Even those who managed to react faster, turning and fleeing with all their strength, were still unable to escape the pursuit of that scorching inferno, as the tongue of fire chased them relentlessly, catching up in mere moments, and once touched, there was no resistance, no struggle, only annihilation without even a trace of bone left behind.
In just a few breaths of time, more than half of the North District candidates had already perished, their numbers dwindling from over twenty to only a handful, leaving behind only a few desperate figures still running for their lives, their movements frantic, their minds filled with nothing but the instinct to survive.
Yet even that instinct...
Was nothing more than a delay.
Because the flames were already right behind them.
No matter how desperately they ran, no matter how much strength they forced out of their exhausted bodies, it would only buy them a few more seconds at best, a fleeting extension before the inevitable end.
