Lowering his arm, Axel let out a breath. "Made it… just in time." His tone was calm, almost casual, but his hands trembled from the strain.

He had been behind them. When he heard the collapse ahead, he'd pushed harder, lungs burning. When he saw the path shattered, he'd refused to panic. He hadn't fired too soon, knowing his range wasn't enough. He waited until the last possible second, then let his cannons loose.

Rex had noticed, but the man had already burned through nearly all his Force. He couldn't dodge, couldn't shield. He'd been nothing but a target.

Yara's lips curled in a small, sharp smile. Her eyes cut toward Quincy, who looked grimmer than she'd ever seen him. "So, tell me… who's the one losing patience now?"

Even Yara hadn't expected Axel to show up so fast—or to react with such terrifying precision. No panic, no wasted motion. Just one clean strike that evened the odds.

For her, it was perfect.

Quincy's face smoothed, but the smile never returned. His eyes burned instead with a feral edge, a true fighter's fire. "So be it. Reset to square one. But if you think that means you can beat me…"

His Force flared like a storm, rattling the stones underfoot.

"…then you're dead wrong."

.....

At the Olympic Sports Center, the two massive screens split between the semi-finals.

Stormwatch and Eagle's Crest Command were already locked in a brutal clash.

But the second feed—Bloodstone Warfare versus Hollow Fortress—was drawing its own crowd.

Moments ago, everyone thought the match was settled. Bloodstone Warfare's path had been destroyed, their advance cut off. The commentators were practically ready to call it. But then Axel had shown up, blasted Rex straight out of the arena, and flipped the momentum in an instant.

The audience erupted.

In the private viewing hall, the principals of the nation's war academies leaned forward, murmuring in surprise.

> "Bloodstone Warfare's secret weapon!" > "Years of real combat against mutant beasts—this is the result." > "That reaction speed… even with Original Instruments, most players wouldn't have managed it."

Tristan's assistant finally exhaled, relief written all over her face. "Thank god for Axel." She cast a glance toward Neville, the normally impassive principal of Hollow Fortress. He didn't so much as twitch.

......

Perched on a cliff edge, Axel had his cannon arm raised, lining up a shot at the fighters below. After several attempts, he finally lowered it.

Five to six hundred meters down, Yara and Quincy were going at each other in a savage melee. They were within range—but too close together. One misfire and he'd hit Yara instead.

"They're monsters," Axel muttered.

Yara fought like a god. Every strike, every step, every movement was pure instinct, flowing seamlessly. Just watching her, Axel felt something click inside him, a sudden flash of clarity.

> Need to refine my own combat skills when we get back.

Axel's style was straightforward—Force-powered strikes layered with techniques using the Red Flame Blade. Effective, but crude compared to Yara's artistry. She lived in close combat.

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Quincy wasn't any less terrifying. Yakov had said—his personality might be shit, but his raw power eclipsed even Yara's. Both fighters were bleeding, torn up, but Quincy was weathering it better.

Footsteps pounded up from behind. Umar and Richard arrived, with Yakov trailing a little further back. Across the gap, Quincy's surviving teammates appeared at their own cliff edge.

Both squads froze, staring at each other over the jagged chasm.

"What the hell happened here?" Richard scratched his head. Umar shot Axel a questioning look.

Axel waited until Yakov finally caught up before explaining everything, sparing himself the need to repeat it three times.

When he finished, the team exchanged looks—shock first, then grudging respect.

"If you'd shown up a few minutes later, we'd be screwed," Yakov said.

Richard eyed the gap between the cliffs—two, maybe three hundred meters at most. "Think we can clear it?"

Umar considered, then shook his head. "Not on my own. But if two of us go together—one jumps, the other uses him as a mid-air springboard—it might work."

Yakov's pulse spiked. He looked straight at Richard.

Richard recoiled instantly. "Oh, hell no. You're not turning me into launch pad."

"You won't die if you fall," Umar said evenly. "Stop whining."

Richard blanched, while Axel, still at the cliff edge, cut in before they could get carried away. "Hold it."

Everyone turned.

"Look at the fight." Axel pointed at Yara and Quincy, both wielding their Original Instruments now, locked in a vicious duel. "If one of you tries that jump now, and misses, we lose two players instantly."

Hollow Fortress still had three left—two psychics and a support. They could not use that tactic.

He paused, then added, calm but firm: "We're already in control. They've lost one player. There's only twenty minutes until time runs out. If no one captures the flag, we win by default."

Silence. Then Yakov gave a slow nod. Umar's expression softened.

"Damn," Yakov muttered. "You're right."

"If Yara can't hold, then we'll try the jump," Umar said. His tone carried the weight of decision—if Yara fell, the team would still need a path forward.

Axel stayed quiet, gaze fixed on the battlefield. In truth, there was another reason he'd stopped them. He could feel it—Yara had been waiting for this fight. To face Quincy without restraint. To go all in.

This wasn't just strategy. For her, this was personal.

And Axel wasn't about to steal it from her.

Time dragged on, though it was technically a team battle. Every member on both sides had no choice but to watch—and even from the sidelines, the ferocity of the fight was impossible to ignore.

Their clothes were soaked in blood. Yara's vision was blurred, her movements now almost entirely instinctive. Quincy fared only slightly better. Though his Force seemed abundant, a flicker of fear lurked in his eyes.

Suddenly, Axel and the others noticed two Awakened Ones racing down another path.

"Are they trying to pull the same stunt like us?" Yakov said, alarm etched on his face. But something felt off.

The remaining Hollow Fortress members had no melee fighters, and the gap Axel had created was far too narrow for them to reach the platform.

"Are they—suicide rushing?" Yakov's stomach sank.

Before anyone could react further, Axel moved smoothly to stand before him.

"What are you doing, Axel?" Yakov asked.

No answer.

The two Hollow Fortress members who had been sprinting leaped into the air.

"It's broken!" Yakov realized instantly.

"Quincy, it's up to you!" one of them shouted. Lightning erupted from the other's hand, forming a spear that shot straight toward Yara.

Under normal circumstances, Yara could have dodged with ease. But her Force was so depleted that she could barely deflect the attack. The lightning spear hit beside her, its full power diminished, yet it still tore through her body, sending blood spilling anew.

The man who had launched it flashed and disappeared into the abyss, eliminated. Another leaped after him, green energy surging from his palm. Emerald vines spiraled out, enveloping Quincy like living armor. The vines knit over his wounds, rapidly restoring his Force. Within seconds, Quincy's condition visibly improved.

"They're risking everything to support Quincy!" Yakov shouted, fury and disbelief warring on his face. He tried to replicate the suicidal maneuver, leaping into the air to strike Quincy with a psychic attack.

But it was too late. Quincy's injuries were already mending, his Force restored just enough for him to launch a sudden counterattack on Yara.

Quincy smiled faintly. "Yara… seems the gap between teammates still matters."

The lightning strike had hurt, but the supporting teammate's recovery ability turned the tide. Yara had no chance—until she noticed something that froze her for a heartbeat.

The broken path behind her. And someone leaping across it.

"This battle is up to you," Axel's voice came as he charged mid-air, tapping the Cloud Chasing Boots, flying far past the Hollow Fortress men.

Crossing a two- or three-hundred-meter chasm—even with Cloud Chasing Boots—was impossible. Yet Axel's figure hurtled forward anyway.

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