The message in front of Eric sent a cold chill down his spine.
Not just fear.
Panic.
Confusion.
His mind froze for a second as warning after warning flashed in front of his eyes.
'What the heck...?' Eric thought.
Then his expression twisted.
'No... no... NOOO!' he screamed inwardly.
Meanwhile, Alex's axe was already flying toward him.
The bone-white weapon spun violently through the air, cutting across the battlefield with a terrifying pressure behind it.
Eric reacted instantly.
He pushed his legs and dashed forward, trying to evade the attack.
But the moment he moved, he noticed something strange.
His body suddenly felt lighter.
Then heavier.
Then like something invisible had grabbed him.
"What?!" Eric shouted.
He looked down at himself and saw particles of light starting to wrap around his body.
The system had already made the decision for him.
His feet left the ground slightly as the pulling force increased.
"No! Stop!" Eric yelled.
But it was useless.
A blinding light swallowed his body completely.
Flash!
The next second, Eric vanished from the battlefield.
One moment, he had been inside the tournament forest.
The next, he appeared outside.
Eric stumbled slightly as his boots landed on solid stone ground.
His eyes widened immediately.
He was back in the open colosseum arena.
'What happened...?' Eric thought while breathing hard.
'Why did this happen? How is this even possible?'
He looked at his own hands quickly, almost as if checking whether he was still real.
Then he raised his head and looked around.
The massive arena stretched out before him. Thousands of seats surrounded the battlefield area like a giant wall. Voices echoed everywhere, yet strangely, almost nobody seemed focused on him.
Around Eric were other participants who had already been eliminated from the tournament.
Some sat on the ground while receiving treatment.
Others were laid flat on stretchers.
A few looked barely conscious.
There were burns, broken limbs, blood everywhere. The tournament truly wasn't gentle with anyone. That much was obvious.
Luckily, several healing mages moved around the area treating the injured participants one after another.
Bright healing spells flashed repeatedly across the field.
Yet Eric barely paid attention to any of that.
His mind was still stuck on one thing.
That axe.
And the fact that his own system had forcefully removed him from the tournament before it could even reach him.
"Hey, look! That's a member of the Synapse Circle!" someone suddenly shouted.
The voice was loud enough to draw attention immediately.
Several heads turned toward Eric at once.
Then whispers started spreading through the arena like wildfire.
Most of the eliminated participants were too injured to care about anything around them, but those still conscious enough immediately recognized the armor and symbol on Eric's suit.
"Look at him... his body doesn't even seem that damaged," one person whispered to a clan member beside him.
"And his armor barely has scratches on it," another added.
A young man lying on a stretcher gave a snort.
"That means he quit the tournament himself."
"Hah... what a coward," another participant mocked quietly. "At least I stayed in there until the tournament threw me out."
"Maybe the Synapse Circle only looks tough from the outside."
The comments were low.
Very low.
But Eric heard every single one clearly.
His jaw tightened instantly.
The metallic fingers of his suit clenched so hard that faint cracking sounds came from them.
'How...?' Eric thought.
His chest burned with frustration.
'How did I end up being the one standing here?'
Out of everyone.
Out of all the participants.
He was the first official elimination from the major clans.
And people would remember that.
That was the worst part.
No matter what excuse he gave later, the story would spread.
A Synapse Circle member had quit the tournament.
Eric's breathing grew heavier.
Then one face appeared in his mind.
Alex Wyndham.
Immediately, rage flashed through his eyes.
'That Wyndham boy...' Eric thought.
His fist clenched tighter.
'I will make him pay for this.'
Just then, a system interface suddenly opened in front of him.
A face appeared on the screen.
The sharp eyes.
The cold expression.
Draven.
"You better have a very good reason for quitting the tournament by yourself," Draven said coldly.
His expression looked ugly.
No.
Furious.
Even through the screen, Eric could feel the pressure coming from him.
