The Starforge Arena no longer resembled a place of creation.
It had become a battlefield.
Astral platforms drifted like shattered moons above the abyss, each one large enough to hold only two squads at a time. Beneath them, starfire churned in a slow cosmic storm, casting towering shadows that twisted and stretched with every pulse of energy in the air. The stands trembled with contained power as teachers, elders, and disciples leaned forward in silence, watching the fate of entire academies unfold.
The first team battles ended in blinding flashes of victory and defeat. Skyforge crushed Iron Phoenix through flawless shield rotations. Moonshadow outmaneuvered Jade Serpent in a dance of shadows and illusions. Every clash refined the flow of this brutal second trial—this was not individual glory. This was war formation.
At last, the sigils in the sky shifted.
Heavenly Blade Academy
vs
Cloudsong Sect
The name alone drew ripples through the stands.
Cloudsong was not loud. Not aggressive. Not overwhelming in presence. But every veteran here knew the same truth—they were precise, synchronized, and dangerously calm. A storm that never rushed.
The Heavenly Blade team stepped onto the floating platform as one.
Zeref carried both Eclipsera at his back and the newly forged astral short-blade at his side. Its quiet heartbeat throbbed against his palm. Lin Yuexin spun her spear lightly once before planting its tip into the ground, eyes sharp with focus. Ren Huoran rolled his shoulders and let his twin crescent sabers hover at his sides, spinning slowly in orbit. Mei Lian lifted her lotus staff, a soft field of healing light blooming faintly around the team.
And behind them—
Darius gripped his heavy starblade.
The Cloudsong team entered without fanfare. Five figures in flowing silver-blue attire, their weapons released only at the very edge of battle. A bow whose string shimmered like frozen wind. Twin rings of cutting vibration. A sound-forged greatsword. A mist-thread scythe. A harmonized staff humming with layered resonance.
Elder Shufen's voice thundered across the heavens.
"Begin!"
The battlefield detonated into motion.
The first strike did not come from steel—it came from sound.
A single note rang from the Cloudsong side.
The air folded.
A pressure wave ripped across the platform like an invisible tide. Yuexin slammed her spear into the ground to stabilize herself, Mei Lian's healing barrier flaring to absorb the shock. Ren skidded back two steps, sabers flashing as he deflected cutting vibrations slicing through the air.
Zeref felt it instantly.
This team fought as one body.
He raised his astral blade and carved a clean path forward. "Ren, left flank formation! Yuexin, suppress their archer! Mei—"
Darius was already gone.
With a roar, he charged straight through the center.
His heavy blade crashed down in a meteor arc toward the Cloudsong frontline.
And Cloudsong moved.
Their staff wielder stepped forward a single pace. A ring of resonance unfolded beneath Darius's feet—and the ground dropped out from under him. His strike slammed into empty air as the platform itself shifted, tilting violently and breaking their formation in half.
"Darius—fall back!" Ren shouted.
Too late.
The Cloudsong scythe wielder slid through the opening like liquid shadow and struck. Mist-thread wrapped around Darius's arm, slicing through his astral guard in a burst of sparks. Mei Lian reacted instantly, her lotus flaring as restorative light surged across the wound.
But damage had been done.
Zeref understood instantly—
Their core mistake had returned.
Formation broken.
Zeref surged forward, Eclipsera sliding into his hands in a streak of dark starlight. He locked blades with the Cloudsong greatsword wielder. Power exploded between them, sending shockwaves across the platform. Ren flanked perfectly, sabers cutting in seamless arcs. Yuexin's spear pinned the archer's trajectory, forcing deflection after deflection.
For a brief moment—
They were synchronized.
Even Darius rejoined the circle, fury forging his strikes into devastating momentum.
And still—
They were always a fraction too slow.
Cloudsong didn't overpower them.
They redirected them.
Sound folded space. Vibration shattered balance. Every time Heavenly Blade advanced, they were turned—angled—guided into disadvantage. Their attacks never landed fully. Their defense never aligned fully.
Darius broke ranking again.
Driven by raw frustration, he lunged past Zeref's guard line to finish the mist scythe wielder alone.
The Cloudsong bow sang once.
A compressed wave of harmonic starlight struck Darius mid-charge and hurled him across the platform into a stone pillar.
Mei Lian screamed his name and rushed forward.
That single moment shattered everything.
Cloudsong collapsed inward.
Ren took two slashes while saving Yuexin from a resonance pulse. Zeref deflected three attacks at once but was driven backward as the ground twisted beneath his feet. Mei Lian was forced entirely into defensive healing rotation, her staff blazing as she tried to hold everyone together.
Zeref saw it clearly then.
Not skill.
Not strength.
Not weapons.
They were losing because they were not one.
Darius dragged himself up from the rubble, blood streaking down his jaw. His eyes met Zeref's across the shattered field.
And for the first time—
There was no hatred in them.
Only realization.
He didn't charge this time.
He stepped back into formation.
Too late.
Cloudsong executed their final movement as one.
The staff struck the ground.
The bow fired upward.
The scythe spun.
The rings closed.
The greatsword descended.
Five techniques overlapped into a single perfect surge of harmonic destruction.
Zeref threw Eclipsera into the center of the convergence and unleashed everything he could without fully breaking control. Black-silver energy erupted outward, splitting the attack—but the feedback blasted Heavenly Blade across the platform like fallen stars.
One by one, they hit the ground.
Silence crashed into the arena.
"Heavenly Blade Academy—defeated!"
The scoreboard shifted.
They were last.
Again.
The stands erupted with chaos.
Some gasped. Some mocked. Some watched in growing unease.
Miss Lin stood frozen among the elders, her hands clenched tightly beneath her sleeves.
On the platform, the Cloudsong team bowed once in flawless unity—then vanished from the field without a single word.
Heavenly Blade remained.
Zeref pushed himself upright slowly. Yuexin limped to his side. Ren stood with one saber embedded in the stone to keep himself steady. Mei Lian fell to her knees from exhaustion, her lotus dim and trembling.
Darius stayed where he had fallen.
Zeref walked to him.
For several seconds, nothing was said.
Then Darius spoke, his voice raw and stripped of pride.
"…I was wrong."
Zeref stopped before him.
Darius didn't look up. "We didn't lose because you hesitated. We lost… because I never learned how to stand with others."
His grip tightened around his broken blade. "If this was a real battlefield—we'd all be dead."
Zeref said nothing.
Darius finally looked up.
"You were trying to lead us. I was trying to beat you."
The words landed heavier than any strike.
Zeref extended his hand.
Darius stared at it.
Then he took it.
The scoreboard flashed again.
Punishment Match Declared.
Lowest Performing Team Challenged.
Opponent: Crimson Ember Institute.
The crowd began to whisper.
Slow.
Fearful.
Crimson had not fought.
They had only watched.
And now—
They were rising.
Across the arena, the Crimson Ember team stepped forward together.
Flames did not blaze around them.
The heat existed inside their eyes.
Their leader lifted his gaze and met Zeref's.
A smile formed.
Not arrogant.
Hungry.
The Heavenly Blade team straightened themselves slowly.
Bruised. Exhausted. Broken.
But now—
For the first time—
They stood as five.
And the Red Storm was coming.
---
To be continued...