The blinding white light faded, and Ron's team found themselves once again standing in the familiar endless white space. The emptiness stretched in every direction, soft and weightless, like a blank canvas waiting to be filled.
Jax blinked twice, then stretched his arms.
"We returned…" he muttered, sounding half relieved, half exhausted.
A second flash erupted nearby.
Four silhouettes emerged—Maera, Col, Drevin, and Iselde—materializing one after another. Maera still radiated the remnants of her earlier battle, her wild aura now settled but unmistakably present around her shoulders.
Lia immediately lifted a hand.
"Maera! You're here!"
Maera gave a small, confident nod.
"Yes. We defeated our reflections."
Jax leaned forward, hands on hips.
"So your team won too, huh?"
Maera smirked slightly.
"That's right."
Ron, Selene, Lia, and Jax exchanged mutual nods with Maera's group—two teams standing among the very few who survived everything the competition threw at them.
