Her arms...
Her legs...
Her head...
As Caius listed each body part one by one, Sophie instinctively felt phantom pain bloom across every place he named. Having them torn off wouldn't kill a vampire, but that certainly didn't mean it wouldn't hurt.
The agony of Felix ripping off her forearm during training only two days earlier was still vivid in her memory. Just imagining what it would feel like to have her head torn from her shoulders made her scalp tingle.
She instinctively shrank her neck back and clamped her mouth tightly shut.
"Jane," Caius called.
At once, Jane stepped out of formation, slipped an arm around Sophie's waist, and unceremoniously dragged her back into line.
She completely ignored the puzzled glare Caius shot at her from behind.
Normally, whenever Caius barked Jane's name in that irritated tone, it meant only one thing: he wanted her to discipline the troublesome fool with her pain illusion.
Over countless centuries, the two vampires who delighted in tormenting others had developed an unspoken understanding.
Which was precisely why Caius couldn't understand why Jane had failed to catch his meaning this time.
As referee, Chino activated his Gift in advance, extending his awareness until the entire forest fell within his surveillance.
He produced four lots, three black and one red, placed them into a wooden cylinder, gave it several shakes, and announced, "Please draw first."
Jane, Alec, and Felix remained where they stood while Demetri casually stepped forward. Fortune smiled upon him immediately. He drew the lone red lot.
"Oh?" Demetri laughed, twirling the stick between his fingers. "Looks like the three of you had better start running. Felix, I think I'll come after you first."
Chino added more lots to the container and shook it thoroughly once more.
"Please draw again."
Jane stepped forward.
Black.
Felix followed.
Black.
Finally, Alec drew.
Red.
The two hunters for the first round had been decided. There was no longer any need for the ordinary guards to draw lots.
Caius declared the exercise officially underway.
The prey scattered throughout the forest. Within moments, only Alec, Demetri, and Chino remained at the starting point.
Sophie followed closely behind Jane as they plunged into the woods. They darted effortlessly between towering trees before springing onto thick branches, continuously leaping from one perch to another.
During the first twenty minutes, prey were allowed to move freely.
This wasn't the time to hide.
It was time to flee.
Sophie already knew Demetri's Gift specialized in tracking. Even while racing through the forest, her mind never stopped working. Before long, she had pieced together what she believed to be a foolproof strategy for victory.
"Wait!" she suddenly called.
"I've figured out a guaranteed way to win!"
They stopped atop two enormous branches high above the forest floor. Jane turned toward her with a questioning look.
Earlier, Jane had deliberately misunderstood Caius to shield Sophie from further trouble.
But if Sophie truly lost twice...
Caius never made empty threats.
He would personally carry out the punishment.
With so many trees surrounding them, burning a severed head afterward would be almost effortless.
Unfortunately, Sophie had never witnessed Caius's true brutality and therefore couldn't appreciate Jane's concern. Instead, she remained wholeheartedly engrossed in what she viewed as little more than an elaborate game.
"The total score on the field this round is eighty points," Sophie explained eagerly. "Caius alone accounts for forty-five. If Demetri manages to find him early, we can immediately switch sides and secure the win!"
Jane immediately poured cold water over her idea.
"Impossible. Even the Children of the Moon couldn't track Caius down during their hunts. He probably won't be found until the final ten minutes."
"I figured someone worth forty-five points had to be much harder to catch than someone worth ten," Sophie nodded confidently.
"So if we remove those forty-five points from the equation, only thirty-five remain. Eighteen points are enough to establish an unbeatable advantage. I'm worth one point, you're worth ten. Assuming Caius definitely won't be caught, then whichever hunter, Alec or Demetri, reaches seven points first, the two of us simply join that side and immediately push the score to eighteen."
Jane silently calculated the numbers according to Sophie's reasoning.
In an ideal scenario...
It would work.
Yet she still shook her head.
"Demetri's tracking Gift is exceptional. If Caius stays still, Demetri will eventually find him. Alec probably won't..." Jane suddenly paused before understanding dawned on her. "So you're betting on Demetri."
"He does have better odds," Sophie admitted frankly. "Or... would you rather join Alec because he's your brother? That's fine too. I can always think of another plan. I'll just stick to Demetri like glue until the game ends."
Jane snorted.
"You're seriously underestimating Alec."
Then a faint rustle came from beneath them.
Leaves shifted.
Alec's head emerged from the foliage below.
Sophie instinctively reached for Jane, intending to drag her away. As a newborn, her speed was still superior.
