Kathlyn looked up, head tilted back, flames still flickering around her bruised and battered form. Her fists clenched. Her jaw trembled.
Then she saw him.
Kai.
Hovering just above the arena, silhouetted by the light of the shattered dome, two jet-black wings stretched from his back, trailing shadows like smoke. He hovered there like some dramatic final boss character who showed up three chapters too early.
Her eye twitched.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing here?!"
Her voice cut through the air like a war horn, cracking with frustration, embarrassment, and rage. Even the mana around her flared—frustration given form.
The entire arena fell into stunned silence.
And that was the expected reaction from someone like Kathlyn. Proud. Driven. A tsundere with hands. She was the type who would rather collapse mid-swing than accept help in a fight.
Kai knew this.
But still
He had to step in.
Not because he thought she was weak. Far from it. She had stood her ground against Rose longer than anyone under class A could
But Kai had read the book. He remembered what happened when Kathlyn overused Burning Heart. The crash that followed. The permanent side effects The blackout. Even though her control over the spell was better If she overused he knew what she would end up doing
"She won't stop," he thought. "She doesn't know how."
And so, while everyone below stared with their jaws open, Kai wings extended, face unreadable smiled and shouted:
"It just looked so much fun! And you're not the only one who gets to show off!"
Kathlyn's pupils shrunk. If looks could kill, he'd have been reduced to ashes before he touched the ground.
On the balcony, Professor Eisen blinked twice, already weaving reinforcement barriers in case the dome caved in.
"We weren't expecting anyone to fly," she muttered.
Her eyes narrowed as she turned to Professor Mallet.
"The barrier wasn't made for airborne duels."
Mallet didn't reply. He just sipped from his cup and smiled. There was a strange glint in his eyes. Pride? Amusement? Madness? Probably all three.
Back on the arena platform, Kai landed lightly beside Kathlyn, his feet cracking the stone slightly from the downward force.
The crowd started murmuring. Whispering.
"He can fly?" "How did he ?" "Weren't they Class C just a few weeks ago?"
Rose, still across from them, stared. Her arms were lowered. Her expression unreadable. But her body
It was relaxed.
Too relaxed.
She didn't see this as a threat.
She saw this as…
An opportunity to stretch.
Without warning, she raised one hand and fired a bolt of lightning directly at Kai's head.
CRACK!
A surge of electric mana lanced through the air.
Kai didn't flinch.
As one his eerie black wings curled around his body
Rose blinked.
Then smiled.
"Alright," she said, brushing her hair back behind one ear. "Let's see how well you two dance."
---
What followed was chaos.
Kathlyn shot forward, fists blazing. Kai followed just behind her, his form vanishing and reappearing with each step. The arena cracked and splintered with every movement.
They came at Rose from both sides.
Double pressure. Opposing angles.
Kathlyn led with a low kick. Kai swept from behind with an upward slash of condensed dark mana, shaped like a blade.
:Lightless Slash
Rose spun in place. Just once.
Both attacks were parried in a single movement.
The air burst with static.
She kicked Kathlyn in the ribs, elbowed Kai in the sternum, then spun and launched a mid-air lightning drill between them. They separated instantly.
Kai coughed, already bruised. Kathlyn's stance wobbled.
They regrouped.
Tried again.
Kai used Black Wing to dart across the arena in an arc, drawing fire. Kathlyn used that opening to land a powerful, flaming uppercu almost.
But Rose caught her wrist.
Flipped her.
Then launched her into Kai like a comet.
They collided mid-air and hit the ground hard.
"Up!" Kai shouted, helping her to her feet.
She grunted. "Next time, announce your entry after I win."
"You're welcome."
They tried again.
Burning Heart + Lightless Crash.
Fire and shadow. The two of them blurred across the platform, a swirling vortex of power and desperation. Punches. Kicks. Blasts. Feints.
But Rose
Rose never flinched.
She blocked, dodged, countered. Like she'd fought this exact fight before in her sleep. Like she was sparring toddlers.
They managed to land hits. Real ones. Bruises began forming along her ribs Her breathing picked up
But she was still smiling.
And that was the problem.
They were giving 110%.
Rose?
Maybe 40%.
Kai ducked a bolt, lunged with a shadow strike.
Rose caught him mid-air.
And slammed him into the ground.
Kathlyn came in hot with a knee to the temple.
Rose dodged.
Then tapped her in the gut with two fingers.
And muttered: lightning art conductive shock
Zzzzztt!
Kathlyn's body convulsed from the shock.
Kai gasped. She's using named spells now. She's getting serious.
Together, they stood one last time, bodies aching, blood dripping from mouths and cuts.
Rose adjusted her gloves.
"Ten more seconds?"
Kai spat blood. "Twelve."
Kathlyn growled. "We don't need time limits."
And then they charged.
Two-on-one. Final burst.
And in twelve seconds?
They hit her.
She hit harder.
The arena shattered beneath them.
They both collapsed.
And Rose stood tall.
Barely breathing hard.
Professor Eisen raised a hand. "Winner: Rose."
Mallet just took another sip of tea.
"Almost," he said.
-
The aftermath of the fight was… silence.
Heavy, awkward silence.
Dust still hung in the air. Cracks split across the stone tiles of the arena floor. Steam curled off the scorched edges where lightning had clashed with flame. A few sections of the barrier still sparked erratically, damaged from the final shockwave.
Rose stood at the center, barely scuffed. Her uniform was torn in a few places, her cheek slightly bruised, and five glowing welts traced along her arms and side where Kai and Kathlyn's attacks had landed. But she was breathing evenly. Relaxed Calm
Meanwhile, Kai lay flat on his back.
Face-first.
Unmoving.
A soft thud sounded as one of his black mana-wings crumbled into smoke and vanished. The other flickered once, then puffed out with a sad hiss.
Next to him, Kathlyn sat slumped against the barrier wall. Her fists were scorched, her knuckles bleeding. Her hair was a mess. Her clothes were half-burned, and her entire body radiated the afterglow of burning
She glared at Kai like she wanted to break every bone in his body.
"You absolute dumbass…" she muttered.
Kai didn't move.
Professor Eisen descended slowly into the arena, her expression caught somewhere between amused and disappointed.
"Well. That was… dramatic."
She turned her gaze to Rose. "Still standing?"
Rose gave a short nod. "They were stronger than expected."
Kathlyn coughed once, still glaring. "She was only using forty percent."
Kai groaned softly from the floor. "I thought it was, like, sixty…"
Professor Mallet approached next, hands clasped behind his back. He looked down at Kai with the disappointed air of a man whose favorite lab rat had chosen to eat fire.
"You flew into a duel and lost and now you're kissing the floor I have to adk was it worth it
Kai gave a weak thumbs-up from the floor.
Mallet sighed. "Very good."
June, from the balcony, was leaning against the railing, shaking his head with a smirk.
"That's what you get for calling me number two,
One of the nearby Class A students muttered, "Is he alive?"
Professor Eisen looked down at Kathlyn. "And you? Regret letting him tag in?"
"Yes."
"No hesitation?"
"None."
Kai wheezed, "You wound me…"
She didn't even look at him.
Professor Eisen clapped once. "Well then.i think that was enough Rose dear let's have June take the stage
A Kai slowly rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
"…Totally worth it," he whispered.
Kathlyn punched him in the arm. Hard.
He didn't complain. He just smiled.
"Next time," she said through gritted teeth, "if you fly into one of my fights again… I'll kill you."
Kai nodded. "Understood. Noted. Totally fair."
And then passed out.