Three hours passed by in the blink of an eye.
Almond opened his eyes first, and right then, everything stirred as otherworldly chimes rang.
'Regalons, we are here to take first rank, so we all better break through in this round.' Almond's voice entered everyone's ears. 'We are 6th rank, but with this round, we must reach at least the top 3.'
[ Round 2 will start in five seconds. ]
The island did not collapse.
It unraveled.
The ground beneath them softened into mist. Trees faded into silhouettes, their light draining away until only outlines remained. The nebula-sea below stilled, its endless motion slowing to silence.
Then the space folded.
Flight instincts awakened automatically as gravity vanished.
Reality reasserted itself.
The Regalons found themselves hovering above a massive obsidian platform suspended in a vast void streaked with slow-moving currents of light. These currents were not stars, not quite. They moved with intention, like rivers guided by unseen banks.
