Inside the Room – Tension Builds
The room was dimly lit, tense with silence. Aden sat calmly, arms folded, while Sasha leaned against the wall beside him, her blade resting lazily at her side. Gayle tapped his fingers against the table, impatient. They were all waiting—for the true mastermind's orders.
Suddenly, both Aden and Sasha stiffened.
A powerful presence had entered the vicinity.
Without a word, Sasha straightened, her fingers wrapping around her blade.
Aden's hand moved to the hilt of his sword, eyes narrowing.
From the wide-open front door, two figures rushed in.
Ari and Gray.
They skidded to a halt just inside the threshold. Their eyes locked onto the three waiting figures.
Gayle stood up, his expression twisting in disbelief as he looked at Gray.
"You—? How are you alive? Kaito should have—" he stopped, then glanced at Ari. "And you too? How—why didn't those three stop you?"
Ari smirked. "Your loyal little hounds are busy losing to our friends outside. And in just a few more minutes, they'll all fall. Uncle Gayle."
Gayle's jaw clenched, his face turning red with fury. Aden, however, let out a small laugh.
"So… you're strong after all," Aden said. "Didn't expect that. But trust me—coming here was the biggest mistake of your life."
Gray drew his twin blades with a flick, eyes locked on Aden.
Just as he lunged forward, Sasha appeared in front of them, blade raised.
"You'll have to go through me first," she said coldly.
Ari glanced at Gray. "Handle her. I need to get answers from them." Her eyes were fixed on Gayle and Aden.
Gray nodded. "Then go. And good luck."
In the blink of an eye, Ari vanished from beside him—reappearing just in front of Gayle and Aden.
Sasha turned, alarmed, but Gray's strike was already descending. She managed to spin around just in time to block the attack.
CLANG!
Meanwhile, Ari unsheathed her blade with a sharp hiss. With a single swing, she sliced the ornate table in half, splinters and papers flying. Gayle flinched backward, panic flashing in his eyes.
"Protect me, Aden!" he barked.
Aden stepped forward, drawing his sword slowly, deliberately.
"I've waited for this day," he said, voice low but filled with intensity. "Defeating you—it's all I've ever wanted."
Ari's eyes didn't waver. "Don't do this, Aden. I'm not here to fight you. I just want the truth from him. Step aside."
Aden didn't answer. Instead, he dashed forward at full speed, blade slashing down toward her.
CLANG!
Ari blocked it, the impact sending a shudder through the room.
"I said, don't get in my way!" she shouted.
"You've always been in my way!" Aden yelled. His eyes were blazing. "Since we were kids—you were always the favorite! The best at everything! The one they cherished! And what was I? Just a shadow! A spare!"
He raised his blade and sent a black-tinted wind slash toward her. Ari barely managed to cross her arms and block it, but the strange dark wind pushed her back several steps. Her skin tingled, and her instincts screamed that this was no ordinary wind magic she feels like imperial's presence there.
Aden charged again, unleashing a flurry of blows. Ari was forced onto the defensive, blade meeting his again and again in a rapid clash of sparks and steel.
As she parried, her eyes searched his. She saw the rage—but beneath it, something else.
Pain.
And betrayal.
"Aden…" she murmured.
But his only response was another attack.
[Outside]
[Ezren vs. Rosa] which is still going .
The air thickened. Ice crackled along the floor beneath Rosa's boots, spreading outward like frozen vines. In contrast, pebbles lifted and hovered around Ezren, circling him in a slow orbit, ready to respond.
Then—
CLANG!
Rosa vanished, moving so fast it was almost a blink.
Ezren reacted just in time, raising a stone wall from the ground with a stomp. Rosa's blade slashed clean through, leaving a shimmering cut in the wall as ice crystals sprayed out.
Ezren backflipped away, slamming his fist into the ground.
"Stone Magic: Stalagmite Burst!"
From beneath Rosa's feet, jagged stone spikes erupted upward. She leapt, spinning through the air with impossible grace, her blade glowing a soft, deadly blue.
