Chapter 588: Leaving the battlefield
The truth had been sitting in the space behind her eyes the whole time.
She had needed him alive to reach the barrier. Marcus’s speed had gotten them across the ruined arena floor at a pace her own body couldn’t have.
Sarah had already known that whatever the dark organization was doing today would reshape the kingdom’s power structure, and that the winning side was going to be the side that adapted fastest.
The Surpasser appearing outside the barrier hadn’t been a threat to her life. Sarah saw it was a job interview to show her competence.
She had recognized the moment the exact same way she had recognized every other opportunity in her life.
Wearing her usual cold expression she watched the Surpasser beat Marcus to the point of no return. And once the chance presented itself, Sarah didn’t ask to join, but proved that she could remove her own attachments when the moment required it.
Marcus had been the price of her admission to the dark organisation... and to survival.
The Surpasser’s grin widened as he took in her cold eyes, "Come with me. Let’s talk about the details."
She followed him without looking back.
Marcus’s body lay in the dirt behind her.
After taking the second step, she stopped, and turned around to face Marcus.
The Surpasser’s smile changed slightly, curious of her next step, "What? Are you having second thoughts?"
Sarah walked back toward the corpse. Then, she knelt beside Marcus’s body.
Her hands ravaged across his remains. She stripped the storage ring from his finger first, tucking it into her own belt.
She pulled the necklace m from around his neck, the one his master had given him before the tournament’s first stage.
She retrieved several potion vials from his inner pocket, one of the emergency supplies he always carried. She removed his weapon from where it had fallen beside his hand.
Everything usable came off him.
She stood up and turned back toward the Surpasser, finally giving him a response to his previous question, "I never regret my decisions. When I make them, I make them for a reason, and I never look back at them. His body had useful things that could strengthen me. It’s a waste to leave them behind."
The Surpasser watched her tuck the last of Marcus’s belongings into her clothing.
He nodded once slowly, before chuckling.
"A practical answer. That’s why I like you."
Sarah didn’t respond. She began walking again, following the Surpasser.
Marcus was forgotten before her third step.
◇◇◇◇
On the other side of the tournament arena, Moon arrived at the dome.
He stood at the edge of the shimmering barrier with Kael, Emma, Alaric, and the rest of the team behind him. For a moment, none of them moved. They looked back at the battlefield they were about to leave.
The bubble at the center of the arena was still radiating with dark red energy. The three Ascenders committed to the attack, Tom, Farid, and Sierra, were still hammering at the surface without visible progress. Samuel Sky watched from a distance, his hand still resting behind his back, his patience still intact.
Moon frowned.
"Why did your father not leave?"
He asked Kael quietly.
Over the past months, Moon had developed a genuine relationship with Tom. The old fox had backed him. Sponsored him. Handed him a Direct Entry Pass over his own son. Given him a B-Rank Second Order sword forged by Master Veylin. Explained the Chamber Secret Realm to him. Treated him like a second son of his.
Somewhere in that time, Tom had become the closest thing Moon had to an uncle. The kind of older man who was interested in his life, laughed at his choices, and backed him up when he needed it.
Moon didn’t want him near the bubble when it opened because it was dangerous.
Kael’s face contorted slightly. He was trying to hide his frustration, but the tension around his eyes gave him away.
"He said it’s too early to leave. There are four Ascenders on the field. Four against, at most, two on the other side. So he doesn’t see the need to worry yet. He said even if Ascenders can’t win against another Ascender, they can at least escape one." Kael’s jaw worked slightly. "He wouldn’t budge. He wanted to stay."
Moon sighed.
"Alright."
The old fox was making his own choices. Moon respected that, even if he didn’t agree with it. Tom had lived far longer than Moon had. If Tom decided the risk was manageable, then either the risk was manageable or the reward was worth the risk. Both possibilities were valid, and neither of them left room for Moon to intervene.
He turned his attention to Alaric who was standing a few paces behind him, his posture and expression composed again.
Moon had watched the exchange with Samuel and seen the crack in Alaric’s composure.
From that speech alone, Moon’s view of Alaric had risen several stages.
He could tell exactly what Samuel had been implying. The "failed product" Samuel had accused Alaric of protecting was Selene. Whatever the family history behind that phrase was, it had clearly been a long-running wound.
Samuel’s dismissal of his own daughter as a "failure" was a statement that couldn’t have come from a single argument. It was the summary of years of contempt.
And Alaric had spent those years standing between Selene and their father.
Every hour he had spent building Selene up had been an hour Samuel had used to accuse him of falling behind his own potential. Every time Alaric had chosen his sister’s wellbeing over his own advancement, Samuel had used it as evidence of weakness.
Moon’s opinion of Alaric changed permanently.
’She has her own troubles at home too.’
The thought carried an ache behind it. Selene had never spoken about her family situation. Now Moon understood why.
His mind drifted to Selene.
"She’s safe, right?" He asked Emma who stood just a few feet away.