The moment the red flare burst into the sky, the world turned quiet.

Aston's eyes narrowed as the shimmering barrier dissolved before them, revealing the war-torn simulation field beyond—its twisted terrain scorched from failed attempts, still flickering with residual flame. The air was hot. Heavy.

"Let's move," he said.

Team Nine advanced into the trial zone with synchronized steps.

"Verdy, Canopy Step," Rowan ordered.

The lemur vanished in a blur, leaping across elevated outcroppings like a ghost in green. From above, he'd serve as eyes—and a warning.

"Mirage, take the skies. Scan and relay," Aston commanded.

The owl ascended silently, nearly invisible as its wings shimmered, refracting light into nothingness. Already, the field felt colder with her presence.

"Lumine. Use Lustrous Shroud," Seria whispered, her Prismatic Butterfly fluttering up and scattering iridescent scales across the forward path. Illusions of movement flickered left and right—phantoms to draw the enemy's attention.

"Shelldon, prepare Shellforge Wall at fallback point," Kai said. "Anchor Protocol on my mark."

The Spiral Bastion Crabling tapped its limbs against the cracked earth and hummed, low and stable, the etch lines along its shell glowing brighter with anticipation.

Chill, Lyra's Frost Treading Lynx, crouched low beside them, paws gliding effortlessly across the terrain. Every movement was precise, measured.

Aston moved forward. "We approach from the left flank, use the ridge as cover."

Gray hid in the shadows beside him, his presence suppressed.

Ten meters in. Twenty.

Then the fire came.

A thunderclap. A streak of red.

Inferno dove from above.

The drake landed with an explosion of dirt and flame, mouth parting in a toothy grin of molten heat. Instructor Theron stood atop a rock outcropping, arms crossed.

"You've got coordination. Good," he called out. "Let's see how long it lasts."

"Incoming!" Rowan shouted.

Inferno unleashed Rapid Fire, a blistering barrage of flame orbs targeting Mirage in the air and the illusions scattered below.

"Glass Cloak!" Aston ordered.

Mirage's body shimmered, and the drake's fire blasts passed through empty air. A few of the illusion projections melted, but others remained.

Aston's eyes lit up. He's not distinguishing Mirage from the fakes.

"Seria, disorient! Lyra, now!"

"Photon Bloom!"

The Prismatic Butterfly flared, its wings exploding in radiant light. The burst temporarily blinded Inferno's eyes and shimmered against Instructor Theron's spirit-glass visor.

Darts of ice floated around Chill's body, launching with pinpoint accuracy on Inferno's body. Small frosts emerged from Inferno's feet, slowing his movement and turning speed.

"Verdy, lattice!"

The Moss Lemur synced with the trees. Rowan's vision flickered—he could feel enemy signatures, their positions, movement.

"Clear shot—Inferno moved west!"

Aston was already moving.

"Gray, swipe him now!"

The Obsidian Claw Tiger, still disguised as a cat, launched from the shadows like death in motion. Its claws shimmered with metal-etched precision.

Shhk.

Inferno grunted—a small, precise cut along the flank. It wasn't deep, but it hit.

The instructor's gaze sharpened. "That one's dangerous."

He leapt down, signaling Inferno to retaliate with Tail Sweep.

"Anchor Protocol!" Kai shouted.

Shelldon rooted into the earth, summoning a glowing hexagonal wall in front of the group.

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Crack!

The force of the tail strike slammed into the wall, but it held.

"Barrier integrity at seventy-four percent," Kai said quickly.

Instructor Theron smirked. "Nice shell. Let's see how it does under pressure."

Flames began to swirl.

"Retreat and reposition!" Aston called. "We've drawn attention. Time to shift."

Mirage swooped overhead again, releasing an Icy Gale across the drake's path. The sudden frost clashed with the heat, creating steam and obscuring their retreat.

Verdy leapt from branch to branch above, marking a new route.

Gray darted back to Aston's side, eyes gleaming.

So far, they had reached the midpoint.

No injuries. No panic.

They were doing what none of the others had done—holding formation.

Aston looked ahead.

