The screens, vibrating like agitated hearts, fixed on Ian again.
In front of him, barely protected behind his shadow, stood Aurora, motionless, her eyes open like moons.
On the other side, the soldier advanced.
His gaze was a blind abyss: a mixture of obsession, madness, and pure bloodthirst.
He was no longer a competitor.
He was something worse.
One of Kraven's soldiers.
A thirsty, hungry wolf, stalking the exam, attacking in cold blood with intent to kill.
The air between Ian and his enemy vibrated, heavy, unbreathable.
The jungle around them seemed to hold its breath.
Ian took a step forward.
Aurora, trembling, tried to stop him, but he only extended a hand, protecting her without even turning his face.
"Stay back," he whispered.
The soldier, as if responding to a silent order from his true master, roared and launched himself at Ian, madness reflected in every muscle of his body.
The battle had begun.
The soldier roared like a wild animal.
In a flash impossible to follow with the human eye, a titanochrome sword emerged from his arm, assembling instantly with a dry click—nanotechnology.
With terrifying speed, almost like a specter, the soldier leaped.
His figure cut through the air in a blink, like a spear of flesh and metal, falling directly on Aurora.
Everything happened in a fraction of a second.
Ian didn't think.
He acted.
With an almost instinctive reflex, he embraced Aurora against his chest and jumped backward with all his strength, barely dodging the mortal blade that descended like a sentence.
The sword whistled through the air, cutting a lock of Aurora's hair, grazing her existence by a breath.
The ground trembled when the soldier impacted against the earth, opening a crack beneath his feet.
Ian landed a few meters back, rolling through the mud to protect her, his arms firm as steel around her.
Aurora gasped, astonished, her large eyes fixed on Ian.
"What the hell…?!" Ian muttered, carefully placing her behind him.
The soldier lifted his head.
His sword vibrated, hungry for blood.
His twisted smile was that of an assassin still savoring the hunt.
Ian narrowed his eyes.
It was no longer a game.
It was an execution.
And he wasn't going to allow it.
Ian barely loosened the pressure on Aurora, leaving her safe behind him.
With a single movement, he interposed himself between her and the threat again.
His breathing was measured, but his mind boiled.
The soldier was too fast.
Even for him.
Ian gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on that hooded enemy who wielded his sword as if it were part of his own body.
"I couldn't…" he murmured to himself, incredulous. "I couldn't follow him."
Kyran's voice rumbled in his ears, like thunder.
"Careful," Kyran's voice sounded grave, almost cutting. "That's no ordinary soldier!
That's Riven Drakhan!"
Ian frowned, his chest tensing.
"Who?"
"One of the four main sergeants of Kraven's troops," Kyran continued, his voice laden with a gravity he rarely showed.
"An assassin trained to annihilate, not to compete.
If you face him carelessly, you won't just lose the exam… you'll lose your life."
Before them, Riven Drakhan smiled.
A smile that had nothing human about it.
A silent promise of blood and vengeance.
Ian planted his feet firmly on Amazonia's earth, feeling how the gravity around him seemed to bend, as if the world itself awaited the next move.
There was no choice.
He had to fight.
And this time, it wasn't for glory.
It was for Aurora.
It was to survive.
Riven Drakhan moved with unnatural precision, and while Ian desperately sought an opening, a silent truth beat beneath the surface:
The enemy before him wasn't a simple competitor.
He was a soldier of the Imperial Army.
Unlike the Archangels, who operated independently—as heroes, war ministers, contracted soldiers, or free agents—the Imperial Army's soldiers were trained from a young age to obey, fight, and die under a single banner: the Empire itself.
Their ascent didn't depend on fame or fortune:
it was pure merit—time, power, loyalty, blood.
The hierarchy was rigid as the steel they wielded:
At the top, the Supreme Commander: the Army's maximum authority, subordinate only to the Emperor.
Below him, the Ten Monarch Generals: warriors whose title was granted by the absolute mastery of their skills and their absolute and devastating power. Beneath them, the Monarch Captain, executive arm of the generals. Then the lieutenants. Below, the Supreme Sergeants, leaders of units of four Sergeants. Then, the Sergeants, hardened in endless wars. And below, the Officers, divided into levels 0 to 5 where 0 is the highest level and five the lowest. Finally followed by regular soldiers and recruits.
Riven Drakhan was a Sergeant.
