A wave of relief passed through the Wyndham table almost at once. It wasn't loud, but it was there. Clear. Real.
John let out a long breath he didn't even realize he had been holding. His shoulders dropped slightly as the tension left him. Jake and Jim followed the same way, their bodies easing up as the pressure in the room loosened.
Lucius didn't react as openly. His posture stayed straight, his face controlled. But even then, there was a faint shift in his eyes. The tight edge in them softened, just a little. Enough to show it.
They had all seen it. Every second of it.
Isla had been cornered. Completely.
No space to move. No strength left to fight. No path to escape.
Just two options in front of him.
Quit.
Or die.
And the worst part was how clear it had looked. There had been no trick left, no hidden move waiting to turn things around. It had felt final. Like the end had already decided itself before anyone could say otherwise.
But then… something changed.
Not slowly.
Not gradually.
It broke in.
An interruption. Sudden. Violent. Perfectly timed.
The kind of interference no one plans for, but everyone hopes for when things go wrong.
Jake leaned forward slightly, still watching the scene as it replayed in his mind.
"But how did they even get there?" he asked, the question coming out before he could hold it back.
Jim didn't bother thinking too deep about it. He waved it off with a small shake of his head.
"Does it matter?" he replied.
His eyes stayed locked ahead, sharp now, focused on what came next.
"Now that they're together, they'll handle her," he added, confidence slipping into his tone.
There was a brief silence after that.
Short.
But heavy.
Because the same thought passed through all of them at once.
They didn't say it.
They didn't need to.
One by one, their heads turned.
All in the same direction.
Draven.
He sat where he had always been. Calm. Still. Untouched by the tension around him. A glass of wine rested in his hand as he brought it up slowly and took a quiet sip.
Just composure.
If anything, he looked almost bored.
Like everything happening out there… didn't concern him at all.
"We aren't even sure he is watching what we are watching," Jim said, his eyes still fixed ahead, but his tone carried a quiet doubt.
Jake leaned back slightly, folding his arms as he narrowed his gaze at the scene. "I don't know why, but I have this feeling he can see everything. Every fight. Every corner. All at once."
There was a short pause after that.
Lucius spoke next, calm as always, but measured. "The Synapse Circle has always been like that. Their technology… and their people… you don't predict them. You just deal with what shows up."
He shifted his focus back to the battlefield.
"But that doesn't change anything," he continued. "Right now, our clan has the advantage."
His voice stayed steady. No excitement. Just a clean read of the situation.
"This situation… it's actually good for them," he added.
Jake glanced at him. "Good?"
Lucius nodded once. "Pressure like this forces growth. They're learning each other in real time. Strengths. Weaknesses. Reactions. You don't get that in controlled fights."
He paused for a brief second before finishing his thought.
"And even if they can't beat her, they don't need to. They just need to survive. Regroup. Continue somewhere else."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"Don't forget the goal. We only need to reach mid-clan stage to win this bet."
That was the line that settled things.
Clear. Practical.
But it didn't sit well with everyone.
John's expression tightened. A faint frown formed as he stared ahead, but his mind was elsewhere now.
'The way he said that…'
The thought came quietly, but it stayed.
'Does that mean he doesn't believe the three of them can take down one person from the Synapse Circle?'
He didn't voice it.
But it lingered.
---
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Isla wasn't thinking straight at all.
His mind was a mess.
Too many emotions crashed into each other at once.
Anger at himself.
Embarrassment from how far he had fallen.
Relief that he wasn't alone anymore.
Fear of what was still standing in front of him.
And somewhere in between all that… a strange sense of hope.
It all mixed together, clashing inside him until he couldn't even tell which one was real anymore.
He just lay there, breathing hard, staring ahead.
Trying to hold on to something steady…
Anything at all.
Just when it had truly reached the end for him, when everything had narrowed down to a single choice, his siblings crashed in and tore that ending apart.
The timing was unreal.
Too clean. Too perfect.
Isla lay there, still trying to breathe properly, his chest rising and falling as his mind slowly caught up with what had just happened.
Then the thoughts came.
Fast.
'shit… now that I think about it… this is bad,'
The realization hit him harder than the fight itself.
'With how this ended… there is no way I'm escaping this… they're never going to let this go,'
He could already picture it.
Lennox's face.
That stupid grin.
That look he always had when he found something to tease him about.
Isla's expression tightened slightly.
Even now, stuck on the ground, barely able to move, that was what annoyed him the most.
Not the pain.
Not the damage.
But the fact that this moment… this exact moment… would be remembered.
"Wait… where is Zeph—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
"I am here."
The voice cut in.
Deep. Heavy.
Wrong.
It didn't sound anything like the Zephyr he knew.
Isla frowned slightly and forced his head to turn. It wasn't easy. His body still refused to respond properly, but he managed just enough to look past Lennox.
Then he saw it.
A massive golden creature stood there.
Tall. Solid.
