Chapter 245: The Tablet’s Promise Mara hurriedly cast her Purify skill as she tried to cleanse whatever effect was claiming Nina. Moon reflexively did the same, his own copied Purify skill activating in an attempt to remove the mysterious debuff by stacking the skill’s effect alongside Mara. Both cleansing spells failed completely, having no effect whatsoever on the blue energy. Within a single heartbeat, Nina vanished right before their eyes. A few seconds after Nina’s disappearance, energy began to form once again. A new blue gate emerged in the exact position where the first gate had been, its surface stabilizing into the familiar rippling portal appearance. But something was horrifyingly different...the stone head beneath the gate had changed. Where previously it had depicted a spider’s monstrous head, it now showed a carved representation of Nina’s face, frozen in an expression of terror and confusion, her stone eyes staring out at her former teammates with silent accusation. He who fails is chosen. One has chosen ten. The penalty they had thought they could deal with as a team was one they couldn’t deal with after all. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Nina hadn’t failed to defeat the beast. They’d killed the Acromantuli successfully, proven by the fact that both women had emerged alive and intact. But they’d failed the trial’s true requirement. And the ’One’ had chosen her as payment, just like the previous ten guardians had apparently been chosen before them. Transforming her into one of the ten beasts that now needed to be defeated in order to leave this cursed place. Making her the new threat that would wait inside the gate for whoever entered next. "Shit!" Grant cursed violently losing his cool for the first time since they entered the gate. His eyes fixed at the stone head that now bore Nina’s face, frozen in an expression of pure terror and confusion. Jolted from her shock by Grant’s outburst, Mara’s head snapped toward Moon, her expression becoming ugly and hateful. "IT’S YOU! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Each word was punctuated by droplets of saliva flying from her mouth as rage consumed her rationality completely. "THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN’T OPENED THAT DAMN MOUTH OF YOURS! YOU KILLED HER! SHE KNEW IT! SHE TOLD US YOU WOULD BE THE REASON FOR THIS TEAM’S DOWNFALL ALL ALONG!" Mara’s voice continued rising to a hysterical pitch, her grief and terror finding an outlet in raw anger directed at the ’easiest’ target. Nobody uttered a word until a strong but gentle hand landed on Mara’s shoulder, interrupting her building tirade. Mara whipped around to find Grant looking at her with an expression of deep pity and concern. "Hey, calm down, It’s okay. Everything will be alright. We will figure something out." Grant’s words broke through the fog that clouded her mind. Grant squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Take a deep breath. Let’s try to think of a way out of this situation rather than wasting energy blaming each other. That won’t bring Nina back or solve our problem." Mara’s wrathful tirade stopped its rampage, her mouth clamping shut with visible effort. But the hate burning in her eyes didn’t diminish in the slightest, still focused entirely on Moon with irrational intensity. Moon remained outwardly calm despite the outrage that had been directed at him, his expression neutral and unbothered. ’How did she become an S-ranker with this kind of emotional control? Her mental discipline is abysmal for someone at this level.’ His eyes shifted to Reid for comparison. The archer’s bow remained ready in her hands, her attention completely focused on their surroundings rather than the ongoing drama. She was still scanning for threats that might emerge, maintaining her vigilance despite the shocking development. Polar opposites in temperament and reaction. Moon couldn’t grasp why, but these two particular women, Mara and Nina, had proven to be among the most unreasonable human beings he’d ever encountered. At their rank and with their supposed experience, he would have expected significantly more emotional maturity and discipline. But they weren’t demonstrating either quality. Blaming him for the choice that they chose from the very beginning was foolish, almost...laughable. ’Good riddance.’ Moon thought, thinking about Nina who became a ’chosen’ one. Having one less nagging voice in his ears was better, even if that meant losing an S-Rank teammate. ’At most I will clear one extra gate by myself, more monsters to kill, I guess.’ Moon smirked internally, despite the stoic expression covering his face. Grant gently guided Mara aside, speaking to her in low, soothing tones that the rest of the team couldn’t quite hear. He spent several minutes talking her down from her hysterical rage, employing whatever calming techniques he knew. Eventually, he brought her back to rejoin the group, though her expression remained bitter and her occasional glances toward Moon still carried murderous resentment. The rest of the team had remained silent during this exchange, each member lost in their own thoughts about what Nina’s transformation meant for their chances of survival. Grant took a deep breath and addressed everyone with forced calm. Just like everyone else, he was a human too, he felt the panic too, but as the leader...he was forced to act rationally. "Alright. This didn’t go as planned. At all." "Understatement of the century," Cain and Abel both muttered, the twins grinning. Grant cast them a glance before continuing his speech, "We now understand the penalty mechanism. Partial completion results in team members being claimed and transformed into the beasts we need to defeat." He paused, letting that sink in. "Which means Moon’s original interpretation was correct. We need to clear all ten gates simultaneously or at least in rapid succession to avoid this transformation penalty. One person per gate, all entering at once, all succeeding before any of us can be claimed." The brutal reality of their situation settled over the group. Nine people remaining. Ten gates that needed clearing. And Nina, transformed into whatever horror now waited in that portal, making their task even more impossible than before. They were one person short of meeting the trial’s requirements.