They notice the distant small pillars collapsing, the chain of destruction gradually drawing closer to them!
For a moment, Ryota’s eyes widen until they nearly bulge from their sockets, and he thinks to himself:
“Could they be… turning this into a total annihilation…?!”
“I’ve exhausted all my solutions…”
“If we advance toward the massive pillar and it collapses, there will be no room to talk about reaction speed. Everyone will inevitably be crushed!”
“And if we remain where we are, we’re only postponing our execution! In a few minutes, the pillars will crush us!”
He looks around…
“They still haven’t realized the catastrophe that’s coming…”
“What should I do?!”
“Is this really the end?”
“Damn it! The collapse is getting closer!”
“The sound of the pillars falling is growing louder!”
“They’ll realize what’s happening at any moment!”
“And when they do, panic will create chaos, and chaos will kill everyone!”
“Think… Think! … Think!!”
An inner voice:
“Yurvana…”
“Yes! It’s Yurvana!”
“If I use Yurvana, I can at least withstand the collapse of the small pillars.”
“Yes! There is at least one final chance of survival. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll use Yurvana.”
“But…”
“Wouldn’t that make everything I’ve done meaningless…?”
“Even the people who died as the price for discovering the weaknesses of these traps… Wouldn’t that make their deaths meaningless?”
“No! There has to be a solution!”
“After going through all these experiences, I’ve become certain of one thing.”
“The designer of this test wouldn’t leave a completely hopeless situation without at least one clue, even if it’s small, even if it’s unclear, even if it’s indirect. There has to be one!”
For a moment, a memory flashes through his mind…
Ryota’s pupils contract to their limit.
He stands silently for a few moments, then says:
“Follow the giants, even if what they say seems absurd.”
“Do they really want me to…?”
Ryota hesitates for a few moments and thinks:
“Dangerous… Extremely dangerous… Dangerously so!!”
“If my analysis is wrong and the massive pillar collapses, even my Yurvana won’t be able to withstand its collapse!”
“This is a complete gamble!” The source of this chapter is g.com.
“And the worst part…”
“It has to be done…”
Immediately, Ryota points toward the massive pillar and shouts at the crowd:
“Death is behind you, and survival is ahead! Move and follow me immediately!”
Ryota runs toward the massive pillar.
Watching Ryota, Evander’s eyes widen in shock for a moment, but he immediately follows without question.
Mizushi quickly recovers from his own shock as well and catches up with them.
Hitoshi clenches his fist tightly, breathing heavily and sweating, but he quickly gathers himself and shouts at the crowd behind him:
“Let’s follow the leader!”
“Lord Ryota does not make mistakes!”
“Move!”
Most of the crowd follows Hitoshi, but…
Three people do not move…
They remain standing where they are, their faces filled with utter shock…
Looking back at them as he runs, Hitoshi shouts:
“Move! You’ll die!”
No answer…
The chain of collapsing pillars draws even closer, until the last pillar to fall is only a few meters away!
Hitoshi shouts at them again, tears streaming from his eyes:
“Kazu! Shin! Mizuki!”
“Please, move…”
No answer…
They have frozen in place…
The shock of facing inevitable death…
Sometimes, its first victims are the minds themselves…
And in a scene that could only be described as tragic, the pillars collapse upon them…
Three people are crushed…
It takes only a few fractions of a second…
The last thing remaining of them is one of their screams, before one of the massive stones crushes his head.
A scream that breaks something inside every one of them…
As for Hitoshi, the least that can be said of him in that moment is that he has already been killed…
That scream killed him…
Evander thinks to himself:
“Ryota didn’t look back even once.”
“Not because he was cruel, but because he was afraid that even a single glance backward would make him hesitate afterward.”
“He’s suppressing his emotions again…”
“He’s become good at that…”
“Hiding them deep within his heart…”
“He’s probably the one suffering the most here…”
“How could he not be, when he’s the one carrying the guilt of their deaths in such a horrific way?”
Evander reaches out and places a hand on Ryota’s shoulder, speaking in a hoarse voice as tears fall from his eyes:
“Enough, man! You’ll kill yourself…”
Ryota remains silent for a few moments before speaking in his usual firm tone:
“My emotions won’t save them…”
“Only the accuracy of my analysis gives us a chance…”
…
About half a minute later.
They have already passed the massive pillar and exited its range.
They stop, and some of them look toward the massive pillar and say:
“It didn’t fall…?”
“Really…?”
“Was the solution… simply to walk alongside the massive pillar?!”
“What kind of madman would even think of that in the first place?!”
He says it mockingly.
Hitoshi looks at them with exhausted eyes and mutters:
“We survived… for a little longer…”
Ryota runs a hand across his forehead and takes a deep breath.
He looks toward the crowd and notices the grief and gloom covering their faces.
Some of them are still crying.
Then he addresses them:
“I know what happened was difficult for all of us, but let’s not let their sacrifice be in vain.”
“Let us steel our hearts and continue their path.”
“The greatest consolation we can offer them is to ensure that no more of us become casualties…”
He moves toward a specific direction, followed by Evander and Mizushi, and addresses the crowd:
“We have no time to waste. Let’s move forward!”
Hitoshi and the others follow him…