[Phase Nine: 01:00:00 → 00:43:00]
[Objective: Survive 02:00:00]
[Safe Zone Radius: 500 Meters]
[Remaining Participants: 15]
The sky cracked with static.
The arena had shrunk into a fractured disk—half molten canyon, half ice field, veins of green data pulsing beneath its surface. The Pact of Six stood together, eyes fixed on the haze around them.
Nine silhouettes emerged one by one, stepping through the mist.
All women—each radiating the kind of strength that spoke of long battles survived.
Every motion they made shimmered with data fragments, armor glowing with the emblems of the five cities.
Leice's gaze scanned their formation. His interface pulsed quietly in his vision.
[Incoming Signatures: 9 | Class: Elite]
[Battlefield Lock: Active]
He didn't smile. He didn't need to.
He simply said, "Positions."
They spread out, the team moving like the hands of a clock—each knowing where the others stood.
Yvonne vs. The Spear
To the east, Yvonne faced a woman in pale gold armor, a spear spinning in her hands like a storm.
"Grape," the woman said. "You're fast, but you bleed like the rest."
Yvonne's lips curved. "You'll have to catch me first."
They clashed, whips and spear slicing through the air in bursts of light. Sparks rained across the frozen ground. Each movement mirrored—their speed blurring into afterimages.
Yvonne's arm grazed; she hissed, pain sharp, but her grin only widened.
[Skill Activated: Voltage Overdrive]
[Energy Output: 130%]
Her whip ignited, wrapping around the spear mid-spin, yanking the enemy forward. One clean strike followed—light slicing across the screen.
The spear shattered.
The woman fell.
[Player Eliminated]
[Remaining Participants: 14]
Yvonne collapsed to one knee, blood at her lip, eyes burning bright.
Kesha vs. The Iron Blade
South quadrant.
Kesha's opponent towered—a greatsword user in heavy armor, her weapon twice her height.
"You're Billex," the woman growled. "Let's see if the rumor's true."
Kesha smirked. "You talk too much."
The ground cracked when they met.
Every swing sent tremors across the map, the clash of steel echoing like thunder.
Kesha ducked under one strike, blade scraping the dirt, countering with a brutal uppercut slash that split armor.
But the tank pressed forward, unyielding.
A punch caught Kesha across the shoulder; she spun, gasping.
[Health: 62%]
[Stamina Critical]
"Too slow," she spat—and activated her trump card.
[Skill Activated: Blade Chain – Mirage Step]
The air split into three afterimages, each attacking from a different angle.
By the time the armored fighter turned, the final Kesha was already behind her.
[Player Eliminated]
[Remaining Participants: 13]
Kesha exhaled, steadying herself on her sword, armor cracked but eyes sharp.
Zack & Aria vs. The Summoner
At the center of the battlefield, clouds of smoke formed around a lone woman cloaked in white.
Symbols glowed on the ground—summoning circles spreading in rapid pulses.
"Summoner-type!" Aria warned.
"I've got her!" Zack yelled.
He charged—but tendrils of spectral beasts lunged from the symbols, forcing him back.
Aria raised her staff.
[Skill Activated: Light Barrier – Full Dome]
[Mana Consumption: 35%]
The barrier shimmered, deflecting the beasts.
Zack rolled, thrusting his blade through the opening.
The summoner laughed. "You think teamwork saves you?"
[Skill Activated: Echo Bind]
Chains of light wrapped Zack's sword arm.
Aria's eyes widened. "Not on my watch."
Her staff pulsed; a flare of brilliance exploded outward, dissolving the chains.
Zack used that instant.
One precise slash.
The summoner fell backward, fading to data.
[Player Eliminated]
[Remaining Participants: 12]
Aria slumped beside him, mana depleted.
"Next time," she whispered, "you wait for my signal."
"Yes, ma'am," Zack said, grinning through exhaustion.
Gina vs. The Illusion Twins
Far north, the mist thickened.
Two identical women appeared in mirrored armor, their voices speaking in unison.
"Millera, the balance-breaker."
"Two against one—let's test your symmetry."
Gina raised her hand calmly. "Symmetry is easy to rewrite."
[Skill Activated: Light Script – Reflection Inverse]
[Effect: Mirror Feedback Enabled]
Their attacks bent around her—light beams striking their own reflections.
The twins moved faster, fractals of illusion spiraling outward, but Gina's glyphs adjusted instantly, reshaping the air.
"You copy reality," she said. "I overwrite it."
The twins lunged together. Gina finished tracing her last sigil.
Light exploded upward—when it cleared, only she stood.
[Player Eliminations +2]
[Remaining Participants: 10]
She exhaled quietly, hair disheveled, a faint smile on her lips.
"That's the advantage of balance."
Leice vs. Four
At the western ridge, four elites closed in—a sniper on the cliffs, a berserker charging across molten rock, a mage hovering mid-air, and a mecha-suit with rotating cannons.
Zack turned toward him. "Leice—four on one!"
Leice didn't move.
"Good. I needed a warm-up."
[Skill Activated: Break Sequence – Ω MAX]
[DP Spent: 0]
[Effect: Autonomous Weapon Mode / Target Count: 4]
Breakam One split apart, four blades orbiting him in perfect symmetry.
Each shifted form—a cannon, a scythe, a spear, and a sword.
The sniper fired.
Leice's blade intercepted mid-flight, redirecting the bullet straight into the mage's barrier.
The berserker lunged; Leice sidestepped, a pulse from his palm halting her midair.
[Skill: Vector Reversal]
The mecha's cannons roared—but Leice extended a hand. Breakam One transformed into its rifle state and answered with four shots that erased the suit's armor completely.
It took less than thirty seconds.
[Player Eliminations +4]
[Remaining Participants: 6]
The dust settled. Leice stood untouched, light from the collapsing terrain painting his silhouette in gold and silver.
System Update
[Phase Nine: 94% Complete]
[Updated Kill Ranking]
1. Leice Grape – 107
2. Kesha Billex – 65
3. Yvonne Grape – 64
4. Gina Millera – 62
5. Aria Sillena – 13
6. Zack Sillena – 9
Final Six left..
The Pact of Six gathered again near the glowing core, breathing hard, battered but alive.
The world around them flickered, half gone, half holding on.
[Timer: 00:12:00]
[Safe Zone Radius: 300 Meters]
[Remaining Participants: 6]
Aria looked at Leice, her voice quiet. "Is it… over?"
"Almost," he said. "Phase Nine ends when the world does."
Above them, the simulated sky cracked apart, revealing the digital sun at its center, pulsing like a dying heart.
Far away in the observation deck, Alicia watched through trembling fingers.
"They're rewriting what survival means," she whispered.
Back in the arena, Leice raised his gaze to the burning sky.
"Phase Ten," he murmured.
"Let's see what you hide."
The world answered with silence—
and a single heartbeat of light.