Cairo and Alina faced each other across the torn-up arena floor, the space between them charged with tension. Around them, the evidence of the previous battles scarred the training auditorium. Crater marks from telekinetic impacts. Scorch marks from friction. Equipment scattered like debris after a storm.
Cairo's body screamed at him to stop, to yield, to give up before something broke permanently. Blood still seeped from the cuts across his arms and back, his shirt torn and stained crimson. His muscles trembled with exhaustion, pushed beyond their normal limits even with his enhanced attributes.
Alina looked better, but not by much. Sweat plastered her crimson hair to her forehead and neck. Her chest heaved with each breath, her impressive figure rising and falling as she fought to recover. She floated about five feet off the ground now, conserving energy, no longer attempting the fifteen-foot altitude she'd maintained earlier.
"You're bleeding," Alina observed, her voice carrying across the distance between them.
"You're exhausted," Cairo countered.
"So are you."
"Guess we'll see who runs out first."
A smile flickered across Alina's face, genuine rather than bored. "I like you better when you're not pretending to be weak. This version is interesting."
"Glad I can entertain you."
"Don't misunderstand," Alina said, her expression hardening. "I'm still going to destroy you. Commander position is mine. I didn't come to this Academy to be second to anyone."
Cairo shifted his grip on the practice staff, his only weapon against someone who could attack from any direction without even moving. "Then come and take it."
Alina attacked.
The assault came from everywhere at once. Debris flew from three different angles, each piece accelerating to dangerous speeds. The floor beneath Cairo's feet buckled and warped as telekinetic force tried to throw off his balance. Even the air itself seemed to press down on him, invisible weight trying to drive him to his knees.
Cairo moved, his enhanced agility the only reason he avoided the first barrage. He rolled left, came up running, used the staff to vault over a chunk of floor that tried to trip him. A practice sword whistled past his head, close enough to cut a few strands of hair.
"You're fast," Alina called out, tracking his movement while maintaining her assault. "But you can't dodge forever. Eventually, something will hit."
She was right. Cairo could feel it, the narrowing of his options with each exchange. Alina was learning his patterns, predicting his movements. The next attack came even closer, a piece of equipment catching his shoulder and spinning him around.
Cairo used the momentum, let it carry him into a slide that took him under another volley. He came up near the wall, grabbed another practice weapon, a short sword this time, and hurled it toward Alina with enhanced strength.
She stopped it effortlessly, the blade freezing in mid-air three feet from her face. Her eyes widened slightly, recognizing the threat even though she'd blocked it.
"Nice try," she said.
"Wasn't trying to hit you," Cairo replied.
The blade shot back toward him, telekinetically accelerated to speeds that made it a deadly projectile. Cairo dove aside, barely avoiding being impaled, and when he came up, he was closer to Alina's position than he'd been before.
That was the real goal. Close the distance. Get inside her comfort range where ranged attacks became harder to coordinate.
Alina recognized the strategy and floated higher, trying to reestablish separation. But Cairo was already moving, sprinting across the arena floor with his staff in hand. When he reached the wall, he used his momentum to run up it for three steps, pushed off, and launched himself toward Alina's floating form.
For one heartbeat, he was airborne, staff raised, close enough to strike.
Then telekinetic force caught him like a giant invisible hand and slammed him into the floor with devastating impact.
Cairo's enhanced durability saved him from serious injury, but the wind was driven from his lungs and stars exploded across his vision. He rolled away desperately, expecting follow-up attacks, and they came. Debris rained down on his previous position, each impact crater proof of what would have happened if he'd stayed still.
"You're predictable," Alina said, though Cairo heard the strain in her voice. That catch-and-throw had cost her energy she couldn't afford to waste. "Trying to get close, trying to force hand-to-hand combat where your physical advantages matter more. But I don't have to let you close. I can end this from here."
She was right. And Cairo was running out of options.
His body was failing. His enhanced attributes could only carry him so far when he was bleeding, exhausted, and had already used Limitbreak three times. Using it again might push him past some threshold he couldn't return from.
But losing meant giving up Commander position. Meant letting someone else control Delta class's direction. Meant abandoning his plans before they'd even begun.
Cairo pushed himself to his feet, swaying slightly, and reassessed.
Alina was floating, untouchable, able to attack from range indefinitely. But she was also maintaining that flight through constant telekinetic output, burning energy with every second that passed. Her attacks had gotten smaller, more precise, because she couldn't afford the massive displays anymore.
She was conserving. Which meant she was worried about running completely dry.
Cairo needed to make her spend energy. Force her to defend instead of attack. Push her until that telekinetic power finally guttered out.
But how, when every move he made could be countered from range?
The answer came from an unexpected place. From watching Layla fight. From seeing how she'd used her Zone not just as defense but as area denial, forcing opponents to move where she wanted them.
Cairo couldn't create a Zone. But he could create chaos.
