The transport gates flared to life beneath the gathered Saints.
Light swallowed the world.
When it faded, Sora felt stone beneath his boots—and space. Too much space.
They stood on the edge of a city.
Not ruins.
Not rubble.
A full, sprawling urban zone stretched before them—towering buildings, narrow alleyways, suspended walkways, cracked highways weaving between districts. Streetlights hummed faintly despite the absence of people. Windows stared back like empty eyes.
No civilians.No movement.No life.
Luke blinked. "…Why does this place feel like it's holding its breath?"
Mina said nothing, her eyes already mapping sightlines and choke points.
A platform rose behind them, and Lal's voice echoed across the skyline.
"Welcome to Ordeal City," Lal announced cheerfully.
"Property of the Saint Academy."
A few students stiffened.
"This city exists for one purpose—combat evaluation.
It is dismantled, reconstructed, and reused after every ordeal."
Luke stared at the buildings. "You… rebuild an entire city?"
"Of course," Lal replied. "Collateral damage is encouraged."
"Each team has been given a flag.
If your flag is captured and not retrieved, you are eliminated."
A glowing insignia materialized in Sora's hand—Team 7's banner.
"Defeating an opponent earns points.
The ordeal lasts twenty-four hours."
A pause.
Lal's smile sharpened.
"Survive. Fight smart. And remember—
only one thing matters here."
The city lights flickered on all at once.
"Results."
The moment the announcement ended, teams scattered—vanishing into streets, leaping onto rooftops, dissolving into strategy.
Luke grabbed the flag instinctively. "Okay—okay—this is real. This is VERY real."
Sora calmly took the banner from him and folded it. "We don't move loud. We don't move fast."
Mina nodded. "High ground first. Then information."
Luke swallowed. "…So we're hunting?"
Sora looked out over the silent city.
"No," he said.
"We're letting them come to us."
Somewhere across the city—A team laughed too loudly.
A flag waved carelessly.Confidence without caution.
Mina felt it first—the shift in the air.
"They found us," she said.
Luke cracked his knuckles, nervous grin creeping in. "Good. I was getting bored."
Sora stepped forward.
"Let's make an example."
A section of the street collapsed inward, storefronts folding like paper as a massive shockwave ripped through the avenue. Concrete burst upward. Glass rained like silver hail.
Three figures emerged through the dust.
Red-armored Saints.
One wielded a halberd blazing with heat.
One hovered, wings of compressed wind howling behind him.
The third dragged their flag openly, laughing.
"Found you," the halberd wielder said. "Team 12."
Luke squinted. "Wow. You guys are… very red."
The wind user scoffed. "This'll be quick."
Sora tilted his head. "We would soon find out."
The wind Saint vanished.
A sonic boom detonated as he reappeared above Luke—blade descending, air screaming—and hit nothing.
Luke was gone.
The street erupted as Luke reappeared behind him, moving so fast the pavement liquefied beneath his feet.
"TAG!"
Luke's punch landed.
The impact didn't just send the Saint flying—it deleted the building behind him. The entire structure imploded, floors collapsing inward as if punched by a god.
The Saint vanished into the rubble.
Mina moved.
She stepped forward, eyes glowing teal, and the temperature dropped violently. Ice didn't spread—it claimed. The road froze in jagged spikes, racing up walls, snapping fire escapes in half.
The halberd wielder swung—
—and his weapon froze mid-swing, ice crawling over it like a living thing.
Mina clenched her fist.
The halberd shattered.
She didn't stop.
A glacier erupted beneath the Saint, launching him skyward before Mina flicked her wrist.
The ice detonated.
A bloom of frozen shrapnel turned the sky white.The third Saint screamed and slammed his flag into the ground.
Runes ignited.
A massive barrier surged outward, ripping cars into the air, tearing a boulevard in half.
"YOU'RE NOT TAKING THIS!" he roared.
Sora moved.
No flash.Just a step.
The barrier warped—folded—then collapsed inward like it had forgotten how to exist.
The Saint froze.
Sora was suddenly in front of him.
"You built your defense outward," Sora said quietly. "Bad habit."
"PLATINUM DOMINION"
The shockwave didn't explode.
It folded the street.
Buildings bent inward, windows imploding as the Saint was launched straight through three structures, each one collapsing in sequence like dominoes.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM.
Silence followed.
The wind Saint crawled from the rubble, bloodied but laughing. "You think you've won?"
Luke cracked his neck. "Buddy, I haven't even warmed up."
Energy surged around Luke—wild, unstable, violent.
Mina raised an ice platform beneath him.
"Launch," she said.
Luke grinned ferally thenvanished.
He reappeared midair, fist coated in crackling force, and slammed down like a meteor.
The impact flattened an entire city block.
The street cratered. Buildings collapsed inward. A shockwave rolled across the city, shattering windows five districts away.
When the dust cleared—
Team 12's flag lay torn in half.
