AnnouncementI'll be busy tomorrow so her the advance chapter.The roar of the Colosseum still echoed like an aftershock as Kurai and Skuld walked the tunnel back to the competitor’s waiting area. The dust clinging to their clothes looked like the residue of a war that should have left scars deeper than it had. Yet aside from a few small cuts and scrapes—Skuld’s across her shoulder, Kurai’s grazing her forearm—they looked almost untouched. The crowd had seen a storm, but the storm itself had kept its secrets.

  Helios was waiting for them. He leaned against the wall, coat draped over one arm. As Skuld approached the raven-wing hilt of Ravenveil, still gleaming faintly in her hand as she de-summoned it, Helios tossed the coat lightly in her direction. She snatched it out of the air in one clean motion and slipped it over her shoulders. Her breathing was calm again, though her gaze remained sharp.

  The priestesses approached, green light glimmering faintly in their hands. “We’ll see to your injuries,” one said gently. But after a quick look—barely more than scratches—they both pulled back, exchanging nods. “Unnecessary. These wounds are small; we can take care of them.”

  Kurai smirked faintly and strode toward the benches. “I told you,” she said, sitting with deliberate ease. “Nothing she did was enough to bruise me.”

  Skuld followed more quietly, taking her own seat. Zack bounded up almost immediately, his grin wide enough to be contagious. “That was incredible! You two had the whole pce ready to explode.” He spped the back of the bench with a palm, practically bouncing with energy. “Skuld, I swear, I’ve never seen anyone move like that. And Kurai, yeesh—you’re like a shadow that learned how to kill.”

  Skuld tugged her coat closer around her and shook her head. “She held back,” she said ftly. “It was my loss, and total at that.”

  Kurai chuckled, sharp and mocking. “Don’t ftter me, I dislike it coming from you. It wasn’t as one-sided as you think.” She tilted her head, shadows coiling faintly around her fingers. “The reason I didn’t transform the Shadow Sovereign into its war fan form was simple. Against you, that form is a liability. So I didn’t bother.”

  Skuld gnced up at her, narrowing her eyes.

  Helios folded his arms, voice smooth. “She’s right. I’ve seen most of what Kurai does with the fan. Its style focuses on wide, pressuring arcs and chained combo flow. Pretty, yes. Deadly, yes. But it leaves holes against someone who can counter with precision and mobility.” His eyes flicked to Skuld, and he added, “You could have taken advantage of that.”

  Kurai smirked in satisfaction. “Exactly. Though I dislike the fact that you’re analyzing my weakness, Helios.”

  Zack whistled low. “Man, you two think way too much about this stuff. Makes me nervous about what I’m walking into.”

  Before Helios could respond, Phil’s voice erupted from the arena. “All right, all right, no more breaks—on to our next match! this one’s special, folks! in one corner, the runner-up of a previous Advanced Cup—Heliooos! and in the other, the runner-up of a Beginner Cup—Zaaack!”

  The stands shook with appuse. Zack straightened, rolling his shoulders, and ughed. “Guess that’s us.” He looked at Helios with a grin. “Go easy on me, huh?”

  Helios smiled faintly, the kind of smile that was a dare. “We’ll see.”

  The two walked out into the light. The arena floor had been rebuilt by earth-mages, its gouges and cracks sealed, the sand smoothed as if no battle had ever torn through it. Yet the smell of scorched stone and wind-burn still lingered faintly in the air. The crowd’s noise pressed down on them like a stormcloud.

  Helios summoned Equilibrium, its silver bance of light and dark glowing faintly in his grip. He twirled it once, the blue in his eyes reflecting its edge.

  Zack carried his sword over his shoulder—broad, gleaming, still humming faintly with the st of his warm-up swings. He looked more eager than nervous, but there was a steel to his posture that hadn’t been there in the waiting room. He was a man who lived for this stage, for this csh.

  Phil jabbed the scroll with one hand, megaphone in the other. “Let’s see it, boys! Make it a good one!”

  The gong rang.

  Zack moved first—always first. He lunged in a low rush, sword sweeping in a horizontal arc meant to test Helios’s guard. Helios stepped back lightly, the bde whispering past his chest, then countered with a flicking thrust meant to measure distance. Zack spun his own bde into the path, deflecting it with a ugh. “Not bad!”

  Then he came alive.

  Cloud might have been the master of relentless combos, but Zack’s agility made him unpredictable. He shed forward in a three-stroke chain—high, low, then a spinning backhand ssh—and ended it with a backflip that carried him a full ten feet away, his bde gleaming in the sun. He nded light, already springing in again.

  Helios caught the first strokes on Equilibrium, the impact rattling through his arm but his stance never breaking. Zack’s speed was sharp but not overwhelming—yet. Helios waited, reading, letting the boy burn his energy into motion. When Zack flipped back again, Helios shifted his grip and surged forward, keybde striking in a clean diagonal cut. Zack parried with both hands, the ring of steel against enchanted bde echoing.

  The crowd roared.

  “Don’t blink!” Zack shouted, grin widening. He swung downward—Climhazzard—a strike that left a burst of light energy in its wake, a fissure splitting the sand where it nded. Helios darted sideways, but Zack was already moving, his sword rushing forward in a Sonic Bde lunge. Then another. And another. Each rapid strike closed the gap before Helios could reset his footing.

  The st strike nearly nded; Helios spun Equilibrium bde around, sparks flying as the two weapons cshed. He twisted Zack’s momentum off and shoved him backward with a gust of Aero. Dust and sand skittered across the stage.

  “Nice trick!” Zack ughed, circling. “But I’ve got more.”

  He pnted his feet and sshed the bde down with force. Light energy coursed along the ground, bursting upward in a beam—Bde Beam—that ripped across the arena floor toward Helios. The crowd shouted in delight.

  Helios answered with a Reflect. A shimmering dome of light snapped into being, the Bde Beam smming into it and scattering like broken gss. The dome flickered, and Helios dismissed it with a wave, stepping calmly through the fading sparks.

  “Not bad yourself,” Helios said, tone almost casual. He surged forward then, Equilibrium fshing in a series of cuts—low sweep, rising arc, reverse backhand. Zack blocked, countered, parried, but Helios’s precision was sharper, his movements controlled. He used small Aero bursts to add pressure, each strike carrying a gust that forced Zack to adjust his stance.

  Zack flipped back again, nding at distance. His chest rose and fell harder now, but his grin never wavered. “You’re holding back,” he accused.

  Helios smiled faintly. “Just a little. If you want me to stop, you’ll have to step your game up a little bit more.”

  The crowd cheered louder at that—every word between combatants a spark to their fire.

  Zack lunged again, sword raised, his strikes heavier now. He chained a Cross Ssh across the sand, three bright arcs of energy sshing down. Helios caught them all in a block, but the weight behind each made him slide back, boots carving lines into the arena. The st one rattled his guard enough for Zack to whirl into another Sonic Bde, catching Helios on the fnk.

  The blow didn’t cut deep, but it was a point scored. Zack ughed. “Gotcha!”

  Helios exhaled, eyes narrowing faintly. “Time to ramp it up a little more.”