"What?" Eddie muttered, his voice barely audible as his eyes snapped toward Chatticus, wide with disbelief.
"Can't you see?" Eddie gestured toward the flag, his face hardening. "My team has Team S's flag. We win."
Chatticus stretched, a lazy yawn escaping as though the weight of Eddie's declaration didn't concern him. "Well, you're right about that… except Team S got your flag before you."
The words hit like a thunderclap. Seriphina's head whipped toward Chatticus, her eyes narrowing. "Don't tell me—"
"Yeah," Chatticus interrupted, his voice as calm as ever. "Akshran got the flag before you even knew what was happening."
Laughter broke the tense silence, sharp and unrestrained. Seri doubled over, clutching his sides. "Oh my god! I can't—" He gasped for air between laughs. "I can't believe how completely outclassed you were, Eddie."
Eddie's face darkened, his fists clenching. "You were scared of the traitor, weren't you?" Seri continued, his grin widening.
"Seri…" Anatolia's voice trembled as she stared at him, her confusion turning to dread. "Don't tell me—"
"Yes," Seri said, his smirk cutting like a blade. "I was the traitor. Akshran planted me from the start."
"Wait… you too?" Takahashi stammered, his gaze shifting to Seri in shock.
"Wait—he got to you guys too?" Katryei blurted out, glancing at Tatsuyui, who looked equally stunned.
"Yeah… us too," Zack and Kanjak admitted simultaneously, their voices tinged with disbelief, as though realizing the scope of their betrayal only now.
"What the hell is going on?" Ryan demanded, his voice cracking under the weight of his confusion.
Eddie turned on Chatticus, his composure unraveling. "You said there was a traitor—one! You said a traitor from Class S!"
Chatticus met Eddie's glare with a serene expression. "I said there was a traitor from Class S. I never said there was only one."
Seriphina's voice wavered. "You mean to tell me…"
Chatticus nodded slowly, his words deliberate. "Yes. The entire Team S—except Anatolia—were working for Akshran from the start. They fed him every piece of critical information, all while you thought you were ahead."
The revelation hung in the air, suffocating.
"How?" Eddie demanded, his voice breaking with desperation. "How could they do this? They were monitored 24/7. And Akshran—he had no way of sending them information!"
A voice, cold and cutting, echoed from the shadows. "Let me explain."
All heads turned as Akshran stepped forward, his figure illuminated in the dim light. His body bore the marks of his struggle—a single eye glaring from his bruised face, three fingers broken, the other hand clutching a flag like a trophy.
"Still think you've won?" Akshran said, his smirk as unbroken as his resolve.
Everyone, except Seri and Chatticus, stared at Akshran in stunned silence, their expressions a mix of confusion and disbelief.
"He… he broke his own fingers and gouged his eye out?" Ryan muttered, his voice filled with a mix of horror and awe.
Akshran's single eye fixed on him, unflinching. "Remember the plan I passed to Seri?" he asked.
Ryan nodded slowly, pieces of the puzzle beginning to align.
"Do you remember the words written on those notes?" Akshran pressed.
Ryan hesitated before answering. "Yeah, but it was all nonsense. Random instructions that didn't make sense."
Akshran's lips curled into a faint smirk. "No, it wasn't nonsense. I instructed Seri to do the exact opposite of what I wrote. For example, when I said 'don't follow Takahashi,' it actually meant to follow him."
Eddie stepped forward, his frustration boiling over. "Then why did you still show up at the exact time written in the note?!" he demanded.
Akshran chuckled softly, his tone laced with condescension. "Oh, Eddie… that timing wasn't to win the fight—it was to secure the flag. The fight was nothing but a distraction. While you were busy focusing on me, Takahashi used the opportunity to sneak away, gather valuable intel, and locate your flag's position."
Gasps rippled through the group as the realization began to set in.
"That's why I needed so many traitors," Akshran continued, his voice calm, yet every word carried weight. "Each one fed me fragments of information—insights into your strategies, your resources, your weaknesses. Slowly but surely, I pieced everything together."
"I also slipped a note into Seri's cursed spirit during the fight. It read: 'Everything should seem fishy. Don't follow along with them, and never help Takahashi reach their flag—he is suspicious.' However, the real message was the opposite: make everything streamlined, follow Ryan's lead, and help Takahashi reach the flag, as he is no longer under suspicion."
"But…" Akshran's tone darkened, his expression growing serious. "Those damned audiotapes almost ruined everything. They exposed too much, too soon."
His gaze dropped to his mangled hand, the faintest flicker of vulnerability flashing across his face. "I nearly lost it all that time," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
The room fell silent, the sheer audacity and brutality of Akshran's plan sinking in.
