The cadets and Neophytes at Kuro Gate buzzed low with restrained energy, still wound tight from the opening match.

  Murmurs slipped between rows—quiet debates over formations, whispered breakdowns of Team Seraph’s cohesion, sharp disagreements over whether Team Null’s victory had been brilliance… or luck.

  “Did you see how she delayed the wind—”

  “No, she didn’t mean to do that—”

  “Selena was the savior of that match—”

  A presence shifted above them.

  Captain Flux rose from the second-tier balcony.

  “Attention.”

  The sound didn’t need volume.

  Every cadet below snapped upright, necks craning as they turned toward the second-tier balcony. Backs straightened. Chests lifted. Eyes sharpened.

  Flux rested his hands on the railing, gaze steady as it swept the room.

  “Remember this,” he said. “Observe. Take in. Learn. Many of you have never been on a mission or been a part of a real battle. During these Trials, you’ll see different forms of combat. Different philosophies. Different ways people survive.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly. “Study them. Find their strategies. Predict their moves. This isn’t just entertainment.”

  He paused as the words settled across the seats.

  “This is real combat.”

  He nodded once.

  “At ease.”

  The tension loosened. Cadets sat, conversations resuming, but quieter now. Focused.

  Flux turned.

  President Katsuro Onmyoji was leaning forward over the railing, elbows nearly resting on it, eyes locked on the projection as if the world beyond it no longer existed.

  Flux cleared his throat.

  “…Sir,” Flux said dryly, “you are aware that speech was technically meant to come from you.”

  Katsuro didn’t look away.

  “You did very well,” he replied, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I couldn’t have done it better myself.”

  Flux shook his head, already knowing where this was going. “What am I going to do with you…”

  “You could let me watch the match,” Katsuro continued, waving a hand absently. “And be quiet.”

  Flux sat and leaned back, arms folding loosely as his eyes returned to the screen.

  Below them, the projection brightened.

  The match had begun.

  ?

  The silence in the arena was filled with anticipation.

  Barrier light pressed tight around the ring. Both teams stood at the line, motionless, eyes forward, the air heavy with expectation.

  The announcer’s voice rolled out again, steady and formal.

  “TEAMS… EDGE. PULSE—PREPARE YOURSELVES.”

  Valor didn’t turn.

  His gaze stayed locked ahead. “Sync,” he said. “I know you didn’t come in here without a plan. Spill it.”

  A small smile crossed Sync’s face.

  “Y-yeah. It starts with you, you are our trump card in this match.”

  Valor clenched his fist. “Good.”

  Sync watched Valor’s back for a moment.

  Captain Edge was right. He seems more composed than I’ve ever seen him. For some reason, this tournament matters a lot to him.

  Sync called Mirage closer.

  “Alright guys,” he said. “Listen up.”

  ?

  Across the ring, Team Pulse stood loose but ready.

  Speedy glanced at Perma, then Blueprint.

  “Perma. Blueprint,” he said. “Even if this doesn’t go how we want it… I still wouldn’t pick anybody else to fight alongside.”

  Blueprint’s face softened. “Speedy…”

  Perma didn’t look at him. “Don’t fall for it, Blueprint,” she said flatly. “He’s setting you up for his failure.”

  Speedy snapped back toward her, animated. “Come on,” he said. “That was really good. I practiced that for days, Perma.”

  Perma’s expression softened for once. “And Speedy… I feel the same way too.”

  Speedy blinked in shock.

  She faced forward again, voice steady. “But don’t worry about any of that.”

  Her eyes locked on the other side of the ring. “Because we won’t lose.”

  Speedy and Blueprint walked beside her in her ready positions.

  The moment stretched.

  Then—

  FWOOOOOOOM—

  Valor surged forward on raw momentum alone as he sprinted straight down the center line.

  Coming up on his left flank, Mirage angled wide, holding position instead of committing.

  Speedy moved.

  Light-red energy flickered around his limbs as the air pulled tight around him.

  FSSHH—KRAAACK!

