Night had fallen over the city, but it was still packed and noisy. Hanging lanterns flickered overhead, casting long, moving shadows across the crowded cobblestones.
Lynx limped through the dense crowd, keeping his dark cloak wrapped tightly around his chest.
Every footstep sent a sharp, stabbing pain straight through his ribs, forcing a quiet groan past his teeth.
"Ugh..."
He needed to get away from the noise. He needed a quiet spot to sit, focus, and force his Will to stabilize before sunrise.
As Lynx pushed past a group of loud mercenaries, he nearly crashed straight into a familiar figure, Rey.
As alpha Rey blinked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "Heh... kitten... what're you doing all alone out here... that is very suspicious..." he noticed Lynx was not buying it, Rey let out a deep sigh. "Okay, jokes aside why are you out of the clinic at this hour?"
Without answering, Lynx grabbed Rey by the forearm and pulled him out of the main street, ducking into a narrow, dimly lit alley between two stone buildings.
He leaned back against the cold wall, pressing a hand tightly over his bandages.
"There's three things I want to tell you," Lynx said, his breathing heavy.
Rey's lighthearted smirk vanished. He stepped closer, catching Lynx's shoulder to steady him. "Sure... but are you even good?"
"Yeah, don't worry," Lynx muttered, forcing himself to stand upright. "First... I'm joining the final match tomorrow."
Rey's eyes widened. "But you're beat up! Look, we want to win this, but I... sorry—"
"I know," Lynx cut him off, staring right into Rey's eyes. "Don't be sorry. Be Willing. I'll participate as support. I won't be much help in a direct fight anyway."
Rey looked at Lynx's unyielding gaze, swallowed the rest of his protests, and gave a slow, heavy nod.
Not far from the alley entrance, Marim stood hidden in the shadow of a stone archway.
Her fingers twitched, her hands shaking violently as memories of the arena flashed through her head.
{They're really going to fight against that monster...} She stared down at her trembling palms. {I should tell them about his powers. I have to warn them.}
She took a step forward to call out, but when she looked back into the alley, Lynx was already gone. Rey was left standing alone, his head lowered in frustration before he turned and walked away.
"Sister! Come on, food is ready!"
Joon's forced cheerful voice called out from down the street. Marim jumped slightly, quickly hiding her shaking hands behind her back as she turned toward her brother, forcing a pale smile.
Across the street, Rey glanced at the two of them quietly for a second, then disappeared into the night.
...
The next morning, the air over the stadium was filled with deafening noise. The spectator stands were packed to maximum capacity.
"The final match of the tournament shall begin soon!" the announcer's voice boomed over the speakers. "Members of Team One and Team Seven, take your positions!"
Down in the battle arena, Lucia stood near the edge of the battlefield. Her breathing was shallow as she repeatedly pulled the leather straps tight on her wrist guards.
Beside her, Rey stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, pulling them out to crack his knuckles with a serious look on his face.
On the opposite side of the sand, Luhas was already standing in the center of the field, his arms crossed and his pale face completely blank.
Footsteps echoed from deep inside the tunnel.
"Now then, let's win this," Lynx's voice called out, clear and steady.
Luhas glanced over lazily. Lucia snapped her head around, her jaw dropping.
"What are you doing here?!" Lucia yelled, her eyes filled with panic and confusion.
"To lead you to victory. That's what being a leader is about," Lynx said flatly, stepping out onto the stone floor. "Don't doubt my judgment. We do this together, like always."
He walked right past her, taking his place directly between Lucia and Rey. His body was still wrapped tight in white medical bandages under his dark cloak, but his gaze was locked onto Luhas.
"Why don't you ever listen to me?!" Lucia stomped her foot, her face turning red. "If you die out there, I will kill you! Hmph!"
She spun her head away in anger.
Lynx and Rey both looked off in opposite directions, subtle, identical smirks creeping onto their faces.
