Across the Arena, the resource counter continued climbing.
Not steadily.
Incrementally.
Every few moments, another objective appeared under Squad Four's name.
Another cache.
Another captured competitor.
Another territory marker.
Another handful of points.
The broadcast cameras followed the notifications back to their source.
Nathaniel Alderman.
The walking juggernaut.
Everywhere he went, something happened.
Walls came down.
Competitors disappeared.
Caches changed hands.
Entire sections of the battlefield were left looking as though a natural disaster had passed through them.
Ryker could barely contain himself.
"AND THERE IT IS AGAIN!"
One of the massive screens replayed the explosion that had ended Nathaniel's fight with Kagami Ryuzen.
The footage showed the enormous shockwave tearing across the suburban sector, trees bending away from the impact and debris scattering across the battlefield.
"THAT ATTACK FROM NATHANIEL ALDERMAN!"
Varsia leaned forward.
"That was Kagami's enlarged form, wasn't it?"
"It was," Wolfsbane confirmed.
"She is not getting up from that one."
Another screen switched.
This time, the footage showed a completely different scene.
A section of the battlefield had been transformed into an eerie frozen dead zone.
Ice covered the ground.
Fragments of frozen material hung from shattered structures.
At the center lay Max Murdoc, unconscious and covered in pieces of ice.
Ryker's six eyes widened.
"AND APPARENTLY THAT ISN'T EVEN THE STRANGEST THING HE'S DONE!"
The crowd erupted.
"MAX MURDOC!"
Wolfsbane adjusted his glasses.
"The same Max Murdoc whose augment produces extremely high-temperature white flames."
Varsia stared at the frozen footage.
"How did Nathaniel freeze him?"
Wolfsbane paused.
"We don't know."
Ryker leaned toward the screen.
"HE TURNED A MAN WHO PRODUCES SUPERHEATED WHITE FLAMES INTO A STATUE!"
The replay showed Nathaniel standing over the unconscious competitor.
His hands were trembling.
Not from fear.
From strain.
Whatever he had done, it had pushed his control to its limit.
Nathaniel lowered his hands.
His breathing was heavier now.
He pulled a small pager from his equipment and pressed the signal.
Back at Squad Four's fortified position, Oliver's shadow rippled.
The message arrived.
Nathaniel was returning.
The squad's position had become almost unrecognizable compared to the beginning of the match.
The outer defenses were battered.
Several sections of the industrial structure had been torn apart.
The ground around the entrance was scarred with impact marks.
And outside the main defensive cage sat approximately twenty unconscious competitors.
They had accumulated them throughout the day.
Some had been caught before they could even act.
Ria's sniper attack would begin.
Shirou would cause gravity tosuddenly increase.
The target would stumble.
Then a precise strike would put them down.
Others had made it farther.
Far enough to reach George's cage.
Only to discover that the cage, all movable terrain was electrified.
Five competitors had managed to breach the final point.
They never made it past the last layer.
A massive slab of iron had come crashing down on them.
Now they sat among the others, exhausted, hair frayed, uniforms damaged, and completely out of the fight.
The Squad Four core remained untouched.
Their defenses had held.
And the scoreboard reflected it.
SQUAD FOUR: 65 / 120 POINTS
Nathaniel looked at the number when the update reached his interface.
"Sixty-five."
He exhaled.
"Not bad."
Then his expression changed.
There was still one problem.
One competitor Nathaniel had been keeping track of since the beginning.
A speedster.
Kuro Gekisodan.
Nathaniel glanced toward the battlefield.
"He's still out there."
At least, he thought he was.
Then Oliver's shadow moved.
A figure dropped out of the darkness.
Bound.
Unconscious.
He landed directly onto the growing pile of captured competitors.
Nathaniel stared.
There was a moment of silence.
Then he looked toward Oliver.
Oliver gave him a small wave.
Nathaniel blinked.
"...No way."
Oliver pointed toward the unconscious speedster.
Kuro Gekisodan.
Nathaniel walked closer.
The speedster's hair was disheveled, his clothes covered in dust, and several lengths of Abstract Shadow were wrapped tightly around his limbs.
Nathaniel looked back at Oliver.
"How?"
Oliver pointed toward the entrance.
The explanation became obvious.
Kuro had nearly breached the inner defense.
He had been too fast for the outer traps.
Too fast for the first layer.
He had almost reached the core.
Then one loose tendril of Oliver's Abstract Shadow had caught his ankle.
Kuro had stumbled.
His momentum carried him straight through the opening.
And directly into George's Faraday Cage.
The cage had done the rest.
Nathaniel stared at the unconscious speedster.