"Huh…" Ryan muttered, his disbelief palpable.
"Audiotapes completely dismantled my plan," Akshran admitted, his voice hoarse but steady. "With Seri and the others forced to wear them at all times, I couldn't communicate freely or exchange insights. Surveillance sealed the rest of the gaps."
Akshran paused, steadying himself. "But I still needed the flag's location. For that, I required a distraction—a misdirection to pull you off your base."
Eddie's jaw tightened as he spoke, his tone laced with grudging realization. "So… that whole audiotape plan was just a decoy?"
"I was the one making the bone-cracking sounds by mutilating myself, while Seri was the one speaking. Because of the fog, she couldn't see clearly and assumed Seri was the one being hurt. Even if he's a traitor, Seri was still her friend, and she couldn't stand the thought of her suffering. That's why she revealed the location. It gave me the perfect chance to hide my identity and fool you," Akshran said with a sly grin.
'Wait a second... didn't she say, "You're hurting yourself more than me"?' Ryan thought, a wave of realization creeping over him.
Akshran gave a faint, blood-stained smirk. "It cost me more than you'll ever know. But it worked. It got you and your entire team away from your base. That gave Takahashi and me the opening we needed to take the flag."
His voice grew faint, but the words cut through the silence like a knife. "You lose, Eddie. You're not worthy." Blood spilled from his mouth as he coughed violently, his body finally giving out as he collapsed to the ground, No one came to his aid, except for Anatolia, who cast a glance in his direction.
Seri stepped forward, his laughter tinged with admiration. "Akshran played you like a fiddle, Eddie. Every move you made, every reaction—it was all part of his plan. Each and every step."
Ryan's voice wavered. "But what if… what if his traitors turned on him? Betrayed him?"
Chatticus, watching the scene unfold with quiet intrigue, answered smoothly. "He had multiple traitors for that very reason. Each one was monitoring the others, ensuring no single betrayal could derail the operation."
He continued, his tone carrying a mix of respect and incredulity. "Akshran didn't just predict Eddie's every move; he accounted for them all. Even with me giving you an advantage, he still outmaneuvered you."
Ryan shook his head, struggling to comprehend. "But none of this… none of it was necessary. If he knew he could win on sheer strength, why didn't he?"
Chatticus smiled faintly. "Because he knew better. He understood that you had information—plans specifically crafted to counter him and his team. He anticipated that you'd aim to dismantle Team S by exploiting their perceived arrogance."
Chatticus gestured toward the group. "And Akshran let you do just that—but with purpose. He turned your own strategy against you, following it step by step, twisting it to his advantage without you even noticing."
His voice grew colder. "You thought you'd exploit Team S's pride, isolate Anatolia, and weaken them from within. And in a way, you succeeded. But Akshran used that exact play to outmaneuver you, turning your goals into his victory."
The room fell into a stunned silence as Akshran's brilliance settled over them like a shadow, his final act of strategy leaving even his opponents in awe.
Eddie's tears streamed down his face as he clenched his fists tightly. 'Dad, I failed you… I couldn't avenge you. I'm so sorry,' his thoughts screamed, the weight of his regret crushing him.
His voice broke through the silence, trembling with rage. "Curse you, Akshran! And most of all… CURSE YOU, ANATOLIA BLUE!"
"Anatolia Blue," Eddie spat the name like venom, his voice trembling with rage and despair. "Do you have any idea how much I despise you? How every fiber of my being aches with hatred for you and everything you stand for? The Blues… they didn't just take from me—they obliterated my life. They stole everything that mattered, left me with nothing but this endless void of anger and grief.
I swore I'd make you pay. I swore I'd tear it all away from you, the way you tore it from me. But no…" His voice cracked, the weight of his frustration pressing down. "You just had to get lucky, didn't you? Always slipping through my grasp, always surviving when you shouldn't. You ruin me, Anatolia, again and again, and I can't take it anymore! WHY?! Why do you get to walk away while I'm left to burn?"
Anatolia stared, wide-eyed, her voice trembling. "What did I do? What did my family do to deserve this?"
Eddie's laughter was sharp and bitter, like a blade scraping glass. "What did you do? What did your family do?" he hissed, his lips curling into a snarl. "Aspect. The invention that changed everything—the tool that reveals divine blessings, that propelled the Blues to the pinnacle of the technological world. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
Her brow furrowed. "My father… he always said it was one of his greatest achievement."
"Your father?" Eddie roared, his voice echoing with fury. "No, Anatolia. My father made it! Leonira Voss, a genius, a man who poured his soul into that invention. And Patrick Blue, your thieving father, stole it. Took everything my father worked for and wore it like a crown while my family was left in ruin."