The morning light had shifted. The shadows in the courtyard had grown shorter and sharper as the sun climbed. Isabel had been at it for hours.She stood in the center of the packed earth, hands open at her sides. The green light came and went—sometimes steady, sometimes flickering like a candle in a draft. She had not tried to push it the way she had earlier, when the barrier had exploded out of her without warning. That moment still sat in her chest. The way the ivy on the wall had withered. The way the sparrow had dropped from the branch and not moved again. She had not meant to hurt anything. The power had simply answered the anger she had not even realized she was carrying.Flora had left an hour ago. She had said she needed to gather a few things and would return later. In the meantime Isabel was to keep practicing, but carefully. No forcing. No reaching for the edges of what she could do until she understood the center of it first.Isabel had tried. She had healed the small c

The hour passed faster than Lucian expected.He spent most of it watching. The room was full of people making plans, shifting their weight, sizing each other up. Some teams huddled close and spoke in low voices. Others stood apart, already scanning the exits like hunters. The energy had changed from the first round. That had been about survival. This was about who moved first and who moved smart.Skylar stayed quiet for most of the hour. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching the same room with a different kind of attention. When he finally spoke, his voice stayed low enough that only Lucian could hear.“We should decide how we’re splitting the points.”Lucian nodded. He had been thinking about the same thing. Ten thousand points between two people. The way they divided them would decide how much each of them had to protect and how much they could risk.“Equal split,” Lucian said. “Five thousand each.”Skylar tilted his head. “That leaves us vulnerable. If one of us gets t

They were cornered.The dry fountain sat behind them. Six figures closed the last of the open ground in a loose arc that cut off every clean exit. Lucian felt the weight of their attention settle like a net.Skylar stood a half-step to his left, hands in his pockets, posture loose, as if the plaza were just another street on an ordinary day.The silver-haired man in the center spoke without raising his voice. He turned slightly toward the three nearest him.“Finrow. Carla. Jarret. Get ready. We don’t want to spend much time here. Make it quick.”“Yes, Captain,” the three answered almost together.His silver hair caught the arena light as he looked back at Lucian and Skylar. His expression stayed calm, almost mild, the way a man looked when he had already decided the ending.“I’ve been watching the two of you since the first hour,” he said. “Clean climbs. No wasted fights. It’s been too easy for you. That’s about to change.”Lucian said nothing. He did a quick mental tally. After the l

“I’m familiar with the Clover family,” Skylar said. “They’re a family of strong knights. They’ve served the empire for generations. Jean is no differe than them, this is just another way to cement his family name.”Lucian absorbed the information and filed it away. A family of knights. Strong. Traditional. That meant Jean would fight with discipline and the weight of reputation behind every move. Predictable in some ways. Dangerous in others.He looked at the leaderboard again. The number one spot still held firm at 400,825 points. A total that high meant they weren’t simply hunting. They were farming.“I can find him,” Lucian said. “Give me a minute.”He closed his eyes. False Sight stretched outward, moving through the stone and steel of the arena city. He pushed past the chaos—the brawls in the streets, the ambushes in the alleys, the teams hunting and being hunted. The city was a mess of violence and desperation.He kept searching. The number stayed fixed in his mind. 400,825. H

The leaderboard flickered one last time before freezing in place.The arena had gone quiet. The chaos of the past twelve hours had finally settled, leaving behind a landscape of broken streets, shattered buildings, and exhausted contestants scattered across the city. Some were still standing. Most were not.Lucian stood near the center of the plaza where the final transfer had taken place. His wristband glowed with a number he had not expected to see when the round began: 218,663. Skylar's read 230,413. Together, they held the top spot.The Emcee's voice echoed across the arena, smooth and theatrical."Congratulations to the top ten teams. You have earned your place in the final round of the Heaven Sky Arena Tournament. The final round will begin in three days. Use that time to rest, recover, and prepare. The final stage will be a series of one-on-one matches. Only one contestant will remain standing at the end."A murmur rippled through the remaining contestants. Some looked relieved