"Cheap shot," Titus spat, and with his left hand he summoned a whip of coiling lightning, the arcs snapping and screaming as they wrapped around his arm.

Bzzzz!!

Without a moment's hesitation he brought the whip crashing down. The impact hit like a falling star, the stage buckling and then collapsing outright beneath the sheer violence of the strike. Stone split, metal shrieked, and fragments were thrown into the air before gravity dragged them back down.

"Everyone fifty meters from the stage," Lewis commanded, his arm thrust outward. In the very next second the shattered platform rippled, its surface stretching and knitting itself together as if reality itself had decided to undo the damage. Cracks sealed, edges reformed, and the stage swelled back into place, whole once more.

"Hmp!"

Jade sneered as her ice-and-mirror barrier shattered into glittering shards. Her silhouette twisted, bones shifting beneath her skin as claws burst from her fingers and a thick tail tore free behind her. The change was violent, unnatural, and fast.

"Hooo!!"

She roared, and an ice-cold blizzard poured from her mouth, flooding the stage in a breath-stealing chill. Frost raced across the ground, crawling up pillars and weapons alike, the air turning sharp and painful to breathe.

Avatars were not just extensions of the human shell. They were beings of entirely different origins, different blood and instinct. This was the true form of Jade's avatar.

"These two…"

Enzo stood firm, five meters from the edge of the platform, eyes narrowed.

The battle had leapt from one to a hundred in a single exchange. This was nothing like the earlier fights. There was no testing, no restraint. Only destruction.

Jade rampaged across the stage, her movements feral and relentless. Titus answered by swinging his whip without care or caution, striking wherever he pleased. Lightning lashed out in wild arcs, tearing through ice and stone alike.

To him, fighting Jade was no different from fighting a monster. Because that was exactly what she was right now.

"Dance for me, bitch," Titus laughed, the sound sharp and unhinged. Ice crept over his body, crawling along his limbs and chest, his breath frosting as her blizzard took its toll. Even so, he kept moving, kept laughing, even as he began to bear the brunt of her assault.

They were partners half the time, but between them was a rivalry soaked in resentment. They had beaten each other, lost to each other, again and again, until something ugly had taken root.

That was why they avoided fighting whenever they could.

It dragged out the worst parts of them.

"Slow down."

Titus suddenly stepped back. He holstered the gun in his right hand and pulled out a small hand clock, its surface sealed beneath a layer of ancient ice.

A profane treasure.

Before Jade could react, her movements faltered. The power behind her strikes thinned, her limbs growing heavy as time itself began to resist her. Titus was still only an Exalted. The energy he could pour into the artifact was limited, nothing like Enzo's crossbow. This treasure carried mythic authority, not brute force, and it demanded a price.

"He's using a tyrant-rank treasure…" Master Seth muttered, a bitter smile tugging at his lips as he glanced toward Lewis. There was no mistaking the source. The Snowfall family had armed him well.

"Heheh."

Lewis shook his head. What were they pretending for? As if Master Inkous had not ordered Seth to hand one over to Jade as well. There was nothing improper about it.

Crack.

A row of clawed metal gloves snapped into existence around Jade's hands. The air around her fractured, the slowing effect shattering as a defiant energy surged outward, pushing time itself away.

"Shameless," Jade sneered as she straightened, her posture steady once more. Her power stabilized, sharpened, no longer slipping through her fingers.

"Yenyenyen, cry me a fucking river."

Titus straightened as well, summoning a long gun from nothingness, the weapon settling into his hands with unsettling familiarity.

"You really are going overboard."

Far from the battlefield, two figures sat atop a distant building, gazes fixed on the chaos below.

"He's my student. It's mine. What are they going to say, that I shouldn't gift my student?" Black said with a shrug.

"The agreement was…" White faltered, then sighed. "You do realize Inkous has a few demigod echoes, right?"

The weapon Black had given couldn't be officially ranked. No classification, no clear lineage. That was why no one interfered. But once its output was known…

Boom!!