Meanwhile, high above the arena in the VIP section, Draven's expression remained dark as he stared down toward the field below.
And that reaction hadn't gone unnoticed.
The members of the Wyndham Clan seated nearby had already started paying attention to him from the moment Eric appeared outside the tournament.
"What the heck would make his face look like that?" Jim asked while staring toward the VIP section.
From where they were seated, Draven's ugly expression was impossible to miss.
"From the recent notifications, it seems a member of the Synapse Circle was eliminated from the tournament," Jake answered.
"Wow..." John muttered.
His eyes widened slightly before a grin slowly appeared on his face.
"It seems the Synapse Circle isn't untouchable after all," John said as he glanced toward Lucius.
However, unlike the others, Lucius wasn't smiling.
His expression remained calm.
Serious.
'I know the Synapse Circle,' Lucius thought quietly.
'I know how dangerous they are. Those people don't rely on brute strength alone. They fight with calculations, information, and tricks.'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'So whatever managed to eliminate one of them... has to be a monster on its own.'
That thought alone made him uneasy.
Because if someone like that was still inside the tournament, then every remaining participant was in danger.
'And now,' Lucius thought, 'we might have to worry about that monster too.'
---
Meanwhile, back inside the tournament forest, Alex's axe shot through the air with terrifying speed.
The bone-white weapon carried a heavy pressure behind it as it spun violently.
But Eric was already gone.
The axe passed through the exact spot where he had been standing moments ago.
Then it slammed into one of the burning trees behind him.
Boom!
Wood exploded apart instantly.
The tree shook violently as flames spread further across its trunk.
Meanwhile, Alex stood still with rough breathing.
His chest rose and fell heavily while burn marks covered parts of his body.
His eyes scanned the surroundings carefully.
There was no sign of Eric anywhere.
Not even his energy.
'Is this a trick...?' Alex wondered.
He tightened his grip slightly.
The next moment, the axe pulled itself free from the burning tree and flew back toward him.
Alex caught it cleanly.
Then suddenly, a notification appeared before him.
[You have gotten away from the Synapse sight]
Alex frowned immediately after reading the message.
'Synapse sight?' he repeated inwardly.
That name alone didn't sound simple.
And honestly, after fighting Eric, Alex had already realized one thing.
The Synapse Circle was far more dangerous than he first thought.
The system message left Alex stunned for a moment.
'Wait... what happened?' Alex thought.
'Did he just quit?'
He was genuinely speechless.
At the last moment, Alex had seen the bright light that covered Eric's body. But even he thought it was just another defensive move or some strange Synapse Circle technique.
Instead, Eric had been pulled out of the tournament entirely.
Alex couldn't understand it.
Why would someone like Eric suddenly leave the tournament?
Especially after going that far.
But honestly, Alex didn't have the luxury to think about it for long.
Right above him, something cracked loudly.
Creeeak!
Alex looked up instantly.
A burning tree was already collapsing toward him.
He jumped out of the way immediately.
Boom!
The massive half-burnt trunk slammed into the ground where he had been standing seconds earlier.
Charred wood and sparks exploded outward from the impact.
Heat rushed toward Alex's face as he landed several meters away.
He quickly raised his head and looked around.
The forest was burning.
Eric's previous attack had turned the nearby area into complete chaos.
Flames spread across the tops of the trees rapidly. Thick smoke rose upward while glowing embers floated through the air like fireflies from hell.
At first, the fire had only stayed above.
Now it was spreading downward.
Branches snapped constantly.
Burning logs crashed one after another.
Some trees were already tilting dangerously.
Others had completely fallen.
And the heat below was becoming worse with every second.
Sweat rolled down Alex's face as he breathed heavily.
The air itself felt painful to inhale.
Alex didn't waste time standing around analyzing the situation further.
That would just get him crushed or burned alive.
He moved immediately.
His body dashed between the trees as he avoided falling branches and collapsing trunks.
Left.
Right.
Jump.
