Two hours and thirty minutes had already passed since the beginning of the second trial. Only one hour and a half remained before its conclusion, when some participants began to reappear on the sandy ground of the gigantic arena. This was notably the case for Wraith Lion, who arrived in first place. The immaculate cleanliness of his clothes testified that he had not needed to fight hard to obtain the additional badge required for passing the test. The young swordsman sat calmly on the ground, legs crossed, appearing perfectly composed.
About ten minutes later, another participant appeared: Jessica Yuki, just as neatly dressed as she had been at the start of the trial. After briefly observing her counterpart, she stepped back a few meters and leaned against the arena wall, arms crossed before her. One by one, other competitors joined them, and soon a dozen young swordsmen had completed the trial.
Among them were Iris Brown (who arrived third), Anderson Thomas (fourth), William Moretti (fifth), Nicole St. Patrick (sixth), Bertrand and Clé St. Patrick (seventh and eighth respectively), as well as Benjamin, Chloé, and Kaal the Bald (ninth, tenth, and eleventh). More participants followed, bringing the total to eighteen. Only one hour remained before the end of the event.
Some stared silently at one another — like Thomas and Iris, who exchanged grave looks — while others discussed the difficulty of the challenges, and a few chose to isolate themselves. The brothers of Kyriel, for their part, noted with relief that they had all succeeded. Their joy, however, was short-lived, for Kyriel had still not appeared.
The participants had no access to the giant screens broadcasting the unfolding of the events, and thus none of them were aware of the fierce battle taking place at that very moment between Kyriel, Larva, and Thorne.
On the battlefield, an unexpected event had just occurred: Larva had intervened at the very last moment, interposing himself between Thorne and Kyriel, who was still on his knees. His sudden arrival momentarily halted the hostilities. Both adversaries stood stunned.
— "What are you doing on your knees, kid?" asked Larva.
— "Kid? We're about the same age. And my name is Kyriel — I've already told you that!" replied the latter, irritated.
— "Watch your tone, brat. I just saved you from a miserable end!" retorted Larva.
— "I didn't ask for your help!" snapped Kyriel.
The two young men exchanged heated words, seemingly indifferent to Thorne's presence, who watched them with growing intrigue.
"That guy nullified my technique with astonishing ease… He was already impressive during the race trial with his temporal freezing, but this... this is on another level," thought Thorne, eyes fixed on Larva.
— "Who are you? And why meddle in a matter that has nothing to do with you?" he asked.
— "Me? Nobody. I was sleeping peacefully on a tree somewhere until a deafening scream woke me up. So I came to see what it was about," Larva replied casually.
— "You should have stayed on your tree. Now, you'll die for your recklessness!" growled Thorne.
— "Uh… who's this guy with the demonic look?" asked Larva, hands crossed behind his head, turning to Kyriel.
— "He's an apprentice like us, but his goal is very different. His name is Thorne, and as you can see, he's determined to kill me… well, us now, since you've joined the party," answered Kyriel.
Larva smirked.
— "I have nothing to do with your quarrel, but I don't care. I followed the trail of an unusual energy, and I figured something exciting was happening here. Seems I wasn't wrong."
— "Exciting? Be careful, this guy doesn't mess around," warned Kyriel.
— "Enough talk!" shouted Thorne, flying at them at full speed, his arm extended forward.
He formed hand signs, ready to cast a spell, but before he could utter a single word, Larva unleashed his own:
— "Sacred Art of the Light of Life: Dance of the Myriad Swords!"
A rain of radiant blades fell from the sky, striking the ground with a deafening roar and raising a thick cloud of dust. The attack, of colossal scale, forced Larva to grab Kyriel and leap several meters back to avoid being caught in it.
— "Ouch! Could you be a little more careful? I'm not a sack of supplies!" complained Kyriel.
— "Be proud you're still alive, kid," replied Larva.
— "I still can't move; his poison's taking effect… And what was that attack? Were you trying to kill him?"
— "Maybe I overdid it, but he's the one trying to kill us. And whose side are you on, anyway?"
— "I still have questions for him! He can't die before telling me which participants he attacked, and what this 'fragment' he mentioned is," said Kyriel.
— "You should've said so earlier. Now, if he's dead, you won't be getting any answers," concluded Larva.
The dust slowly cleared, revealing a gigantic crater. At its center stood Thorne, completely unscathed.
— "So, my attack didn't harm you at all?" asked Larva.
— "Your blades pierced me through, but I can always regenerate. Even if I were decapitated, I'd survive. Even vaporization would be a waste of energy, since I'd still regenerate," replied Thorne with a smile.
— "Limitless regeneration? Interesting… At least you're less boring than the old man. Keep this up, and I might even promise not to fall asleep during our fight," replied Larva with a mocking grin.
Thorne rose into the air, about ten meters high, arms raised toward the sky.
— "God is the supreme being, unique and unfathomable! You inferior creatures cannot comprehend His will. Accept your death as an act of faith, for I am His messenger! Both the living and the dead must have unwavering faith in God — yes, in my God, the one and only! Die and accept your fate! Be the offerings for the creation of a new world by my God!" cried Thorne.
— "This guy's completely insane," commented Larva.
Thorne suddenly lowered his arms:
— "Environmental Manipulation Art: Sand Tsunami — Second Form!"
A wave of sand more than five meters high rose and rushed toward the two young swordsmen, while the ground beneath them turned into quicksand, preventing any escape. Trapped, they could neither move nor flee without sinking deeper. In the confusion of not knowing what to do, the sand wave engulfed them with a thunderous roar.
When all grew still again, Thorne slowly descended from the sky, convinced he had annihilated his opponents. But as soon as his feet touched the ground, a luminous sword pierced through his back and chest, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.
— "Impossible… how did you…?" he stammered.
— "What you were seeing was merely an illusion. You fell for my illusion art the very moment my Myriad Swords struck you. Your so-called 'Sand Tsunami' only hit imaginary projections of us inside your mind," said Larva nonchalantly, his hands crossed behind his head.
— "No illusion can cloud my mind! Many have tried, but none have ever succeeded. Even the illusory sea created by the organizers of this pathetic tournament had no effect on me!" shouted Thorne, furious.
— "And yet, you fell for it. They say the Leventis draw their power from a saint himself… Perhaps my illusions differ from those you know. Now hurry up and regenerate — I'm starting to get bored," replied Larva, yawning.
Thorne suddenly felt his strength fading.
"Why this pain…? I should've regenerated by now! Impossible… Has my body reached its limit?" he thought, alarmed.
The battle had reached its climax — but it was only the calm before the storm. Thousands of kilometers away, a figure was soaring through the skies at tremendous speed, heading straight for the battlefield.
It was Neptune, racing toward the confrontation.