The victory tasted like blood. Both the goblins' and their own.
After the last wisp of energy was absorbed from the clearing, a deep exhaustion settled over the team. It went straight to their bones.
They were covered in cuts and bruises, but there was a new fire in their eyes. Confidence. Drive.
For the first time since arriving in this cursed world, they knew they could do more than just survive.
They could win.
They found shelter in a deep hollow in the rock wall to rest. Rina moved from person to person, her face pale from exhaustion.
Her hands glowed with soft green light as she mended the worst wounds. Steam rose from damaged skin as it knit back together.
"Stay still, Eric," she said quietly. Her voice strained as she closed a deep gash on his arm. "This will take a minute."
The adrenaline was gone. What remained were the hard facts of where they were.
But now, they were facts they felt they could handle.
Dante sat back against the cold stone. His mind raced. He wasn't resting. He was analyzing. Taking inventory.
They had power now. And they had information. The Goddess's words were the foundation of their entire strategy.
'Ten of us,' he thought, his eyes scanning their tired faces. 'The Goddess said only six will survive. That means four of these people are temporary. Disposable. Sacrifices to be made when necessary.'
His gaze lingered on each of them.
'If the math doesn't work itself out naturally, I'll have to reduce the numbers myself.'
He watched Jin flex his hand, feeling the new power flowing through him.
'They grow stronger by killing. Good. This is a world I understand.'
He had set up the goblin fight as a test. A first harvest. It worked perfectly.
He reviewed the other rules. Each one was a piece of a twisted game.
The forest was divided into zones.
Hidden artifacts were scattered throughout.
A Bone Dragon guarded the exit.
And betrayal. It wasn't just possible. It was built into the system.
'A previous hero won by killing all the others,' he recalled.
Not a warning. A blueprint.
They had a survival plan. Now they just had to execute it.
As Rina finished with Eric, a sound cut through the quiet woods.
A scream.
Not a monster's cry. Human. Full of pain and terror so raw it made the air feel colder.
The scream ended with a wet, choking sound.
The team shot to their feet. Exhaustion forgotten. Weapons ready.
"What was that?" Eric asked. His voice was low.
"Trouble," Dante said. His tone was flat and cold. "And the worst kind. Stay alert. Let's go."
They crept toward the sound, slipping between the massive trees like ghosts. The smell of fresh blood reached them long before they saw anything.
Thick. Metallic. The smell of death.
They peered through the brush into a small clearing.
What they saw was a massacre.
The bodies of at least five students were scattered across the ground. Their party clothes were torn and soaked with blood.
In the center of the carnage, one of their former classmates was still alive.
Barely.
A longsword was driven straight through his chest, pinning him to the forest floor. His eyes were wide with shock and agony. Pleading for help as he coughed blood.
The sound was wet. Desperate.
Drip. Drip.
His life leaked away with each weak breath.
Standing over him was another group of students. All male. All splattered with the blood of their kills.
There was no horror in their expressions. No guilt.
Just the cold satisfaction of hunters who enjoyed their work.
Dante looked at his own team. Their faces showed disbelief. Fear.
'Good,' he thought. 'Let them see. Let them understand.'
This wasn't a fight against monsters. This was murder.
This was the betrayal the Goddess had warned about. Right in front of them.
The leader of the other group was tall and muscular. He had a cruel smile on his face.
He placed his boot on the dying boy's shoulder and gripped the handle of his sword.
Shhhhlk.
With a wet, tearing sound, he yanked it free.
The boy gasped. A last, desperate plea for life. His hands twitched weakly in the air.
The leader just laughed.
He raised the bloody sword high and drove it down again.
Thunk.
The blade plunged deep into the student's heart. Ending his life with a final, brutal thrust.
A strangled scream escaped Erica's throat. Pure, instinctive horror she couldn't contain.
It shattered the silence of the clearing.
Every head turned toward them.
Bloodthirsty eyes locked onto their position. Fresh from their kill.
The leader's smile widened. His eyes gleamed with dark excitement.
The human element had found them.