The battlefield was a storm of shattered platforms and crackling energy. Every corner of the arena had been marked by conflict, scorched, fractured, and littered with the remnants of failed attacks.
The Sovereignty Class females no longer held back. Their auras burned like stars collapsing, every movement precise, ruthless, and impossibly fast. They struck with the intent to eliminate, not merely test, and the Crimson girls quickly realized they were facing a force far beyond simple competition.
Raya dodged a sweeping slash, her legs barely carrying her across the fractured ground. Each step was a battle against gravity, against momentum, against exhaustion. They're… relentless. They're holding nothing back.
Rhea tried to intercept a flurry of energy projectiles, her aura flaring in defense. But even her trained body faltered as a crimson blade sliced past, grazing her side. She stumbled, energy draining with every motion.
One by one, the other Crimson girls fell. Their cries and struggles echoed briefly before silence swallowed them. Platforms collapsed beneath them, spells backfired, or attacks simply overwhelmed them. Every tactic, every maneuver, was countered, overridden, or blocked.
Raya's eyes widened as she saw the battlefield shrink. Her friends, her teammates, eliminated. Fallen to the merciless force of the Sovereignty Class. A tight knot of fear and rage formed in her chest. If they keep this pace, we won't last long.
Through the chaos, Sage moved like a ghost. Shadows wrapped around her, her presence almost undetectable. She didn't intervene, not yet. Every beat of her heart was in sync with the battlefield, every breath measured. Her sharp eyes noted the weaknesses, the openings, the overextensions of the Sovereignty girls. Patience was her weapon.
Rhea pushed forward, trying to protect Raya, but a sudden strike from a twin-caster pair sent her airborne. She landed hard on a jagged platform, energy draining faster than she could restore it. Her knees buckled, hands trembling as her mana flickered like a dying ember.
Raya lunged to support her, but a blinding barrage forced her back, narrowly avoiding elimination. She clenched her fists, fire and heat coiling around her body like living chains.
And then it happened—the sword.
From mid-air, Kira's blade fell with silent inevitability, landing in the center of the arena. Light shimmered faintly along its edge, pulsing as if aware of the souls around it.
Rhea, desperate to prevent its misuse, surged forward. Her aura flared in defiance. She grasped the hilt—and in that instant, the weapon drew all her energy, draining her mana, her stamina, even the last reserves of her will. She sagged, eyes wide with shock and disbelief, collapsing onto the platform below. Her HP flickered and disappeared. Forcefully eliminated.
Raya screamed, reaching out, but her strength wasn't enough to counter the sword's draw. She froze, fury coiling inside her like a living thing, hands trembling around the hilt she wasn't yet ready to touch.
From the shadows, Sage emerged quietly. No footsteps, no sound. She approached the sword with calm precision, her eyes scanning the remaining Sovereignty fighters. One by one, she assessed their power, their spacing, their momentum. Her aura flared subtly—not enough to draw attention, but enough to let only the observant feel the shift.
And then she moved.
With a single, fluid motion, Sage gripped the sword. The shadows behind her rippled, veiling her entirely as she surged into the fray. Every strike she made was precise, deliberate, and unstoppable. The Sovereignty Class fought hard, but Sage ignored Selara and Sylara completely, her movements too fast, her intent too singular.
Blades shattered. Spells imploded. Energy barriers faltered under her calculated attacks. Within moments, the majority of the Sovereignty Class lay incapacitated, staggered, or eliminated. Only Selara and Sylara remained, glaring in disbelief at the ghostly figure who had just swept through their ranks.
Sage's eyes flicked toward the shadows at the arena's edge. A faint signal from Kira pulsed through her senses. With that, she teleported the weapon back to him, the hilt vanishing from her grasp in a shimmer of light.
Now, the stage was set. Raya, still standing, flames coiling around her in quiet fury, and Lina absent from the fight, would show the Sovereignty Class what they had learned from their training with the Shadow King. Selara and Sylara remained as witnesses—the only remaining adversaries, forced to watch as the true strength of the Crimson Class females came alive.
Sage melted back into the shadows, unseen, waiting silently. The battlefield had narrowed. The storm was about to strike.