Chapter 2 “Showdown”

The cratered parade square had turned into a graveyard of broken mana and scorched concrete. 

Floodlights buzzed overhead, throwing harsh white knives across puddles of blood that reflected the night sky like shattered mirrors. 

Three hundred defeated participants now sat on the outer bleachers, wounds hastily sealed by Reblian med-mages, eyes wide, unable to look away.

“That Soya guy… he slipped right through Kael’s ultimate,” a Striker with a cracked jaw muttered, voice hoarse. “Two spells against four? No way.”

“Only two uses left,” Soya whispered to himself, breath fogging in the cold air. His knuckles were white around the black-washed blade. 

Sweat traced cold lines down his spine. “Only two…” Across the cracked ground, Kael rolled his shoulders. The cocky grin was gone; the cyber-eye whirred, 

iris cycling from red to ice-blue. “This guy’s no joke,” he muttered under his breath. “I can’t lose. I won’t.”

Soya’s heart slammed against his ribs. Then a spark lit behind his eyes. “Wait…” The word slipped out like a secret. “I still have my first spell.”

He raised his voice, letting a sliver of arrogance bleed through. “Hey, pretty boy! Wanna see something?”

Kael’s eyebrow twitched.“Shadow Mark,” Soya breathed. A circle of pure black bloomed above Kael’s head, dripping inky tendrils that hissed 

where they touched the ground. The nearest floodlight flickered as if the mark swallowed its light.

“What the hell is this?” Kael snarled, spinning. Up on the observation deck, a Reblian scout in matte-black armor leaned forward, 

gauntlet tapping the railing. “Interesting,” she murmured into her comm. “Teleport anchor tied to line-of-sight. Kid’s been hiding homework.”

Soya vanished.

Reappeared directly behind Kael; blade already mid-swing. Steel kissed flesh across the ribs, parting cloth and skin with a wet whisper. 

Blood spattered the concrete, dark as oil under the lights.“Nice trick,” Kael hissed through clenched teeth. Crimson dripped from his side, staining the ground in fat drops. “My turn.”

He slammed both palms together. Radiant light erupted from his body, white-hot and screaming. “Self-Destruction.”

The shockwave hit like a freight train. Soya flew backward, boots carving twin furrows through broken stone, 

slamming into a toppled barrier panel. Dust plumed. Somewhere in the stands a girl gasped. Soya coughed blood. “Ah… let my guard down.”

Before he could roll to his feet, pale mist rolled in again, thick as milk, swallowing the floodlights whole.

“Ultimate,” Kael’s voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

The scout’s eyes narrowed. “He chained it. Smart bastard.”

The ground trembled. Explosions blossomed in sequence; one, two, three; each one closer. Soya threw himself sideways, 

but the fourth caught him full in the chest. The world flipped. He hit the dirt hard, tasting iron.

“I can’t feel my legs…” His voice cracked. Kael stepped out of the mist, silhouette haloed by dying sparks. “Victory is mine.” 

The smirk was back, sharper than ever. “The only loneliness I know is being on top; alone.”

Boos and nervous laughter rippled through the bleachers.

Soya pushed up on trembling arms. Blood dripped from his chin, pattering onto the concrete. “Two uses down,” he rasped. “One remains.”

The mist still clung to the edges of the arena, curling like ghosts. Every floodlight felt too bright, every breath too loud.

“I’ll either lose here… or kill him.” Kael’s cyber-eye spun, locking on. Soya forced himself upright. “Shadow Mark.”

Once again the black circle snapped into existence above Kael’s head. “What!?” Kael’s smirk faltered.

“Ultimate.”

Shadows exploded outward. Soya melted into them, a streak of darkness that reappeared behind Kael in the space between heartbeats.

“Die.”

Five strikes; clean, merciless, each one a silver flash in the white light. Fabric tore. Blood sprayed in perfect arcs, painting the ground like red petals.

Kael staggered, daggers clattering away. He dropped to one knee, then caught himself. 

Crimson poured from wounds that glowed faintly where shadow still lingered. The entire arena went dead silent. Even the floodlights seemed to hush.

Kael coughed a laugh, wet and ragged. “Huh… so you weren’t that bad after all.”

Soya swayed, vision tunneling. “I told you…” His voice was barely a thread. “…not to underestimate me.”

Ten meters apart, two boys stood on the verge of collapse. Blood pooled beneath them, mixing into a single dark mirror that reflected the broken crown insignia high above.

On the observation deck, the scout’s fingers tightened on the railing. “Who falls first?” she whispered.

Every pair of eyes in the Reblian Grounds locked on the two silhouettes, waiting for the world to decide.

To be continued…