They continue walking.
As they pass beside one of the pillars…
A tremendous cracking sound tears through their ears!
Ryota immediately notices the subtle movement in the direction in which the falling rock fragments are tilting.
He points toward a certain area and shouts:
“Left!”
They quickly follow him, running toward that area.
Not even a second passes before he points toward the rubble of the first fallen pillar and shouts:
“Move! Quickly!”
This time, everyone follows him immediately, without hesitation…
Not even another second passes before they hear a tremendous impact behind them.
When they look back, they find the rubble of the second pillar lying on the ground.
But this time, their faces do not show as much shock.
Instead, their bodies tremble with fear at the thought of being even a moment late in carrying out Ryota’s orders…
Ryota notices this and simply comments:
“Let’s keep moving forward…”
And indeed, following the same pattern, they successfully overcome the traps one after another…
With every trap they successfully pass, Akira’s heart grows heavier with more doubts and questions.
He becomes so lost in thought that, for a moment, he gets distracted and is late in following an order.
The pillar nearly hits him, but Hitoshi saves him by pulling him away at the very last moment…
Hitoshi asks him worriedly:
“Are you all right…?”
Akira nods, and soon stands with Hitoshi’s help before the two of them continue running.
Several more minutes pass, and they have already overcome numerous traps and crossed more than half the distance separating them from the first massive pillar.
As they pass beside another pillar as usual…
Without warning…
Ryota’s eyes widen so much that they nearly bulge from their sockets!
A slight disturbance in the movement of the air.
A faint cracking sound.
A few falling rock fragments.
He notices them all within fractions of a second.
A tremendous warning of mortal danger strikes his mind!
Within fractions of a second, without even looking upward, Ryota immediately realizes that it is a silent fall—a pillar falling without warning.
He immediately shouts at the crowd at the top of his voice:
“Get away!!”
But…
It is already too late…
Not everyone has a fast enough reaction…
Within fractions of a second…
Four people…
Are crushed beneath the falling stones…
They are dead…
A heavy silence hangs over the area…
Gradually…
They look at their bloodstained clothes…
They look at the mangled remains among the rubble…
They look at the white substance that makes up the brain, lying scattered across the ground…
No one can believe what has happened…
Ryota’s expression tightens.
He clenches his fist so hard that it nearly draws blood…
His mind clings to reality, blaming the cruelty of the world and the impossibility of everyone surviving such an unjust test, while his heart still clings to the responsibility for their deaths, regardless of the excuses…
Eventually, Ryota takes a few steps forward and stands before the rubble.
He clasps his hands together and remains silent for several moments, mourning the souls of the dead.
Akira sees all of this and can no longer endure the silence.
Soon, all the doubts in his heart turn into anger, and he shouts at Ryota:
“And will your prayers bring them back to life?!”
Hitoshi immediately intervenes and shouts at Akira:
“Stop, Akira!”
“Ryota is not to blame!”
Akira:
“Then who is?!”
“Isn’t he the one who kept refusing to explain anything and told us to follow him in silence?!”
“And in the end, he was even late in giving the order!”
Hitoshi:
“You have ears, and you know perfectly well that this pillar did not produce the cracking sound that normally precedes its fall.”
“I’m actually shocked by Ryota’s ability to notice it that quickly and warn us in time!”
“If it weren’t for him, the number of casualties would already have doubled!”
Akira:
“I’ve had enough of this…”
“I don’t mind dying because of a misjudgment of the situation, or because I failed to notice important details. Because in that case, it would be my own incompetence.”
“But I will absolutely not accept following a leader whose decisions I cannot even trust to be in our best interests!”
Hitoshi:
“Akira…!”
Akira interrupts him:
“Look at him!”
“He still refuses to explain anything, even after causing our brothers to die!”
“And he wants us to accept it in silence as though it were nothing!”
Hitoshi:
“Akira… you…”
Hitoshi finds no words with which to respond.
Or rather, at this point, he does not know how to defend Ryota while he himself already carries some doubts within his heart…
In the end, he falls silent…
All eyes turn toward Ryota, who still stands silently, a cold expression upon his face.
After a few moments…
With a dry expression devoid of emotion, Ryota speaks in his usual cold tone:
“When I spoke to you earlier, I do not remember promising that everyone would survive. In fact, I was quite explicit in telling you that casualties would inevitably accumulate at some point.”
“And here we are, at that point…”
“I am nothing more than a student like you who watched the arena for a few minutes and noticed a few things.”
“My perspective was not broad enough to allow me to see the entire arena.”
“This is where my information ends…”
“So, whoever still wishes to follow me, the rules remain the same…”
“No questions…”
“No objections…”
“No side discussions…”
“No suggestions…”
“Just open your eyes, look around you, and wait for any order or danger…”
Silence fills the area for several moments…
Everyone looks toward Ryota.
Some of their expressions tighten, while others widen their eyes so much that they nearly bulge from their sockets.
Some even clutch their heads in shock.
Eventually, Akira breaks the silence with a mocking laugh before walking in another direction and saying:
“Enough nonsense…”
And indeed, eight more people leave the group and follow Akira…
Hitoshi tries to stop them, but fails.
When he finally becomes overwhelmed and sees no hope of convincing them, Hitoshi closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath.
Then he slowly draws his sword, turns toward Ryota, and advances toward him with quickening steps!
Evander blocks his path and draws his own sword as well, saying in a sharp tone:
“Hitoshi, keep your head and don’t act recklessly…”
Ryota interrupts him:
“Evander!”
“Leave him…”
Evander steps back.
Hitoshi continues forward until he reaches Ryota.
He kneels on one knee and presents his sword toward Ryota, saying:
“This warrior offers his deepest apology to His Lordship. Please accept this humble gift, forgive their rebellion, and allow us to continue following you…”
Ryota extends his hand and takes the sword, saying:
“And I accept you.”
Then he looks toward the crowd, which has been reduced to roughly half its original size, and says:
“It pains me to place such difficult conditions upon you, and I understand your doubts.”
“But unfortunately, this is a cruel and unjust test. Yet if there is one thing I want you to understand, it is that I do not wish you harm…”
Then he looks toward the first massive pillar and steps forward, saying:
“Let’s continue moving forward…”
Everyone follows him in silence…