Scales in the Mud (泥の中の天秤 / Doro no Naka no Tenbin)

The clearing was charged with tension. 

Shinji rolled his shoulders, his breath fogging the rain-soaked air. An instinctive surge flickered crimson along his rune-scarred arms, muscles twitching, hungry to break free. 

Opposite him, Hajime lowered his stance, Seiki coiling faintly golden beneath his skin like molten dawn waiting to ignite. Thunder rumbled overhead. Lanterns hissed as they drowned in the downpour. 

The moss transformed into a swamp, mud clinging and dragging at their feet. The scent of iron, rot, and sap thickened until even breathing felt like an effort. The only light now came from the veins of Seiki burning in the storm, faint, flickering, yet alive. 

Izumi’s lotus browned at the edges, its petals curling as her roots clawed deeper for stability. Rei held his sword tilted toward the mud, blue flame flickering against the weight of the rain. Thirty seconds in, and the battlefield held its breath. 

The Forsakers formed a half-circle of chaos. Iovah stood motionless, his feet sunk ankle-deep in mud, a monolith carved from scar tissue and spite. Rain streamed off his chest in sheets, tracing the map of old wounds, each a testament to endurance. 

Job’s Will pulsed slow and deliberate, a heartbeat that dragged the world down with it. Megumi’s hands trembled, golden light flickering between her fingers like a dying ember. Her lips moved in silent prayer, but the words tasted like ash. 

Hikari’s pupils swallowed color. Lament’s Call leaked from her throat in a low wail, the names of the dead threading through the storm like wire. Takumi’s fingers twitched, orange threads forming in the rain, steam curling like a last breath. 

Across the cratered pit, Hajime, Rei, and Izumi waited. No one spoke. 

Shinji charged first, shouting, "Instinctive Surge." 

The runes carved into his arms flared crimson. Muscle tore and reknit in the same heartbeat as he crossed the pit in a blur, cleaver descending in a diagonal arc that sliced through the rain like a guillotine. Hajime met it barehanded. 

Gold-silver energy flared along Seiki's forearm, hardening into a gauntlet of light. Metal screamed against flesh as their fists collided, sending a geyser of mud skyward and splattering both men with a mask of filth. They locked eyes. Shinji's grin widened while Hajime ground his teeth until the enamel cracked. Veins bulged in their necks, and mud clung to their boots as their auras flared intensely.

Both were propelled backwards, their boots carving deep trenches into the ground. Shinji spat blood and let out a laugh that was short, sharp, and disconcerting. Hajime remained silent. He stepped forward again with his fist already chambered.

Takumi’s hands flicked.

"Doubtweave Threads."

Orange cords lashed through the rain, thin as spider silk, sharp as razors. They sought Rei’s wrists, his throat, the soft meat behind his knees. Rei swept Uriel’s Flame in a tight arc, with blue-white fire slicing most apart. However, three slipped through and struck. Smoke rose from seared flesh.

Rei snarled as he ripped free with sheer muscle. Blood pattered into the mud, hissing as it met Seiki.

 Iovah raised one hand.

"Endurance Aura."

The air thickened. Raindrops hung suspended, trembling, before gravity remembered its job. Izumi's knees buckled, and her vines drooped, thorns wilting. The ground itself seemed to sag, roots groaning under an invisible weight. She dug her palm deeper into the earth.

"Forbidden Fruit Art: Thorn Garden."

Roots erupted in a ring around the trio, black-green and with thorns longer than fingers. For a heartbeat, they held firm. Then Iovah's Seiki crushed inward. Vines snapped like bones, and thorns shattered into green dust. Izumi coughed up blood, tasting the metallic copper.

Hikari's voice sliced through the storm.

"Mirage Veil."

Reality folded in on itself. Rain fell upward. The clearing contorted into impossible angles. Trees leaned inward, the pit yawned wider, and Rei's own reflection lunged at him, brandishing a blade of blue fire. He slashed through the phantom, the blade passing through nothing. The real Hikari was already moving, barefoot and silent, a ghost in the grey.

Megumi stepped through the distortion.

"Defiant Light."

Eight radiant figures emerged from the haze, golden silhouettes of pleading humanity closing in on Hajime. Their touch left trails of heat in the rain, Seiki shimmering.

He tore through the first figure with a clean swing, and it disintegrated into burning dust. Then gold-silver Seiki surged through his veins. He drove his hand into the earth, flipped a slab of soaked ground skyward, and then slammed it down on the remaining illusions. They shattered beneath the impact, light scattering like embers in the storm.

