Ezren tried to punch back but was parried and kicked away.
"They're… going to lose at this rate…"
Mirae coughed blood but stood.
"We… bind him."
She bit her thumb, drawing blood.
"Binding Magic: Seal of the Fourth Ring!"
A massive golden circle formed beneath Ken's feet—far larger than her previous bindings. Ken noticed too late as golden shackles shot upward.
Ken screamed.
**"You little—!"
Ezren was already midair.
"Stone Magic: Meteor Slam!!"
A massive rock embedded with spikes dropped like a hammer. Ken struggled to break free, managing to release one arm.
"ICE MAGIC: WINTER WALL!" he shouted, summoning a shield—
—but the Meteor Slam broke through, slamming into him with deafening force.
When the smoke cleared, Ken lay on one knee, coughing, and his armor shattered.
Mirae stood behind him, chains hovering in the air, her face pale.
Ezren limped beside her, blood on his chin but alive.
Ken fell forward, unconscious.
Victory… with high difficulty.
Just because one battle ends… doesn't mean the fight is over.
________________________________________
[Scene: Outside the Prison – Execution Platform Area]
Amid the smoldering ruins and swirling embers, chaos reigned.
The sky above the capital was darkened by smoke and sparks, while the battlefield roared with steel, flame, and magic.
Imperial, Gray, and Dawn, along with elite members of the CA, clashed furiously with the Royal Army.
Explosions echoed. Screams rang out.
The ground beneath the Execution Platform trembled beneath the fury of clashing captains and rebels.
• Imperial was up against some royal captains and vice captain alone , his swordplay and lightning tearing through enemy formations like a storm.
• Gray faced a fearsome Eminence-Rank Captain, a brutal warrior wielding chain and flame.
• Dawn held her own against a relentless eminence rank -Fire Captain, her water magic a constant surge of elegant power.
• Silver and Vince were fighting back-to-back against multiple opponents—including some two and one star captain —locked in a vicious and cold-blooded struggle.
But our focus now narrows in on one man—Gray.
________________________________________
[Scene: Gray vs. Eminence-Rank Captain]
Gray stood calmly on the battlefield, wind fluttering through his coat.
His opponent, a towering captain with a battle-scarred face and burning fists, stared him down. The captain cracked his knuckles, his flame magic igniting around him.
Gray spun his twin handguns slowly, silently calculating.
He knew this fight wouldn't be easy. Eminence-rank wasn't a title given lightly.
With a flick of his wrist, he fired first.
VOSHHHH—!
The captain vanished in an instant, reappearing mid-air. From above, he dove at Gray with burning fists.
Gray reacted fast, firing again with his second gun. The bullet clipped the captain's side but didn't stop him.
The man landed several feet away, skidding to a halt and charging once more.
This time, his fists blazed even hotter.
Gray didn't move. He stood still—watching. Calm. Focused.
Then—
BANG!
The captain's punch landed—only for it to rebound as if it struck an invisible barrier.
He was knocked backward, stunned.
Gray muttered coldly, "I hate using this ridiculous magic... but I don't have a choice. I can't afford to lose. Not today."
________________________________________
The captain roared, summoning a new weapon from his magic crest: a massive spiked iron ball, connected to a thick flaming chain.
He channeled his fire magic into it until the entire weapon glowed red-hot, pulsing with dangerous energy.
Gray's eyes narrowed.
Then he looked past the captain, toward Imperial, still battling lightning-fast across the platform.
"Guess I've got no excuse left," he said with a grin. "Because of him."
Gray holstered his guns and instead unsheathed his twin blades—thin, sleek, uniquely shaped weapons, more like sharp-edged mirrors than katanas.
________________________________________
The captain swung his giant flaming chain-ball in circles, building momentum.
Then—
WHOOSH!
He hurled it at Gray like a meteor.
Gray dodged swiftly, flipping through the air. But as he landed, he looked behind him and saw the crater the weapon had left.
A massive hole had been punched straight through the ground.
He swallowed.
"If that thing hits me even once…"
Then the captain launched the ball again.
This time, Gray met it head-on.
He coated his blades in mirror magic, forming a reflective energy barrier around them.
He slashed into the flaming ball—CLANG!—and with the force of both his magic and blades, managed to deflect the weapon.
It hurtled backward—
But the captain yanked the chain, pulling it sideways, redirecting the ball mid-flight like it was a toy.
Now spinning even faster, the ball came again, a blur of fire and steel.
BANG!
Gray blocked—but the force sent him skidding, and the fire scorched his arm. His sleeves burned away. Flesh sizzled.
His hands trembled.
The wound was deep.
Everyone knew Gray's greatest weakness—his hands.
If they were injured, he couldn't fire his guns or wield his blades effectively.
The captain grinned, realizing this.
But Gray gritted his teeth, pressing his blades together in an X shape, concentrating his energy.
Then—
"Mirror Magic: Reflect Break!"
A pulse of light burst outward, blasting the captain backward, though the man managed to anchor himself using his chain.
Gray panted, glaring down at his shaking, burned hand.
"…This stupid magic of mine," he muttered bitterly. "I hate it."
________________________________________
The captain advanced again, spinning his chain.
Over and over, he swung, hurled, pulled—
The weapon slammed into the earth around Gray with explosive force.
Gray dodged and sprinted through the chaos, weaving between impacts.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
Then—
The captain raised his hand.
"Fire Magic: Infernal Detonation!"
KABOOM!
A massive explosion burst beneath Gray's feet.
Fire engulfed him, and smoke filled the air.
"Got him," the captain smirked.
He launched the chain again, letting the giant ball stretch toward the smoke cloud—intending to finish Gray in the confusion.
The chain whistled through the air.
CRUNCH—
It landed a direct hit.
But then—
The smoke cleared.
Gray stood amidst the flames, smirking, body bruised, coat half-burned—but smiling.
The flaming ball that struck him?
It was bouncing backward at full speed.
"Wha—?!"
The captain had been too close. The loose chain didn't have enough room to recoil.
He tried to redirect it—
Too late.
BOOOOOOM!
The massive ball slammed into the captain, crushing him into the ground with a fiery blast.
The ground trembled.
The captain was buried, bloodied and broken beneath the massive weapon he once wielded.
________________________________________
Gray stood over him, breathing heavily.
He looked down at his hands.
They were burned—badly.
But he was still standing.
And Still can fighting.