The sky trembled under pressure.
Garuda hovered high above the battlefield, wings spread wide, currents bending and folding at his command. His eyes moved constantly—sharp, calculating, searching beyond the obvious.
Too quiet.
Too empty.
Only one presence.
Ashura.
Garuda narrowed his gaze.
"What? Did you expect more?"
Ashura's voice carried lazily through the air.
Garuda didn't lower his guard.
"From the likes of you," he replied,
"I'd expect plenty."
A smirk crept across Ashura's face.
Annoyed.
Amused.
"Then let's not disappoint," Ashura said, stretching his wings slightly.
"I'll spare your life even if you lose. How about that?"
Garuda's wings shifted, cutting the air into tighter currents.
"And you expect me to believe your words?"
The smirk sharpened.
Ashura vanished.
Gone—
No wind shift.
No sound.
Nothing.
"How did—"
A fist met Garuda's face.
The impact exploded through the sky, sending him hurtling across the clouds, tearing through layers of air before he forced himself to stabilize. Wind snapped violently around him as he regained control.
He scanned.
Nothing.
No presence.
No distortion.
"…Did he leave?"
Silence answered.
Then—
A voice.
Not around him.
Inside him.
"I expected you to be more agile…"
Garuda's eyes widened slightly.
"…you disappoint me."
The clouds above split.
Ashura emerged slowly from the opening sky, wings fully extended, the blood-red halo above his head glowing faintly as he spoke in a low, steady chant.
Garuda frowned.
"Is he… talking?"
The air grew heavy.
Not wind.
Not pressure.
Something else.
Then—
A beam of light tore through the clouds.
Straight down.
No warning.
No buildup.
It struck Garuda instantly.
The impact slammed him out of the sky, driving him straight into the ground below with a deafening crash, the earth fracturing outward from the point of contact.
Dust and debris exploded into the air.
The wind scattered—
Uncontrolled.
And above it all—
Ashura hovered.
Unmoved.
Watching.
The crater smoked.
Broken stone lifted slightly into the air before dropping back down as unstable currents spiraled outward from the impact. Garuda groaned beneath the rubble, forcing himself upright while blood dripped slowly from the side of his face.
Above him—
Ashura remained motionless.
Watching.
Garuda wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and spread his wings again. Wind immediately answered him, circling tighter around his body like sharpened blades.
"Fast," Garuda muttered.
His eyes narrowed.
"But not invisible."
Ashura tilted his head slightly.
"Then prove it."
Garuda vanished into the storm.
A violent burst of wind exploded outward as he shot into the sky, fast enough to leave afterimages tearing through the clouds. Blades of compressed air formed around him, curving through impossible angles toward Ashura from every direction at once.
Ashura didn't dodge.
The blades struck—
Only to split apart against a dark aura surrounding him.
Garuda appeared behind him instantly, twisting into a spinning kick enhanced by hurricane-force momentum.
This time—
Ashura moved.
Their clash detonated through the sky.
Shockwaves ripped apart nearby clouds as Garuda pressed forward relentlessly, strike after strike flowing together with surgical precision. Wind spears. Air blades. Pressure bursts.
Ashura blocked them all.
One-handed.
"Good," Ashura said calmly.
"You're finally trying."
Garuda growled and accelerated again, disappearing and reappearing around Ashura faster and faster, turning the sky itself into a weapon.
For a moment—
Ashura stopped smiling.
Garuda noticed.
A chance.
He compressed the surrounding air into a dense sphere around Ashura, trapping him inside layers upon layers of crushing pressure.
The atmosphere screamed.
Garuda clenched his fist.
"Collapse."
The sphere imploded.
The explosion tore a massive hole through the clouds.
Silence followed.
Garuda panted heavily, hovering in place as he searched through the smoke.
Then—
A hand reached out from the dust.
And grabbed his face.
Garuda's eyes widened.
Ashura slammed him downward.
The world blurred.
Garuda crashed through multiple ruined structures before bouncing violently across the ground, each impact carving trenches into the battlefield.
Ashura descended slowly from above, untouched.
His halo glowed brighter now.
"You rely too much on movement," he said coldly.
"What happens when the sky itself betrays you?"
Garuda forced himself back up, breathing heavier now.
The wind around him had become unstable.
Delayed.
Sluggish.
Something was interfering with it.
Ashura noticed his confusion.
And smiled.
Then suddenly—
He stopped.
The hostility vanished from his posture almost instantly.
Ashura looked off into the distance.
As if listening to something only he could hear.
Then he sighed.
"I feel like that's enough."
The wind died.
Completely.
Garuda pushed himself upright.
Every muscle protested.
His wings twitched once before spreading fully behind him, trying to reclaim some sense of control over a battlefield that no longer felt like his.
Across from him stood the Abyssal Order.
Not scattered.
Not separated.
Together.
For the first time.
Ashura hovered lazily above them, arms crossed.
Gaia stood like a mountain carved from the earth itself.
Zero remained silent, his eyes unreadable.
Calamity stood motionless, yet somehow felt like the least stable thing present.
And at the center—
Paradox.
Garuda's gaze moved between them.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
His mind instinctively began calculating.
Distances.
Possible openings.
Escape routes.
Attack patterns.
Anything.
Nothing looked good.
This is bad.
His grip tightened.
No... worse than bad.
He had fought powerful opponents before.
Every Awakener eventually did.
But this?
This wasn't strength.
This was organization.
The realization hit harder than Ashura's attacks.
They planned this.
Not the fight.
Not the battlefield.
Everything.
Zero escaping.
Ashura stalling.
The gathering.
All of it.
Pieces moving exactly where they were supposed to.
Garuda hated that thought.
Because it sounded like something Prime would say.
