Crown Guards advanced again, tightening the ring.
Solace stepped beside Arlenna without looking.
Arlenna smirked. "Back-to-back?"
Solace cracked her neck. "Let's move."
They snapped into position, shoulders almost touching, blades and fists ready.
A guard charged.
Arlenna spun to meet him.
Solace dropped low and rolled backward under Arlenna's legs. Arlenna vaulted forward at the same time, flipping into a clean, deadly lunge. Her blade speared through a guard's shoulder joint; he collapsed instantly.
Another Crown Guard rushed in from behind the one Arlenna had just dropped, right into her blind spot.
Solace popped up out of her roll, planted her foot, and vaulted back over Arlenna, bursting upward. She came down with a right straight to his jaw, a dense-form punch that folded him into the ground on impact.
They switched places seamlessly.
Arlenna ducked.
Solace kicked over her shoulder.
Arlenna spun and sliced a knee joint.
Solace swept two legs out from under another guard.
It was flawless.
It was effortless.
It was them.
"Thiago's doing good?" Arlenna asked between breaths.
"He better be," Solace snapped, elbowing a Crown Guard in the throat. "What's the escape plan?"
"You are leaving," Solace said, blocking two staffs at once.
More boots hit the arena floor. Heavy ones.
Two officers strode into the arena in black armor with red bands, marked with the unmistakable Northern code.
Their look hit instantly.
Black tactical vests built for movement, not bulk. A deep red band stitched across the chest and back, CROSS KINGDOM printed across it in bold white letters. A white DOPO patch sat on the left shoulder. A red Northern stripe on the right shoulder, the mountain insignia stamped cleanly in the corner. Red-accented gloves were designed for grip, not weight. Black boots showed subtle red striping. Light, flexible armor plates sat beneath each vest.
Their weapons weren't standard issue. Compact shock batons with red-wrapped grips, shift-blades holstered flat against the thigh.
They weren't heavy like Crown Guard.
They weren't loud.
They were precise.
Where Crown Guard marched, Cross-Kingdom stalked.
The moment they appeared, the Crown Guard shifted. Shields moved aside. Spacing widened. Posture flipped to support. Eyes locked on the new arrivals.
These two were the real authority.
Arlenna saw the change instantly. She frowned.
"...Those aren't regular DOPO."
Solace's head snapped toward her. "What does that mean?"
She didn't get to finish.
The Cross-Kingdom officers picked up speed, cutting straight through the scattered guards with deadly precision.
Solace grabbed Arlenna's wrist.
"No time. Go."
Before Arlenna could argue, Solace turned heavy-density and launched her toward the escape wall, hard, clean, and unavoidable.
Arlenna flipped midair, eyes wide.
"Solace!"
Thiago saw her coming, sprinted under her, and expanded a flat shield plate beneath her boots, letting her land safely.
She stumbled once, caught herself, and was breathing hard.
He blinked at her, confused. "Why'd she throw you?"
Arlenna pointed back at the arena.
"Two DOPO just walked in. They're... different."
Thiago froze. His expression changed immediately.
"Different how? What'd the vests say?"
"I didn't get a good look," Arlenna said. "Something about Cross... something?"
Thiago's face went pale.
"Cross Kingdom."
He took two steps backward toward the arena.
"No. No, no, she can't fight them alone, we have to—"
Arlenna grabbed his arm.
"Thiago, stop."
"She doesn't stand a—"
"She threw us for a reason," Arlenna said firmly. "We get the kids out first. We talk about the rest later."
Thiago stood there, torn, but he nodded.
Arlenna started toward the children, but she looked back at him.
"Why are you acting weird? You said Cross Kingdom like it meant death."
He ran a hand over his face, exhaling through his teeth.
"Because Cross-Kingdom DOPO don't show up unless it's serious," he muttered. "And if Solace is fighting them alone..."
Thiago inhaled sharply, thinking fast.
"Arlenna, DOPO isn't just guards. The Department Of Public Order is a whole system with three levels."
He held up one finger.
"Level One, Tactical DOPO. The base. Everything inside the kingdom. Kingdom Guard, Crown Guard, the standard DOPO vest, riot teams, and—"
He pointed in the direction the two men had come from.
