The Grid went silent.
For the first time since the start of the trials, no explosions, no screaming code. Only the faint hum of the Compression wall breathing around the last fragments of land.
Every left participants take this small moment to recover, hide and moving forward to first secure the safe spot inside safe zone.
Leice stood in the middle of the ruin, Breakam One idling in its orbit.
Zack slumped against a shard of stone, chest heaving. Aria knelt nearby, staff across her lap, the faint light from her barrier spell fading into sparks.
[Compression Phase Eight – Complete]
[Phase Nine Pending Initialization]
[System Cooling Interval: 00 h 59 m 59 s]
The sky flickered; the world was holding its breath.
Zack spoke first, voice thin.
"Is it… over?"
"For now," Leice replied. "The system needs a heartbeat before it decides what to kill next."
Aria brushed dust from her armor. The booster's heat had finally faded, leaving her pale and exhausted.
She glanced at Leice—half curiosity, half something she couldn't name.
"You knew it would end like this."
"Every game does," he said. "The board resets, the survivors reposition, and the rules change."
He opened his HUD.
[DP: ∞]
[Inventory Accessed — Restoration Patch x 2 | Ammo Core x 3 | Nanoseal Cloth x 1]
He tossed a patch to Zack. "For your arm."
Another to Aria. "Use it before the next compression starts."
She caught it, studying the silver capsule.
"Do you ever rest, Leice?"
"Rest is what happens when the world stops needing you."
For a moment none of them spoke. Above, pieces of land still floated, spinning slowly beneath the violet dome.
——— x——— x——— x——— x———
NightSun Academy — Observation Deck
The audience chamber was quieter now.
Technicians whispered as new numbers streamed down the central holo-tower.
[Kill Ranking — Phase Eight Summary]
01 Leice Grape – 103 Kills
02 Yvonne Grape – 63 Kills
03 Kesha Billex – 60 Kills
04 Gina Millera – 59 Kills
05 Aria Sillena – 10 Kills
06 Zack Sillena – 5 Kills
07 – 100 Others – varied
Eliminated by Zone Collapse – 50
The hall buzzed with disbelief.
"No one's ever crossed a hundred."
"He's rewriting the statistics engine!"
Alicia stood at the balcony rail, face half-lit by the projection of her son's icon.
A technician whispered, "Phase Nine won't initialize. The system's waiting for a stable core… we think it's him."
She laughed softly—part pride, part dread.
"Of course it is."
Within the Grid
[Remaining Participants: 45]
[Safe Radius: 2 Kilometers]
[Atmospheric Integrity: 74 %]
Zack stared at the translucent sky. "It's smaller again, isn't it?"
"It's learning," Leice said. "Trying to keep up."
He traced one finger through the air; blue light rippled outward.
[Command Input: Terrain Survey]
[Result: Nine Zones Remaining – Core Nexus Offline]
Aria walked beside him, scanning the horizon.
Shattered towers glowed faintly under the artificial twilight.
"Do you ever wonder what waits after Phase Nine?" she asked.
"Freedom," he answered. "Or a bigger cage."
A faint ping cut through the silence.
[Unidentified Energy Signature Detected]
[Distance: 1.2 Kilometers]
[Status: Dormant / Observed]
Leice narrowed his eyes. Someone's watching before the phase even begins.
Elsewhere — Sector North
A pale figure moved through the mist, boots splashing against data-water.
Her hair shimmered like burnished copper, her armor bearing the insignia of Millera Industries.
She paused beside a dead beacon, eyes reflecting the chaos above.
"So you're the one they call Grape," she murmured. "Let's see how bright you burn."
[System Tag: Gina Millera – Active Spectator Mode Enabled]
The faint sound of a smirk carried on the digital wind.
——— x——— x——— x——— x———
Observation Deck
Alicia's aide turned from another console.
"Madam, new feed incoming—unregistered signature approaching the core field."
"Identify."
"Codename Millera."
Alicia's eyes sharpened. "So the heiress joins the board."
She looked back at Leice's icon, still glowing steady amidst the void.
"Then Phase Nine will be a coronation."
——— x——— x——— x——— x———
Arena — Countdown to Phase Nine
[Phase Nine Initialization Timer: 00 h 05 m 00 s]
[System Stability: 47 % — Critical Threshold]
The wind picked up again, scattering shards of light across the ground.
Zack tightened his grip on his sword.
"Whatever comes next… we'll handle it together."
Leice looked past him to the horizon, where a lone shimmer marked Gina's approach.
He smiled faintly.
"Together, yes. But remember—some stories only need one author."
[Phase Nine Initialization Imminent]
The world trembled, colours draining into silver and crimson.
Far above, Alicia whispered like a prayer she wasn't sure she meant:
"Leice Grape… don't break the sun."