But they kept walking without turning around.
Beth then spoke to him, her voice soft but firm.
"All this time I thought it wasn't fair," she said. "The fact that you couldn't use magic. It seemed cruel to me. And the treatment you received in training was unfair."
A pause.
"But now..." her eyes hardened. "Now I think I was always wrong."
Talon felt as if a knife had been driven into his chest.
"You're not a good person, Talon," Beth continued. "And apparently... you do deserve the nickname Black Sheep."
Talon's eyes opened in absolute shock. She had never called him that.
"Wait..." he whispered, extending a hand toward her.
But Beth had already turned around and left.
Talon remained there, kneeling, with his hand extended toward nothing.
"You're not the only one who's screwed, Talon."
Edward's voice snapped him out of his stupor. The professor was walking slowly toward the exit, passing by him.
"They'll most likely also tell everyone that I accepted a bribe. I'll lose my job as a sentinel. My reputation."
Stopping briefly, he added, "However, at least I'll keep the money. You, on the other hand, leave with nothing."
Looking down at Talon, he said, "Now that is sad."
And he moved toward the exit.
"What... what will happen to him?"
Talon's voice was barely a whisper.
Edward stopped.
"Corpses are usually left forever inside dimensional portals," he explained without turning around. "We're not allowed to take them out. Standard policy."
"So if you want to say goodbye to your friend, do it now," he said. "But don't take too long. The rift closes in a few minutes. And if you stay inside... well, you won't be able to get out anymore."
And he disappeared into the tunnel's darkness, leaving Talon completely alone with Shin's body.
"Shin..." Talon could barely articulate the words, as he touched Shin's face. "Thank you... thank you for everything."
Tears still fell down his face.
"You were the only good thing I had in my life. The only real thing. The only thing that was worthwhile. I know that most likely... you'll never forgive me for what I did. And that's okay. I don't deserve it."
Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he continued, "But I promise you... I promise I'll make it right. However I can. I don't know how. I don't know when. But I will."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"Although we can never meet again for me to tell you if I do..." The words faded. "Since I can never go to the place where you went."
Silence returned. Then, his eyes fell on something.
'It's his dagger...'
There it was, next to the body. Stained with blood. Talon took it with shaking hands.
'I remember he told me his own grandfather forged it for him.'
Observing it, the metal, though simple, was worked with care. With love.
'It's most likely the most important object Shin had...'
Cleaning the blood on his own clothes, he thought, 'It would be right to give it back to his family.'
To his family. To his grandmother.
Slowly standing up, he tucked the dagger into his belt. Looking at Shin's body one last time, he whispered, "Goodbye, friend."
And he turned around to leave.
✦ ✦ ✦
The group walked in silence toward the rift's exit. No one spoke.
But then, Leander stopped.
"Was that there before?" he pointed to one side.
A corridor. Dark. Narrow. Going diagonally downward.
"No..." Beth looked confused. "I'm sure it wasn't there when we came in."
Edward quickly approached, pulling a small device from his pocket—a spectrometer. Activating it, he pointed toward the corridor. The numbers on the screen began to rise.
"It can't be..." he murmured.
"What's wrong?" Aurora asked.
Edward looked at the numbers once more. Then toward the corridor. Then back at the device.
"The electromagnetic waves..." he said slowly. "They haven't decreased after eliminating the rift boss..."
"Is that bad?" Ludwig asked.
"It's worse than bad," Edward put away the device. "They increased."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group.
"What does that mean?" Sarah asked, not understanding anything.
Edward observed the corridor descending diagonally.
"It means this is a double boss dimensional rift."
"Double boss?" Leander asked.
"Yes. Two connected rift bosses. Normally that's not something to worry about, but in this case they seem to be located on two completely different underworld floors," Edward explained. "And for the rift to close completely, both bosses must be eliminated."
"Then we have to go," Beth said immediately.
"No." Edward was firm. "You're leaving. Now."
"What?" Aurora stepped forward. "We can't leave you alone with—"
"Your exam is over," Edward interrupted her. "This is no longer your responsibility. Leave."
"But—" Ludwig tried to protest.
"I SAID LEAVE!"
Edward's voice resonated in the tunnel with absolute authority.
"Down there..." Looking at the dark corridor, he continued, "It would be certain death for all of you. I don't know what underworld floor that passage leads to."
Looking at each one directly, he ordered, "Leave. It's an order."
And without waiting for a response, Edward ran down the dark corridor and disappeared into the darkness.
The group remained silent.
"We can't leave him alone," Beth finally said.
"She's right," Aurora clenched her fists.
"I'm going," Eryndor unsheathed his sword.
"Me too," Leander seconded.
One by one, everyone began to nod.
"WAIT!"
Talon stepped forward, his voice loaded with panic.
"It's a bad idea! Didn't you see how the professor looked? He was worried! It must clearly be something very dangerous!"
Looking at everyone desperately, he continued, "I have a bad feeling! This is going to go wrong!"
Leander turned toward him with a cold smile.
"If you want to leave, leave. Someone as useless as you has an excuse to do so. Besides, you wouldn't even be useful."
Hitting his chest, he added, "We have magic. We can help."
And he began to run down the corridor. One by one, everyone followed him—Beth, Aurora, Ludwig, Sarah, Eryndor. All disappearing into the darkness.
"Shit..." Talon muttered.
'Are they stupid?! Do they want to die?!'
Looking toward the exit, he saw it was his chance to get out.
'Should I just leave...? Is it right...? I mean, they already made their decision, I can make mine.' Thinking this while looking at the corridor, he continued, 'Although... If they all die, it totally benefits me, no one could tell what happened here anymore...'
Then he saw it in a selfish way before taking a step toward the exit.
And then he heard the sound.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Bone fragments began to move. To join together. The skeletons they had destroyed on the way to the boss chamber were regenerating, completely blocking the path to the exit.
"No..." Talon backed away. "No, no, no... What the hell is happening?!"
The skeletons finished forming and began to advance toward him to attack.
"SHIT!"
Talon turned around and ran toward the dark corridor, where everyone had disappeared.
He had no alternative.