The crowd roared again, the air thick with sweat and sparks. After the strike that had turned the entire tournament on its head, the arena burned with a fervor it hadn't felt in years.
Cain was the first to step forward. He carried no sword, entering the field with bare hands as if defying the rules themselves. His opponent, a renowned duelist famed for his lightning-fast blade, laughed aloud.
The signal sounded. The opponent lunged with blinding speed, but Cain slipped aside effortlessly, caught the blade with his bare hand, twisted, and with a single shoulder throw sent the man crashing into the ground.
The arena erupted in gasps and wild cheers.
"Barehanded… he crushed him?!"
Next came Jane.
Her opponent was a towering fighter, known for her brute strength and bone-crushing strikes. The duel began, filling the arena with the clang of steel and the sharp thud of heavy blows.
But Jane moved with lethal grace, dodging each attack until she found her opening. A quick upward slash struck her opponent's shoulder joint, sending her sprawling to the ground.
The crowd screamed in disbelief—three victories, three overwhelming displays of power.
Then came William once more.
He stood in the center of the field, his blade still sheathed, facing a masked warrior known only as the Hidden Hand.
For long seconds, they stared at one another, the silence stretching until the crowd began to murmur.
Then the masked man moved—an attack like a viper's strike.
William waited until the final instant.
A single motion, almost invisible.
The opponent's sword flew from his grasp, clattering to the ground, and the masked man fell to his knees, stunned.
The arena erupted:
"One strike… again?!"
Other matches followed, the remaining suspects also claiming victory with unsettling ease.
Whispers rippled through the stands:
"Who are they? Are they even human… or ghosts?"
On the elders' platform, Alys Vyr sat motionless, her gaze sharp as a blade.
Each strike drew her closer to the truth she had been chasing for years—and the shadow she thought she had left behind.