'That is him, isn't it?' spoke Hanwei.

Jian started slightly, surprised. Hanwei had been silent for some time, ignoring his father's attempts at small talk as he focused on his sister's performance.

His father glanced at the screens, then nodded, face widening in a genial smile that revealed gummy teeth. Jian guessed he was glad to have something to discuss, a way to wheedle the Nara Clan Cultivator.

'Yes, indeed. Already they have run into one another. Perhaps your sister will be able to remove him sooner than expected.'

'Perhaps not,' murmured Hanwei, narrowed eyes fixed on the screen and the images displayed there. Two figures dashing through a twisting, verdant jungle, pursued by a red mist, moving in close to strike at one another then springing back away.

'You think her odds bad, friend Hanwei?' asked Jian eagerly. His father shot him an irritated look, which he ignored.

Hanwei sat back, and for the first time seemed to be considering something Jian had said deeply. 'He is very experienced, understands combat in a way most don't. Xuejing has received the same training as all members of Nara. She has the same understanding. But she lacks the experience.'

'I wasn't expecting such an uncertain answer,' murmured Jian. 'After all, she has the best possible Symbiote set to beat him.' He grinned widely. 'With that, it would be quite embarrassing if she still lost.'

The look Hanwei turned on him was so cold he felt it in his guts, the man's face slack like a corpse, eyes dead. Swallowing, he allowed his father's warning hand to push him back into his seat. He knew what his father would've said. In a place like this, you need not fear physical harm from someone like Hanwei. But this City may not be safe forever, and you cannot always be inside of it.

'There would be no embarrassment,' pronounced Hanwei at length. 'Symbiotes are less important than many believe. Skill is paramount. The Nara know this.'

Pronounced with such casual self-satisfaction that Jian almost found the bravery to start back up, but the way his father's fingers dug painfully in his arm kept him quiet.

'The Nara are wise,' said the old man shamelessly, smiling and nodding. 'It will be a great boon for both our Clans when we combine our capabilities!'

###

'I'm out the mist and got eyes on the pair again, they're fighting!' came Jex's voice. 'Where are you?'

'I'm out too, far side of 'em to you,' replied Psychology.

'Good, get ready. Let's shoot simultaneously.'

Nicolai scowled, upping his speed and ignoring the Cultivator nipping at his heels, looking for something he could use as cover if necessary. Psychology was quick to work. 'No! Don't engage!'

'Why not? Look, it's perfect—they're busy fighting one another, now's the time to make our move and get the both of 'em!'

'The plan was to wait until one killed the other. Neither is even injured, they're just running flat out, just like us. More important, they aren't paying attention to us, and we don't know when the mist will stop moving. Safest course is to wait and see, keep our cards hidden, and make the move at the opportune moment—which isn't now!'

'Gah, fine, you're right. Oh shit, heads up, we got randoms ahead!'

Jex's warning to "Pal" came in handy for Nicolai, who had Threat Analysis send out focused scans.

His drones ranging ahead saw, distantly, the bloody mist boiling through the trees. It'd forced him, the Nara Cultivator, and everyone else into one slender valley, and here at last it stopped. The final zone.

Nicolai exploded from between the trees and out into a clearing of chaos. Cyborgs and Cultivators were having a pitched battle. All those who'd been running, now found their way into this valley and deposited here, at its mouth. Bullets splintered trees and bodies, Soul Senses and swords slashed in all directions, grenades and blasts of energy tore at the earth.

He felt the sensation of a few nearby guns and Soul Senses turning his way, read it through the intent in the Aura.

But these enemies were far less protected than the black-clad figure who'd been keeping pace with him, who emerged at that moment from the brush, Blades held ready. She stopped, losing the determined manner that'd caused her to pursue him all this time, now peering around in shock at the sudden carnage. She ducked aside as a struggling pair stumbled past her, a Cultivator with his teeth grit tight, trying to hold back a Cyborg who was missing an arm but thrusting a combat knife in the one he had left.