  —Niche Activated: Blind Rush—

  High velocity in micro-bursts, appearing mid-motion and striking before an opponent realizes what hit them.

  Trails of aura hung behind him as he grabbed Blueprint and accelerated. “You’re heavier than you look.”

  A thin pressure streak carved across the ring as Speedy ran wide, buying time. Blueprint stayed silent in his grip, eyes locked ahead.

  Perma closed the distance between her and Valor.

  Then she dropped to her knees.

  Both hands slammed into the ground.

  Her eyes flickered yellow.

  The temperature dropped instantly.

  KRSSHHH—

  —Niche Activated: Glacier Lock—

  Sura can flash-freeze any surface she touches within an expanding radius, creating jagged ice traps, barriers, or terrain.

  Moisture ripped inward.

  Ice surged across the floor toward Valor, jagged and violent, plates rising unevenly as the ground froze over in brutal layers.

  “MOVE!” Sync shouted.

  Valor reacted.

  He moved—

  —or thought he did.

  His mind registered motion. His body followed the command.

  But the world didn’t shift.

  Ice climbed his leg.

  Valor’s eyes widened. “I—moved—”

  Across from him, Speedy released Blueprint.

  He landed lightly, already glowing.

  He gave Valor a small wave.

  Silver-blue light pulsing outward.

  —Niche Activated: Temporal Fracture—

  Briefly glitches time around a target, causing reflex lag — a controlled, localized “slip” in time.

  Everything clicked into place.

  Valor hadn’t moved at all.

  Ice slammed into the floor first.

  A violent chill snapped around Valor’s boots as jagged ice locked over his legs, biting into the obsidian and rooting him in place. The floor cracked beneath the sudden freeze.

  Perma drew her hands up from the ground.

  The ice at Valor’s feet held.

  For a single breath, the pressure stalled.

  Then she slammed both palms down.

  KRSSHH—!

  “WHITEOUT — ENCLOSURE!”

  Then an encasement rose.

  Thick, uneven cryo-plates tore up from the ground in a widening ring, colliding and layering as they closed around him. The structure wrapped inward, sealing space, leaving Valor boxed inside a rising mass of pressure-loaded ice.

  Valor drove his fist forward.

  KRAAAM—!

  The impact thundered through the ring. Cracks ripped across the ice wall in branching fractures.

  Perma’s hands pressed harder into the ground.

  Ice surged immediately into the damage, flooding the breaks, sealing them over before they could widen. The structure groaned as it absorbed the force.

  BOOOM—!

  Another strike. Stronger.

  The wall bowed outward a fraction before fresh ice slammed into place, thickening the weak point.

  For a brief second, Valor’s face was visible through a narrowing seam between the plates.

  That familiar smirk surfaced. “This won’t hold forever,” he said, voice steady beneath the pressure. “And when you give out—”

  The seam sealed shut.

  KRRRNNG—!

  The next blow landed from inside, the entire mass shuddering in response.

  Perma stayed locked in position, palms planted, shoulders rigid. Frost crawled slowly up her arms as her aura crystallized harder with every repair cycle. Her breath fogged thick with every exhale.

  She couldn’t move.

  If she did, the structure would fail. “…Every time he talks,” she muttered under her breath, irritation cutting through the strain, “he annoys me.”

  WHAM—!.

  Another impact.

  The dome-like structure bowed—then held.

  Valor had been engulfed by the ice — contained, but not for long.

  And everyone watching knew it.

  Sync stared at the ice mass, jaw locked tight.

  “Dang it…” His fingers curled. “Dang it. I should’ve seen this coming. Of course they’d go after him first.”

  A sharp voice cut across the ring.

  “Sync!”

  Mirage didn’t look at him. Her eyes tracked the enclosure, then slid toward Perma’s position. “Get your head in the game.”

  Sync drew a breath, forcing the frustration down.

  Mirage shifted her stance, weight already leaning forward. “If she’s holding that position, then she can’t move,” she said, “She’s our target.”

