Blue light exploded as Eira swung first, his sword colliding with the woman's burning spear with a force that tore the air apart. Mana crashed outward in violent waves, ripping sound from the world as fire and frost devoured each other. He twisted his wrist mid-swing, dragging the blade down her weapon and forcing her back, ice crawling across the spear before shattering under a surge of black-red flames.

She laughed.
"You're late," she said, spinning and driving her spear toward his chest.

Eira barely deflected. The impact hurled him through the sky, his body twisting as he fought to regain control. He stopped himself with a burst of cold, boots skidding against invisible air, sword humming violently in his hands.

Only then did the world reveal itself.
Endless white stretched beneath them, cracked and broken by war. Bodies lay scattered across the frozen land—men and women with silver hair, armor torn, weapons buried deep into ice. Some moved. Some didn't. The ground itself bore scars of mana so deep they still glowed faintly.

A pressure rolled outward from Eira as he steadied himself. Far away, people collapsed without being touched. Knees buckled. Breath failed. Even standing became impossible under the weight of his presence.

The woman floated calmly across from him, fire and shadow wrapping around her form. Her spear burned red, veins of black mana pulsing like a living thing. Flames spiraled outward from her body, erasing frost, stone, and anything else that dared exist too close.

Below them, a young woman stood shaking, blood running down her arm as she held up a glowing shield. She was wounded badly, yet she didn't step back. She shielded the fallen behind her with everything she had left. Eira saw her. His jaw clenched.

"Still distracted," the woman said, her voice carrying easily across the battlefield. "That hasn't changed."

She raised her spear and slammed it downward.
Fire crashed toward him like a collapsing sun. Eira answered by lifting his sword, blue light roaring outward as the flames split apart around him. The shockwave tore across the land, ice forming and breaking in the same breath. The sky broke. They moved again.

Sword and spear collided midair, faster than sight, each strike releasing violent surges of mana that warped the world itself. Blizzards swallowed firestorms. Flames evaporated ice. Mountains formed and shattered in seconds.

"You're weaker," she said, twisting her spear and driving him back through a wall of frozen air. "Did dying once finally dull you?"

Eira staggered, blood spilling from his mouth as he caught himself. His sword shook, not from fear, but restraint.
"I won't lose again," he said.
Her eyes narrowed.
"This ends now, Eira."

The Grand Hall doors sealed shut the moment the challenge was accepted.


Ancient runes ignited along the marble walls — containment arrays to prevent outside interference.


This would be decided by human strength alone.


Ark rolled his shoulders once, flames flickering faintly around his fists before he suppressed them. "No dragons," he said lightly. "Don't die too quickly."


The dragon-slayer hummed in her hand — not reacting to dragons this time, but to killing intent.


Iris stood slightly behind him, blade drawn, eyes locked on Neo.


He vanished from sight, reappearing in front of Vesa with explosive speed, fist crashing downward with enough force to shatter stone.


The impact detonated outward — marble fracturing beneath them — yet Vesa did not bend.


Ark was thrown across the platform, sliding back before regaining footing.


Neo lunged toward Iris in the same instant.


The dragon-slayer's edge screamed as it collided with Iris's blade. Sparks burst like stars between them.


Neo pressed hard — overwhelming, precise.


"You should have stayed quiet," Neo said coldly.


"And you should have chosen your own path."


Neo's sword flared with cutting mana — meant to sever contracts, to pierce dragon hide.


Iris pivoted at the last second, letting the blade graze her shoulder instead of cleaving through her core. Blood stained her sleeve — but her foot hooked behind Neo's ankle.


Iris drove her elbow into Neo's ribs, sending her sliding back.


Across the platform, Ark's aura erupted fully now — heat distorting the air.


He launched a barrage of close-range strikes, each impact shaking the arena.


Every surge of flame compressed and dispersed.


Ark's aggression met something immovable.


"You've grown," Ark admitted through clenched teeth.


Ark roared and unleashed a concentrated blast of fire from his palm.


Ark was driven into the platform so hard the marble cratered inward.


Neo, seeing Ark fall, surged with renewed fury.


She raised the dragon-slayer high — channeling its full severing intent.


At the last instant, she shifted her stance and struck the flat of Neo's wrist with surgical accuracy.


Chapter 55 - Vesa and Iris