The air itself trembled.

Steam drifted through fissures in the arena floor, glowing red beneath the veil of cold light.

Both young men stood in silence, bodies battered, essence running thin.

Only their eyes moved—locked on each other, unwavering.

The arena's noise dulled to a low hum, swallowed by the rising pulse of raw spiritual pressure. Mirage's frost halos still glimmered faintly across the battlefield, her feathers slick with molten dust. Gray crouched beside Aston, his obsidian fur catching fragments of reflected firelight from Tristan's side.

Across the field, Zoom limped, its sleek form scorched and torn along one flank, the runes across its body flickering erratically. Beside it, Scylla writhed weakly, coils trembling under residual frostbite. Yet even in defeat's shadow, both beasts snarled, defiant.

Tristan's chest rose and fell sharply, his grin crooked but unbroken. "Still breathing, huh?"

Aston's answer came quiet, sweat drenching his attire due to the steam. "Barely."

"Good," Tristan spat blood into the dirt. "Then don't you dare hold back."

He raised his hand—and Zoom moved.

Flames roared anew, runes blazing crimson across its hide. A spiral of embers circled the beast as Scylla's remaining essence poured into it, merging aura to aura. The serpent's form dimmed, but Zoom's brightened—its eyes burning like twin suns.

Aston's pupils contracted. "He's merging the beast channels…? No—he's funneling Scylla's remaining energy into Zoom."

Tristan's laugh cut through the heat. "You're not the only one with tricks, Rhyner!"

Zoom vanished.

A blur of light, impossible speed. Mirage's warning screech came half a second too late—the cheetah reappeared above Aston, claws engulfed in searing plasma. Aston dove aside, but Mirage darted between them, her wings snapping open to intercept.

Crack!

The impact split the air. Mirage's cry echoed across the arena as the flaming claws raked her side. Ice exploded outward, shards scattering like shattered stars.

"Mirage!" Aston's voice tore through the smoke.

The owl tumbled midair, one wing fractured and trailing frost and blood. Still, she righted herself with sheer will, spinning once to loose a final Fractured Halo—five sigils igniting in brilliant blue. They shimmered for only a heartbeat before detonating into concentric waves of freezing light, halting Zoom's momentum.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

But the damage was done.

Her halo flickered once more… then went out.

Mirage dropped from the sky, her translucent wings fading as she crashed softly into the frost-scarred earth.

Aston froze for half a second—then something inside him broke.

The temperature around him plummeted.

The crowd roared with craziness upon hearing the referee, "Glasswing Owl—eliminated!"

Gray's head snapped up, eyes gleaming with lethal awareness. The kitten's small form pulsed once—then expanded, muscle and essence rippling outward. Obsidian armor-like fur bristled as white stripes cut through his back—his cub form surged forth, claws gleaming with refracted light. The ground cracked beneath his paws, shards of earth hovering briefly before falling away.

The crowd was shocked with the change of the kitten turning into a tiger cub.

"It's not a kitten or a Linear Shadow Panther… its a tiger cub!"

"Did it evolve mid-battle?!"

Students leaned over the railings, shouting in disbelief. The noise rose like thunder, echoing against the barrier dome. Even the instructors—normally poised—stood in stunned silence, eyes reflecting the obsidian gleam of the transformed tiger below.

Gray's aura flooded the field, no longer small or reserved. Metallic light danced across his fur, each movement leaving faint distortions in space, as though the world itself hesitated to contain him. The shockwave of his release sent dust and steam scattering outward.

In the upper dais, the Vice Principal's composure never faltered. He merely leaned forward, fingers steepled, gaze sharp.

"It wasn't an awakening," he murmured, voice carrying a note of satisfaction.

The instructors near him turned, startled. "How do you know?" one whispered.

"I suspected," he replied evenly. "That form was concealed—deliberately. The kitten was only a guise. A clever one."

He let out a faint hum, eyes narrowing as Gray's essence stabilized into its true rhythm. "To suppress that much potential, even during the opening tests… that requires restraint—and intent. That boy's hiding far more than he shows."

Below, the audience's confusion only grew.

"Wasn't he only a red-ranked potential?"

"Red or not, how's he able to tame that?!"

"No wonder he reached the finals—look at the pressure it's giving off!"

Meanwhile, Aston's voice rang steady through the uproar, calm cutting through chaos as he called, "Gray—let's end this."

Gray's roar tore through the arena—a guttural, echoing sound that reverberated deep in the bones of every spectator. The frost from Mirage's halos surged toward him, wrapping around his frame, merging with his metallic essence. Ice and steel intertwined, his fur shimmering between silver and shadow.

Across the field, Zoom hissed, its flames flaring in instinctive defiance.

The Vice Principal's faint smile returned.

So, you've finally showed your true colors, Kynee.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.