The valley was still shaking.
Dust rolled like storm-clouds across the broken plain; shards of energy hissed where gold met crimson.
And through that chaos walked the figure both women felt before they saw—silver eyes cutting through the smoke.
Leice Grape stopped at the rim of the crater. Breakam One hung loose at his side, the blade alive with soft pulses of light.
For a moment, only the wind spoke.
Kesha wiped the blood from her cheek, grin curling again.
"Well, look who crawled out of nowhere."
Yvonne turned sharply, sweat tracing the line of her jaw.
"Leice—stay out of this."
He tilted his head, unconcerned.
"Hard to stay out when you're lighting up half the map."
Above them, fragments of data burned across the sky as EVA-9 announced the casualty update.
[Participants remaining: 348.]
The sound faded beneath another rumble—Compression Phase Three tightening the world's edges.
The Triad of Heat
Kesha's laughter rang again, bright and reckless.
"So the rumor's true. Mommy's little exception finally shows his face."
Leice's eyes narrowed.
"You talk a lot for someone who just lost half her ammo."
Her grin widened. Twin pistols re-formed in her hands, heat vents glowing.
"Enough for you."
Without warning, she fired. Bullets of scarlet energy spiraled toward him like comets.
Leice moved once—just once—and the air bent. Breakam One split into panels, folding around him like petals before snapping back into sword form. Each bullet vanished against a ripple of silver light.
When the dust settled, Leice hadn't moved an inch.
Yvonne blinked. Even she hadn't seen the motion.
"Impossible…" she whispered.
Kesha's grin faltered for the first time.
"You used the grid's flow."
"I used instinct," Leice said simply.
He stepped forward. The ground under him shimmered as Breakam One shifted shape again—blade to spear, spear to scythe, a living rhythm.
"This isn't your fight," Yvonne snapped, stepping between them.
"Stay out, or you'll make things worse."
"You're already losing control," he replied. "I'm just adjusting the odds."
Kesha aimed both guns, power rising until the air shook.
"Adjust this."
They fired together—Yvonne with a golden arc, Kesha with a storm of red light.
Leice blurred between them, twisting the scythe form in a half-circle sweep. The collision detonated in mid-air, scattering embers across the battlefield.
When the glow faded, he stood between them, unharmed, one hand raised.
"Enough. The field's shrinking; fight me, or get erased together."
Yvonne's jaw tightened.
"You arrogant—"
But Kesha cut her off, laughter returning, lower now, dangerous.
"Fine. If you want in, silver eyes, then make it interesting."
She holstered one gun and pointed the other straight at his heart.
"Winner keeps everything. Loser kneels—body and soul. No rescans, no complaints."
Gasps rippled from the scattered observers watching through remote feeds.
That kind of oath wasn't casual; it was a binding protocol—the arena would record it, enforce it. The loser would literally be marked as servant until the victor released them.
Leice twirled Breakam One once, the weapon purring in his hands.
"A total claim?" he asked. "You sure you can afford that?"
"You afraid?"
He smiled faintly.
"Never."
A circle of light formed under their feet as EVA-9 confirmed.
[Combat Oath Detected — Binding Type: Total Submission.
Witness: Yvonne Grape.]
Yvonne's eyes widened.
"You're insane! Both of you!"
Neither looked at her.
The circle flared; the system sealed the pact.
---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---
The Oath Ignites
Kesha vanished first—her speed almost invisible. Leice raised the spear form, intercepting twin blasts that curved mid-air to flank him. Each hit the blade, ricocheted, exploded behind his back.
He lunged. The spear elongated into a chain-blade, slicing through the energy haze. Kesha ducked, returned fire. Sparks and sound blurred into a single roar.
Every impact lit the sky.
Yvonne staggered backward, shielding her eyes from the storm their duel created.
Leice's movements were smooth, measured; every step calculated.
Kesha fought like wildfire, every shot unpredictable.
The world bent around their clash—silver arcs crossing red spirals.
The Compression Field pulsed, struggling to contain the overload.
EVA-9's voice crackled with static.
[Warning: Zone instability. Recommend immediate disengage.]
They didn't hear it.
In the Academy control hall, Alicia rose from her chair as the readings spiked.
"He accepted a binding oath?"
One of the supervisors stammered, "Y-yes, ma'am. The system verified it."
A slow smile touched her lips.
"Interesting. So he's learning how to play the world against itself."
Back in the field, Leice deflected another burst, sparks streaking his face.
He landed lightly, Breakam One shifting to its sword mode, edges humming.
"You're good," he said. "But you fight angry. Anger's predictable."
Kesha spat to the side, eyes blazing.
"Predict this!"
She slammed both guns together; a spiral cannon formed, beam gathering light from the sky itself.
Yvonne shouted, "Stop—You'll trigger—"
Too late.
The beam fired, cutting across the valley. Leice crossed his blades; Breakam One split, swallowed the blast, then discharged it upward. The resulting shockwave rolled through every corner of the grid.
When the light dimmed, both of them still stood—
but the ground beneath them glowed molten red, and the Compression Field's edge loomed only a few hundred meters away.
Kesha staggered, breathing hard. Her pistols cracked with heat.
Leice lowered his weapon.
"Looks like a draw."
She laughed hoarsely.
"Dream on. I don't lose twice."
"Then prove it next round."
He turned slightly, catching Yvonne's gaze.
"Get ready. When the field closes again, everyone near this quadrant will converge here. Use it."
Yvonne hesitated, then nodded once. She could argue later; for now, survival came first.
High above, the violet boundary flashed.
[Compression Phase Four Incoming.]
[Remaining Participants: 316.]
The ground trembled as energy walls began to descend.
Kesha straightened, reloading, eyes never leaving Leice.
"Don't think the oath ends till one of us falls."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
They stared at each other across the burning plain—two forces caught between respect and rivalry.
The wind carried sparks between them as the arena began to collapse inward.
Far in the distance, lightning forked across the Core Nexus, heralding the next phase of the war.