Then slowly smiled.
"So that's everyone?"
Oliver nodded.
Nathaniel looked around the battered stronghold.
Twenty competitors outside.
Kuro added to the pile.
Sixty-five points.
Their core untouched.
And the rest of Squad Four still standing.
He let out a tired laugh.
"Guys..."
He looked toward the others.
"...we're kind of terrifying."
"Speaking of which..."
Nathaniel looked toward the tournament timer.
The countdown was still running.
CORE CAPTURE EVENT: 01:00 REMAINING
One minute.
Nathaniel's expression shifted.
"Guys."
Oliver immediately looked toward him.
Nathaniel pointed toward the warehouse.
"We're almost out of time."
George glanced at the timer.
"Then we move."
The squad reacted immediately.
Shirou stepped toward Oliver.
Alucard followed.
Oliver's shadow spread across the warehouse floor.
It wasn't simply darkness anymore.
It opened.
A deep, impossible space unfolded beneath them, its interior connected directly to the shadow-space where Squad Four had hidden their original Core.
The three stepped into it.
For a few seconds, they disappeared completely.
Nathaniel watched the timer.
00:48
The broadcast cameras caught the movement.
Ryker leaned forward.
"WHAT IS SQUAD FOUR DOING?!"
Varsia's eyes narrowed.
"They're moving something."
Professor Wolfsbane looked toward the tactical display.
"Not something."
He paused.
"Someone is moving their Core."
Inside Oliver's shadow-space, the original Squad Four Core sat exactly where they had kept it throughout the event.
Untouched.
Protected.
Completely isolated from the battlefield.
Shirou and Alucard positioned themselves beside it.
Oliver reached out.
His Abstract Shadow wrapped around the Core.
The darkness swallowed it.
00:31
Back inside the warehouse, another shadow opened.
Oliver stepped through first.
Shirou followed.
Then Alucard emerged carrying the Core.
Nathaniel watched as they placed it onto the prepared mounting platform at the center of the warehouse.
The moment it connected to the defensive system, the entire structure gave a low mechanical hum.
Lights activated throughout the warehouse.
The reinforced cage around the objective locked into place.
George looked toward the timer.
00:17
"Good."
Nathaniel folded his arms.
"So the original stays hidden until the last minute."
Oliver nodded.
"And now the visible one is protected."
Nathaniel grinned.
"That's disgusting."
Shirou gave him a questioning look.
Nathaniel gestured toward the warehouse.
"In a good way."
00:10
The final seconds appeared across every broadcast screen.
Squads across the arena scrambled toward their objectives.
Some fighters were still trying to breach fortified positions.
Others were desperately retreating with stolen resources.
Squad Four didn't move.
They didn't need to.
Their Core was already home.
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
The timer reached zero.
A massive tone rolled across the entire arena.
Then the announcement appeared.
CORE CAPTURE PHASE COMPLETE.
Nathaniel exhaled.
He looked around the battered warehouse.
The unconscious competitors.
The damaged defenses.
The captured speedster.
The untouched original Core safely hidden within Oliver's shadow-space.
And now the replacement Core sitting securely inside the fortified arena.
Nathaniel heard Shirou snap her fingers twice.
He looked over just in time to see her toss a small jade vial toward him.
He caught it.
"What's this?"
Shirou pointed at it.
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow before crushing the vial in his palm.
The modified vial containing jade energy shattered, releasing a soothing green light that immediately seeped into his hand and spread up his arm. The tension in his muscles began to ease, the trembling gradually settling.
"That feels good."
Shirou gave him a flat look.
Nathaniel chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
He reached for a bottle of water and downed nearly the entire thing in one go before looking back toward the massive result board.
The numbers had finally settled.
SQUAD FOUR: 68 POINTS
Nathaniel stared at it for a moment.
"Sixty-eight."
George looked up at the board.
"Not bad."
Oliver leaned against the damaged wall, still looking remarkably relaxed considering the state of the warehouse.
"We did have someone running around the arena stealing points from everyone."
Nathaniel glanced at him.
"I prefer aggressive resource redistribution."
Ria snorted.
"Of course you do."
The remaining scores began appearing beneath Squad Four's.
The other surviving squads had split the remaining points surprisingly evenly.
SQUAD ONE
SQUAD TWO
SQUAD THREE
SQUAD SIX
Those were the only four squads still fully active.
Everyone else had either been eliminated from contention, lost their objectives, or been reduced to the point where continuing was no longer worthwhile.
Nathaniel studied the board.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Squads One, Two, Three and Six."
He knew exactly what that meant.
Ethan was still out there.
