Cadets stumbled into half-formed lines, Idols sparking weakly, their bodies trembling with exhaustion. The Hollow's shriek rattled the broken rafters, each echo a nail hammered into their skulls. Behind it, the villains pressed harder, laughing now, certain they were seconds away from burying the so-called "next generation" of heroes.
"Hold the line!" Keiji barked, "You're not corpses yet!"
Crystalline walls splintered under claw swipes as Mika threw up barrier after barrier, each one failing faster than the last. Blood streaked down her chin, her hands cut raw from forcing her Idol past its limits.
Reina's fire licked through the gloom, scalding villains back, but her coat was torn, her breathing ragged. Jin stumbled at her side, fists bleeding, whispering curses as his punches lost strength with every swing.
And Hayato — once their wall — lay slumped against rubble, sword out of reach, coughing blood but still glaring at the Hollow as if hatred alone could stall it.
The cadets' panic was boiling again.
Until a single voice cut through.
"STOP SHAKING!"
All heads turned. Emi, face pale but eyes blazing, stood in front of them. Her Light Prism Idol glimmered faintly, fractured rainbows dancing across her arms. She looked just as scared as the rest of them — but she forced her fear down.
"You think heroes cry when things get bad?" she shouted, her voice cracking but carrying. "We're cadets — but cadets or not, we either fight or we DIE HERE!"
The words slapped through them. Haruto clenched his fists, lightning buzzing again. Ayaka drew frost across her arms, jaw set. Tsubasa wiped blood from his mouth and forced his wings wide again. Even Akihiro, sweat-drenched and pale, raised his glowing fists.
"On Emi's mark!" Keiji barked, seizing the momentum. "She speaks, you act! Form around her!"
The line stiffened. Barely. But it was something.
"NOW!" Emi cried, flaring her prism. Blinding light scattered across the battlefield, forcing villains to shield their eyes. Haruto and Ayaka surged forward with elemental arcs, Rina's shards cutting a path. Akihiro's radiant body struck like a comet into one of the thugs, blasting him back.
The cadets roared — a sound half battle cry, half plea. They were still trembling, still bleeding, but for the first time since the portal had opened, they fought in unison.
For a fleeting moment, it looked like they might actually hold.
And then the Hollow moved.
Its claw swept once. Crystal walls shattered. Fire guttered out. Shadows unraveled. Half the cadets were flung aside in a single blow, slamming into stone and coughing blood. The villains surged through the gap, blades and teeth bared.
Keiji cursed under his breath. "Too slow. Too weak."
Mika fell to one knee, her barriers collapsing. Reina staggered, sparks flickering around her fingers. Jin screamed and charged but was swatted aside like paper.
The line was breaking. Emi's light sputtered, her knees buckling.
The Hollow raised its claw again, smoke pouring from its body, its presence suffocating the last spark of courage from their lungs.
And then the air changed.
Heat. Pressure.
A golden flare ripped through the arena like dawn tearing apart the night. The Hollow froze mid-swipe. Villains staggered back, shielding their faces as a blinding aura illuminated every corner of the ruined training site.
Bootsteps echoed, steady, unhurried.
And then he appeared.
Solarius.
Cloaked in radiance, every inch of his body wreathed in golden light, his expression calm, cold, unshaken. His gaze swept the chaos — the broken cadets, the bleeding instructors, the Hollow looming — and with one breath, the air itself seemed to still.
"Enough," he said, his voice like a command written into the bones of the world.
The villains trembled. Even the Hollow paused, its smoke twisting uncertainly.
And for the cadets — broken, bloodied, hopeless — the sun had risen.