The arena trembled like a living heartbeat. Cracks of cosmic light spiderwebbed across the crystalline floor. Above, the Hunter Supreme unfolded its wings—vast and jagged, like a cathedral of knives—and roared. The sound was a physical thing, pressing against Brian's ribs.
His System UI flickered, then vanished completely.
> [SYSTEM OFFLINE]
Brian stared at the empty space where his notifications usually hovered. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he muttered.
Aurora landed beside him, flames licking her fingertips. "System's gone?"
"Yep." He tried to smirk. "Guess it's just me and my winning personality now."
Lyra floated a few inches off the ground, debris swirling around her like tiny moons. "Brian, this isn't funny. That thing—" she nodded at the Hunter Supreme "—makes the last Hunters look like practice dummies."
"I'm aware," Brian said, rolling his shoulders. "And this is my first fight without cheat codes. Lucky me."
Kira's cyber-blades snapped out with a hiss. "We can't run. The portal's sealed."
Selene's cosmic aura dimmed. "Then we fight."
The hooded woman, standing at the edge of the arena, smirked faintly. "Show me, Flex King. Show me what you are without your toys."
Brian exhaled slowly. "Alright, girls. No System. Just us. Stick close. Don't hold back."
He cracked his knuckles. "Time to flex the old-fashioned way."
---
Hunter Supreme's First Strike
The Hunter Supreme moved like a collapsing star—faster than anything its size should be. Its spear of condensed darkness swept down in an arc that could bisect a skyscraper.
Brian shoved Aurora aside and dove forward, grabbing a fragment of broken crystal to block the strike. The spear hit, the crystal shattered, and the shockwave hurled him backwards. He rolled, coughing, tasting blood.
"Ten out of ten entrance," he muttered, spitting crimson. "Zero for hospitality."
Aurora blasted a column of fire at the Hunter's wings. It snarled, slashing at her, but Lyra's telekinesis slammed a chunk of arena into its face. Kira blurred across its flank, cyber-blades carving glowing lines into its armor. Selene raised her hands, cosmic beams weaving a shield around them.
Brian staggered to his feet. Without the System's auto-boosts, his muscles burned. His shadows were sluggish, like thick tar instead of living smoke.
He grinned anyway. "Okay, big guy. Let's dance."
---
Improvised Leadership
He vaulted up a chunk of broken platform, landing on the Hunter's wing joint. His fist—bare, without shadow augmentation—slammed into it. Pain lanced up his arm. He hissed through his teeth.
No System healing. Great.
But the impact distracted the Hunter long enough for Kira to drive a blade into its knee. Aurora shouted, flames coiling tighter around her hands. "Brian, call it!"
He grinned down at her. "Team Attack Alpha Flex!"
"That's not a plan!" Lyra shouted, telekinetic power crackling around her.
"It is now!" he shot back.
He leapt off the wing as Lyra ripped the platform's fragments into a hailstorm, Aurora ignited them midair, Kira ricocheted between shards slicing deeper, and Selene bent gravity to slam the flaming debris into the Hunter's chest. It staggered, roaring.
Brian landed in a crouch, panting. "See? Plan worked."
Aurora glared, but a smile tugged at her lips. "You're insane."
"Correct," he said.
---
The Human Flex
Without his System, Brian's movements were slower but his instincts were sharper. He started watching the Hunter like a chessboard—predicting its swings, baiting it into overextending.
He grabbed a fallen Hunter spear and spun it like a quarterstaff, parrying a swipe meant for Selene. "Hey, ugly!" he yelled, jabbing it in the eye. "This one's free!"
Selene pressed a hand to his back, whispering cosmic energy into him. It wasn't System power, but it steadied his breathing, soothed the pain. "Don't die," she murmured.
He shot her a grin over his shoulder. "Trying not to."
Kira zipped by, blades flashing. "You're bleeding."
"Stylishly," Brian said.
Aurora's flames blazed higher. "Stop joking and focus!"
Brian's eyes flicked to hers. For a heartbeat, his smirk softened. "I am."
---
Turning Point
The Hunter Supreme roared and leapt, wings blotting out the arena. It slammed its spear down. The platform cracked, flinging everyone apart. Brian skidded near the hooded woman.
She crouched, eyes glinting. "Feeling small yet?"
He wiped blood from his lip. "Never been my style."
"You're bleeding power," she said. "That thing will crush you."
"Not if I crush it first," he shot back.
She tilted her head. "Then remember what I told you: the Trial isn't about power. It's about choice."
He blinked, something clicking. Choice. His harem. His leadership.
Brian closed his eyes for half a second. The bond between him and his girls pulsed—not a System notification, but something deeper. Them. They weren't tools. They were his team, his people.
He opened his eyes, grinning. "Ladies! On me!"
Aurora's flames snapped to attention. Lyra's debris swirled tighter. Kira's blades glowed hotter. Selene's aura burned brighter.
Brian dropped the spear, raised his bare hands. "New plan: we do this together. No System. Just us."
---
The Flex King's Gambit
They moved like a single organism. Brian baited the Hunter Supreme's strikes, dodging with raw agility, guiding it into the girls' crossfire. Aurora scorched its wings from below. Lyra smashed debris into its face. Kira severed its tendons. Selene warped gravity to pin it down.
Brian vaulted onto its back, grabbed one of its spines, and shouted, "Aurora—now!"
Aurora hurled a sun-bright fireball. Lyra launched it telekinetically. Selene compressed the gravity around it until it was a miniature star. The explosion rocked the arena, ripping a wing off the Hunter Supreme.
It screamed, black ichor spraying.
Brian dropped to the floor, landing hard on his knees. He was shaking, blood dripping from his knuckles.
The Hunter Supreme stumbled, then spread its remaining wing, black energy coiling like a hurricane.
Brian coughed, laughing weakly. "Still alive. Still flexing."
Aurora ran to him, catching his arm. "Idiot," she whispered. "You're going to kill yourself."
He smirked at her. "Only if I stop now."
---
Cliffhanger: The Hunter Supreme Evolves
The hooded woman's eyes widened. "Impossible. You're actually—"
The Hunter Supreme roared again. Its broken wing dissolved into shadow, reforming as a blade longer than a skyscraper. Its body grew, eyes multiplying, aura crushing. It wasn't dying. It was evolving.
Brian's smirk faltered. "Well. That's new."
His vision blurred. Without the System, his body was reaching its limit. He swayed, Aurora's arm the only thing keeping him upright.
The Hunter Supreme leveled its new blade at them, its voice like a thousand razors. "No escape."
Selene whispered, "Brian…"
He looked at all of them—Aurora's fierce eyes, Lyra's clenched jaw, Kira's grim smirk, Selene's cosmic glow—and smiled faintly.
"Guess… we're doing round two," he said.
Then he collapsed.
The Hunter Supreme lunged.
> [TO BE CONTINUED…]