"—CKTF."
Arlenna blinked. "But they can cross kingdoms."
"Yeah," Thiago said, his voice tight. "Because they're part of Task Force. Still Level One. Still continental police. CKTF is just the highest subdivision of Level One. They move between kingdoms, but only inside our continent."
He raised a second finger.
"Level Two, The Bureau. Now this is where it gets serious. Bureau Agents can't leave the continent, but inside it, they outrank everyone."
He listed them off.
Major crime units.
Federal investigations.
Augmented threat analysis.
Inter-kingdom intelligence.
"If Level One shows up when things get violent, Level Two shows up when things get political."
Arlenna swallowed.
"So CKTF isn't even that?"
"No," Thiago said. "CKTF is dangerous, but Bureau Agents? They're a whole different class."
He lifted a third finger.
"Level Three, Pan-Continental Authority."
Arlenna nodded once. "That's the top. The people who can walk into any continent and be obeyed?"
Thiago adjusted the straps on his pouch.
"Yeah," he said. "But there's no point going into details. If we ever see them..." He gave a humorless half-laugh. "We're probably already dead. Nobody fights Level Three. You survive them, or you don't."
Arlenna nodded slowly, the weight of his words sinking in. She turned toward the children, urging them forward.
Inside the arena, the two Cross-Kingdom officers went still, their attention sharpening in perfect sync.
Marcin stood like a boulder planted in the sand. Six-two, broad-shouldered, all heavy muscle built for delivering hits rather than tanking them. His skin was pale against the harsh arena light, and his short blonde hair looked like he'd run a hand through it sometime this morning and never bothered again. His blue eyes didn't miss much, even if he pretended not to care.
Next to him, Joel was the contrast. Slightly shorter at six feet, brown-skinned, dark-haired, and built for speed. His frame was toned instead of bulky, but still powerful. Lean power, controlled and fast. His dark brown eyes were sharper, more calculating, the kind that tracked movement before it even happened.
Joel ran a hand through his waves, brushing them back into place with a calm confidence that looked almost routine.
Marcin didn't adjust a thing.
They exchanged a glance quick, wordless, practiced.
"I'll go after her," Joel said.
He crouched once and launched himself toward Arlenna, crossing half the arena in a single leap.
Solace shot upward at the same moment, light as a feather.
She caught Joel by the ankle mid-air. Joel's eyes widened.
"What the—"
Solace twisted her body and whipped him back toward Marcin like she was throwing a training dummy.
Joel groaned, pushing himself up. He dusted off his vest aggressively, annoyed as hell, then brushed his waves back into place, muttering under his breath.
He straightened fully.
"Cross-Kingdom Task Force. Stand down," Joel called.
"Or don't," Marcin added. "Makes no difference."
Solace dropped back into a fighting stance, her eyes sharp.
"Stand down?" she snapped. "Tell me you believe these kids deserved this. I dare you."
Marcin folded his arms.
"If they're in chains, there was a reason. We don't waste time questioning what's already been judged," he said. "There are protocols, evaluations, chains of—"
Joel's eyes flicked toward Marcin. It was just a small look, but enough to show the line didn't sit right with him. A shift in his breathing. A crease in his brow. Something uncomfortable moved through him.
Solace saw it instantly.
"Don't," she cut in, her voice slicing the air. "It doesn't matter what they did."
Her voice was quiet. Her anger wasn't.
"They don't deserve to be in chains."
Marcin stepped forward, cracking his knuckles lazily.
Solace shot back, "Since when did protecting the powerful matter more than protecting the helpless?"
Joel adjusted his vest, slower this time. Less sure. The annoyance on his face wasn't aimed at Solace anymore. It was at himself.
The two of them squared up. Solace didn't move.
The arena air shifted heavily, charged as the real fight began.
Joel darted in on quick feet.
"Core of Velocity."
His body blurred, momentum snapping through his limbs as he shifted angles faster than most eyes could track.
Marcin followed with a sharp advance.
"Momentum Chain."
His first punch slammed against Solace's guard.
