[Viper Guild Headquarters - Main Hall.]
Marcus, Lucy, and Turner watched in rigid silence as the assembled guild members looked at one another, hesitating. The air was thick with the scent of cheap disinfectant and old leather, now infused with the overwhelming scent of fear.
"Don't hesitate!" Lucy snapped, her voice cutting through the tension. Already weighing risk and reward.
"This is the time to pick without being pressure or coercion! I give you my word! Once you pick a side, nothing will befall you," she vowed, glancing pointedly at Marcus—a subtle threat against his authoritarian leadership.
"I mean, no one," she added, making her promise absolute.
Hearing the word of their elder—a trusted voice. They looked at Elara, then at the astonishing piles of gold, and finally at Sunny and Josephine. After a moment of pregnant silence, they started moving.
Sunny watched impassively as the guild members moved one at a time, calculating the exact moment of betrayal.
"...?!"