An assassin trained not to aspire to glory, but to guarantee annihilation.
He wasn't a candidate.
He wasn't a dreamer.
He was an instrument of death.
And he had been sent to Amazonia by Kraven with a single purpose: to kill.
Kyran's voice still rumbled in Ian's mind.
Riven Drakhan.
A sergeant.
An elite assassin.
And he had to face him, while protecting Aurora.
Riven gave no respite.
Each attack was a perfect hunt, not directed at Ian, but directly toward the young woman sheltered behind him.
The objective was clear: Aurora had to die.
Ian dodged, blocked, deflected each blow as he could, feeling his body could no longer endure much more.
It was then that, between the distant roar of still-open portals, a whistle cut through the sky.
Tezca descended like a shooting star, seated on the back of her companion:
Quetzalcoatl, the majestic feathered dragon, with shining scales and wings like living tapestries of fire and jade feathers.
With a thunderous roar, Quetzalcoatl interposed himself between Riven and Aurora, wrapping her with his body like a living shield, covering her under his protective back.
Tezca, firm on the dragon's back, smiled at Ian.
"Now you can fight peacefully!" she shouted, raising her tiny fist in encouragement.
Ian let out a small snort of relief, releasing the tension that kept him tied to the edge of desperation.
"Thanks!" he responded, turning toward her while dodging another lethal slash from Riven.
A mischievous spark crossed his mind amid the chaos.
"What's your name, little dragon girl?" he asked, barely smiling.
"Tezca!" she responded with a radiant gleam in her eyes.
Ian nodded, dodging another brutal blow and preparing to counterattack.
"Thanks for the help… Tezkita!" he laughed.
Tezca, delighted, let out a musical laugh.
"You're welcome, Iansito!"
Under Quetzalcoatl's warm shelter, Aurora watched everything, incredulous.
The dragon's absolute protection surrounded her like a cocoon, but still, her light brown eyes sparked with bewilderment.
She leaned slightly toward Tezca, her voice barely a whisper:
"Why are you protecting me?" she asked. "I'm also an aspirant. I'm here to fight, I'm strong, I can protect myself…"
Tezca looked at her from above, still seated on her dragon's head, and smiled sweetly.
"We know," she responded.
"But you look so pretty and fragile, it makes us want to protect you."
Aurora blinked, confused, completely thrown off.
From the distance, in the middle of his own duel against Riven, Ian heard those words.
He allowed himself to barely smile, and nodded silently, agreeing with Tezca.
Aurora, still wrapped in the dragon's warm feathers, looked at Tezca and Ian, and for the first time, felt something new grow in her chest.
Not just competition.
Not just survival.
Trust.
With Aurora protected under Quetzalcoatl's wings, Ian felt the tension in his muscles dissolve.
For the first time in the entire fight, he could move freely.
He could fight without fear.
He stood firm before Riven Drakhan, his posture no longer defensive, but offensive, like a spear ready to break the sky.
A few meters away, Kyran silently approached Tezca and Aurora's position, positioning himself next to the enormous feathered dragon.
He observed the scene with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Impressive," he commented in a low voice, his gaze fixed on Ian.
"Not just anyone can stand up like that to a sergeant."
Tezca, without taking her eyes off the battle, not even turning her head, responded with a sweetness full of conviction:
"My friend Iansito is veeery strong," she said, stretching the word with an invisible smile in her voice, confident and luminous.
Kyran barely smiled, amused by the little warrior's blind confidence.
Aurora, still huddled under Quetzalcoatl's warm feathers, watched in silence.
First Kyran, then Tezca.
Finally, her eyes rose to Ian.
And then she saw him truly.
The way he dodged Riven's impossible slashes.
The lethal precision of each counterattack.
The savage grace with which he moved his body, as if the wind itself obeyed his wishes.
He was beautiful.
Terrible.
Indomitable.
Aurora felt a shudder run down her spine.
Her pupils dilated without her being able to help it, and a slight blush covered her pale cheeks.
A light wind caressed her hair, her face, like an invisible whisper amid the chaos.
And for the first time in her life, she felt her heart didn't beat only to fight.
It beat to live.
And to see Ian once more.
In the Celestial Stadium, the entire public held its breath.
Thousands of eyes, thousands of souls, trapped in the fierce and sublime spectacle unfolding in Amazonia.
In the imperial box, Alistair and Rhygar watched the transmission with grave faces.
Not a single gesture, not a word.
