Arena 7 — Ten Minutes into the Battle Royale
The dust from the first wave of clashes had not yet settled when the battlefield changed.
It wasn't the wind.
It wasn't magic.
It was pressure.
Chris felt it first—an invisible weight pressing against his chest, tightening the air in his lungs. The flames around him flickered, unstable, reacting to something far denser than mana.
He turned.
At the far end of Arena 7, atop one of the fractured watchtowers, a lone figure stood with his arms crossed.
White cloak.
Cold eyes.
A presence that dominated the field without moving an inch.
Jayze.
His aura surged violently, disciplined and furious all at once—absolute control wrapped in barely restrained rage. Four figures stood behind him, each clad in coordinated combat armor, their magical signatures sharp and refined. Elite duelists. No wasted motion. No hesitation.
Jayze's gaze locked onto Chris.
"Chris," he said calmly, his voice carrying unnaturally far.
"This is personal."
He stepped forward.
He didn't jump.
He didn't fly.
He walked.
With every step, the ground beneath him responded—platforms of pale light forming under his boots, as if the battlefield itself refused to let him touch dirt.
Dice sucked in a breath.
"Why do the pretty boys always get god-tier entrance energy?"
Chris stepped ahead of his team, flames rolling faintly off his shoulders.
"Jayze. That grudge you've been nursing—why not bury it here?"
Jayze's expression didn't change.
"You touched my sister."
"She followed me," Chris replied evenly. "Blame your rules. Not me."
For half a second—
Nothing.
Then Jayze vanished.
BOOM!
Chris was slammed sideways before he could fully react, his body tearing through a stone column as if it were made of sand. Debris exploded outward. He barely managed to breathe before another strike came.
He blocked midair.
Too late.
The impact sent him spiraling again.
Jayze reappeared behind him, his voice low and sharp.
"You thought this was a game?"
CRACK!
Chris hit the ground hard, the shock rattling his bones.
"CHRIS!" Lina screamed, already casting a barrier spell as she rushed forward.
She was too slow.
Jayze's squad moved in perfect coordination.
One of them—an elemental brawler—drove a concentrated flame lance straight through Lina's barrier. Her scream cut off as her band flashed red.
Force teleport initiated.
She vanished.
"Lina!" Kira shouted.
He disappeared in a blur, twin blades flashing as he intercepted two of Jayze's teammates midair.
Metal screamed.
Sparks scattered.
But they were faster.
Sharper.
Raya raised both hands, plasma roaring into existence as she fired a massive burst skyward, forcing space between the collapsing fronts. Two attackers staggered back.
Jayze didn't.
Chris pushed himself up, blood sliding down his brow. His flames wavered, unstable, as if unsure what they were supposed to be.
"Dammit…"
Jayze pointed at him.
"You're not even trying. Burning hotter doesn't make you better."
He raised his hand.
The world flipped.
Gravity inverted violently—Chris was ripped upward, then smashed back into the ground like a discarded weapon. His HP bar blinked orange.
He coughed, vision blurring.
Behind him, Dice flipped a coin.
It detonated midair.
Smoke swallowed the field.
"Move, Chris!" Dice yelled.
Chris rolled, barely clearing the impact zone.
Dice tried to follow—
BOOM!
An earth spike ripped through the smoke, striking him clean across the arena. His band flashed red.
Gone.
Ard raised layered distortion glyphs, teeth clenched.
A projectile punched straight through them.
Gone.
One by one, Crimson Class fell.
Dawson.
Korran.
Mia
Even Sage.
Only Kira and Raya remained at Chris's side, breathing hard, refusing to retreat.
Rhea had been forced west early in the chaos—isolated, surrounded, cut off.
Chris steadied himself, heart pounding.
Jayze's presence felt wrong.
The air bent around him. The battlefield obeyed him.
Too strong…
I can't overpower him.
I can't protect anyone like this…
Jayze approached slowly.
"You insulted me," he said, voice deepening. "You humiliated my name—and you thought you'd walk away with your team intact?"
The sky split open.
Pillars of light descended.
Chris looked up.
Something inside him snapped.
"No…"
His eyes burned.
No more pretending.
No more restraint.
The flames around him twisted violently—ripping apart, unraveling—then reformed.
They weren't flames anymore.
They looked like threads.
Like rules.
Reality itself trembled.
"Chris…?" Raya whispered. "Your aura—"
"That's not just Ignis," Kira muttered.
Jayze hesitated.
Chris's feet touched the ground.
The ground bent.
A wave of pure command surged outward.
LAW ACTIVATION DETECTED.
CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN.
OVERRIDE INITIATED.
The battlefield froze.
Not because the system failed.
Because Chris said so.
He stepped forward.
"You want control?" he whispered.
"Let me show you real authority."
The air warped. Pressure crushed outward. Jayze staggered—blood tendrils faltering. Even the surveillance drones above flickered, unsure if they were still permitted to observe.
Broken tiles realigned beneath Chris's feet—not by magic.
By will.
Jayze's eye twitched.
"Law Manipulation… So that's what you've been hiding?"
Chris raised his hand.
"No. This is what I've been becoming."
Jayze snarled and attacked.
Razor-thin blood threads tore through the air.
Chris didn't move.
"Deny."
The wires unraveled mid-flight.
Jayze's pupils shrank.
"Collapse."
The ground beneath Jayze caved, dropping him into a crater.
He exploded upward in a pillar of blood, wings forming behind him.
"I don't use blood," Jayze roared.
"I am blood!"
Their clash tore the arena apart—law versus living code.
They struck. Blocked. Countered.
Chris adapted.
Jayze evolved.
Neither yielded.
Finally—
They separated.
Ten paces apart.
Breathing hard.
Bleeding.
The wind passed through the shattered arena.
Jayze laughed quietly.
"You've gotten stronger."
Chris wiped blood from his lip.
"So have you."
Neither advanced.
Not yet.
---
Elsewhere — Outer Arena, Broken Corridor
Kira and Raya sprinted through a forgotten section of Arena 7 as the structure around them destabilized.
"Where are we going?" Raya shouted.
"Somewhere the system forgot," Kira replied.
"The school doesn't erase history—it buries it."
They stopped.
A massive metal door stood before them, untouched by magic. Ancient red glyphs pulsed faintly.
Raya stepped closer.
"This is…"
"The original Crimson classroom," Kira said.
The door opened.
Dust hung heavy. Desks lay shattered. Burn marks scarred the walls. At the front—an engraved symbol around a table.
Raya collapsed to her knees.
"This is where they died…"
Her voice shook. "Where Leo—"
"We're losing," Kira said quietly.
"We need him."
Raya's hands trembled.
"It'll consume me."
"No," Kira said firmly. "You're strong enough to hold him."
The desk pulsed.
Calling.
Raya stepped forward.
She sat.
Her body convulsed.
Her eyes snapped open—crimson.
A colder voice emerged.
"You called out to me."
Kira stepped back.
"Leo…"
The presence settled.
"…So this is what's left," Leo murmured.
Raya whispered, "Chris… is he alive?"
"He's fighting for his life."
"Then so are we."
Leo smiled faintly within her.
This girl's feelings…
Just like mine once were.