Ten percent.
Solace absorbed the impact, adjusting her density, grounding herself.
Marcin moved again. Low kick. Elbow. Knee.
Twenty percent.
Thirty.
Forty.
He was climbing fast.
Joel circled behind her, his steps controlled and surgical, waiting to lock her down with Stability.
But Solace didn't give him the chance.
She spun toward him first, snapping a punch at his head.
Joel reacted instantly.
"Core of Stability!"
A shimmer tightened across his forearms as he crossed them just in time. Her strike hit solid, too solid, shaking through her knuckles but barely budging him.
He countered immediately.
"Core of Impact!"
He dropped into a short, explosive strike at her ribs, the force doubling mid-swing.
Solace braced, density flaring through her side, absorbing the worst of it. The blow still sent her sliding back across the sand.
Joel didn't wait.
He blurred again, Velocity kicking back on, closing distance with a spinning elbow aimed for her jaw. She ducked under it and lunged, trying to take his legs out.
"Stability," Joel warned
His legs locked into the ground like stone.
Solace cursed under her breath.
She couldn't let him stabilize.
If Joel planted fully, she'd be pinned between him and a Momentum-Stacked Marcin.
Before he could anchor completely, she swept her hand across.
"Not happening."
Solace struck at his ankle, sharp, precise, density hardened just enough.
Joel's Stability cracked for a moment and he staggered, Velocity sputtering.
Joel recovered instantly, reactivating Velocity and slipping behind Marcin at the perfect angle, ready to chain their attacks.
"You hear me. You're already questioning this."
Joel didn't freeze. He didn't drop his guard. But the words hit him. A tiny crack of doubt opened, not about Solace, but about himself.
He reset his stance.
"I'm not questioning anything," Joel said.
He stepped in again, committed.
That was when Solace moved.
She turned light-density, sprinted at Joel, then suddenly shifted heavy and jumped.
Her heel came down with a concrete-shattering stomp.
BOOM.
The entire arena floor cracked beneath Joel. The ground split open under his feet, crumbling.
"Core of—" he tried to call, but he couldn't stabilize. The ground wouldn't support it. His footing collapsed from under him.
Solace landed beside him and drove a heavy-density punch straight into his jaw. Joel's head snapped sideways.
Before he could reset, she grabbed his vest with both hands, turned heavy-density again, and spiked him into the broken stone.
The ground split under the impact.
Joel went still. Not dead. Just out.
Only then did Solace lift her head toward Marcin.
His eyes were wide.
Solace stepped forward once, grounded her stance, and struck.
Her kick slammed into Marcin's hip, a clean, crushing hit that shattered his form.
His stacked power flickered, stuttered
and died.
Momentum Chain snapped.
Every percentage he'd built... gone.
Reset to zero.
Marcin snarled and rushed her with a fast, dangerous combo: jab, cross, tight hook.
Solace slipped the jab, leaned past the cross, and flipped backward over the hook, her heels skimming across his knuckles as his punch tore through empty air.
Marcin stepped in hard. A brutal liver shot. A rising uppercut meant to take her head.
The uppercut rocketed upward. Solace took a quick back step, the punch missing by inches. She spun low under his arm and rose behind him before he could reset.
Marcin spun instantly, sand kicking under his boots, chest heaving, fists high, a wall refusing to break.
But Solace was already ten steps away, light on her feet, steadying her breath.
She glanced back.
"Nice form. You hit hard." She shook her head. "But I'm not staying here."
Marcin planted himself, ready to chase, but he couldn't.
His flow was gone. Joel was out cold. His raw strength couldn't keep up with her speed.
Solace brought her pointer, middle finger, and thumb together.
Kissed them dramatically.
Then flicked her hand toward the sky.
The Pinnacle Kiss.
Only then did she turn light-density.
The sand exploded beneath her heels as she launched upward.
She cleared the arena wall in a single jump.
Gone in an instant, vanishing from sight.
By nightfall, whispers spread through every kingdom, every slave pen, every barracks, every campfire.
The day Solace defied the arena, the crown, and the Cross-Kingdom Task Force became known as The Matriarch Ascension.