Levi coughed.
At first, it was light.
Just one short cough.
Then another.
Deeper.
His steps slowed.
His chest tightened.
Something was coming up.
He bent forward.
Opened his mouth.
Fragments fell out.
Small.
Sharp.
Mixed with blood.
They hit the ground with a faint metallic sound.
Levi froze.
"…What is this?"
He stared at them.
That sound…
Metal?
Nyxara didn't even turn around.
"Three."
A brief pause.
"Too much for you."
Levi didn't answer.
He wiped the blood from his lips and straightened up.
The coughing eased.
But the bleeding didn't stop.
Something was wrong.
Not an injury.
Something inside him was changing.
Wrong.
Ahead of them, another team stood still, watching and judging.
A barrier dropped around the arena, sealing everything.
The Axian above spoke.
"Only a number of you will continue to exist."
No emotion.
No hesitation.
The environment shifted.
Metal walls.
Narrow corridors.
Heavy pressure.
Levi's eyes moved.
A ship.
Not a simulation.
Something reconstructed.
Kraith stepped forward.
Of course he did.
Velkar grabbed him.
"This isn't like before."
Kraith stopped.
For once.
"…Then what?"
Nyxara spoke calmly.
"We move slowly."
"We observe first."
Velkar narrowed her eyes.
"…That one."
She pointed.
"Explosion-type."
Across the arena, a figure stood still.
Too still.
Levi coughed again.
Harder.
More fragments fell.
Bigger this time.
He felt it clearly now.
Something inside him was building.
But not correctly.
It wasn't forming.
It was breaking.
Then, a sound.
Low.
Deep.
Constant.
Levi turned.
Water.
Not flowing.
Rushing.
A wall of water.
Too fast.
"No—"
"MOVE!"
Kraith and Nyxara reacted instantly.
They disappeared upward, reaching higher ground.
Velkar turned, but she was too slow.
The wave hit.
Everything shattered.
Levi lost his footing.
The pressure slammed into his chest.
His breath was gone.
His vision shook violently.
Velkar was beside him.
For a second.
Then she wasn't.
The current dragged him down.
Away.
Into darkness.
Silence.
On the other side, Kraith stood still.
Dry.
Untouched.
Nyxara stood beside him.
Two.
Not four.
The water slowly receded.
No sign of Levi.
No sign of Velkar.
Nyxara spoke.
"…Split."
Kraith didn't answer.
But his eyes shifted.
For the first time, he wasn't certain.
Far away, inside the darkness of the ship, Levi opened his eyes.
Blood still in his mouth.
Fragments still there.
And whatever was inside him hadn't stopped.
It was still moving.
Still changing.
And this time, he could feel it.
Something was trying to take shape.