Page 467 of Axis of Fire

I waited.

The map continued to pulse with light, but not around any specific marker.

I couldn't tell whether it was broken...

or whether this was another clue.

Even so, the remaining markers were still visible—

G.

I.

Q.

V.

And finally...

Point Z.

"So... which checkpoint am I supposed to go to next?" I asked the map aloud. "One of the ones that's actually reachable?"

I hadn't expected an answer.

But I got one.

The marker labeled I lit up, skipping over G, which should have come first if the checkpoints followed the alphabet.

Maybe we weren't meant to visit every marker.

Maybe some of them were nothing more than decoys.

"Please guide me to Point I."

The map responded immediately.

A detailed route appeared across its surface, a crimson line tracing the exact path I needed to follow.

The next checkpoint was surprisingly close to the previous one.

But there was... nothing.

Well, nothing except the dense vegetation surrounding me.

Nothing that even remotely resembled another trial.

"Did you trick me?" I asked the map.

It remained silent.

Or rather...

the marker I had reached continued to glow.

Not in the same way as before.

Its light matched the steady shimmer Point B had shown once I'd arrived there.