Nicolai didn't possess the same hesitation. He was already sliding out of the way of aimed guns. He landed behind a Cultivator and the man's shield absorbed shots meant for him, struck out with the Spectral Claw and tore through a Soul Sense that reached in his direction.

His grin widened and the Thrill burned as he realised this was exactly his favourite kind of situation. Where everyone around him was an enemy and he held a weapon big enough to lay waste to the lot of them.

He launched himself back into motion and burrowed through the struggling crowd, Claw tearing at everything around him. He slashed at guns and throats, smashed Soul Senses and crushed those who'd directed them.

While the Spectral Claw caught at anyone and everyone within his range, the Sheltering Glove was all he needed to deflect the occasional bullet that came his way. They were revealed to him by Simulations and Threat Analysis, which saw through every drone.

With that, this became the perfect situation to accomplish his aims. The chaos of a pitched battle was perfectly suited for him to eliminate the Nara Cultivator. Through drones, he watched her. She struck at any who came near but didn't show any of the aggression and certainty she'd possessed when chasing and duelling a lone opponent.

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From that, he knew she was inexperienced in spite of her skill. Unused to situations like this. She wouldn't see him coming.

He kept track of Jex, too. She was off on the side, hiding in a thick bush and considering the best time to shoot. Simulations traced a route that would take him by her just as the battle peaked and her distraction was highest, then a path that'd see him slip behind the Nara Cultivator.

But just as he was sliding around a bolt of energy launched by a nearby Cultivator, countering with a swipe of the Claw that saw the man gone in a flare of blue, then dashing forward just in time to avoid a hunter-killer drone that blew the area behind him apart, his plan changed.

Threat Analysis had taken note of the layout, compared that to the map of the area, and worked out exactly where he and all the others had been pushed by the mist.

They were directly below the fort he'd seen at the start of all this, where at least thirty-two Cultivators were sitting tight. Thirty-two Cultivators who were practically guaranteed to still be up there, since the mist had never forced them out.

And if he wanted to deal with them, he'd need some assistance.

###

Jex pursed her purple lips, staring out at the battling crowd. It was shrinking rapidly. That Nara girl had been standing off to the sides, but as the number lessened she'd started hunting and proved a terror. Many had fled, disappearing to find cover somewhere in this valley.

What concerned Jex was the fact that with the sudden reduction, she now only… four people. She hadn't seen Pal for ages, and she'd started to have a bad feeling about that.

She'd stopped messaging him, because she wasn't sure it was him.

And that was when, as the Nara girl took down the last guy to charge at her, that she realised someone else was missing.

Where is he?!

A sudden terrible foreboding struck and she began to turn, convinced that—

'Slow movements, now,' hissed a familiar voice, coming from right behind her.

'You,' she spat, tense. 'Where's Pal?'

'He's been gone a little while now.'

'So that voice, that was…'

'No, no.' He chuckled. 'You were talking to your friend, don't worry. I removed him not long ago.'

She wasn't sure she believed him. She had seen Pal, right when they were aiming to get this guy. But then… well, the mist had come. And she hadn't seen him since. But how could he have put up such an act…

No point worrying on it. She had a card to play and it was best to play it soon, before he chose to remove her. Her eyes flicked to where she saw that Nara Cultivator. The girl was coming slowly in their direction, frowning. Must sense something, ripples maybe.

'You know where we are?' she asked, pitching her voice to carry, and saw the Nara girl tense, frowning with confusion.

'I do,' spoke the sneaky bastard behind her, 'but I'm not sure she does. Get up.'

Jex rose, hands raised. She chanced a turn and saw him, right behind her. Dark skinsuit, helmet with a disquieting jagged face of grinning red light that faded away even as she stared, anti-mat in his hands and aimed right at her.

'Do you know where we are?' he called out to the Cultivator.

She stared back, uncertain.

###

Xuejing frowned at the pair of barbarians. She didn't know who the woman was, but she knew this man. Nicolai, winner of the last Tournament. Her brother had told her to watch for him.

He'd told her this barbarian was tricky and dangerous and not to be trusted. She'd been trying to take him down the whole run here, and had little success. He was on another level compared to that one with the punching. This one was as fast as she was, even with the lightning, and he fought with a vicious creativity that made her nerves want to creep back.

