The arena was silent—tension hanging so thick in the air, it could be cut with a blade. Kael and Azrael stood across from each other, locked in a deadly standoff. Dust from the explosion earlier still hovered like fog, the air charged with the presence of the Four Elites.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Azrael vanished.
"Kael, look out!" Hana shouted.
Kael barely raised his arm before a shadowy blade tore through the air toward him. But before it could strike—
CLASH!
A white blur darted between them. The impact cracked the ground beneath their feet. Standing in front of Kael was a tall, robed figure with long white hair: Kyoushiro.
Azrael's eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you?"
Kyoushiro didn't answer. His expression remained calm, his posture loose—but there was power radiating from him like a storm held back by will alone.
"Back off," Kyoushiro said flatly. "Kael is not your prey."
Azrael growled and lunged again. Steel met steel. A flurry of slashes and bursts of energy erupted between them as the two blurred into motion. Sparks rained down as Kyoushiro matched Azrael blow for blow, his movements effortless.
The other Elites tensed.
"Veyron," Azrael barked mid-fight, "deal with the boy!"
Kael stepped forward without hesitation. "I've been waiting for this."
Veyron emerged from the smoke, cloaked in black mist, his eyes glowing violet. "Then die with honor," he whispered before charging Kael.
Meanwhile, Raven burst forward with a sonic boom, aiming straight for Ryuu and Kaede.
"Finally!" Ryuu grinned, cracking his knuckles.
Kaede's eyes narrowed. "Stay sharp—this one's unstable."
The stadium trembled as Hana and Tetsu stood ready. Across from them, Lilith hovered in mid-air, wrapped in a quiet distortion of time.
"So you two think you can stop me?" Lilith's voice was emotionless.
Tetsu smirked. "We're not the same kids you saw last year."
"And I'm not the same girl either," Hana added, her aura rising.
The fights exploded into chaos.
Kael and Veyron's battle was a dance of shadows—Voidstep against Cloakstep, Will against Will. Blades clashed and countered, bursts of energy lighting the arena.
Raven unleashed shockwaves with each movement, his laughter echoing as Ryuu kept up blow for blow, while Kaede backed him up with precision strikes and battlefield control.
Lilith warped time around herself, slowing and speeding her movements at will—but Tetsu's brute force and Hana's focused Will proved to be the perfect combination.
But amidst it all, the most shocking fight remained: Kyoushiro vs Azrael.
Even as the others fought, they couldn't help but glance toward the two legends clashing. Kyoushiro was pushing Azrael back—not with raw power, but with skill that shouldn't have been possible for someone his age.
"Who is this guy?" Veyron muttered between strikes.
"He's not in the records..." Lilith said under her breath as time flickered around her.
"He's dangerous," Azrael admitted through clenched teeth as he blocked another lightning-fast strike. "And I don't like that we don't know who he is."
But Kyoushiro—calm, focused—never once gave his name.
Only Kael looked at him with a strange sense of familiarity, even as he dodged another of Veyron's attacks.
"Who... are you really?" he whispered to himself.
The Four Elites had descended on the tournament with confidence—but now, for the first time since their rise under Kurojin's banner...
They were shaken.