---
For a moment, Unit 06 looked like they were clawing back control.
Zane's fire surged like a furnace. Elliot's blade carved dark trails through the battlefield. The crowd roared with every clash. Two of Unit 02's cadets—Mira and Kael—had already been knocked out.
But Lexa, ever composed, was not phased.
She adjusted her stance, light particles converging behind her. "Reform!" she called.
Her remaining teammates—Talon, Rhea, and Eira—moved in fluid harmony, their soul energies synchronizing. Ice, wind, and wood formed an elemental triangle, pinning Zane and Elliot into a collapsing trap.
From the inspector's lounge above, the tension was palpable.
"Damn," Kayden muttered from the bench, watching helplessly. "They had a plan B all along."
And it was working.
---
When Light Fails
Rhea's vines surged from the ground, aiming to lock Zane in place. Eira's frost-laced gusts moved to blind Elliot's shadow strikes. Talon swept in from above like a silent hawk.
Lexa raised her hand, light bending into a polished sphere above her palm, ready to flash and disorient them both.
Then—
The shadows twitched.
No, they expanded.
The battlefield rippled. Not with force, not with heat—but with pressure. Invisible, yet tangible.
A dense fog of darkness, thick and humming with soul force, bled out from Elliot's feet.
One step.
Then another.
The arena floor cracked faintly with each pace.
And suddenly, everything dimmed.
---
The Birth of a Domain
From the lounge, Inspector Leo leaned forward.
"...Is that a Domain?"
"Impossible," Travis bellowed "They're first years."
"No... not a full one," Leo said, eyes sharp. "But close."
On the field, Lexa's orb of light sputtered, flickering unnaturally. Her face twitched. The light affinity she controlled so gracefully now pulsed like a dying star. The arena itself seemed darker, as if the roof had lowered, the world compressed.
It was Elliot.
His eyes had gone pitch-black, silver cracks glowing faintly beneath them. The shadows moved with will, cloaking him and Zane, while suppressing the brilliance of Lexa's formation.
"Shadow Domain," Zane whispered, stunned. "He's never shown this before…"
---
Lexa Loses Ground
"Fall back!" Lexa shouted, but her voice echoed strangely in the muffled dark.
Talon lost track of his height. His wind technique unraveled in the fog.
Eira shivered, her soul energy unstable, her breath turning white.
Rhea's vines grew slower, confused by the lack of light, stretching toward targets they couldn't feel.
"Keep moving! Eyes on—"
CRACK.
Elliot's blade slid through the dark—faster than sight.
> BUZZER: "Unit 02's Rhea—INACTIVE!"
Cheers erupted.
"Pressure spike just knocked her out cold," the commentator shouted. "What is this power?!"
---
A Terrifying Calm
Elliot didn't speak. He stood still, his blade pointed down, his body calm but emanating unnatural stillness.
Lexa, breathing heavier now, kept her eyes locked on him. Her golden soul light flickered as if underwater.
"We're not done," she growled.
Elliot didn't answer. Shadows curled behind him like wings waiting to fly.
Zane stepped forward beside him, fire blazing.
"Let's end this," he said.
---
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