Moonlight fought its way through the dense canopy, shafts of silver piercing mist and fog. The jungle was weighted with a subdued thrum and gentle metallic ticking—the mechanical hunters still on the hunt, shifting through the dark. Lian and his team crouched low behind a camouflaged ridge, watching the spiking arcs of lightning in the distance.
"Here they come," Lian whispered, his danger sense buzzing. Xia Yun and her group approached, moving like predators in the night, each member radiating efficiency and deadly intent. Nara Kei's illusions flickered through the shadows, Zhou Ping's jets of fire briefly illuminating twisted vines, and Guo Fen's swarm of insects zipped low, scanning for threats.
Mei Ling's fingers brushed the undergrowth, sending thorned vines ahead. "Traps are live. Stay sharp. Don't give them an easy opening."
Lian nodded. "We'll slow them down, control the battlefield, and pick points when possible. Daiki, start the sonic pulse early."
Daiki hummed, sending subtle vibrations through the jungle floor. Xia Yun's illusions faltered slightly, and a small mechanical drone was snagged in a webbed trap moments later.
"Got one!" Zhang Wei growled, punching with fist-shaped bursts of stone that obliterated the drone. Sparks flew, ricocheting off Xia's blinding lightning Qi.
Xia Yun's laughter boomed, rich and slashing. "Sneaky traps, Lian. But we improvise."
She hurled arcs of lightning, which Lian narrowly dodged, slinging webs at the trees to swing above the attack. Mei Ling lashed out with vines to entangle Zhou Ping's fire jets, while Daiki sent sonic pulses in measured bursts to disorient Nara Kei's illusions.
"Split them!" Lian barked. "Focus on isolating one target at a time!"
Zhang and Mei Ling walked forward together to behold a small robot wolf emerge from the mist. Lian whirled about, firing webs to entangle a darting drone before it could hit them. Xia's first wave of troops was slowed, but not halted.
Xia Yun's lightning slashed through the air, hitting vines and causing them to flinch back, sending sparks arcing over the clearing. Lian's team danced like phantoms, dodging, weaving, and parrying. Points flashed as machine targets dropped. +15, +20…
Farther east along the curve of the river, Chen Hao's team was battling through dense underbrush. Points were piling up steadily, but Daiki sensors on Lian's team had detected anomalous readings.
"Go!" Chen yelled, iron-hard skin flashing as a mechanical wolf leapt from the shadows. Luo Yan's chains seized the animal in mid-air and slammed it into Han Bo's cloud of smoke. Fei Min leapt with the frog-like sinuous jumps, slamming a drone into a tree.
Suddenly, Rui's team appeared over a rise, his wind blades slicing clean arcs through the night. Tao Lin bent the river into whiplike forms, Kira Hong absorbed excess heat to protect Rui's flank, and Shen Qiu darted around with deadly speed.
"Chen Hao," Rui said coldly, eyes narrowing. "You're in the way."
Chen grinned nervously. "Just a little speed bump!"
Rui's team struck first, wind blades cutting drones and tree trunks alike. Chen's iron skin took the brunt, but sparks flew across his torso as one blade grazed. Luo Yan lashed chains at Shen Qiu, trying to snag him, but he vanished in a blur, reappearing behind Fei Min. Tao Lin swept a water arm, sending Fei crashing into smoke and chains.
Chen's team staggered, taking heavy points losses. Their bracelet beeped, reflecting both enemy sabotage and mechanical casualties. But Chen remained grinning, using his hardened limbs to punch through a robotic wolf's head as Daiki's sonic pulse briefly slowed Rui's advance.
"Hang on!" Chen shouted. "We're not done yet!"
Back near Lian's trapline, the clash with Xia Yun escalated. Webs snagged, vines sliced, lightning arcs struck, and illusions flickered. Then a sudden tremor—points of vibration and shadows converged. Lian's danger sense flared violently.
"Something's wrong… multiple readings!" Daiki said, sending a broad sonic pulse.
Lian squinted into the mist. "Rui's here. And Chen's team too… they're converging."
Wind blades of Rui cut air curves from the treeline, bowling over smaller mechanical obstacles in a ruthless path. Xia Yun's team reacted immediately, illusions summoning to scatter the attack, and jets of flame burn forest to create cover. Lian's team responded, stringing webbing lines between the canopy, vines lashing at ankles, and Daiki emitting pulses of vibration to scan for blind spots.
Suddenly, in the chaos, Chen's team appeared—iron, chains, smoke, and leaps. The jungle became a tangle of metal, Qi, and webbing, with four teams colliding in a sudden convergence of violence.
Rui's wind blades clashed against Xia Yun's lightning, sparks flying in arcs over the clearing.
Lian's webs and vines snared both mechanical beasts and unsuspecting drones from multiple teams.
Chen's iron fists and chains deflected incoming drones, forcing them off target from massacring Lian's team.
Sonic booms, explosions, and webs lit up the night jungle with strands of glittering Qi.
"Everyone!" Lian bellowed, spinning to coordinate. "Survival first! Points second!"
But coordination was now impossible. Four teams, four strategies and Qis, fighting machines and each other, the battle devolved into a frenzied dance of offense and defense.
Xia Yun's laughter rang out, sharp and gleaming. Rui's smirk was deadly and precise. Chen yelled, "Watch your backs!"
And Lian, crouched in the shelter of a huge tree and suspended in mid-air on lines of webbing, knew immediately that the jungle would be the final arbiter this night: strategy alone, reflexes, and imagination would carry them over into morning.
The night was a four-sided battlefield of mechanical and human havoc, and the first true test of Class 1-C's ability to unleash rage as a single force—and survive in spite of enemies both foreign and domestic—began now.