The walk back to their assigned building was a long, silent journey through a city that now felt like a beautiful, gilded cage.
Dante's mind was a storm of calculation and strategy. The headmaster's threats, the revelation of the champion Lucaris, the cruel, elegant trap of the one-on-one duels—it was a complex, dangerous puzzle, and he was already moving the pieces in his head.
His first move was simple and practical.
As he passed over a narrow bridge crossing one of the academy's many serene, magically lit canals, he paused. He took the sleek, silver smartphone he'd taken from the bully out of his pocket.
He'd already drained it of its last credit—a small, petty act of revenge that had brought him a flicker of satisfaction. Now it was a liability. A tracking device. A breadcrumb trail leading back to a crime he had no intention of answering for.
With a casual, almost lazy flick of his wrist, he tossed it into the dark, flowing water.
Plink.
