The air in the arena had changed.
The quarter-finals were over, but the tension had only become heavier.
Dust floated above the battlefield.
Cracks covered portions of the ground.
Broken vines, scorched earth, and fragments of stone remained scattered across the arena.
The students who had once been laughing and cheering were now watching in silence.
They had realized something.
This wasn’t just a school tournament anymore.
Every match was becoming a test of who could endure the most.
Pinezoku wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his mouth as he walked beside Maris.
Maris’s breathing was still heavy from his previous battle.
His reddish-yellow gradient hair, partially hidden beneath his usual covering, was damp with sweat.
Pinezoku glanced at him.
“You’ve become strong.” Maris looked at him from the corner of his eye.
Then he smirked.
“Let’s go fast, or we’ll miss the next match.” Pinezoku raised an eyebrow.
“You just fought me, and that’s what you’re worried about?” Maris shrugged.
“I don’t like waiting.” Pinezoku gave a quiet laugh.
“You’re strange.” Maris continued walking.
He thought, “Better to act normal.
Nobody can know what I’m hiding.” His expression remained relaxed.
Nobody noticed anything unusual.
Except one person.
Sophria.
She stood on the opposite side of the arena, watching Maris carefully.
Unlike everyone else, she knew what was behind his hidden appearance.
She knew his real face.
And she knew something else.
Maris wasn’t nearly as simple as everyone thought.
Suddenly, Foshi’s voice echoed through the arena.
“And the winner is…” The crowd became silent.
“Sophria Fruilder!” The announcement struck Sophria like lightning.
Her eyes widened.
She looked toward Maris.
Her next opponent.
Maris.
Her boyfriend.
Her expression immediately became awkward.
She lowered her gaze.
She thought, “I’m actually going to fight Maris…” Her cheeks warmed.
Then another thought hit her.
She thought, “Wait…
I’m supposed to defeat him.” She looked back at him.
Maris simply stood there, expression calm.
He gave her a small nod.
Sophria’s heart raced.
She whispered, “Oh no…
What should I do?” Lyberia, standing nearby, heard her.
“What did you say?” Sophria immediately straightened.
“Nothing.” Lyberia narrowed her eyes.
“You look nervous.” “I’m not nervous.” “You absolutely are.” Sophria looked away.
“I’ll try my best.” Before Lyberia could tease her further, Foshi raised his hand.
“The next match!” Melio and Applee stepped into the arena.
The atmosphere immediately changed.
Applee clenched both fists.
His eyes were filled with determination.
“I’m going to defeat you no matter what it costs!” Melio stared at him.
His expression was cold.
“Try your might, brat.” Applee’s eyebrow twitched.
“Brat?” Melio tilted his head.
“You’re noisy.” “I’m going to make you regret saying that!” The whistle blew.
Applee exploded forward.
His foot slammed into the ground as he accelerated.
He appeared in front of Melio almost instantly.
“HA!” His fist came down with tremendous force.
Melio calmly stepped aside.
The punch smashed into the ground.
BOOM!
Dust burst upward.
Melio grabbed Applee’s arm.
Applee’s eyes widened.
“What—?” Melio twisted his body and used Applee’s momentum against him.
In one swift motion, he threw him upward.
Applee flew into the air.
The crowd gasped.
“He’s airborne!” Melio didn’t wait.
He jumped after him.
Applee barely managed to look up.
Melio was already there.
“You’re too slow.” He struck Applee and sent him crashing back toward the arena.
Applee hit the ground hard and rolled several meters.
Silence.
Then Applee moved.
His fingers pressed against the ground.
He tried to stand.
His legs trembled.
Maris watched from the sidelines.
He thought, “He’s still getting up?” Applee slowly raised his head.
“I…” He forced himself upright.
“I am not defeated yet.” Melio stared at him.
Applee wiped his mouth.
“Come and fight me!” The crowd erupted.
Even some students who had been supporting Melio looked surprised.
Melio walked toward him.
“You still want more?” Applee raised his fists.
“Of course.” Melio’s eyes narrowed.
“Then don’t complain afterward.” Applee charged.
Again.
And again.
Every attack became slower, but his determination remained.
Melio blocked one strike.
Dodged another.
Then countered with a powerful blow to Applee’s midsection.
Applee froze.
His breath escaped.
He stumbled backward.
Melio stood in front of him.
“You fight better than them.” Applee looked up.
Melio continued, “I like your struggle.” His expression became colder.
“But you’re still losing.” Applee’s knees finally gave way.
He collapsed.
Foshi immediately stepped forward.
“Enough.” Melio stopped.
The arena became quiet.
Foshi looked toward the fallen Applee.
“Winner: Melio.” The crowd erupted.
Melio turned around and walked away without celebrating.
Maris watched him.
Something about Melio bothered him.
He thought, “He’s getting colder.” Behind them, Applee lay unconscious.
His mind drifted through fragments of memory.
A younger Applee sat in front of a screen, watching news reports about Elites protecting cities and clearing dangerous zones.
He remembered his parents smiling beside him.
Then his grandfather’s voice returned.