Only the seriousness of those who knew how to recognize when a true warrior was born in fire.
At their side, Tiberius, crossing his arms, let out a short laugh, between worried and amused.
"You were right, your children are very strong, Alistair," he commented, shaking his head, without taking his eyes off the screens.
"What kind of hellish training have you given them?"
Alistair let out a nervous laugh, bringing a hand to his head.
"I suppose… I went a bit overboard," he responded, with a tense smile.
On the same balcony, Auron—Aurora's effusive father and also Monarch General—unable to contain his emotion, stood up and shouted enthusiastically:
"My dearest daughter is in love with someone amazing, and it's reciprocated!"
Auron's voice rumbled through the marble corridors.
Everyone present turned their heads toward him, between amused and scandalized.
Kleominsa, the queen of Tantahar, seated not far away, frowned with irritation, throwing Auron a look of pure ice.
Her face was the living image of displeasure, of jealousy.
Back in Amazonia, Tezca's eyes moved from side to side at an impossible speed, following each movement of the battle, without missing a single detail.
Riven Drakhan, frustrated seeing he couldn't reach Aurora, let out a growl of rage.
And then, something changed.
An armor began to materialize around his body, emerging from nothing in a metallic whisper.
Pure nanotechnology, fused with titanochrome, forming a majestic, modern, and lethal armor.
A second sword was born in his left hand, equally sublime and terrible.
A dark and dense aura sprouted from within him, wrapping his body, his weapons, his armor.
A power born from the fusion between machine and vital energy.
Ian felt the world around him compress.
Dodging became a feat.
Defending, a miracle.
Attacking, madness.
Riven's speed had doubled.
Each slash was a lightning bolt of death.
Ian barely managed to dodge a mortal thrust, but couldn't avoid the next blow:
The sword tore his black clothing, opening a wound in his torso, from shoulder to ribs.
Blood flowed.
Tezca and Kyran remained motionless, watching in absolute silence.
It wasn't fear.
It was respect.
Aurora, from her refuge under Quetzalcoatl, brought both hands to her mouth, her light brown eyes shining with anguish.
Ian breathed deeply.
He felt the hot blood running down his skin.
He closed his eyes for an instant.
And remembered.
A week before the exam.
With Makia.
Training.
Surpassing their limits.
Believing.
Speaking to the wind, he whispered:
"Little sister…
It's time to put our training to the test."
With a quick gesture, he removed the black sweatshirt he wore, leaving his torso bare.
His body, sculpted by combat's rigor, gleamed under the last light of dusk.
The open wound on his chest burned like a reminder:
He couldn't fail.
From her hiding place, Aurora watched him and her face ignited in a blush impossible to hide.
Her heart beat wildly, and Amazonia's wind seemed to whisper secrets she didn't yet understand.
Ian adopted a new posture.
Like a runner at the starting line.
Like a storm about to be born.
And he shouted:
"Sonic Blink…!"
He disappeared.
In a true blink.
He reappeared just above Riven, floating in the air, like an avenging shadow.
With the speed of thunder, he shouted his attack's name:
"Shooooock!"
His fist impacted directly on Riven Drakhan's face.
A brutal explosion shook the earth.
The stadium screen trembled.
Kraven's sergeant was violently buried in the ground, the earth cracking beneath his body.
His nanotechnology armor and his swords dissolved in the air like defeated dust.
From the celestial stadium, thousands of souls watched in sacred silence, while the last ray of dusk bathed the battlefield.
Ian, gasping, staggering, smiled weakly.
Looking at the sky, he whispered to the wind:
"It worked, little sister… it worked."
And then, the triumphant shout broke the silence.
"Yeeeeessss!" Tezca shouted, raising her fist to the sky.
Without thinking twice, Tezca jumped from Quetzalcoatl's back, like a small shooting star, ran and threw herself at Ian, hugging him tightly.
The impact almost knocked him down.
Both fell to the ground amid pure and sincere laughter, rolling in the earth as if they were lifelong friends.
Ian laughed.
Tezca laughed.
The jungle itself seemed to smile.
Kyran and Aurora watched them from the distance.
Kyran, with a slight smile of satisfaction.
Aurora, with her heart pounding in her chest, feeling that something precious had been born in that forgotten corner of Amazonia.
Meanwhile, Riven Drakhan remained buried in the earth, unconscious.
The storm had passed.
For now.