She landed on one spike and launched herself toward Ezren.
"Ice Magic: Silver Edge!"
A blur of slashes—too fast, too clean. Ezren blocked with a gauntlet wrapped in hardened rock, but her attacks chipped away at it like water slowly wearing down a cliff.
CLASH! CLASH! CLANG!
Each strike carried both beauty and lethal precision. Rosa danced around him—ice forming at her every step—while Ezren fought like a mountain that refused to be moved.
With a roar, he slammed his fists together.
"Stone Magic: Tectonic Knuckle!"
A wave of kinetic force surged from his arms, rippling through the air like a seismic quake. Rosa was hit mid-strike, tossed back, skidding along the icy ground, carving grooves into the floor.
She rolled, popped to her feet, and smiled.
He slammed the ground again—this time the floor beneath Rosa crumbled, threatening to swallow her.
She leapt, her blade glowing—
"Ice Magic: Crystal Step!"
A sudden burst of speed. She vanished again, appearing beside him with a slash so fast, Ezren barely raised a stone shield.
The blade bit deep into the rock, frost creeping into its cracks. The shield shattered like glass.
Ezren grunted, blood trailing from a cut across his shoulder.
But he used the moment. He twisted, grabbed Rosa's arm, and threw her over his shoulder.
She landed on her feet—barely—skidding backward across the battlefield, ice forming where she slid.
Ezren cracked his neck.
Ezren (seriously):
"I didn't come here to lose."
He raised both hands.
The ground behind him raised—massive slabs of stone towering like giants.
"Stone Magic: Titan Field!"
Giant fists made of granite surged forward, slamming into Rosa's position. She dodged the first, sliced through the second—but the third caught her. She was flung into a pillar, stone and ice exploding in all directions.
Ezren charged through the smoke, using the momentum.
But Rosa wasn't down.
Her blade erupted in cold light.
"Ice Magic: Winter Bloom."
From her position, a shockwave of ice burst outward like a blooming flower. The impact froze the air, shards of snow cutting across Ezren's arms and legs.
He fell back, half-frozen.
Rosa rose from the rubble, her left arm slightly bruised but her blade steady. The floor around her crackled—an arena of frost spreading in all directions.
Ezren stood, shaking off the frost. His eyes narrowed. He stomped down with force.
" Geomancer's Core."
The earth responded—his body hardened, covered in rune-etched rock armor. His speed increased, and now, with each movement, tiny tremors followed.
Ezren charged.
Rosa met him in kind, her sword leaving icy trails in the air.
They clashed again—brutal and elegant. Stone fists versus razor-edged frost.
CRASH! CRACK! WHOOSH!
Rosa summoned icy spears that rained from above.
Ezren countered with rising walls and flying debris, each one shattering with perfect timing.
They fought across the battlefield, from ground to air to crumbling stone platforms.
Ezren grabbed a chunk of rock and hurled it at her.
She sliced it in half—then blinked when a second chunk came from beneath.
BOOM!
It struck her side, slamming her into a wall.
Ezren appeared behind her.
"Stone Magic: Seismic Elbow!"
His elbow landed with force, but Rosa froze her body at the last moment, redirecting the impact into the wall.
She twisted free, slashing his leg with a freezing cut that slowed his movement.
Ezren groaned, slamming his fists together.
"Stone Magic: Gaia's Ring!"
A circular field of jagged stone erupted, surrounding Rosa and boxing her in.
She looked around, and then smirked.
"Ice Magic: Fractured Waltz."
She spun, her blade cutting in every direction. Ice exploded outward, shattering the ring and pushing Ezren back.
Both fighters were breathing hard now. Blood dripped. Frost and dust filled the air.
But neither gave in.
Ezren planted his feet.
Rocks levitated around him, swirling faster.
"I didn't want to use this."
Rosa raised her sword, frost coiling around the hilt.
"Then don't hold back now. Show me your best."
Ezren's eyes hardened.