{How do you kill a dead person? Stupid girl.}
Lucia instantly whipped her head back, glaring back and forth between the two of them. "I know what you two are thinking!"
The smirks vanished. A drop of cold sweat ran down the back of Lynx's neck as both he and Rey froze.
"Enough of your nonsense!" Luhas suddenly shouted from across the field, his calm face shattering into pure anger as he pointed at them. "Do you people ever shut up?!"
The three of them stopped, turned their heads, and stared at Luhas for a long, quiet second.
Then they turned back to each other and kept talking.
"What a weird guy," Lucia said, rolling her eyes.
"I know, right?" Rey agreed, shaking his head.
"He's just jealous he doesn't have a teammate," Lynx said flatly.
"Maybe he's gay," Rey added.
Luhas stood in the center of the arena, his heart completely pierced by the casual disrespect.
"Brother... where are you..." he whispered to himself.
His hand slowly dropped to his side as he stared blankly up at the sky. And then he noticed Isbell dropping from the sky, landing straight onto the stone floor.
She raised her right arm. "Let the match begin!" she shouted, dropping her arm.
"Don't get close to him," Lucia warned in a low hush. "Whatever he did to Marim and Joon... it wasn't physical. Their bodies didn't have a single mark on them, but their minds were completely wrecked."
"Alright, wise woman," Lynx said, taking a few slow steps forward. "Stay behind me."
"Hey," Rey muttered, stepping up beside him. "Don't go dying early, senior."
Lynx didn't answer. He kept walking until he was standing a few yards away from Luhas.
Luhas tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. "You step forward so eagerly. Do you truly believe your physical endurance will save you here, Lynx?"
Luhas raised his right hand.
SNAP.
The world instantly lost all sound.
Lucia's foot froze mid-step. A droplet of sweat rolling down Rey's cheek halted in mid-air. Absolute spatial paralysis locked down the battle field.
The screaming crowd in the stadium was once again left completely speechless by Luhas's power.
In that exact instant, Lynx felt his consciousness violently ripped out of his body.
WSHHH—
Lynx opened his eyes, but there was no sunlight.
He was standing on a compressed, pitch-black field of floating stone, surrounded by shattered, ancient pillars. Time here didn't flow normally, it was dragged down to a microscopic crawl, stacking endlessly on top of itself layer by layer.
SNAP.
The heavy paralysis lifted, but Lynx remained motionless and pale.
While Lucia and Rey took the opportunity to push forward and fight Luhas on the outside, Lynx's consciousness remained trapped deep inside the realm.
"Hello," a voice spoke from directly behind Lynx.
Lynx reacted instantly, pushing off the stone and leaping backward, putting distance between them.
Luhas was standing right where Lynx had been a second ago, his hands resting in his pockets.
"This realm connects our minds. Even if you get hurt here, nothing happens to your physical body, even if you die here. But you will feel every bit of it. Don't worry, if you die, I'll just bring you back to life until your mind breaks."
"I've seen your matches," Luhas said, walking forward with slow steps. "You aren't strong yet, but you're the reason your team wins so cleanly. So out of respect, I'll tell you about my hax. Domain manipulation is one of my skills. I control everything inside it."
Luhas gestured to the pitch-black void around them.
"You've been standing frozen out there in the real world for five minutes, but in here, it has been less than 15 seconds. I could make those 15 seconds feel like hundreds of years if I wanted to, I fully control how time works here. It took only two years of simulated torture and death to break Team Four completely."
Luhas stopped walking, a faint smirk touching his lips.
"I can control this realm while fighting with my physical body. And... if your team ever manages to harm me, I can always stop my own heart. It triggers a passive ability that automatically heals me, reversing the damage"
Lynx stared at him in the dark space. Then, slowly, a wide, dark grin spread across Lynx's face.
"Ah," Lynx said quietly, his bloodshot eyes glowing in the dark. "Thanks for the heads up. Though... you're going to regret telling me that."