Chapter 68: EX 68. Top Contributors
Back in the grand selection arena, the surviving cadets were gathered within a vast ceremonial hall. High-arched ceilings soared above them, and bright crystalline lights lined the polished walls, illuminating the space with a dignified glow. At the front stood a large, raised stage, elegant but imposing, meant for moments of true significance. And today was one of those moments.
Despite the weight of the event, the atmosphere buzzed with a strange, quiet joy, the kind that only came from surviving something harrowing together. The cadets exchanged looks and hushed whispers, the ghost of relief still resting on their shoulders. Out of the 4,567 cadets who had entered the arena, only a few had perished, James and his group, to be exact but no one shed tears for them.
Their deaths, as brutal as they were, felt... justified.
It was a cold truth, but one they had all accepted. They had caused the chain of events that nearly ended the Selection. In the Federation, actions had consequences, and in a world forged by war and trial, mercy wasn’t always afforded.
Then, without warning, a powerful presence swept across the hall like a sudden gust of wind.
Vanguard Rebecca Sky stepped onto the stage.
The murmuring stopped at once.
Not a single cadet dared to speak. Their bodies remembered the crushing weight of her aura from that moment she descended to face the demon. None wished to feel it again.
But beyond the fear was something deeper, reverence. Not the hollow admiration given to those in power, but a rooted, almost sacred respect. The kind born from witnessing someone stand between you and death itself.
All around the hall, cadets had different thoughts.
"She’s incredible."