Its head was like an eagle's, sharp and dominant, with eyes that carried clear awareness. A mane like a lion framed its neck, thick and wild, and its body matched it. Power built into every part. Two large wings rested behind it, folding in slightly but still wide enough to cast a shadow over the ground.
For a second, Isla just stared.
Blank.
His brain tried to reject it.
'…what am I looking at…?'
The creature didn't attack.
It didn't move aggressively.
It just stood there. Watching. Calm.
Then it spoke again.
"I said I am here."
Same voice.
Same tone.
That was when it clicked.
Slowly.
Strangely.
'…Zephyr…?'
Isla couldn't fully process it, but the pieces lined up. The rings. The unknown abilities. The fact that none of them really knew what each one could do.
This had to be it.
Still… it was hard to accept just like that.
"But what are you doing? Why are you in this state?" Lennox asked, clearly just as confused, though he hid it better.
Isla let out a small breath, his head dropping back slightly against the ground.
"Well…"
His voice came out rough, tired.
"Unlike both of you… who probably had it easy…"
He paused for a second, his eyes shifting.
"I got stuck fighting a monster."
Lennox turned his head and looked at Zephyr, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took in the massive form standing before him.
"So… Alex has been eliminated?" Zephyr asked. His voice came out deep and heavy, nothing like before, but the meaning was clear.
For a moment, no one answered.
Isla hesitated.
Just for a second.
He wasn't even sure why. Maybe it was everything that had happened. Maybe it was the way the question landed.
"…Yes," Isla finally said, his voice low. "He's been eliminated."
A short silence followed that.
'There's no way he would have survived that…' Isla thought. The image of it still lingered in his head. He pushed it aside.
Then Lennox spoke again, this time turning fully toward Isla.
"Then what about you?" he asked. "Why haven't you healed yourself?"
Isla blinked.
Confused.
The question didn't make sense to him at first.
"Healed…?"
Lennox stared at him for a second. Then he dragged his hand down his face in a slow, tired motion.
A full facepalm.
"Seriously?"
He lifted his hand and pointed directly at Isla's finger. At the ring.
"The ring," Lennox said, his tone flattening. "It heals you. Doesn't matter how bad it is. As long as you're not dead, it will fix you."
For a brief moment, everything went quiet in his head.
Then it hit him.
Hard.
'…You've got to be kidding me…'
If the ground could open up and swallow him right there, he would have accepted it without a second thought.
All that struggle.
All that damage.
And the answer had been sitting on his hand the whole time.
He let out a slow breath.
"But even if I did…" Isla muttered, his voice dull. "It wouldn't have changed anything."
He turned his eyes slightly.
"She would have just beaten me back into the same state again."
That part, at least, he was sure about.
Lennox didn't reply immediately.
And Zephyr…
If Isla could see his face right now, he would have noticed it. The slight tension. The quiet irritation sitting under the surface.
But he couldn't.
So the moment passed.
Then—
Thump.
A heavy sound cut through the air.
The ground shook slightly under it.
All three of them turned at once.
Rhyssa stood there.
Not untouched. Not clean.
But still standing.
Still ready.
Parts of the outer layer of her armor were chipped off, exposing what lay beneath. Broken plates hung loose at the edges, and in between them, damaged circuits flickered weakly.
But it wasn't staying broken.
Right there, in front of them, tiny nano-particles moved.
They crawled across the surface like a swarm with purpose, stitching metal back together piece by piece.
Slow.
Precise.
Relentless.
The damage was already fading.
Rhyssa stood in the middle of it, her helmet retracted back into the suit. Her face was visible again.
Still beautiful.
Still sharp.
But not calm anymore.
The softness was gone.
What remained was irritation.
And beneath that… anger.
"I see… you've brought backup," she said, her eyes moving between them without any sign of panic.
No tension.
No hesitation.
Being outnumbered didn't shake her. Not even a little.
"If anything…" she continued, her tone flattening, "that just means I have to be more brutal this time."
Right on cue, the armor finished repairing.
The broken sections sealed.
A fresh layer of metallic plating formed over the damaged parts, smoother, stronger, like nothing had touched it before.
Then—
Without warning—
Her helmet slid back into place.
Clean.
Instant.
Her face disappeared behind it.
Lennox let out a short breath through his nose.
"Good," he said, rolling his shoulders slightly. "Makes it easier to hit you when I don't have to look at that pretty face."
The words came out light, but his stance had already changed.
He was ready.
At the same time, Zephyr turned slightly toward Isla.
"Fix yourself," he said, his deep voice carrying weight even in that form. "Get back into shape and join us."
There was no room for argument.
"There's a reason we were told not to engage the Synapse Circle," he added.
That line stayed in the air for a second.
Heavy.
Then he turned forward again.
Focus locked.
Target set.
Next moment—
They moved.
No signal.
No countdown.
Just action.
Zephyr surged forward first, wings pushing hard as he launched like a living projectile. Lennox followed right after, fast and direct, his feet tearing into the ground as he closed the distance.
Two angles.
One target.