The second round of preliminaries began under a cloudless Batangaran sky. The crowds had returned in even greater numbers, word of the unknown contender's display spreading like wildfire. But today, they came for another reason: to see titans clash.
The names announced sent a ripple of electricity through the arena.
"Xerxes of the Iron Echo vs Vinny the Relic Summoner!"
Even before the gates opened, the arena trembled with noise.
Kaien and Ari watched from a shaded alcove above the ground level. Ari leaned on the railing, silent, eyes narrowed with interest.
Kaien glanced at him. "Which one do you think wins?"
Ari didn't answer immediately. "Depends," he murmured. "On how serious they get."
Xerxes stepped onto the sand first, his average frame calm yet coiled like a spring. His legs bore tattooed spirals of Threads—ancient runes that pulsed with rhythmic light. Slung behind him was his weathered, rune-etched relic football, its weight seemingly insignificant in his grip.
Across the arena, Vinny emerged with a confident swagger. Her brunette-black hair tied in a high battle braid, eyes sharp. As she stepped forward, five glowing glyphs shimmered behind her—her summons. Each glyph carried a different hue, forming around her like a circle of spirits: a serpent, a shielded knight, a hawk, a burning lion, and a jagged construct of shadow.
The announcer raised a hand. "Begin!"
Xerxes moved first. Not with spells, but with a single, powerful kick.
BOOM. The relic football tore through the air—not aimed at Vinny, but at the ground beside her. When it struck, a burst of compressed wind threads erupted, forcing her to leap back. Xerxes was already sprinting, controlling the football's rebound like a thread-imbued weapon, chasing its path with almost dancer-like grace.
Vinny responded instantly.
With a flick of her hand, two glyphs activated. The shadow construct fused into her right arm, forming a jagged gauntlet. The shielded knight merged with her chest, transforming her into a half-armored warrior—flexible, light, yet protected.
They clashed.
Xerxes kicked the ball into the sky, threads pulsing beneath his feet. The ball arced—paused—then split into six ethereal afterimages. Vinny blinked, tracing the real one—but it was too late. Xerxes vaulted up, kicked one of the fakes, twisted in midair, and sent the real one slamming toward her from an impossible angle.
She barely blocked, summoning the lion to burn through the momentum with raw force.
But the ball ricocheted mid-strike—Xerxes was already repositioning. His fighting wasn't brute force. It was fluid—like controlling a multidirectional weapon at all times, the ball weaving in patterns controlled by imprinted threads with directional commands. Every kick was like a spell, each bounce a calculated strike.
Ari's voice broke Kaien's concentration.
"He's playing a game only he understands."
Vinny wasn't giving up. She called all five glyphs at once.
Armor thickened, a burning shield formed, the hawk added mobility. Her entire body became an evolving relic. She burst forward, trading blows. The arena lit with heat and shadow, wings of magic lashing the sand, shielding herself with summoned relics as she tried to corner him.
But Xerxes… didn't resist.
He danced.
He rolled, redirected, used her momentum. Every time her gauntlet struck, his relic absorbed, diverted, or spun away.
And when the final blow came—a full summon assault, all glyphs active—Xerxes launched the relic straight into the air and vanished beneath her. A spiral of light erupted from his legs. He launched upward, caught the ball mid-air, and drove it downward like a falling star.
The impact cracked the earth.
Vinny's armor shattered. Her summons blinked out, overloaded by the mismatch of force and calculation.
Silence.
Then the crowd exploded.
Vinny stood, panting, one knee in the dust, smiling despite herself. "Okay… you win this one."
Xerxes helped her up, offering his hand with a casual grin. "You hit hard."
"Next time," she said, brushing herself off. "I won't let you control the tempo."
Ari watched from above, arms crossed, deeply thoughtful.
Kaien smirked. "Power mismatch?"
"No," Ari replied. "It was like fighting a storm inside a puzzle. He didn't overpower her. He outmaneuvered her at every turn."
And even in that victory, Ari knew—Xerxes hadn't shown everything either.
This tournament wasn't just a gathering of the strong.
It was a stage for the uncanny.