But the twins behaved with astonishing harmony.
Jane had apparently sensed Alec's approach long before he revealed himself.
She merely raised an eyebrow.
"How many have you caught?"
"Two ordinary guards." Alec produced a stack of red paper slips prepared by Chino to mark captured players and track the score. "Joining me? Or do you still want to keep playing?"
Jane glanced toward Sophie before answering for both of them.
"Our Sophie came up with a 'guaranteed winning strategy.' She plans to join whichever side reaches seven points first."
Alec merely shrugged.
"Felix has already been caught. Demetri made him his first target."
Which meant...
Demetri already had ten points.
"My second target is you, Jane. Once Demetri reaches twenty points, my only hope of turning things around is Master Caius."
A forest this vast couldn't possibly be searched completely within ten minutes.
Sophie silently observed a moment of sympathy for Alec...
Before deciding to join Demetri's team.
Jane immediately exposed her brother's act.
"You sound pitiful, yet you're always the one who wins in the end. Stop wasting time and make your preparations. I'll join you later."
Now that they knew the current score, Sophie's "guaranteed strategy" no longer required Jane's participation.
Not long after Alec departed, Demetri appeared exactly as predicted.
His second target is Jane.
He landed gracefully atop a neighboring tree and waved cheerfully.
"Hey, Jane! Sophie! Alec came by earlier, didn't he? Then why aren't either of you wearing red tags yet?"
Jane didn't hesitate to sell Sophie out.
"Someone here has more confidence in your chances of winning. Tag her first. I want to play a little longer."
Demetri had no intention of forcing Jane.
She might currently be a prey who couldn't attack, but once she became a hunter...
Jane was perfectly capable of venting her displeasure by tormenting her own teammates.
"Very well." Demetri flashed onto Sophie's branch before placing a theatrical hand over his chest and bowing exaggeratedly. "My beautiful lady, thank you for placing your trust in me."
Sophie couldn't help suspecting that Demetri, like Aro, was an admirer of traditional Italian opera.
Every one of the Guard captains carried traces of the leaders' personalities.
It spoke volumes about how impossibly long they had spent together.
After officially joining Demetri's team, Sophie separated from Jane and followed the tracker deeper into the forest.
As a newborn vampire, she was the only one capable of keeping pace with Demetri's astonishing speed.
Before long, she realized something unbelievable.
Demetri located hidden targets almost as though they were marked on a map.
One after another, he reached impossibly concealed locations with absolute certainty.
Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Sophie finally asked, "How are you finding everyone? My eyesight and sense of smell should be stronger than yours right now, but even when I'm staring directly at these hiding places, their camouflage looks flawless."
"What camouflage?" Demetri looked genuinely puzzled.
"I simply lock onto their signature, determine their location, and walk over. Their surroundings don't matter. I already know every member of the Guard, which makes tracking them much easier."
"Their signature?" Sophie blinked. "You mean... their appearance?"
"Not exactly." Demetri considered how to explain it. "It's mainly something connected to the mind. For example, Alec's signature is a cloud of black mist. Jane's is blazing fire. They correspond to their Gifts."
"And Master Caius?"
"He doesn't really have a form. He's powerful. Endless fighting spirit. That's the easiest way to describe him."
"What about me?" Sophie asked curiously.
Demetri pursed his lips in thought.
"You're actually closer to Master Caius. But much younger. Like a tree that's only just begun to sprout."
Even Demetri found it rather strange.
"Normally, vampires with similar Gifts share similar signatures. Fabio's signature is extremely distinctive, yet yours is nothing like his."
Sophie nodded vigorously.
"I think so too! That guy killed me without a second thought. I refuse to be anything like him."
Demetri neither agreed nor disagreed outright.
"Which is why I support Aro's conclusion. Your Gift definitely isn't 'Elastic Memory.'"
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know." Demetri shrugged. "But there's a vampire in the Irish coven whose Gift lets him identify everyone else's abilities. If you ever meet him someday... ask him."
During the first twenty minutes alone, Demetri located eleven ordinary guards, including Sophie herself, along with Felix.
Twenty-one points.
Meanwhile, even counting Jane, Alec could accumulate no more than fourteen points during the same period. Demetri held a commanding lead.
Having witnessed the terrifying efficiency of Demetri's tracking Gift firsthand, Sophie's confidence soared. Her head, her arms, and her legs were probably safe now.
The final ten minutes had arrived, and the decisive battle had begun.
So, in the end, who would claim Caius's forty-five points?
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