Adam's voice rang like a blade in his skull.

You've improved so much. Keep pushing them.

Hajime roared. The sound tore from his throat raw, animal. He charged blind, fist cocked. Shinji met him halfway.

They collided like freight trains.

Shoulder to shoulder bones started cracking. Shinji’s forehead smashed into Hajime’s nose. The cartilage gave way with a wet crunch. Blood exploded across his face. Hajime’s hook snapped Shinji’s jaw sideways. The sound echoed like a branch breaking in a quiet forest. For a heartbeat, Shinji’s eyes rolled white. He laughed through the blood and drove his knee into Hajime’s ribs. Something shifted inside Hajime’s chest. He responded with an elbow that caved in Shinji’s cheek, splitting skin down to bone.

Takumi darted low, threads spiraling toward Izumi’s ankles. She cut them with a whip of vines, but more replaced them, weaving a net. Rei stepped in and delivered a boot to Takumi’s chest. The kick lifted him off his feet and sent him skidding through the mud. Takumi coughed up blood, orange light pulsing frantically between his fingers. He grinned through the pain and said, “Damn, that hurt like hell.”

Iovah advanced. Each step sank to the knee. His aura deepened, and the rain slowed to a crawl, suspended like glass beads. Rei’s sword trembled, and Hajime’s arms felt heavy. Izumi’s vines sagged, thorns dripping sap like blood. She raised her arm anyway.

"Forbidden Fruit Art: Bloom Sanctuary."

Petals erupted around the trio, glowing softly as they healed. For one heartbeat, the weight lifted. Breathing steadied.

Megumi’s light flared as she said, “Iovah, stop.”

He didn't respond. His face was stone, and his eyes were hollow. Mercy was a word he had buried long ago.

Rei lunged through the haze. Uriel’s Flame carved a burning arc. Steel met bone as Iovah caught the blade bare-handed. The edge bit deep, carving a groove through his palm to the wrist. Blood streamed down his arm, mixing with the rain. He pushed back. Rei’s boots carved furrowsas the sword tip gouged the earth.

End it already. This is pathetic. Uriel hissed inside him.

Rei bit his cheek until he tasted iron. Blue-white fire coiled around his body, haloing him in searing light.

"Uriel’s Ascension."

Izumi’s hands rose, trembling.

"Forbidden Fruit Art: Verdant Tempest."

Wind screamed through the clearing, leaves sharp as shuriken. The storm ripped Hikari’s illusions apart. Trees snapped back to their true forms, and the pit shrank to its real size. Hikari staggered, blood leaking from both ears. Megumi dropped beside her, gold light flaring under her palms as she healed them.

Eve’s whisper was faint. Don’t push yourself and lose control, little one.

“I know,” Izumi breathed, her voice cracking. “Just a little longer.”

Iovah's aura pulsed, darker and more menacing. The center of the pit collapsed inward, drawing Izumi's Verdant Tempest, which consisted of mud, water, and roots, into a slow spiral. Raindrops hung suspended, caught in the pull. Then gravity erupted, slamming them down into the sludge.

Everyone landed in the muck together, except for Rei, who stood in the mud with blue flames flaring from his body while his sword remained sheathed.

Silence enveloped them. Only the sound of breathing and the steady rhythm of the rain could be heard.

Hajime rose first. Blood poured from his temple, one eye sealed shut. He wiped it with the back of his hand, leaving a dark smear. Shinji climbed up opposite him with a cracked cleaver and a crooked grin. Both men laughed, a short, ragged, empty sound.

 Rei jumped to Hajime's side, fists clenched. Izumi rose between them, faint vines tracing along her trembling arms. Across the pit, the Forsakers regrouped.

Megumi's light flickered like a dying bulb as she healed the group. Hikari pressed a hand to her ear, blood streaking down her jaw. Takumi clutched his cracked ribs, orange threads pulsing weakly. Iovah stood straight, his aura wavering and his breath ragged. His palm was a ruin of flesh and bone.

Lightning struck nearby, blindingly white. Thunder followed like a gut punch. Steam rose from wounds, from the mud, and from Seiki, burning low.

Hajime looked across the crater. Rain slid down his chin, mixing with blood.

"We don't want to fight you anymore. Let's call it quits," he said, his voice steady. "I'm sorry, but I won't leave my friends to join your cause. We're just trying to reach Solarii."

No one answered.

Only the storm.

Eight warriors fighting for their beliefs in the dark. No sides, no mercy, only the next blow.