“They’re Elites…
the guardians of our planet.” Young Applee had looked at the screen with shining eyes.
“I’ll become one too!” His grandfather smiled.
“Then work harder.
Study harder.
Train harder.” The memory faded.
Applee’s unconscious mind held onto one final thought.
He thought, “This defeat won’t define me.
I’ll come back stronger.
I won’t stay a loser.” Then everything went dark.
— Foshi returned to the center of the arena.
He raised his hand.
“Next match.” The crowd became quiet again.
“The last semi-final…” He paused.
“Maris Fruing versus Sophria Fruilder!” The arena erupted.
Maris stepped forward.
Sophria followed.
Pinezoku crossed his arms.
He smirked.
“Sophria will win.” Lyberia looked at him.
“You sound very confident.” Pinezoku shrugged.
“Maris’s power is nothing compared to her beauty and strength.” Lyberia stared at him.
“Did you seriously combine beauty and combat ability?” Pinezoku nodded.
“Yes.” She sighed.
“You’re hopeless.” Melio glanced at Maris.
He thought, “This should be interesting.” Maris and Sophria stood opposite each other.
For a few seconds, neither moved.
Sophria looked at him.
Maris looked back.
Nobody else could understand what was happening between them.
But Sophria knew.
She knew the person beneath his hidden face.
She knew the person behind the cold expression.
And now she had to fight him.
Sophria tightened her fists.
“I’ll try my best.” Maris smirked.
“Don’t hold back.” Sophria’s eyes widened slightly.
She thought, “He really said that?” Foshi raised his hand.
“Begin!” The ground erupted.
Vines burst from beneath the arena and shot toward Maris.
Maris immediately jumped backward.
A vine passed inches from his face.
Another came from the side.
He twisted away.
Then three more appeared.
“Too many.” He leaped again.
One vine caught his ankle.
Another wrapped around his arm.
Maris’s eyes narrowed.
He was pulled toward the ground.
He struck the arena with his shoulder.
Sophria looked at him.
“I’m sorry.” Maris looked up.
“Don’t apologize.” Sophria hesitated.
Maris pulled against the vines.
“Fight properly.” Sophria’s expression became serious.
Behind her, a sunflower began to grow.
Its petals slowly opened.
Energy gathered inside it.
The flower glowed brighter.
Maris noticed.
His expression changed.
He thought, “So that’s her plan.” The vines tightened around him.
Maris gritted his teeth.
He thought, “If I stay trapped, she’ll finish the match with that attack.” The sunflower became brighter.
Sophria whispered, “Everything is happening as I planned.” Maris looked at the vines.
Then at Sophria.
Then at the glowing sunflower.
His eyes sharpened.
He remembered the fire that had awakened inside him during his battle with Pinezoku.
The heat.
The pressure.
The instinct.
The power.
Maris clenched his fist.
“Let’s do this.” Flames suddenly erupted around his body.
The vines caught fire.
Sophria’s eyes widened.
“Fire…” The burning vines broke apart one after another.
Maris stepped out of the smoke.
Ash floated around him.
His eyes were focused.
Sophria stared at him.
She thought, “He’s already using his fire again…” Maris raised his hand.
Wind began spiraling around his arm.
The air pressure intensified.
Sophria immediately understood.
“He’s combining them.” The sunflower released its stored energy.
A radiant beam shot toward Maris.
“Now!” Maris thrust his hand forward.
A wall of wind erupted.
The beam struck it.
BOOM!
The entire arena shook.
Dust blasted outward.
Students shielded their faces.
“What’s happening?!” “Those two are insane!” “That’s a semi-final?!” Foshi narrowed his eyes.
He thought, “They’re already pushing their powers this far…” Maris’s shoes dragged backward across the ground.
He gritted his teeth.
The beam continued pressing against his defense.
Sophria’s arms trembled.
She pushed more energy into the sunflower.
“Go!” Maris’s wind barrier began cracking.
He looked at the beam.
Then at Sophria.
His eyes became fierce.
“I won’t let this stop me.” The wind around him intensified.
Fire began spreading through it.
Flames wrapped around the swirling current.
The attack transformed into a blazing vortex.
The students stared in disbelief.
“He’s using two powers at once!” Pinezoku’s smirk disappeared.
Melio’s eyes narrowed.
“He learned to combine them already?” Lyberia clenched her fists.
“That’s ridiculous.” The two attacks collided.
Wind.
Fire.
Light.
Nature.
The center of the arena disappeared beneath the enormous clash.
BOOOOOOM!
A shockwave erupted.
Dust, leaves, and pieces of broken stone flew into the air.
Both fighters were reduced to silhouettes inside the blinding energy.
Sophria shouted, “Maris!” Maris pushed forward.
His entire body shook from the strain.
He thought, “This is it.” His eyes remained locked on Sophria.
He thought, “My chance to prove I’m not weak.” The flames around him grew stronger.
The wind roared.
“I won’t back down!” The arena trembled again.
And for the first time…
Sophria realized something.
She might actually have to defeat the person she loved.
And Maris realized something even more dangerous.
If he wanted to win…
He might have to show everyone a power he had never revealed before.