Inside the shattered heart of the forest‑city, three figures stood facing one another.
Evangeline. Aiden and Arthur.
The trees around them were broken and scorched, the ground split and blackened from countless clashes. With every elimination, the world had shrunk further until only this small battlefield remained.
They stared each other down.
Arthur broke the silence first.
"Do you two really still want to fight?" he asked, stretching his shoulders. He rested his sword casually against one of them. "To be honest, guys… I'm tired as hell."
Evangeline snorted.
"So why don't you just eliminate yourself," she said, "and rest all you want afterwards?"
Arthur shrugged.
"Yeah, I was thinking about that," he admitted. "But as you can see, there are only three of us left. After all the hard work I did eliminating the strongest contenders, it doesn't feel right to just walk away and let you two eat the cake."
He smiled.
"So why not take first place myself?"
