P74 - Reflecting in Ruin

The crowd roared as the next teams stepped onto the field.

"NOW ENTERING THE ARENA-" the announcer's voice cracked like lightning across the sky.
"NTG's Second Team - Hoshina, Toku, Yunoi, Gem, and Ceri!"

The cheers shifted, rising in intensity as their opponents marched out from the opposite gate.

"And facing them--WL's Third Team - Nite, Vir, Magnus, Virgo, and Bidus!"

The bell rang.

No words.
Just chaos.

From the center line, Vir whipped a sphere of condensed dark magic toward Bidus with a flick of his knife. The shadows screamed as they surged forward--

And they were immediately reflected back with a sharp pulse of glasslike energy from Bidus.
Rez, watching from the lounge, blinked. "Another Mirror-user..."

It slammed directly into Gem and Ceri, who hadn't even begun to move.

A violent blast erupted--Ceri was flung backward, her gauntlets sparking uselessly midair. Gem's healing staff shattered in two. They both crashed into the wall of the arena, unmoving and unalived.

From the lounge, Rikushi stood up from his chair, his mouth open in disbelief.

"...already!?"

In the arena, Toku's body surged with energy, eyes glowing, as his ArchAngel Form burst forth. His spear glimmered, this time with lightning dancing off its edges.

But it was Hoshina who changed first.

Her silhouette bent forward as a black mist swirled around her shoulders, flames curling in reverse. Her wings folded inward, then reappeared — blackened, sharp, and ethereal.

Her indigo hair faded to a deep amethyst, her eyes burned violet, and her lance--now Nyx's Fang--glowed with purple veins of darkness.

"Nyx..." Yunoi whispered.

Yunoi raised her hands and swept her arms to the side. Wind surged throughout the arena, a cyclone of pressure meant to confuse and displace, targeting Magnus and Virgo.

But it didn't land.

Bidus, still unmoved from his current spot, casually twisted his sword--a reflection ripple cast out like shattered glass. The wind magic rebounded. Yunoi barely had time to widen her eyes before her own razor-sharp cyclone collapsed inward, impaling her from all sides.

She collapsed.

"YUNOI-!" Toku screamed, but it was too late.

In the NTG lounge, where the rest of the group had gathered, Rikushi crossed his arms with jaw clenched as he stood at the back, his face shadowed.

He watched helplessly, as the people he called comrades--and one he once called his lover--fell one by one.

Back in the arena-

Magnus clashed with Toku, fists surging with golden fire. Toku's spear clashed with knuckles, but the pressure was relentless. Virgo launched in from the side, gravity-bursts pressing Toku to the floor.

Nyx--no longer Hoshina--screamed, darting in with her lance. She clashed with Nite, who had already summoned a flaming Phoenix to defend her flank.

Dark fire against divine fists.
Nyx's body glowed with both pain and power, but it wasn't enough.

Toku knelt beside her, bleeding and broken.
Nyx sat there with her lance against the ground, trembling, panting--but still trying to move.

"I'm... not done..." she grunted.

But Bidus, now approaching slowly with not a drop of sweat on him, sheathed his sword with a sharp click.

And as the sound echoed... so did the screams.

From Nyx, from Toku.
From the past battles.
From Rikushi's mind.

Bidus turned his head toward the camera, and smiled faintly, his eyes like mirrors--void of light and purity, reflecting everything and nothing.

In the lounge, Rikushi stared at the screen, unmoving.

Bidus' eyes locked directly with his.

Then the TV cut to commercial.

The silence was louder than any crowd's roar.