The arena was a chaos of broken stone and lingering mana. Kira and Ard stood back to back, battered but unbowed. The Sovereignty boys—Yuujin, Jayze, Korran, and the others—circled them like predators, each radiating lethal intent.
Ard's breathing was heavy, but his eyes burned with focus. "Kira… I can do this. But if I fail…" His words were cut short as a barrage of attacks forced him to roll, narrowly avoiding Yuujin's Eclipse Null and Jayze's blood tendrils.
"Do it," Kira shouted. "Show them what you've trained for!"
Ard clenched his fists, feeling the energy coursing through him—the remnants of his other self, the power Leo had entrusted him, the training he had endured in the other world. His vision sharpened, his aura flaring as a strange distortion radiated outward.
He began creating skills on the fly, weaving them into reality like threads. Each skill he manifested immediately distorted the natural flow of mana in the arena, nullifying the Sovereignty boys' abilities as they launched their attacks.
Yuujin swung his Eclipse Null—but it twisted midair, snapping back toward its origin and leaving him exposed. Jayze's blood tendrils writhed, but Ard's distortion shattered them like glass. Korran tried to strike, but every blade he conjured faltered, phasing as if the arena itself rejected their existence.
The Sovereignty boys' coordination crumbled. One after another, they fell, disarmed or incapacitated by Ard's unprecedented skill manipulation. The battlefield quaked with the intensity of his power, leaving the remaining students in shock.
"This… this can't be happening!" Yuujin growled, struggling to regain control over his shattered Eclipse Null.
"Impossible…" Jayze hissed, realizing their coordinated assault had been dismantled without a single misstep from Ard.
Ard's aura glowed brighter, a mix of determination and raw authority. "Kira… finish them off while I hold them!"
But in the chaos, Jayze—blinded by the distortion of his own perception—noticed a gap in Ard's focus. A split second where his attention wavered. With a cold grin, Jayze exploited it.
A sharp, crimson blade of blood formed in his hand and struck Ard directly in the blind spot. Ard's expression flickered, shock and realization crossing his face, but it was too late. The strike tore through his defenses.
"No…!" Ard gasped, staggering backward.
The skill distortion faltered, the arena settling, and the Sovereignty boys—those who weren't already eliminated—regained their composure. Ard fell to one knee, breathing ragged, his aura flickering and fading.
"Kira…" he whispered, voice strained. "Don't… stop… fight…"
And then… he collapsed, eliminated.
Kira's eyes hardened as he turned toward the remaining Sovereignty students, anger and determination flaring in his gaze. One ally was gone, but the fight was far from over.
The battlefield grew silent for a heartbeat—then the next wave of attacks was about to descend, with Yuujin, Jayze, and Korran fully aware of Kira's remaining strength and prepared to test it to its limits.