Ten hours until the Hunter returned.
Rama sat in the strategy room with the five remaining champions, staring at a problem that had no good solution.
"We found its weakness—the point-three second window," Adi said, reviewing combat footage. "But Sekar only landed that hit because the Hunter didn't expect her speed. Next time, it'll account for S-Rank reaction times."
"So we need something it can't account for," Yanto said. "Something unpredictable."
"Or overwhelming," Rama countered. "If we create thirty temporary champions via sacrifice, we overwhelm its adaptation speed. It can't counter thirty coordinated strikes in point-three seconds."
"At the cost of thirty permanent champions dying," Budi said quietly from his medical bed. He'd insisted on attending despite his injuries. "That's sixty percent of our total champion force. We'd win the battle and cripple our long-term survival."
"Long-term doesn't matter if we don't survive short-term."
