The forest no longer stretched in every direction—it pressed inward like a funnel. Roots coiled overhead, shadows tightening as though the world itself compressed.

Aston's ten-man squad crept forward, feet muffled by the churned earth. Mirage scouted above, Gray prowled at his side, and the others kept formation. Even in the silence, the sense of nearing violence prickled at the edges of Aston's skin.

Then voices drifted through the compressed air.

He gestured for stillness, and they peered through the trees.

Four teams.

Nearly twenty competitors stood together, their beasts looming in a loose circle. Some were armored like knights, others sleek and serpentine, others pulsing with raw elemental essence. Their handlers stood with easy confidence, glances scanning the forest as if daring challengers to appear.

One of them spotted Aston's group. His hand shot up. "There! The semifinalist!"

Heads turned. The circle rippled with recognition. Whispers spread fast:

"That's him—the one with the monstrous cat."

"He's dangerous, but if we recruit him—"

The leader of this alliance, a tall man in Spirit Combat robes, raised his voice. "You're strong, Rhyner. And so is your squad. But look around—you're two teams. We're four. Don't waste your energy fighting us. Join our alliance, and we'll all make top sixteen together."

The words carried a smug edge, as if the outcome was already certain. Twenty versus ten. They outnumbered Aston's group.

Marcellus muttered under his breath, "They're acting like they already own us."

Ivy bit her lip. "They… do have the advantage."

Aston didn't reply. His gaze swept the enemy formation, not at the confident beasts, but at the handlers tucked in the back. Nervous eyes. Shaky grips. Spirit beasts powerful, yes, but their masters aren't hardened fighters.

We don't need to beat twenty. His mind snapped into clarity. We just need to eliminate one or two handlers. The rest will collapse on their own.

His eyes narrowed. He tapped Gray's side with two fingers, a silent signal. The cub's ears twitched, and a cruel gleam lit its obsidian eyes.

"Gray," Aston whispered, his voice low. "Start with the weakest."

Gray blurred, vanishing into the shadows before anyone could blink.

One heartbeat. Two. Then a scream split the air. A handler staggered back, clutching at nothing as Gray appeared behind him, claws glinting. The handler's mark flared—then vanished. Beast and master alike whisked from the arena.Their disappearance also triggered the disappearance of the eliminated participant's other team members and spirit beasts.

Panic rippled through the alliance ranks.

"What—?!"

"Protect the handlers!"

The alliance circle crumbled into chaos, their earlier smugness dissolving into frantic shouts. Their initial alliance of twenty shortly became fifteen.

"They're sniping us!"

"Form barriers!"

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"Kai!" Aston barked.

Kai jolted, pushing his glasses up with trembling fingers—but his voice came sharp and precise. "Shelldon, Shellforge Wall! Anchor Shell Protocol, now!"

The Spiral Bastion Crabling slammed its claws into the earth. Hexagonal plates of light erupted outward, forming a shimmering barrier that arced over their entire squad. The ground itself rumbled as Shelldon rooted deep, its shell glowing with runes.

The enemy alliance unleashed in retaliation. Bolts of flame, shards of ice, and whips of essence hammered the shield. The hexagons flared bright, buckling under the barrage—but they held.

Inside, Aston's group crouched low, safe behind the glowing dome. Selene extended her dove's light across the wounded, soothing their breaths. Marcellus pounded a fist against the barrier, grinning like a beast himself. "Perfect! Now we can hit them back!"

Aston's lips curved faintly. "Not yet." His eyes tracked Gray through the chaos outside, moving like a phantom between panicked handlers.

"You dare!" the alliance leader growled, his voice trembling with rage as he looked at the cat that decreased the count of his alliance.

Aston shouted from behind the stone wall. "Gray, fall back and hide."

Gray retreated and took cover inside the tight forest until the alliance couldn't track him.

The man's eyes burned. "You'll pay for that arrogance." He swung his blade, voice rising into a roar. "Fifteen against ten! Tear them apart!"

The alliance moved as one, beasts surging forward, essence crackling like a thunderstorm.

Kai's voice cut sharp and urgent: "Brace! Shelldon—reinforce the wall!"

The Spiral Bastion Crabling anchored deeper into the earth, its runes pulsing brighter. The hexagonal barrier flared as firebolts and stone spears crashed against it in a deafening chorus. Each strike sent ripples through the dome, but Shelldon held, carapace glowing with stubborn resilience.

Inside the barrier, Aston's and Kai's squad braced themselves. Marcellus ground his teeth, knuckles white around his weapon. Ivy's silver fox crouched low, glyphs already spinning between its paws. Selene's dove pulsed light, soothing the tremors of fear that threatened to take hold.

Aston's gaze never left the alliance leader. His fury was a distraction. The man thought numbers alone would guarantee victory. But Aston had already learned the truth.

They're desperate. That makes them predictable.

Gray's eyes glinted in the shadows, ready to strike again.

The barrier shuddered under the barrage, sparks leaping from its hexagonal plates. Inside, Aston's allies gritted their teeth, waiting for the shield to collapse. But Aston himself was calm, his gaze sliding over the battlefield like a blade across whetstone.

Fifteen foes. Too many for a head-on brawl. But among them, not all were equal.

His eyes settled on one handler near the back—a slim boy clutching his staff too tightly, knuckles white. His beast, a hawk of stone, beat its wings anxiously, but its movements were sloppy, ill-timed. A weak link.

There.

Gray, Aston used his spirit-link to communicate, the one with the stone hawk. End it.

The kitten's ears flicked. Then he was gone.

Upon seeing the cat's pouncing, the alliance leader's eyes sharpened, rage flashing. He had already seen what happened once, and he wasn't about to let it repeat. He barked, "Defensive net—now!"

Beasts shifted, intercepting lines drawn in haste. A plated hound snapped flames across the air, and an earthen shield surged from the ground to guard the hawk's summoner.

But they had made one mistake.

They underestimated the speed of the cat.

Gray materialized like a shadow made flesh, obsidian claws already flashing mid-leap. The hound's fire snapped at his tail, the shield reared up—but too slow, too late.

One slash. Surgical, perfect.

The staff clattered from the handler's hands before he even realized he'd been struck. His beast let out a strangled cry, his form dissolving as the bond snapped. The boy's mark flared—and vanished.

Light swallowed him whole.

An entire squad erased. The alliance decreased from twenty to fifteen, then to ten.

The battlefield rang with shocked silence before the alliance erupted into panicked cries.

"They took out another one!"

"Two squads—gone just like that!"

The leader's face darkened, fury twisting into desperation. His teeth clenched so tight a vein bulged at his temple. "Damn you, Rhyner!" His sword trembled as he pointed it toward Aston.

"You'll regret this—if it takes everything I have!"

Inside the barrier, Aston told Marcellus with a smile, "Now we can hit them back."

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