The principal exhaled slowly, as if even he needed to steady himself before announcing the final names.
"Now," he began, his voice carrying weight, "onto the final two."
A ripple of anticipation surged through the crowd. The tension in the air thickened with every passing second.
"In second place," he declared, "with an astounding 2,000 points… Mr. Leon Stroud."
A portal flared open with a gentle shimmer. Unlike the thunderous entrances before, this one felt serene—almost reverent.
And then, he stepped through.
Leon Stroud.
An ethereal young man with flowing white hair and pale, almost luminescent eyes to match.
His skin seemed untouched by hardship, and his uniform remained spotless, unwrinkled, as though the entire ordeal had never touched him.
He looked more like a prince from a divine painting than a survivor of a monster zone.
A strange stillness followed his arrival.