  Another impact slammed into the enclosure.

  The ice groaned.

  Across the ring, Perma’s breath spilled thicker now, each exhale leaving a heavier cloud of white. Frost had crept past her wrists, pale veins tracing up her forearms as she stayed braced.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “I can’t hold this forever” she called out. “Whatever you’re doing—do it now.”

  Speedy glanced back once. “Got it!”

  Blueprint didn’t turn. “We hear you.”

  Inside the enclosure—

  KRAAAM—!

  The structure shuddered again.

  ?

  Several rows above Prime Ring, the gate representatives watched in silence.

  Glacier Fist leaned back, arms folded thick across his chest. “Hmph. What a coward move.”

  Kojo didn’t look away from the ice. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  A slight tilt of his head. “I don’t know who that Valor kid is… but for them to target him like this—pull him out of the fight while giving up one of their own in the process—”

  His gaze narrowed.

  “They know they can’t win straight up. Which means they’re betting everything on finishing the other two before he gets out.”

  Glacier fist eyes went to the mass of ice trapping Valor. “…Makes me want him to break free fast.”

  A quiet breath crossed the row.

  “You two can’t be the best your gates have to offer,” Nightveil said, eyes still forward, “if that’s all you’re seeing right now.”

  Glacier Fist turned. “Oh?” His brow tightened. “Then what do you see, know-it-all?”

  Nightveil glanced at him once.

  Then away.

  “If I have to explain it,” she said, “there’s no point wasting time on the conversation.”

  The seat behind her shifted.

  “And you wonder,” Drift said calmly, leaning forward whispering in her ear, “why you can’t make any friends.”

  Nightveil flushed.

  She crossed her arms and looked back toward the ring.

  Below—

  KRAAAM—!

  The ice enclosure shuddered.

  Everyone’s attention snapped back to the match.

  ?

  Mirage glanced back once.

  “Sync! Activate your Niche!”

  He was already shaking his head. “I’m losing it,” he muttered. “What the hell am I doing?”

  His eyes flickered yellow.

  Electric-blue ripples pulsed outward from his chest.

  Krr-chmmm… Tnnnk!

  He activated Neural Synch, giving him the ability to link the cognitive signals of his teammates, forming a temporary neural net for strategic synchronization

  The world snapped into alignment.

  Thoughts aligned before words could form.

  Mirage moved, sprinting toward Perma.

  Heat-haze distortions shimmered along her limbs as her aura thinned and bent around her body. For a split second, her eyes flashed yellow—

  TSSHFFF—click…

  She activated Veilstep, allowing her to temporarily phase parts or all of her body through solid matter — walls, attacks, terrain.

  She phased forward.

  Speedy cut across her path in a light-red streak.

  FSSHH—KRAAACK!

  He swung.

  His fist tore straight through her torso.

  “…Dang it,” Speedy snapped, skidding sideways as momentum carried him past. “I forgot.”

  He dug his heels in, spun hard. “Blueprint! I could use some help!”

  Blueprint was already moving closer to Mirage.

  Silver-blue light pulsed tighter around him this time, sharper, heavier. His eyes flickered yellow as the air around Mirage warped.

  Whooomp…

  Speedy launched again.

  Mirage phased—

  And the hit landed anyway.

  KRRACK—!

  The blow slammed into her ribs, snapping her sideways. She skidded across the floor, body scraping, blood bursting from her mouth as she hit and rolled.

  Her eyes went wide as pain moved throughout her body. “What—”

  The answer hit at the same time as the pain.

  Blueprint.

  She forced herself up.

  Speedy was already there.

  THUD—!

  A punch to the stomach.

  THUM—!

  Another to the jaw.

  She flew back, slammed down, rolled, pushed up again.

  Speedy stayed on her.

  A blur of motion.

  Relentless pressure.

  WHAM—!

  THUD—!

  THUMM—!

  Each impact ripped more breath from her lungs. Blood streaked her chin. Her legs shook as she dragged herself upright again, vision swimming.