A city-shaking explosion thundered outward. Buildings buckled, windows shattered, and a gaping hole tore through several structures in its wake.

"Stop!!"

Master Seth barked as he strode forward to where Jade stood. The last strike had blasted clean through multiple buildings. This land had once been part of a divine kingdom.

Damage like this was not normal.

"What?"

Titus raised his hands in mock surrender, wearing a smile that held no warmth at all.

As things stood, no one could determine the class of his weapon. It was forged through scientific means, not divine or arcane systems. There were no rules against its use. Jade had not even been directly struck, only knocked unconscious by the shockwave.

""You really are shameless," Master Seth said, fury plain on his face as his gaze settled on Lewis.

This father-and-son duo was something else entirely.

"That weapon is henceforth confiscated for further reevaluation," Master Seth said as he stepped forward, his hand closing firmly around the barrel of the gun.

Titus did not hesitate. He released it at once and took two steps back. Fighting Master Seth would be stupidity of the highest order. No matter his ties to Inkous's faction, Seth was still a vice regent, and that weight could not be challenged lightly.

"You win," Master Seth said, the words forced out with clear reluctance. They could not determine the weapon's true strength until at least a month had passed. Given its complexity, perhaps even longer. There was no time to wait that long. An automatic victor had to be declared.

But just as Seth turned to leave, a voice rang out from the side of the stage, sharp enough to make him pause.

"I'm next."

It was Enzo.

The words rippled through the crowd, drawing confused stares in his direction.

Did he not see what had just happened? Titus had nearly killed the second-strongest third-year moments ago. Cheap tricks or not, cheating or not, the result was undeniable true. What could a mere Star Weaver possibly do here?

"Enzo, that's—"

Master Seth tried to intervene, but Enzo had already climbed onto the stage. He walked forward without hesitation, his steps calm and deliberate.

"Titus and I go way back. Don't worry. We have an understanding," Enzo said with a faint, coy smile, his eyes settling on Titus, who was still smeared with dirt and frost.

Silence fell over the crowd.

Was this kid stupid? He could have kept quiet and let it end. Everyone knew this matchup was a joke.

"Are you sure?" Master Seth asked, studying him carefully.

Enzo nodded, firm and without doubt.

Seeing that, a small smile crept onto Seth's face.

"Here you go."

Master Seth stepped closer and placed his saber into Enzo's hand.

[You have received an echo]

[You have received an echo]

The announcement echoed twice within Enzo's mind, heavy and unmistakable. Seth had transferred his weapons to him. Tyrant-grade echo.

"Thank you," Enzo said softly, smiling as a strange warmth spread through his chest.

Master Seth was backing him.

"Good luck," the old man sighed, then turned and walked away, leaving the stage to him.

Enzo was a Great Star, reborn with a treasure bound to Galafray. He had killed Exalted before. He had taken part in the fall of a Tyrant with only five others while still a Star Weaver.

If nothing else, the boy was a miracle worker. Perhaps what came next would surprise even Seth. Still, he remained ready, prepared to step in should things turn the other way.

"Enzo, my friend, what are you doing? This isn't appropriate," Titus said, smiling bitterly.

Enzo had helped him grow stronger. The hunts they had shared, the creatures they had brought down together, all of it had pushed Titus into the third stage of Exalted, given him the foundation to wield that weapon at all.

Fighting him now felt wrong.

"Appropriate…" Enzo repeated, then lifted his gaze. "Brother Titus, it's very much appropriate."

With that, space twisted. A massive coffin emerged from nothingness and crashed onto the stage, the impact echoing outward as stone groaned beneath its weight. Dust rolled across the platform in a low wave.

Enzo did not look away.

He was not going to leave anything to chance. Not against Titus. With everyone already throwing around the word shameless, he knew this fight would be anything but simple.

Looking at the giant black coffin, Titus frowned then said

"If you say so brother, let's have a joyous spar"

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