Chapter 18: Rules of Engagement

Lunch wrapped up faster than anyone wanted, the whole group filing toward the announcement hall for the second round. Victoria and Sana walked them partway, and at the doors, Victoria caught Daemon’s hand, pulling him close enough to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Good luck," she murmured. "Not that you’ll need it."

Behind them, several candidates who’d overheard the whole cafeteria reveal shot Daemon looks sharp enough to cut, jealousy plain on more than a few faces. An E-Rank, walking around with an S-Rank Hunter draped affectionately on his arm — it grated on people who’d spent years clawing for a fraction of that kind of attention.

Daemon didn’t care. He never had.

*Let them stare. I’ve got better things to think about.*

---

A staff member climbed the small platform at the front of the hall, tablet in hand, and the murmuring crowd fell quiet.

"Round two," she announced, voice carrying easily across the room. "Every remaining candidate enters the same dungeon simultaneously. This round is individual — no teams, no allies guaranteed. You’ll face monsters inside, same as round one. But you’ll also face each other."

A ripple of tension moved through the crowd.

"The first three candidates to clear the dungeon — within fifteen minutes — earn a direct placement to train under one of WHA’s active elite S-Rank teams."

The room lit up instantly, excited whispers breaking out on every side. An elite team apprenticeship wasn’t something candidates stumbled into through ordinary contracts — it was the kind of opportunity that could reshape an entire career overnight.

*Fifteen minutes. Top three. That’s the goal.*

---

"One more thing," the staff member continued, tone sharpening. "Any candidate who inflicts a fatal or life-threatening injury on another will be automatically disqualified and transferred outside the dungeon, unharmed, immediately. The safety wards handle that part — you don’t need to worry about anyone actually dying in there."

A pause.

"That said — not everyone clears this round. You’ll need to fight each other as much as the monsters if you want to place. Plan accordingly."

Daemon absorbed all of it carefully, filing away every rule.

*Top three, fifteen minutes, don’t get eliminated. Simple enough.*

He didn’t notice the handful of candidates nearby whose expressions had curdled the moment Victoria’s name got mentioned earlier — a few of them already deciding, quietly, that this round was the perfect place to take their frustration out on the man who’d apparently won something they felt entitled to.

*This is my shot to actually train under real S-Rank Hunters,* Daemon thought instead, entirely unaware. *If I place, maybe I finally start closing the gap for real.*

He had no idea whose team that placement would actually put him on.

---

Kael already knew the rules before the staff member finished explaining them.

He’d known for days.

Which was exactly why he’d spent that time arranging things properly — a handful of hunters paid well enough to keep their mouths shut, positioned to make sure Daemon never saw the dungeon’s exit. And insurance beyond that: contacts embedded in the control room itself, ready to make certain that if something "unfortunate" happened to a particular E-Rank candidate, the safety wards simply wouldn’t trigger in time.

*An accident. A tragic, unavoidable accident.*

*Nobody questions dungeon deaths. They happen.*

His expression gave away nothing as he watched Daemon across the hall, still composed, still perfectly pleasant. Inside, the plan had already fully hardened into certainty.

*Enjoy the round, Daemon Miles.*

*You won’t be walking out of it.*

---

Daemon found Roxana near the entrance to the staging corridor, her expression tight with the same nervous focus he felt settling into his own chest.

"If we get separated in there," she said, "try to find me. We’re stronger together than apart."

"Agreed," Daemon said. "Stay close if you can. If not — watch your back, and I’ll watch mine."

She nodded once, steadying herself with a slow breath.

Ahead of them, the massive dungeon gate shimmered to life, candidates already beginning to file toward it in a long, tense line.

Daemon glanced at Roxana one last time.

"Ready?"

"No," she admitted, a shaky laugh escaping her. "But let’s go anyway."

Together, they stepped through the gate.

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