CHAPTER 16: The Sixteenth Fracture

I stood in silence, staring down at Alric’s unconscious body. The arena was quiet—too quiet. Dust still hung in the air, settling like ash after a storm.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze.

Saaya was seated above in the observation box. She wasn’t cheering. She wasn’t yelling. Just smiling—gently, proudly.

Then her eyes began to glow.

A pulse of soft light washed over me. Warm. Calming. The aches in my ribs faded. The sting along my jaw vanished. Within seconds, my wounds were gone. My body, whole again.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Even Yuuka, standing near the judge’s podium, looked visibly shaken. Her lips parted slightly. Not from fear—but from recognition.

She knows.

The crowd’s murmurs swelled, rippling like waves through the arena. Whispers of awe and disbelief filled the air. None dared question the miracle they had just witnessed.

I glanced back up at Saaya. Her eyes slowly dimmed, but the warmth in her gaze didn’t fade. There was something quiet, almost intimate in that moment—like she was speaking to me without words, telling me I wasn’t alone.

Yuuka’s eyes didn’t leave me. Her expression twisted, unreadable. A flicker of something deeper—fear? Respect?—hid behind her calm facade. I knew this wasn’t just about the fight anymore.

Principal Lyra cleared her throat and stood up, yelling,

“THAT CONCLUDES THE MATCH FOR TODAY! Sukara advances to the next round!”

The words echoed hollowly in my ears. The victory was mine, but the true battle had just begun.

I stepped down from the arena floor and turned to Saaya.

Her smile deepened, but there was a seriousness behind it that sent a chill through me.

“We don’t have much time,” she said softly, her voice barely carrying over the dispersing crowd. “The others are watching. Yuuka’s not the only one who knows what just happened.”

I frowned, sensing the weight behind her words. “What do you mean?”

Saaya’s eyes locked onto mine. “This isn’t just a tournament anymore. It’s a test. A reckoning. And the gods are not pleased.”

A cold breeze swept through the arena, carrying distant echoes of whispers I couldn’t quite make out.

I swallowed hard. “Then we need to be ready.”

She nodded. “Ten years of training await us in the realm beyond time. We’ll need every second.”

I glanced back toward the observation box, where Yuuka stood watching with that same inscrutable expression.

“This is only the beginning,” I said quietly.

Saaya reached out and took my hand. “Together, we’ll rewrite what’s possible.”

The arena’s lights dimmed as the crowd finally began to file out, leaving us in the quiet aftermath of battle—and the looming storm ahead.

The crowd had long since left the arena, their awe and confusion carried off in murmurs and rumors. I had returned to the Whispering Hall—a quiet corridor beneath the academy’s arena known for its echoing acoustics and eerie stillness.

That’s when I saw her.

Yuuka stood at the far end of the hall, her back to me, her gaze fixed on the stone wall as if waiting for it to speak.

“You’ve been watching me,” I said.

“I’ve been watching all of you,” she replied without turning. “But yes… you in particular.”

Her voice was sharp, precise. Too measured to be casual. She finally turned, her sky-blue eyes unreadable.

“You broke the veil today. The moment Saaya healed you, you pierced the boundary between accepted and forbidden power. You know what that means, don’t you?”

I crossed my arms. “The gods felt it.”

“They more than felt it.” She took a step forward. “You’ve reminded them that a banished soul can still rise. This must be the first time she’s used her ability in the Fractal.”

I took a breath, steadying my voice. “And what about you? Whose side are you on?”

Yuuka looked genuinely amused for a second. Then serious. “I’m on your side, of course.”

She winked at me and tossed something at my feet. A scroll. Sealed in black wax, marked with the insignia of a serpent wrapped around a fractured star.

“A gift from above,” she said, turning away. “Your next opponent… isn’t entirely mortal.”

Before I could ask what that meant, she was gone—vanished into the corridor’s dark folds like smoke in wind.

I turned, only to find Saaya standing silently at the edge of the hall. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes flicked to where Yuuka had stood just moments ago.

She tilted her head slightly. “She’s bold, I’ll give her that.”

I offered a small shrug. “She’s… complicated.”

Saaya stepped closer, her voice soft but pointed. “Just remember who it is that brought you back to your feet.”

I smiled, half-grateful, half-nervous. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Something flickered in her gaze—calm, confident, but maybe just a little sharp around the edges.

“Good,” she said, brushing past me.

“Because I don’t plan on losing you to some sky-blue-eyed flirt with a cryptic scroll fetish.

Back in our room, Saaya broke the wax seal. The scroll unfurled on its own, carried by scalar wind.

A name appeared in glowing dark red ink.

“Name: Arkai Meika”

Alias: The Black Knight

Condition: Unstable Scalar Core. Subject exhibits recursive anomalies.

Classification: Former Earthbound.

Current Alignment: Unknown.

I stared at the name. My vision blurred.

“Arkai…” I whispered. My throat tightened. “That’s impossible.”

I stand up without thinking

Saaya froze beside me. “Is that…?”

I nodded slowly. “My twin brother.”