The announcer's voice rang out across the arena.
"Our fifth duel! The valkyrie of flame, Erica, is matched against the champion of the Merchant Republic of Eldoria—the radiant knight, Kaelen Veythorn!"
Erica stood frozen.
Her hands were shaking. Her breathing was shallow, rapid. The crowd's roar felt distant, muffled, like she was underwater.
'What if I lose?'
The thought circled in her mind like a vulture. Lana had won.
After Talia's defeat. After Jin's horrifying loss.
Two to two.
Everything depended on the last two fights. Her fight. And Dante's.
'What if I'm the one who fails? What if I'm the reason we lose everything?'
A hand touched her shoulder.
She turned. Dante was looking at her. His dark eyes steady, calm. Like the eye of a storm.
"You won't lose," he said simply.
Not a command. Not a demand. Just... certainty.
"How do you know?" Her voice came out small. Weak. She hated how it sounded.