  Behind them Blueprint staggered, one hand pressed to his temple. His breathing turned ragged, jaw clenched as a small migraine throbbed behind his eyes.

  Sync reached him before either he or Speedy realized he’d moved.

  His fist crossed Blueprint’s head.

  KRAAAM—!

  Blueprint went sliding, skidding hard before rolling to a stop.

  Sync Yelled across the ring at Mirage.

  “Go!”

  But before he could get out the full word .

  Two hits landed back-to-back.

  THUD—! KRAK—!

  Sync dropped to one knee, breath torn from his chest as he hit the floor.

  Speedy skidded to a stop, shoulders heaving, eyes bright.

  In the center of the ring, the ice enclosure groaned.

  And Perma gasped for air.

  ?

  In the two seats above where the two teams Captain sat, Captain Edge sat with his arms folded, eyes fixed on the fight. “Your team has sharpened their output,” he said.

  Hiroshi’s smile was faint. “They’ve learned how to work with what they have.”

  Edge gave a faint exhale. “You’re still teaching in that same style.”

  A short laugh escaped Hiroshi, his shoulders rocking once. “You’ve heard the saying,” he replied. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

  Edge’s gaze returned fully to the ring. “…We’ll see which lessons last.”

  Hiroshi’s face stayed soft as his eyes sharpened. “Oh, I don’t think we will get the satisfaction of those results in this fight.”

  ———

  The ring groaned as the fight continued.

  Blueprint barely had time to reset his footing before Synch was already in front of him again.

  Sync stepped inside Blueprint’s guard, forearm snapping up just in time to intercept a straight punch. The impact jolted Blueprint’s wrist sideways before Synch’s other hand cracked across his cheek.

  THUD.

  Blueprint staggered back a step, teeth rattling.

  Yellow flickered briefly in his eyes.

  Silver-blue light rippled outward.

  Whooomp…

  Mirage faltered mid-stride across the ring as she went towards Perma again. Her body stuttered just enough for Speedy’s fist to clip her shoulder and send her skidding.

  Blueprint didn’t look.

  “I can’t waste my niche on Sync,” he muttered, breath already uneven.

  Sync didn’t slow.

  He pressed forward with clean, efficient strikes — elbows tight, shoulders square, every motion economical. A jab slammed into Blueprint’s guard. A follow-up hook slipped around it and caught his Jaw as bone met force

  Blueprint’s head snapped sideways. Blood spilled from his nose, dark and sudden, dripping onto the floor.

  He wiped it with the back of his hand and brought his arms back up just in time to catch another blow.

  Block.

  Another.

  Block.

  Sync’s pressure never stopped.

  Every exchange followed the same rhythm — Blueprint attacking, Sync denying space, denying angles, denying momentum. A knee checked Blueprint’s thigh. A palm strike rattled his ribs. A short punch drove into his sternum and forced the air from his lungs.

  HNNGH—

  Blueprint stumbled but didn’t fall.

  Silver-blue light pulsed again.

  Whooomp…

  Across the ring, Mirage phased out.

  Or she thought she did.

  Speedy smashed into her mid-motion, driving her hard into the ground. She rolled, coughing, blood dripping from her lips as she pushed herself back up.

  Blueprint saw it in the corner of his vision.

  Good. Keep it up Speedy.

  Sync closed the distance again.

  A sharp feint high — Blueprint raised his guard instinctively — and Sync punished the opening with a straight to the nose.

  Blueprint reeled back, vision swimming, face already swelling. A cut opened along his cheekbone. Blood smeared across his jaw.

  He swung anyway.

  Sync blocked it.

  Blueprint’s arms trembled now, migraine burning from the strain of fighting while his Niche remained active. His breathing came sharp and shallow, teeth clenched against the growing pressure behind his eyes.

  The world pulsed at the edges.

  Still — the silver-blue light flared again.

  Whooomp…

  Mirage tried to phase a third time.

  She couldn’t.

