"Do you want to join our team?"
Jinn's voice cut through the chaos like a blade—clean, sharp, deliberate.
Around them, the world boiled with noise and motion.
Screams tore across the sky like birds in flight, footsteps pounded the cracked earth as slaves scrambled to form last-minute groups, and over it all, the echo of the ticking timer pulsed like a heartbeat ready to expire.
But even amidst that storm of sound and panic, Jinn's voice reached the man in front of him clearly, like a quiet command wrapped in calm steel.
Jinn didn't waver.
His eyes stayed locked on the man's, intense and unblinking.
In his mind, the decision had already been made.
It didn't matter if the man said yes or no.
It didn't matter if this stranger chose to walk beside him or tried to flee into the jaws of the second trial alone.
What mattered was that Jinn would not lose sight of him.
Not now.
Not ever.