Rayln and Kara were still out there.
Kagami had been knocked unconscious, but Squad Three hadn't disappeared with her.
And Squad Six still had people capable of turning an entire engagement around if given the opportunity.
Nathaniel took another drink.
"Honestly, I'm lucky."
George looked at him.
"Lucky?"
Nathaniel nodded toward the scoreboard.
"The heavy hitters were busy."
He glanced toward the arena beyond the warehouse.
Most of the strongest competitors had been tied up defending their Cores, fighting other squads, or trying to stop coordinated assaults.
Ethan had been dealing with Squad Two.
Kagami had been occupied fighting Yuzuki before Nathaniel intervened.
Squad Six had been dealing with their own conflicts.
The tournament had effectively scattered the strongest fighters across the battlefield.
If all of them had decided to focus on Squad Four's defenses at once, things would have been very different.
Nathaniel looked toward the battered entrance.
"Our defense was good."
His eyes shifted toward Oliver.
"Really good."
Then toward Shirou.
"Your control was ridiculous."
Then Alucard.
"And you."
Alucard crossed his arms.
Nathaniel smiled.
"Terrifying."
Alucard grunted approvingly.
Nathaniel finally looked back toward the scoreboard.
"But if the powerhouses had all been here instead of being occupied with everyone else..."
He let the thought hang.
George finished it for him.
"We wouldn't have had sixty-eight points."
Nathaniel nodded.
"Exactly."
For once, there was no joking in his voice.
The tournament had given Squad Four an opening.
They had exploited it.
And Nathaniel had exploited it even harder.
He looked down at his arms.
The trembling had almost stopped now.
The jade energy continued circulating beneath his skin, soothing the accumulated strain from Kinetic Muscle and the Authority techniques he had forced far beyond their comfortable limits.
His specialized gauntlets remained untouched.
That, at least, was one thing he had gotten right.
Nathaniel smiled faintly.
"Still worth it."
Oliver looked at him.
"You're insane."
Nathaniel took another sip of water.
"Probably."
His eyes returned to the four remaining squads.
"But we're not done yet." one last phase of the circuit and its gonna be random.
The tournament grounds slowly began to quiet.
One by one, the surviving squads were collected from their respective sectors. Transport units arrived at the designated extraction points, and medical crews accompanied each squad back to the central lodging complex.
Nathaniel barely complained as he was escorted out.
By the time they reached the complex, the adrenaline had mostly worn off.
That was probably a good thing.
The lodging complex was enormous, built specifically for the competitors and staff. Each squad was given its own secured section with private rooms, recovery facilities, food, showers, training spaces, and medical support.
For the first time since the Grand Circuit had begun, the competitors were told to do absolutely nothing.
No fighting.
No scouting.
No missions.
No tactical exercises.
Just recover.
Nathaniel considered that instruction for approximately three seconds before deciding that sleeping sounded pretty good.
His body had taken enough punishment for one day.
Across the complex, the other surviving competitors were doing much the same. Some were receiving treatment for injuries. Others were eating everything put in front of them. A few had already collapsed into bed.
The tournament organizers, however, were nowhere near finished.
They had one final problem.
The last stage of the Circuit still hadn't been decided.
And somehow, the Empire had decided that the competitors weren't going to be the ones making that decision.
The following evening, every public screen in the Empire displayed the same announcement.
AZERAN CIRCUIT: FINAL STAGE REFERENDUM
Nathaniel stared at the screen from the lounge.
"...What?"
Oliver sat beside him, equally confused.
Ria looked up from her drink.
"They're letting the public decide?"
Apparently, yes.
The tournament's final stage would be selected through a public consensus system hosted through the Empire's official app.
Citizens could open the Circuit page, review the proposed final-stage formats, and cast their choice.
The system would remain open for a limited period.
Once the voting period ended, the result would determine the structure of the final event.
Nathaniel slowly leaned back into the couch.
"So we're letting millions of people decide how we're going to get punched in the face."
George folded his arms.
"That's one way of putting it."
Shirou gave a small shrug.
Nathaniel looked at her.
"You aren't bothered by this?"
She shook her head.
Nathaniel stared at the screen again.
The organizers hadn't even revealed which format would win.
Instead, several possibilities were being presented to the public.
The final stage would be randomized from the selected format, meaning neither the surviving squads nor the audience would know exactly what scenario they would face until the event began.
Nathaniel's eyes narrowed.
"So even if the public chooses the general format..."
Oliver finished the thought.
"We still don't know what we're getting."
Nathaniel grinned.
"Okay."
He leaned forward.
"That's actually kind of fun."