  Speedy’s fist drove into her stomach. Once. Twice. A third blow sent her sliding across the floor, coughing, blood spilling freely now.

  Blueprint smiled through the pain.

  Barely.

  Sync stepped in again and drove a fist into Blueprint’s ribs, then another into his shoulder, then a clean hook that snapped his head back and sent him skidding across the floor.

  Blueprint hit hard, rolling once before stopping on one knee.

  Blood dripped steadily from his nose now, splashing onto the ring.

  His hands shook as he pushed himself back up.

  “I’m… not dropping it,” he breathed, eyes burning. “Not yet.”

  Silver-blue light pulsed again.

  Whooomp…

  Sync paused for half a heartbeat — just long enough to register it.

  Then he exhaled sharply. “…Damn it. I can’t get his Niche to falter.”

  The pressure behind Sync’s eyes spiked.

  He reached out through the link.

  Mirage felt it instantly.

  Not words at first — intent.

  Then the message sharpened.

  Finish it for me.

  Mirage’s breath caught as she stumbled, blood slick on her chin.

  What are you about to—

  The response came with resolve.

  You already see it.

  Just get him out of there.

  Her teeth clenched.

  Sync, we can find another way.

  The link disconnected.

  Across the ring, Blueprint surged forward.

  He slammed into Sync, fingers fisting into the front of his uniform, driving him backward with raw momentum and desperation.

  Sync tried to resist but his body was already failing him.

  Blueprint drove him backward, boots skidding, both of them crashing into the outer edge of the ring.

  The barrier flared.

  ZZZRRRKK—!

  Electric force detonated through them.

  Sync’s back hit first.

  Pain tore through his spine, white and blinding, every muscle locking as voltage flooded his body. His jaw clenched hard.

  Blueprint screamed.

  His grip tightened instead of loosening.

  The barrier pulsed again.

  ZZZRRRKK—!

  Sync’s body tried to fall but he kept it there as Blueprint’s body convulsed against him.

  He could feel it.

  Every jolt.

  Every seizure of muscle.

  Every spike of panic.

  He still held on.

  Then he let go.

  Blueprint’s fell to the floor. Unconscious.

  Sync stayed upright a second longer, legs shaking violently, hands clenched at his sides as the current still surged through him.

  ZZZRRRKK—!

  Then his strength gave out.

  Both bodies lay on the floor.

  Across the ring, Mirage’s eyes widened.

  Then she turned.

  And ran towards Perma.

  Speedy was already moving.

  He stayed between Mirage and Perma, feet skidding, shoulders twisting as he threw himself back and forth across Mirage’s path. Every swing was aimed where she had to reappear. Every step was a gamble that she’d need solid ground, solid contact, one fraction of a second of reality.

  His fists cut the air in violent arcs.

  Mirage slipped through the first few, her body phasing just enough to let the blows pass. She tried to angle past him.

  Speedy adjusted instantly.

  His arms became a storm—punches stacking so fast they blurred into streaks, the sound of displaced air cracking with every swing. Sweat poured down his face, veins bulging along his neck and forearms as Blind Rush kept him moving past the point of comfort.

  He didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

  Across the ring, Perma finally looked up.

  The ice had climbed to her shoulders now. Frost coated her skin, her face filmed over with a thin crystalline sheen—like frozen glass on a winter window, catching the arena lights and scattering them in sharp reflections. Every breath left her lips in thick white clouds.

  She saw Mirage coming.

  She saw Speedy in the way.

  Mirage pushed harder.

  She slipped past one swing. Then another. Her body flickered in and out, timing every step, every phase. She only needed one clean moment. One touch.

  Speedy stayed on her.

  This wasn’t technique anymore. It was endurance.

  A test of who would break first.

  His muscles screamed. You could hear it now—the faint, ugly tearing sound beneath his skin as Blind Rush demanded more than his body wanted to give. His shoulders shook. His breathing went ragged. Still, he swung.

  Then—

  Mirage faltered.

  Just a fraction.

  She phased late.