Slide.
Every movement was rough and tired, yet precise enough to keep him alive.
At one point, another burning branch crashed down beside him, forcing him to leap sideways instantly.
Boom!
The ground shook slightly from the impact.
Alex clicked his tongue.
'This whole place is becoming a death trap,' he thought while continuing to move through the burning forest.
Before long, Alex finally escaped the range of the fire.
His body pushed through several bushes before he slid down into a muddy area.
Splash!
The ground there was wet and soft.
Parts of it still held shallow water from what looked like an old swamp or dried stream.
Alex fell flat onto the muddy ground while breathing heavily.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as sweat mixed with dirt and ash on his body.
Behind him, the forest still burned fiercely.
Orange light flickered through the trees while smoke continued rising into the sky.
Alex stared at it quietly for a moment.
'Even though that Synapse Circle member is gone, I'm still trapped here because he destroyed my wristband,' Alex thought.
That was now the real problem.
Without the wristband, he couldn't voluntarily leave the tournament anymore.
And honestly, after that fight, Alex knew he wasn't in perfect condition.
His body hurt badly.
Burn marks covered parts of his skin, and his qi consumption had been ridiculous.
Then suddenly, Alex remembered something.
'Wait...'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'I remember during the briefing, they said there were emergency exit doors inside the tournament grounds.'
Immediately, Alex opened his system interface and searched through the stored information.
Before the tournament had started, every participant had been briefed about the rules and emergency procedures.
Naturally, Alex had saved everything into his system.
After a few seconds, the information appeared.
[While you can exit the tournament with your wristband, there are exit doors scattered around the tournament grounds. If for any reason you cannot use your wristband to exit, locate one of the emergency exit doors.]
After reading it, Alex felt slightly relieved.
But only slightly.
Because another problem instantly appeared in his mind.
'Fuck...' Alex cursed inwardly.
'Without the wristband, how am I supposed to access the Ztheu map?'
His expression became ugly immediately.
The wristband wasn't just for quitting the tournament.
It also connected participants to several support functions.
The map.
Health status.
Position tracking.
Emergency signals.
All of it was tied to the wristband.
With it gone, Alex thought he had lost access completely.
Then suddenly, a system notification appeared before him.
[Opening the Ztheu map]
Alex froze for a second.
"...What?" he muttered quietly.
The next moment, a map interface slowly opened before his eyes anyway.
'Wow... I guess I really am lucky to have a system of my own,' Alex muttered quietly.
Honestly, if not for his system, he would have been completely stuck right now.
The map continued glowing faintly before him.
Then more information appeared.
[There are four exit doors on the map]
[Nearest exit door detected]
[Central Park Ruin City]
Alex focused his eyes on the map carefully.
Several locations were marked across Ztheu, each one representing an exit point from the tournament grounds.
The doors were scattered far apart from each other.
However, among all of them, the closest one to Alex was the exit located at Central Park Ruin City.
Alex stared at the location silently for a few seconds.
His body still hurt badly from the fight with Eric.
His qi reserves had also dropped heavily.
At this point, continuing the tournament no longer felt worth it.
'I have decided,' Alex thought firmly.
'I don't want to continue this tournament anymore.'
There was no hesitation in his mind now.
Originally, Alex had entered the tournament because he needed to survive and buy himself time.
But after everything that had happened, especially after encountering a member of the Synapse Circle, Alex realized something important.
This tournament was becoming more dangerous than he expected.
And now, there was somewhere else he wanted to go.
Something else he needed to focus on.
So staying here no longer made sense to him.
Then suddenly, another notification appeared before him.
[Note: Every exit door contains a challenge]
[Participants must fulfill the required conditions before the exit door can be used]
Alex stared at the message for a moment before letting out a tired breath.
"Yeah..." Alex muttered.
"I already knew it wouldn't be easy."
Somehow, that was just how these things always worked. Nothing ever came simple inside Ztheu.