The crowd had scarcely caught its breath from the last exchange before Skuld shifted again. The Zephyr Talons dissolved in ribbons of light, condensing back into her keyblade. Ravenveil Whisper gleamed into being, its feathered jet-black blade traced with veins of storm-blue that pulsed like lightning through dark clouds. The raven-wing guard shimmered, blue tips glowing faint, silver edges catching the torchlight. Even her stance changed — less like the clawing predator, more like a duelist drawing from the sky itself.
Across from her, Kurai never flinched. The Shadow Sovereign rested heavy in her grip, silver-black teeth trailing wisps of shadow, her posture relaxed, her eyes merciless. Darkness draped her shoulders like a cloak, and the air bent ever so slightly around her, heavier, thicker, harder to breathe.
Phil's gruff voice carried over the din of the Colosseum: "Oh, ho! Let's see who comes out on top, folks!"
They blurred into each other.
Ravenveil sang first. Skuld moved in a surging diagonal cut, the glowing veins leaving streaks of blue-white arcs. Kurai pivoted on one heel, catching it flat with Shadow Sovereign and immediately countering with a low slice that hissed dark vapor. Sparks bloomed. Wind burst. Both pushed through.
Skuld chained three quick cuts — left, right, rising vertical — each one tugged sharper by small bursts of Aero at her wrists. Kurai gave ground deliberately, her parries snapping like shutters, each deflection heavier than it should have been. Then she slipped her own edge forward, turning a parry into an inside thrust that nearly pierced Skuld's guard. Skuld twisted, caught it on the hilt-wing of Ravenveil, and their faces passed inches apart, locked in a wheeling bind.
Blue veins glowed. Black mist hissed. Their eyes locked, neither blinking, then both shoved off at once, blades ringing.
Kurai cut low again, then snapped her wrist upward — an Abyssal Severance vertical strike that released a ripple of shadow. Skuld sidestepped on a sudden slipstream, riding the air sideways and slashing her own crescent arc of wind, a Wind Fang, that collided and burst with the shadow wave mid-air. Dust and sparks flared like fireworks.
The crowd roared.
Skuld pressed. She leaned into a tighter guard, forcing her speed against Kurai's strength. Her footwork was precise — small hops, turns, shifts — never letting herself be rooted where Kurai could hammer her down. When Kurai lunged with a brutal two-handed strike, Skuld redirected, spun, and slashed backhanded, carving a thin line across Kurai's sleeve. The raven-keyblade's glowing edge had drawn first blood.
The crowd gasped.
But Kurai's answering smile was razor-thin. "Finally," she whispered.
Her retaliation was immediate. The Shadow Sovereign whirled in a sudden flurry — short, snapping strikes that forced Skuld back step after step. When Skuld tried to intercept, Kurai slammed a Dark Reflect point-blank against her blade. The barrier pulsed outward like a mine going off, the force hurling Skuld across the stage. She skidded, boots tearing lines through sand and stone, barely catching herself before the boundary.
Kurai didn't give her the second to breathe. She darted forward with a Vortex step, appearing before Skuld in a blink and swinging in a low horizontal cut. Skuld dropped, rolled, came up with Ravenveil spinning into a rising slash — the blue veins crackling as if thunder answered her defiance. Their blades met overhead, crashing with a shriek of steel.
The impact burst dust upward in a ring. The spectators in the first rows leaned back, shielding their faces from the shockwave.
Skuld ducked inside Kurai's guard, driving a shoulder into her stomach and using Aero under her boots to push them both upward. For a second, they were airborne — Kurai twisting, Skuld spinning Ravenveil for a fast overhead smash. Kurai snarled, blocked, then kicked off Skuld's chest to hurl herself back to the ground. She landed in a crouch, darkness rippling under her feet, and immediately thrust upward in a slash that spat a lance of shadow. Skuld intercepted with Reflect — light sphere flashing into being — and then let the burst push her away like recoil. She landed lightly, sliding on wind, already dashing in again.
The exchange never slowed. Every time Skuld tried to build momentum, Kurai found a way to cut it short. Every time Kurai pressed in with suffocating weight, Skuld bent air and distance to wriggle free. The duel had become pure rhythm — strike, block, counter, evade, repeat — their movements so fast the eye could barely follow.
But strain was slowly creeping in. Ravenveil's glow remained steady, but Skuld's breathing was harder now, her steps less sharp. She had burned Aero, Reflect, Starstep, Slipstream, Prism Storm, Halo Reversal — all in quick succession in the last rounds of the duel. Her stamina wasn't infinite. And Kurai knew it.
Another collision — Ravenveil locking against Shadow Sovereign. Skuld pushed, teeth clenched, but Kurai leaned in close, voice cold against her ear. "You're slowing."
Skuld snarled, shoved back, and unleashed Aurora Tempest — blades of wind and light lashing in a sudden cyclone arc. Kurai braced, Shadow Sovereign glowing with Abyssal darkness, and split the attack down the middle with brute force. The burst scattered, sparks flying harmlessly into the air. The crowd gasped again.
Skuld stumbled, knees trembling for a half-second. Kurai surged.
Shadow Sovereign swung in a brutal arc, hammering against Ravenveil once, twice, thrice. Skuld parried the first two, but the third crashed through her guard, knocking Ravenveil aside and leaving her exposed. Kurai's boot slammed into her midsection, blasting the air from her lungs and hurling her backwards.
She tumbled, rolled, and summoned Ravenveil into her hand just in time to block the next downward strike. Sparks cascaded. The crowd was on its feet.
Skuld tried one last gambit — compressing air around her and exploding it outward in a desperate Aero burst. The wave shoved Kurai back a step, bought her space. She lunged forward in a final cross-cut, Ravenveil's veins blazing brighter than ever.
But her swing faltered a fraction too slow. Her arms didn't carry the same speed they had before. Kurai slipped inside, caught the keyblade on her hilt guard, and twisted sharply. Ravenveil tore from Skuld's grip, spinning across the sand and sticking upright, quivering.
Before Skuld could even react, Shadow Sovereign's dark edge stopped an inch from her throat.
The crowd erupted. Some screamed Skuld's name, others Kurai's. Dust swirled like stormclouds around the two.
Phil was nearly shrieking. "What a match, folks! And the winner—Kurai!"
Kurai held her keyblade there for one more heartbeat, her eyes locked on Skuld's. Then she withdrew, letting the weapon dissolve into shadow, and turned away without a word. Skuld staggered, caught herself, and retrieved Ravenveil. Her chest heaved, sweat streaking her face, but her eyes were still fierce, still burning with defiance despite defeat.
The audience's roar followed them as they walked back to the waiting corridor, their duel already being shouted about in every tier of the Colosseum.