"Eclipse."
My eyes widened the moment the word reached me.
Standing atop a tree branch—effortless, balanced—was a young man with cold blue eyes fixed directly on me. His black hair barely moved despite the heat still lingering in the air from Reina's flames. His sword was already unsheathed.
And then—
The world went dark.
Not dim.
Not shadowed.
Dark.
My vision narrowed as everything around me was swallowed whole.
"…Where am I?"
A manic laugh cut through the silence.
Reinheart.
"HAHAHA—oh Silver, your timing is just perfect."
Somewhere nearby, Reina was still on her knees, her breathing uneven.
"S–Silver…"
Then her gaze shifted—to Reinheart.
A flicker of realization crossed her face.
Did he predict this…?
Reinheart didn't answer.
He only grinned, watching.
And at the center of it all—
Two figures stood facing each other.
One, wrapped in darkness itself.
The other, blade alive with faint lightning and frost.
Silver Ryker.
My eyes narrowed.
The cursed child of the Ryker family…
Born with darkness.
And that alone made him dangerous.
"…Darkness, huh."
Silver stepped forward.
No words.
No warning.
My eyes widened.
He vanished—
Slash.
A sharp, clean pain tore across my chest.
My body jerked back as a crimson line carved itself into my vision.
"—W-what—"
I was thrown back, my footing completely broken.
I didn't even see him.
Before I could recover—
He was already there again.
Another strike came.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Frost Severance—!"
I brought my sword up just in time, ice surging along the blade as it met his. The clash rang out, sharp and heavy, the force traveling straight through my arms.
We didn't separate.
We couldn't.
The next strike came immediately.
Then another.
Steel collided again and again in rapid succession, sparks and frost scattering into the darkness while his blade never slowed, never hesitated.
Every strike was precise.
Minimal.
Efficient.
No wasted movement.
I blocked.
Shifted.
Barely kept up.
I can't see him properly…
The darkness wasn't just hiding him.
It was interfering—dulling my sense of distance, disrupting my timing.
A strike slipped through—
I twisted, but not enough.
Another cut tore across my side.
"Tch—!"
I stepped back, forcing space between us as lightning surged beneath my feet, creating distance.
Haah…
My breathing had changed.
I have a complete disadvantage in this darkness…
Silver didn't chase immediately.
He stood where he was, blade lowered slightly.
"…Your swordsmanship isn't shabby," he said calmly. "And you don't waste movement."
His voice was flat.
Measured.
"I've never heard of you before, Noctis."
A small smile formed on my lips despite the situation.
"…Why is the cursed child of the Ryker family curious about me?"
A pause.
"…Curious?" he repeated softly.
Then he shook his head.
"I suppose I am."
His gaze remained fixed on me.
Unchanging.
"But don't mistake that curiosity for interest."
A step forward.
"You're just another cadet."
Another step.
"Just another one I'll bring down."
The moment he finished—
Everything stopped.
The air.
The sound.
Even the faint movement of the darkness itself.
My instincts screamed.
Something's wrong—
Slash.
I felt it before I saw it.
A sharp, cold sensation pierced through my body.
My eyes widened.
I looked down.
A blade had gone straight through my stomach.
"W–what…?"
My breath caught.
Slowly—
I turned my head.
Behind me—
Another Silver stood there.
Same black hair.
Same cold blue eyes.
Same expression.
Unchanged.
"…A clone?"
___
Silver's voice echoed through the darkness, calm and absolute.
"This domain—if you wish to call it that…"
He glanced upward, though there was no sky to be seen.
"…is a place where there is no chance I would lose."
His gaze returned to me.
"Goodbye, Noctis."
Behind me—
The clone tightened its grip.
The blade shifted, ready to finish it.
And then—
I laughed.
Not a smirk.
Not a quiet chuckle.
A sharp, sudden sound that cut through the stillness—
Then broke into something louder.
"Hah… hah—HAHA…!"
It echoed strangely in the darkness, warped, almost distorted as it spread across the domain.
Reinheart blinked.
"…What?"
Reina's brows furrowed, confusion flashing across her face despite everything.
"…Why is he laughing?"
The sound didn't stop.
It grew.
"HAHAHA—!"
My shoulders shook as I leaned forward slightly, breath uneven—but not from pain.
From amusement.
"To be looked down on this much…" I muttered between laughs.
Then I lifted my head.
And the laughter stopped.
Abruptly.
"…Oh, Silver."
My voice settled into something quieter.
Calmer.
"You really have no idea what you're fighting."
For the first time—
Silver's eyes shifted.
Just slightly.
A narrowing.
A flicker of hesitation.
I felt it too.
That resistance.
That reluctance.
I really didn't want to use this…
But at this point—
It didn't matter anymore.
My grip tightened around the sword.
"…Fine."
The crimson in my eyes began to change.
Gold.
Slowly—
Then all at once.
A radiant, burning glow that didn't belong in that darkness.
Reina's breath caught.
"L–light affinity…?"
Even Reinheart's usual grin stilled, his gaze sharpening with genuine interest now.
The darkness reacted.
It pulled back.
Not entirely—
But enough.
I raised my sword.
And for a moment—
A memory surfaced.
Leon.
That overwhelming Sword field.
That impossible control.
"…Obviously, I can't do something like that," I murmured.
The light around my blade flickered—unstable, incomplete.
"But even if it's just an imitation…"
The glow sharpened.
"…a broken copy—"
The ground beneath me cracked as thin lines of light spread outward, carving through the darkness like fractures.
"…it's enough."
The clone moved.
Fast.
Its blade aimed to end it—
But this time—
I moved first.
A flash of gold—
__
Outside—inside the observation room—
Silence.
Complete silence.
The moment the words left Rio's mouth, every professor in the room froze.
Eyes widened.
Breaths caught.
One of the assistants instinctively stood up so fast their chair slid back across the floor.
Ron's jaw slowly dropped, his eyes fixed on the screen in complete disbelief.
Elise, who always had something to say, stood motionless.
Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
Emma Hawthorne's calm expression cracked for the first time.
Her eyes widened as the golden light spread through Silver's darkness.
Around them, no one moved.
No one spoke.
The only sound in the room was the faint hum of the monitors.
Outside the academy—
The giant broadcast screens lit the faces of thousands.
The crowd that had been talking moments before had gone completely still.
People stared.
Some leaned forward unconsciously.
Others simply stood there, eyes widened, mouths slightly open.
The sheer pressure radiating through the screen made the air feel heavier even from afar.
No cheers.
No whispers.
Just stunned silence.
__
Inside the Saviant Guild—
Every guild member watching the broadcast stood frozen.
Elena's eyes widened, her usual calm expression gone.
She stared at the screen, lips slightly parted, unable to look away.
Even the others around her—people used to seeing absurd displays of power—could only watch in silence.
No one blinked
__
Inside his room—
Leon sat motionless.
For the first time, the lazy confidence on his face vanished entirely.
His eyes widened beneath the blindfold, and even he leaned forward in disbelief.
His mouth opened slightly—
But no words came.
He simply stared.
Back inside the darkness—
The world trembled.
Thin golden cracks spread through Silver's domain like fractures in glass.
The darkness resisted.
But the light kept pushing.
At the center of it all—
Rio stood with his sword raised.
Golden light flickered wildly around him, unstable and incomplete, yet forcing its way outward against the darkness.
And then, with a calm smile—
He spoke.
"Sword Field…"
The light surged.
"…Celestial Law."