The glimmering crystal pulsed ahead of them—resting on a raised pedestal at the heart of a broken plaza. Cracked stone tiles and spiraling glyphs surrounded it like a ritual ground left to decay. It was the farthest any team had reached without losing a member.

"Verdy?" Aston asked, glancing at Rowan.

"Path's clear. For now," Rowan replied, eyes distant as he interpreted Verdy's treetop-lattice senses. "But Instructor Theron's movement just spiked."

"He's going to pounce once we're locked in extraction," Lyra murmured.

"Then let's not give him time," Aston said. "Seria, distract. Mirage, mask the approach. I'll retrieve the crystal."

The Glasswing Owl swept low across the plaza, scattering more translucent wing scales as it triggered Glass Cloak mid-flight. Mirage's body blurred with the reflections of shattered pillars, warping into mirrored fragments of motion.

Seria's Prismatic Butterfly circled higher and released another Lustrous Shroud, flickering illusory silhouettes into the scorched plaza.

Aston dashed through the fractured terrain, Gray cloaked at his side. He ducked low behind a fallen archway, then sprang forward.

The moment his hand touched the crystal, it emitted a soft hum—the glow intensifying for a heartbeat before dimming into a stable, carried form.

"Got it!" he called.

"Movement—right flank!" Rowan shouted. "It's not Inferno. It's him."

From a shadow behind the ruins, Instructor Theron emerged alone.

No flames. No theatrics.

Just him—smirking.

"Good timing," he said. "Now let's see how you handle pressure without your beasts doing the thinking."

With a flick of his hand, the instructor activated something—an embedded suppression rune hidden under a layer of scorched stone. A pulse of shimmering spirit energy rippled outward in a five-meter radius.

"Disruption field!" Kai gasped. "Partial summon suppression!"

In a blink, the link between Aston and Gray flickered—not broken, but strained. Seria's butterfly faltered in the air, and Mirage's cloaking dimmed.

Instructor Theron sprinted forward.

"Retreat!" Aston shouted. "We move now!"

"Seria, cover!"

"Lumine—scale scatter!"

The Prismatic Butterfly descended from above and fluttered its wings violently, scattering its scales around the team, creating a field of distortion.

It was enough.

The suppression field only covered a limited radius, and once outside of it, the tethers began to stabilize again.

They reached the lower ridge—but Inferno was waiting.

The Crimson Fury Drake rose from behind a pillar, wings flaring, heat distorting the air around it.

"Oh shit," Rowan breathed. "He cut off the retreat."

"Inferno—Rapid Fire."

The drake's mouth lit up.

A half-dozen molten fireballs arced through the sky, streaking directly toward their path.

"Kai—now!" Aston yelled.

"Shelldon! Anchor Shell Protocol!"

The Spiral Bastion Crabling slammed its claws into the ground. The glowing runes along its shell flared to life. In an instant, it expanded into a radiant, spiraling dome of hexagonal shields.

Boom!

The fireballs impacted one after another.

Crack—crack—crack!

The dome shook.

The air trembled.

Heat licked around the edges of the barrier as if trying to melt its way in.

Kai gritted his teeth, hands clasped together. "Hold… Hold…"

The final fireball struck with thunderous force.

Then silence.

Steam rose from the scorched barrier. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface—but it held.

Kai dropped to one knee, panting.

"It's… down to sixteen percent integrity."

But they were alive.

Aston didn't hesitate. "Go!"

They sprinted. Mirage reengaged cloaking above. Verdy leapt to cover the right flank. The Prismatic Butterfly flashed another disorienting Photon Bloom behind them.

As they crossed the boundary line, the glyphs along the field edge flared.

A green flare launched into the sky.

For the first time all day, it wasn't red.

Success.

They had retrieved the objective and made it out—together.

Instructor Theron stood at the edge of the field, arms crossed as Inferno landed beside him.

His smile wasn't mocking this time.

"Well done, Team Nine," he said. "You didn't just fight smart. You fought as a unit."

Kai looked down at Shelldon, who was still glowing faintly.

"Thanks, buddy," he whispered.

Gray meowed softly, tail flicking as if in approval.

Aston looked back at the field they'd just crossed. They weren't the strongest team, but they worked as one. And that made all the difference.

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