And Prime was usually right.
Paradox took a step forward.
Not threatening.
Not hurried.
Just enough to draw attention.
"You look surprised."
Garuda laughed once.
A short, humorless sound.
"I expected monsters."
A faint smile appeared on Paradox's face.
"And you found purpose instead."
Garuda's eyes narrowed.
That answer bothered him more than it should have.
Because purpose meant direction.
Direction meant leadership.
Leadership meant planning.
And planning meant this wasn't the end of their strategy.
It was only one step.
Keep talking.
His thoughts raced.
Just keep talking.
Every second mattered now.
Not because he thought he could win.
Not because he thought he could escape.
Because every second bought time.
Time for Prime to notice.
Time for Omega.
Time for somebody.
Anybody.
To realize what was happening.
Ashura noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
"You're stalling."
Garuda shrugged.
"And you're talking."
Ashura actually laughed.
A genuine laugh.
"Fair enough."
The others remained still.
That unnerved Garuda.
No impatience.
No arguing.
No ego.
Just waiting.
Like they already knew how this would go.
Garuda's wings shifted subtly.
Ready to move.
Ready to fight.
Ready to run if necessary.
Anything.
His eyes drifted briefly toward the sky.
Nothing.
No portal.
No allies.
No rescue.
Just clouds.
Come on, Prime.
For the first time in a long while—
Garuda found himself hoping somebody else had a plan.
Because right now?
He had none.
The battlefield stood still.
Not because the fighting had ended.
Because it had paused.
Garuda remained where he was, wings partially spread, every muscle ready to react.
Across from him, the Abyssal Order slowly shifted.
Not into a charge.
Into formation.
Ashura drifted to the left, his crimson halo casting a faint glow over the broken ground.
Gaia planted himself firmly at the front, a living fortress.
Zero stepped back, positioning himself behind the others, his eyes constantly surveying the battlefield.
Calamity moved without a sound, taking the opposite flank.
And at the center...
Paradox.
Garuda watched every movement.
No one argued.
No one questioned.
No one even looked at each other.
They already knew where to stand.
They're... organized.
The realization settled heavily in his chest.
Not a group.
A unit.
Paradox took a single step forward.
His footsteps echoed across the silent battlefield.
"You've done well."
Garuda frowned.
"...What?"
Paradox's expression remained calm.
"Long enough."
Garuda's eyes widened ever so slightly.
His thoughts raced.
Long enough...?
Then—
Everything clicked.
Ashura's constant pressure.
His refusal to finish the fight.
His sudden halt.
Zero's arrival.
The gathering.
None of it had been coincidence.
He wasn't trying to defeat me...
Garuda clenched his fists.
He was keeping me here.
Ashura smiled, noticing the realization.
"Looks like you figured it out."
Garuda let out a slow breath.
"...You stalled."
Ashura shrugged.
"You made it surprisingly entertaining."
Garuda's gaze swept across the battlefield once more.
Five opponents.
Five completely different abilities.
Five coordinated minds.
His own heartbeat became louder.
Think.
There has to be something.
He searched the sky.
Nothing.
No familiar light.
No portal.
No reinforcements.
Only endless clouds.
Headquarters
The holographic battlefield floated silently before Prime.
Five red markers.
Clustered together.
Exactly as he feared.
He stared at the projection for several long seconds.
Then quietly said,
"They're beginning."
Behind him, footsteps approached.
Omega entered first.
Tidal followed close behind.
Core stopped beside them, crossing his arms as he looked at the battlefield projection.
No one spoke.
No one needed an explanation.
They all understood what they were looking at.
Prime raised a hand.
Space rippled before him.
A small circle of light appeared, slowly widening into a stable portal.
Its edges shimmered with familiar blue-white energy.
Prime never took his eyes off the projection.
"We're late."
Omega stepped beside him.
His golden armor reflected the portal's light.
He looked toward the image of Garuda standing alone against the Abyssal Order.
Then answered quietly,
"Not too late."
The portal expanded.
Light spilled across the room.
The portal opened.
A pillar of light descended onto the battlefield, cutting through the gray sky.
Garuda instinctively turned toward it.
The Abyssal Order did the same.
The light settled.
Prime stepped through first.
His mask reflected the fractured battlefield as he silently surveyed the opposition.
Behind him came Omega, golden armor gleaming even beneath the darkened heavens.
Tidal followed, calm as the sea before a storm.
Core emerged last, rolling his shoulders as embers drifted from the seams of his armor.
Garuda let out a quiet breath.
Not because victory had arrived.
Because he was no longer alone.
Ashura chuckled.
"There they are."
Paradox's eyes moved across each Awakener.
Prime.
Omega.
Tidal.
Core.
Then finally—
Garuda.
A faint smile appeared.
"Now the board is complete."
Prime stepped forward until he stood beside Garuda.
Neither of them looked away from Paradox.
"You planned this."
Paradox nodded once.
"You expected us to fight separately."
"We expected you to think separately."
Silence.
The wind slowly returned.
Tidal's water began to circle around his feet.
Small streams flowed against gravity.
Core's armor glowed with a deep crimson heat, cracks of molten light spreading across its surface.
Omega lowered into a fighting stance, the Omega-shaped opening in his helmet beginning to shine.
Across from them—
Gaia raised pillars of stone from the earth.
Ashura unfolded his wings.
Zero quietly opened and closed a small rift in his palm.
Calamity simply stood...
Waiting.
Neither side moved.
Both knew exactly what came next.
Prime broke the silence.
"No more divided battles."
Paradox answered without hesitation.
"No more restraint."
For one brief moment—
The battlefield stood perfectly still.
Two sides.
One purpose each.
Then—
Someone took the first step.
The world erupted.