The tent had grown quiet again after everyone left.
Lucas remained standing beside the table, one hand resting on the rough wooden edge as he stared at the map beneath the candlelight. Outside, the camp was still moving. Soldiers were rotating watch shifts, wounded men were being tended to, and commanders were reorganizing their lines for whatever came next. The low murmur of thousands of voices drifted faintly through the canvas walls.
But inside the tent, it was just him.
And his thoughts.
He replayed the conversation in his mind slowly.
The Ice Belle's calm expression.
The way she had spoken about meeting Celestial Ken as if it were something she was curious about rather than something that could wipe an entire army from existence.
Lucas exhaled quietly.
"She can stall him," he murmured.
That much he believed.