  Speedy’s fist connected.

  WHOMP!

  The impact sent her flying across the ring. She skidded hard, bounced once, then rolled to a stop near the base of the ice structure.

  She tried to rise.

  Her arms shook. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

  She planted one hand against the frozen mass

  Her voice carried, hoarse and raw. “Sorry, Valor… we tried.”

  As she collapsed to the floor.

  Inside the ice—

  Valor’s eyes narrowed.

  His fists were clenched, knuckles bruised and bleeding where they’d struck the walls again and again.

  “What is going on out there,” he muttered. “How long can she hold this?”

  The ice creaked around him.

  He scoffed, low and sharp. “I’m not using my Niche against these—”

  Then, Mirage’s voice reached him through the ice. “Sorry, Valor… we tried.”

  Something shifted.

  His eyes flickered yellow.

  A low pressure gathered around his body.

  Fffwip—BLAM!

  The sound detonated from inside the enclosure as red-and-blue energy surged outward.

  With one punch, the ice didn’t crack.

  It exploded.

  CRAAASH—!

  Ice shattered in every direction, fragments launching into the air like shrapnel as the structure was blown apart from the inside. The shockwave tore across the ring, scattering ice and debris in a violent radius.

  Perma collapsed where she knelt.

  Her palms tore free from the ground as she fell face first to the floor, chest heaving. Steam poured from her mouth in thick, desperate gasps, her body shaking she had fallen into Artic water

  She looked up, across from her as Valor’s steps where headed towards her.

  Aura snapping.

  Fury eyes locked on her.

  Valor walked forward through the settling ice mist, boots crunching against shattered cryo-plates.

  “I told you,” he said, voice calm and certain, “you’d give out.”

  Perma was on one knee, one hand braced against the obsidian.

  HSSSH—HSSSH—

  Her breath tore in and out of her chest, tasting blood in every fogged breath she took. Frost still clung to her skin, her arms trembling from the strain she hadn’t fully released.

  Valor stopped in front of her.

  He looked down.

  That familiar, arrogant smile tugged at his mouth as he drew his arm back.

  Then—

  KRAAAM—!

  His fist slammed into the floor.

  The impact split obsidian and kicked a shockwave of dust outward.

  THOOM—!

  Valor’s brow furrowed.

  As the dust cleared—

  Perma wasn’t there.

  He turned.

  Speedy stood twenty yards away, holding Perma in his arms.

  HFF—HFF—

  His chest heaved. Sweat streamed down his face, muscles still twitching from Blind Rush’s aftermath.

  Valor straightened.

  He cracked his knuckles slowly.

  “I’ve been ready to crack your head,” he said.

  Speedy turned to face him.

  The bright, playful grin was gone.

  Speedy set Perma down gently,

  Her body lay curled slightly on the obsidian, eyes closed, shivering hard enough that her teeth clicked faintly. Frost still clung to her skin in thin, glassy veins, her breath coming out in short, uneven clouds.

  Speedy didn’t hesitate.

  He unzipped his jacket leaving himself bare chested and laid it over her completely, spreading it across her shoulders and torso, tucking it around her sides. The fabric swallowed her frame, nearly covering her from neck to knee. A faint hiss rose where Speedy’s built up heat met her lingering cold.

  Perma shifted weakly beneath it, a small tremor running through her before she went still again.

  Speedy leaned down, just long enough for his shadow to fall over her.

  “You rest,” he said quietly. “I’ve got this.”

  Then he stood.

  No spring in his step. No smile.

  When he turned back toward the ring, Valor hadn’t moved—as if he were waiting for Speedy to be ready.

  And for the first time since the match began, Speedy wasn’t moving fast. He stood alone between Valor and the rest of the ring—serious in a way no one had ever seen before.

  Valor’s eyes flickered yellow as power ignited beneath his skin, a slow, arrogant smile pulling at his lips as heat and force built with every step forward.

  Whatever came before didn’t matter.

  The real fight was about to begin.

  End of Chapter 53