Luke stood in the crater, panting. "…Worth it."
Sora picked up the enemy flag and let it dissolve.
"Point secured."
Mina looked around at the destruction—the ruined skyline, the smoking streets.
"…We were loud."
Sora nodded. "Good."
High above, Academy observers stared in silence.
One finally spoke.
"…Team 7 eliminated their first opponents in under four minutes."
MEANWHILE
The city streets groaned under the weight of invisible tension. Smoke still curled from Team 7's early rampage, windows shattered in every direction, and the faint hum of abandoned traffic lights flickered. Somewhere in the distance, Lal's announcements still echoed faintly, reminding everyone that points—and survival—were everything.
Rin vaulted over a collapsed streetlight, barely missing a shard of glass embedded in the pavement. "Whoa! Did anyone see that?!" he shouted, spinning midair with a reckless grin. "I think I—"
"Rin!" Lucy's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and precise. Her teal eyes scanned the ruined streets ahead. "Stop announcing your position. And watch your footing!"
Rin skidded to a stop, arms flailing. "Relax! I got this. Totally got this."
Aren Vale didn't bother speaking. He was already a step ahead, shadows stretching from his boots as he vanished into the alleyways like liquid. His eyes, calm and unreadable, tracked every potential threat.
Ahead, three figures emerged from a shattered plaza—a team clad in deep green uniforms, their flags waving boldly in the wind. "Team 15," Lucy muttered, scanning them instantly. "They've got coordinated fighters. Not amateurs."
Rin's grin widened. "Then it's showtime!" He charged headfirst, leaping onto the roof of a half-collapsed building and flipping toward the enemy. Sparks of energy trailed from his hands, scattering debris from the fractured tiles.
"Rin, stop being an idiot!" Lucy shouted. Aren didn't move; he simply raised his hand, and a subtle wave of energy warped the street beneath Rin, slowing his momentum just enough to prevent a catastrophic fall.
The green-armored Saints reacted instantly. One lunged, spear glowing, while another readied a spinning shield that caught stray debris midair. The third summoned a wall of compressed stone, launching it toward Rin.
Lucy's eyes flicked to them, calm and analytical. "Rin, bait them into the alley. Aren, cover the flank. I'll neutralize the spear."
Rin, misunderstanding as usual, screamed. "I'M THE BAIT? AWESOME!" He charged blindly, zig-zagging through the alley as stone exploded behind him.
Aren moved like a shadow made flesh. He didn't rush; he didn't shout. His hand grazed the wall of a nearby building, and it fractured silently. In a single, fluid motion, a jagged spire of stone launched from the rubble, slicing cleanly through the shield-bearing Saint.
Lucy's turn came next. She gestured once. A glowing lattice of light formed under the spear wielder's feet, restricting movement, bending physics just enough that his spear clanged uselessly against the ground. Then she stepped forward, voice calm but commanding: "Now."
The spear wielder lunged—and found himself slammed backward as Aren redirected a chunk of concrete midair, knocking him off his path and into a steel beam with a sound like metal cracking.
Rin, meanwhile, had somehow survived the chaos, spinning wildly and throwing erratic punches that, by some miracle, disrupted the last green-armored Saint's concentration. Sparks flew, energy rippling outward, tearing open the street in jagged lines.
Lucy smirked, eyes calculating. "Perfect. Now—converge."
Aren moved silently, a ghost among the rubble. Rin, panicked but still alive, followed blindly. Together, they created a perfect pincer. The green-armored team had no room to breathe. Every building they tried to use as cover collapsed, cracked, or warped against Aren and Lucy's coordinated manipulation.
A final wave of destruction tore through the plaza—stone, glass, and concrete twisting upward, forming an unholy cage. The enemy Saints were caught inside, flags shredded by the chaotic winds of energy that surged around them.
When the dust settled, Team 9 stood intact. Rin was panting, chest heaving, energy still crackling faintly from his fists. Aren had a few scratches on his gloves but otherwise appeared untouched. Lucy's eyes scanned the field one last time, calm as ever.
"Point secured," she said softly, almost under her breath. "Let's move before the next team finds us."
Rin's grin returned. "Did you see me?! I was a tornado of power!"
Aren simply shook his head, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Lucy rolled her eyes but allowed herself a tiny smile. "You didn't die. That's all that matters."
In the background, on a tilted, half-collapsed skyscraper, a mysterious girl with a malicious smirk and glowing eyes watches them from the shadows producing gray smoke.
The smoke dissolved, leaving nothing but the echo of shattered streets and scorched asphalt. Lucy's team stood tense, scanning the ruined blocks.
"…They're gone?" Rin asked, scratching his head.
Lucy frowned, voice low. "Too clean… no impact, no bodies…"
"Yeah, he survived fighting my smoke clones," the girl's voice muttered, the sound threading amusement with malice.
Rin stiffened. "Uh… did we just get played?"