Heavy iron gears groaned behind the damp stone walls, a screeching warning that came a split second too late.
Screaming ripped from Nannah’s throat as the solid floor beneath her boots suddenly parted.
Hannah threw herself forward, her fingers clawing desperately at the empty air, trying to grab her chaotic counterpart.
Beneath them, a dark, gaping chasm had opened, revealing a lethal forest of swinging, razor-sharp pendulum blades.
Spikes gleamed in the dim light of the subterranean corridor, coated in old rust and the dried blood of previous failed examinees.
Riley stood perfectly still at the very edge of the newly formed pit.
His pupils dilated, tracking the motion of the heavy steel blades with absolute, chilling focus.
Angling her body in mid-air, Nannah tried to claw her way back up, but gravity was a cruel, unforgiving master.
To his left, Hannah was screaming his name, her voice cracking with pure terror.
'Riley, grab her! Do something!'
Her fingernails tore against the stone floor, leaving streaks of red as she tried to reach her alternate self.
Ignoring his sister’s desperate pleas, Riley remained motionless, his arms hanging loosely at his sides.
Why waste energy on a rescue when the variables of this world were still resolving themselves?
Instead, he watched, his mind operating like a cold, calculating machine.
Calculations ran through his head, measuring the exact trajectory of the first blade—forty-five degrees, moving at roughly thirty miles per hour.
Velocity was constant, but the friction of the damp air offered a minor deceleration of less than one percent.
If he reached out, the momentum of her falling weight would likely pull him in, forcing him to expend his own physical stamina.
Beside them, other examinees sprinted past, their faces pale, not even glancing at the trap that had just claimed another victim.
Killua Zoldyck slowed his pace slightly from a few yards ahead, his eyes narrowing as he observed the scene.
That cold, unbothered look on Riley's face made the young assassin's stomach turn with a familiar, sickening dread.
Down in the dark, Nannah twisted her body, her eyes wide with a sudden, sharp realization.
Space began to warp around her, bending like hot glass under an intense, invisible flame.
A tearing sound echoed through the chamber as she forced her chaotic spatial abilities to manifest.
Purple fractures in reality bloomed around her falling form, distorting the air and pushing her away from the razor edges.
Flesh and steel collided with a dull thud, but the spatial warping took the brunt of the impact.
Somehow, she managed to redirect her momentum, slamming hard against the opposite wall of the pit instead of being sliced in two.
Dust billowed from the pit, choking the narrow corridor with the smell of pulverized stone and ancient metal.
Slowly, Nannah’s fingers hooked over the edge of the stone tiles, trembling violently as she pulled herself up.
Blood coated her palms, mixing with the dirt on the floor as she hauled her bruised body back onto solid ground.
Silence descended upon the trio, heavy and suffocating despite the thudding footsteps of the runners ahead.
Hannah scrambled over, pulling the shivering girl into a tight, protective embrace, her body shaking with relief.
Nannah did not hug her back; her eyes remained locked on Riley.
Her gaze was no longer chaotic or playful; it was cold, hollowed out by a bitter, newfound understanding.
For the first time since their journey began, she saw Riley for what he truly was.
Riley processed her ragged breathing, noting the minor lacerations and the rapid, shallow rise and fall of her chest.
He felt no relief, only a dry, intellectual satisfaction.
If she had died, she would have been a wasted investment, a broken tool in a foreign land.
Since she lived, she remained a highly viable asset for his future plans to conquer this world.
With a stiff, mechanical motion, Riley turned his back on the pit, ready to continue the march.
Hannah stood up, her face pale, her jaw clenched tight with a rage that surpassed anything she had felt before.
Before Hannah can confront Riley, the tunnel walls begin to rapidly cave in, trapping them in a suffocatingly tight chamber with a group of desperate, armed examinees.