He started moving erratically, no longer trying to close distance but simply staying mobile. Random direction changes, sudden stops and starts, anything to make predicting his path impossible. And while he moved, he grabbed whatever was within reach and threw it.
Not at Alina. At other objects. At the walls. At the floor.
Creating a storm of flying debris that Alina had to track and manage telekinetically to avoid friendly fire.
"What are you doing?" Alina demanded, her concentration visibly strained as she tried to control both her attacks and the chaos Cairo was creating.
"Making you work for it," Cairo replied, hurling another piece of equipment that ricocheted off a wall and nearly hit him on the rebound.
It was messy, desperate, and completely unsustainable. But Cairo didn't need sustainable. He needed Alina to burn through her remaining energy before he collapsed.
They settled into a deadly dance. Alina attacking with measured, precise strikes while trying to control the environment. Cairo dodging and creating more chaos while looking for any opening. Neither landing a decisive blow, both knowing they were racing against their own physical limits.
Minutes crawled by like hours. Cairo's vision started to blur at the edges. His movements became more sluggish, reactions a fraction of a second slower. Blood loss and exhaustion were taking their toll.
But Alina was fading too. Her flight had become unsteady, dipping and rising as her concentration wavered. Her attacks came slower, less coordinated. Sweat dripped from her face, and Cairo could see her arms trembling with the effort of maintaining her power.
They were both running on fumes. The next exchange would likely be the last.
Cairo made his decision.
He stopped running and turned to face Alina directly, arms spread, presenting himself as an open target.
"What—" Alina started, confused by the sudden change.
"One shot," Cairo said, his voice hoarse. "You've got enough energy left for one big attack. Use it. Either you end this now, or you run dry and I win by default."
Alina's eyes narrowed. "That's stupid. You're giving me a free hit."
"I'm calling your bluff," Cairo countered. "You're almost empty. That's why you've been conserving. One big attack, all or nothing. Let's see if you've got the nerve."
It was insane. Suicidal, even. But Cairo was betting on two things. First, that Alina's pride wouldn't let her refuse a direct challenge. Second, that he could activate Limitbreak one more time and survive whatever she threw at him.
The second part was far from certain. His body was already pushed beyond its limits. One more activation might break something permanently. But losing wasn't an option.
Alina's expression shifted through several emotions. Suspicion. Anger. Then finally, acceptance with a hint of respect.
"You're either very brave or very stupid," she said, gathering her power. Cairo could see telekinetic energy building around her, the air itself shimmering with accumulated force. "I haven't decided which yet."
"Does it matter?"
"Not really."
She released everything at once.
Every scrap of telekinetic power she had left, all concentrated into a single devastating blast. The air compressed, reality itself seeming to bend around the attack. It screamed toward Cairo with enough force to punch through reinforced walls, to shatter bones, to end the fight absolutely.
Cairo activated Limitbreak.
The talent exploded through him, burning through reserves he didn't have, drawing on something deeper. His body pushed past exhaustion, past pain, past every natural limitation. Time seemed to slow as the attack closed, and Cairo moved.
Not to dodge. That was impossible at this range.
To redirect.
His staff came up, enhanced strength and timing combining in one perfect moment. The wood should have shattered on contact with that much force. Instead, it caught the edge of the telekinetic blast, deflecting it by inches rather than absorbing it directly.
The attack passed by Cairo's side, close enough that he felt his ribs crack from the pressure wave, close enough that his skin blistered from the friction. But it missed.
And Alina, having spent everything on that final attack, dropped like a stone.
She hit the ground hard, her legs unable to support her weight. She collapsed to her knees, arms trembling, completely drained.
Cairo wasn't much better. His Limitbreak boost faded, and he felt his body trying to shut down. His vision darkened. His knees buckled. The cracked ribs sent spikes of agony through his chest with each breath.
But he was still standing. Barely.
Alina looked up at him, her blue eyes wide with disbelief. "How..."
"Practice staff training," Cairo wheezed, the lie coming easily despite his state. "Lots of deflection drills. Muscle memory."
It was complete nonsense, but Alina was too exhausted to question it.
Cairo took one step forward. Then another. Each movement was agony, his body screaming at him to stop. But he forced himself to walk until he stood directly in front of where Alina knelt.
"Yield," he said simply.
Alina stared at him for a long moment, emotions warring across her face. Pride versus pragmatism. Frustration versus respect. Finally, she closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"I yield."
The words hung in the air for three heartbeats.
Then Cairo's legs finally gave out and he collapsed beside her, consciousness wavering.
Noah's voice cut through the ringing in his ears, carrying across the now-silent arena.
"Winner, Cairo Starlight! Your Class Commander and Vice Commander are Cairo Starlight and Alina Tallis respectively. Hell of a fight. Delta class, you might be at the bottom now, but with leadership like that, you won't stay there long."
Cairo barely heard him. His vision had tunneled to a pinpoint, his body finally demanding the rest it had been denied. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was Alina's face, her expression transforming from defeat to something that might have been grudging approval.
Then nothing.