He pointed upwards, but she refused to follow the gesture with her eyes. It would be dangerous to take her eyes off him. The woman who had her hands up raised her strangely shaped eyebrows at Xuejing, flicked her eyes in the direction of the man. Like she was sharing some kind of joke, but Xuejing didn't understand what it might be. Partly because Xuejing was distracted by the woman's strange features—they didn't look to be made of skin but white metal, and her lips were purple and her eyes were square.

But also because Xuejing had simply never been much good when it came to humour. She'd been told she took stuff too literally. She found such things doubly confusing at times like this, when she was struggling to control the nerves that kept on trying to ruin everything.

Why did her body have to betray her so, whenever she was in a situation like this?

'There are at least thirty-two Cultivators up there, probably looking down at us right now,' he called out.

Xuejing's eyes widened and now she did look. She stared up and she realised that yes she recognised that bridge up there, and she could even make out the unnaturally smooth patch of wall it led to.

How had she failed to realise?! She'd had a feeling there was something strange occurring when the numbers of combatants around her shrank and shrank, and she still didn't see Zixiao or any of the rest, who she'd felt sure must have been forced out. Knowing that many of them were quite capable, she'd anticipated running into them. In fact, she'd been looking forward to seeing Zixiao's fall from grace with the failure of his plan.

But now she knew why he wasn't down here, nor any of the others. His plan hadn't failed. Somehow, he'd known exactly where this bloody mist would force everyone.

She couldn't help peeking at the sky, mortified. All the people in the Duel Arena would be watching from up there. Seeing how she'd completely fumbled this round!

What would they think? More importantly, what would her brother think? Her eyes narrowed and she bit at her lip, thinking desperately.

No, I can get through this. I just have to act… like I knew all along!

'Ah, um, yes!' she called out to the barbarians. 'So, you finally noticed!' She did her best to ignore the burning in her cheeks. It was just the exertion of battle, that was all. 'I'd, ah, been wondering how long it would take!'

The helmeted barbarian's features were unreadable, though he tilted his head in a way Xuejing found concerning. But the woman raised her eyebrows sky-high, and even had the temerity to smirk at her, as though she knew exactly what Xuejing had been thinking.

'So you understand that if we want to get through this, we need to work together?' the man called out.

Xuejing nodded jerkily. 'Yes, I had anticipated as much,' she blurted, only to realise that her recent behaviour didn't quite match up with someone operating under such an assumption. 'Of course, I had to remove the weaker ones, because they overcomplicated matters,' she added desperately.

'Very astute,' he said. 'I see the reputation of the Nara clan is not for show. It will be good to work alongside someone so capable.'

The barbarian woman snorted a laugh, then waved her up-raised hands meaningfully at the man before Xuejing could ask what was so funny. 'You're gonna need all the help you can get for handling those up top. So, can I put my hands down?'

He lowered the overlong gun he'd been aiming at the woman's back. 'Of course,' he said, with surprising politeness, even going so far as to bow his helmeted head slightly.

At least one of them has manners, Xuejing reflected. The woman was obviously an untrustworthy individual, but this Nicolai actually seemed quite stand-up. The fact that he fought scarily well, too, seemed to her a sign he was cut from better cloth than the rest of them. After all, her own Nara clan were great fighters, and they were honourable. It made sense that it would run similarly with the barbarians. She smiled at him.

Distant cracking noises sounded, echoing from all around her, and Xuejing was unable to restrain her flinch, Blades coming up without thought. She stared around for the threat but felt her Silver Net drawing energy, saw the puffs of dirt at her feet, and understood. Peering up through eyes narrowed against the sunlight, she saw flashes from the fortification up there. Zixiao and the rest were shooting down at them.

She looked back to her new… allies… only to blink in surprise.

They were gone.

'Hello?' she called out, confused.

'This way,' whispered a voice, filtering through the trees.

She swallowed around the lump in her throat, gripped her Blades tight, and moved toward the sound.

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