The stone was warm beneath Kazuo's palms.
His breath came shallow. His ribs ached.
He pushed himself up to one knee, blinking sweat from his lashes — only to see him still there.
Rulthan.
Towering. Scarred. Silent.
Kazuo squinted up at him, chest heaving. "Why… did you save me?"
The words scraped out like a broken breath.
Rulthan didn't answer at first. His gaze drifted past Kazuo, scanning the chaos: Yuki and Kaien in a close exchange. Rhakka barreling into someone else. Shouts, footwork, thunder.
Only then did he glance down again.
Voice low. Almost bored:
"This isn't fun if you're already out."
Rulthan stepped closer, his voice steady — low enough to chill bone.
"I want to crush you when you're still fighting back. When you've got everything left… and it still isn't enough."
A short pause.
Then, quieter — like a promise, not a threat:
"Only when that eye is full of despair… will I take it. You owe me that."
Kazuo's lips twitched. It wasn't a laugh — but it wasn't far.
Still catching his breath, he muttered:
"You'll regret that."
Rulthan raised one brow slightly.
Then he turned and walked away towards another fight.
No words of warning. No nod. Just retreating footsteps and the faint sound of knuckles cracking as he prepared to break someone else.
Kazuo watched him go, heart still pounding.
What a freak…
But something in him — the smallest flicker — didn't hate it.
At the Squad Stands—
Sora slumped back against the railing, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her tail flicked once, then stilled.
"Phew." She let the word out like steam. "I thought he was done for."
Up in the Captain's Gallery
Vaskel's eyes narrowed, jaw ticking as he leaned forward.
"What… is this idiot doing?"
His voice was low, but not calm — not at all.
Shiranami scoffed. "Looks like your beast found a brain."
Vaskel didn't respond. His fingers flexed once, resting on the railing like he wanted to crush it.
Setsuna said nothing — but his gaze followed Kazuo, unmoving.
Back to the arena
Kazuo had barely pushed himself to his feet when she struck.
Kaya.
Silent movement — sharp and sudden, like stone cast through still air.
A high kick arced toward his head. Kazuo raised his arm just in time — the impact rattled down to his elbow.
Before he could reset, her weight spun. A low sweep whipped for his shin.
Kazuo leapt back — not to counter, but to disengage.
A retreat.
He landed light on his feet, breath caught in his throat.
Kaya paused.
Her eyes flicked up — not in rage, but in something colder.
Confusion.
Why didn't he attack?
Does He Think I am not worth it?
Kazuo steadied his breathing, fists loose now. Not tensed — just ready.
She watched him. Eyes narrowing. A subtle tension pulled at her jaw.
Her eye twitched.
Kazuo caught it.
So she does have some kind of gruadge against me.
But the thought stopped here.
Because the truth settled in, quiet and sharp:
But If I keep this up... I'll lose.
She was faster in close quarters. He'd dodged, redirected, slipped — but barely. And she hadn't even broken a sweat.
Kazuo's eyes flicked sideways.Aoi and Sylvain were locked in a clash across the ring. Distant, but brutal.
Should I fall back? Let Kaya waste her energy and go after him instead?
Too late.
She was already in his space — fast and direct.A sudden step, a sharp twist — she was aiming for him again.
Kazuo's body braced — too slow.
Her palm strike shot toward his throat.
He twisted his torso. Took the hit on his shoulder.
Pain flared. A step back — then another strike, straight for his sternum.
Kazuo stumbled back — foot scraping the marble as Kaya's strike clipped his ribs.
"Damn it—"How do I counter that pressure?She's too fast. I can't reset. No time to breathe.I can't disengage.
Then—
Setsuna's advice echoed in his memory.
Use your limbs like the blade.I never taught you close combat — so become the weapon.
Kazuo exhaled.
It's reckless.But holding back isn't working.This might be my only shot.
His stance shifted. Lower. Centered.
Fists loose. Breath steady.
No more retreat.
He moved in.
She came again.
He didn't dodge.
He stepped in.
His shoulder took her knee — hard — but he absorbed it with a twist and thrust his elbow up toward her jaw.
She blocked — barely — and for the first time, her footwork stumbled.
Kazuo followed. Not precise — but fast.
A knee to her ribs. A fist to her arm.
She deflected, countered with a hooked kick — caught him across the ribs — but he rolled with it, spun with the blow, and came back with a punch aimed at her side.
Steel met fire.
It wasn't clean.
But it was enough to push her back.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Lyria hadn't moved an inch.
Her arms hung loosely by her sides. Her eyes, pale green, half-lidded — as if this entire match bored her.
But behind that calm... something turned.
So much energy wasted.
Fists flying, bodies tumbling, all for what?
Let them pant and panic.
She brushed a strand of vine-like hair behind her ear.
Lyria's gaze swept across the chaos.
Kazuo and Kaya clashing.Aoi exchanging blows with SylvainRhakka and Yuki leaping wild through the fray and kaien catching his breath.
But—
Someone was missing.
Her eyes narrowed.
Where's—
The air shifted behind her.
Too late for comfort.
She spun just as a fist carved through where her ribs had been.
The blow cracked the marble instead, shards erupting like shrapnel.
Lyria landed a few paces back, heels clicking lightly. Her posture was still graceful — but her voice carried sharpness now:
"Filthy ogre. You're as loud as you are predictable."
Rulthan stepped forward, knuckles flexing, shoulders broad and looming.
"I do hate peasants," he muttered."But I hate people like you even more — the ones who act like they're already above the fight."
She tilted her head, brushing marble dust from her sleeve.
"I simply don't waste energy when others are doing the job for me."
Rulthan's eyes hardened.
"Then let's waste some now."
Back to Kazuo
Kazuo braced himself again, sweat dripping from his temple, lungs burning. Kaya's last strike had rattled him — and she wasn't done.
But—
She stopped.
Chest rising. Shoulders tense.
Kazuo, too, had paused. Sweat lined his jaw. His fingers twitched faintly as he adjusted his stance.
They were both breathing hard now.
Kaya's eyes flicked to him — not with rage, but something sharper.
"You're reckless," she muttered.
She stepped back a half-foot — and only then noticed the edge.
Just behind her.
Too close.
Her posture shifted subtly, weight realigning.
One more step and she'd be over.
Kazuo saw the flicker in her eyes.
She knows.
He clenched his teeth.
I'm so close. Just one more push.
He lunged.
Reckless.
Kaya braced—
But someone moved faster.
A blur slipped between them.
Aoi.
He slid in with surgical ease, arm sweeping to intercept. His forearm clashed with Kazuo's chest — halting him mid-charge.
Kazuo stumbled back, breath catching in his throat.
"Tch." Kaya clicked her tongue. Her gaze cut to Aoi. "I don't need your help."
Aoi didn't look her way.
His voice was smooth. Icy.
"If we want him gone, it'll be faster together."
Kaya didn't answer.
She didn't nod. And doesn't trust him at all.
Her fingers twitched once.
Then she stepped.
Beside him.
Side by side.
A stance.
An agreement, unspoken but absolute.
Kazuo's chest tightened.
"Well this is certainly bad."
Aoi tilted his head toward him. The smallest smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Sorry, Kazuo. But you started it."