On the screen, the voting interface opened.
Across the Empire, millions of citizens began casting their choices.
The tournament had started as a competition between squads.
Now the entire Empire had been invited to decide how it would end.
Nathaniel looked around at his squad.
"Well."
He cracked his knuckles.
"Guess we get to find out what everyone wants to watch."
Ria sighed.
"I have a feeling that's exactly what the organizers intended."
Nathaniel smiled at the screen.
"For once, I agree with them."
The next morning, Nathaniel nearly choked on his breakfast.
He stared at the screen in front of him.
Then he blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"No."
Oliver looked over from the other side of the table.
"What?"
Nathaniel slowly turned the screen toward him.
The Empire's Circuit app was completely flooded with public reactions.
Clips of Squad Four's defense were everywhere.
Oliver's shadow manipulation.
Shirou's gravity control.
Alucard's brutal defense of the inner perimeter.
George's electrified cage.
Ria's precision support.
And, most of all, Nathaniel.
The clips of him tearing through the Grand Circuit had spread far beyond the tournament's official broadcast.
The barrier breach.
The fight with Nicole.
The absurd launch that sent Rean through the industrial sector.
His confrontation with Squad One.
His fight with Kagami.
And the strange moment where Max Murdoc had somehow ended up unconscious inside a frozen dead spot despite his white-hot flames.
Nathaniel stared at the screen in disbelief.
"They really liked us."
Ria looked over his shoulder.
"They didn't just like us."
She pointed toward the trending section.
SQUAD FOUR
#68POINTS
#ALDERMAN
#SQUADFOUR
Nathaniel's expression slowly deteriorated.
"Oh, no."
Oliver started laughing.
Nathaniel scrolled.
The public consensus had been overwhelmingly positive toward Squad Four's overall teamwork.
They had become one of the most discussed squads in the entire Circuit.
Their defense had impressed viewers.
Their coordination had impressed analysts.
And Nathaniel's individual performance had become the centerpiece of it all.
Then he saw the official announcement.
His thumb stopped moving.
The final-stage referendum had concluded.
PUBLIC CONSENSUS RESULT
FINAL STAGE: CHAMPION DUELS
Nathaniel stared.
"Champion duels?"
George walked over.
"What did they choose?"
Nathaniel silently handed him the device.
George read the announcement.
His expression changed.
Ria leaned over.
Then Shirou.
Then Alucard.
Even Oliver stopped laughing.
The first selected match appeared on the screen.
DUEL ONE
NATHANIEL ALDERMAN
VS
RAYLN AZEROTH
Nathaniel's face went completely blank.
"...They want a rematch."
Ria looked amused.
"Apparently."
Nathaniel scrolled down.
The second announcement appeared.
FINAL DUEL
NATHANIEL ALDERMAN
VS
ETHAN AZEROTH
Silence filled the room.
Nathaniel stared at the two names.
Rayln.
Then Ethan.
The Empress's children.
The first was someone he'd already fought once.
The second was the person publicly recognized as the strongest of their generation.
And now the entire Empire wanted to watch him fight both of them.
Not as a squad battle.
Not as part of some complicated objective.
Not while protecting a Core.
Just two straight fights.
The final one designated as an all-out confrontation.
Nathaniel slowly lowered the device.
"...I'm going to kill whoever suggested this."
George immediately shook his head.
"Don't."
"I'm not actually going to."
"I know."
Nathaniel rubbed his face.
"This is insane."
Oliver grinned.
"No."
Nathaniel looked at him.
Oliver pointed toward the screen.
"This is popularity."
Nathaniel glanced back.
The public comments continued scrolling.
Thousands upon thousands of citizens were already discussing the matchups.
Some wanted to see whether Rayln's refined telekinesis could finally overcome Nathaniel.
Others wanted to see whether Nathaniel could actually stand against Ethan without the chaos of the Grand Circuit interfering.
And plenty simply wanted to see what would happen when the three finally fought under completely controlled conditions.
Nathaniel leaned back.
For the first time since waking up, he looked genuinely nervous.
Not frightened.
Not intimidated.
Just painfully aware of what this meant.
The entire Empire was going to be watching.
And unlike the Grand Circuit, there wouldn't be another squad to distract them.
No Core to defend.
No resources to steal.
No battlefield chaos to exploit.
Just him.
Rayln Azeroth.
Then Ethan Azeroth.
Nathaniel looked down at his still-recovering hands.
A slow grin formed across his face.
"...Fine."
George raised an eyebrow.
Nathaniel stood.
"If that's what they want to see."
His silver eyes narrowed toward the screen.
"I'll give them a fight worth watching."