Kaen was instantly moving towards Keilan. He closed the distance in an instant, his foot snapping toward the side of Keilan’s head. A shield of ice formed in Keilan’s grip, and he lifted it to meet the strike.

However, Kaen never followed through. Instead, he put his foot against the shield, using it as a springboard. He launched himself upward, twisting midair as he threw a sharp shard of ice toward Keilan’s chest.

Keilan barely reacted. His sword moved in an effortless arc, knocking the projectile aside. He then turned, just in time to see Sorn mid-sprinting at him the force of his wisps gathered at his foot. If that kick landed, the explosion would be devastating.

Without hesitating, Keilan kept his blade moving, redirecting it to slice through the outsider’s leg. Seeing the movement, Sorn adjusted his wisps, shifting them at the last possible second so that the moment Keilan’s sword met his limb, an explosion erupted between them. The force sent Sorn flying backward, as he used the momentum to flip away.

Keilan whipped his gaze toward Kaen.

“You can’t possibly be serious,” he said. “You’ve made an outsider, someone you barely know—your ally?”

Kaen tilted his head slightly. “Perhaps you’re right. Let me correct myself. My objective is to kill you first. And after that, I’ll make sure Raven never sees the light of day again.”

Sorn didn’t like the sound of those words. “Wait, that’s—”

“Shut up,” Kaen interrupted. “Interfere, and I’ll kill you too.”

Keilan regarded Kaen with a solemn look. “If that is the decision you’ve made,” he said, “I will respect it. But understand—this means I have no choice but to end both of your lives now.”

Kaen didn’t say anything back. Instead, he shot forward, aiming for a narrow opening in Keilan’s defense. A sword lashed out but Kaen twisted mid-step, dodging it by a slim margin. He pressed his attack as he lowered his body, his fist flashing forward in a sharp jab toward Keilan’s ribs. Before the strike could land, a shield formed in the air. Kaen’s fist collided with ice instead of flesh. A sharp crack rang out, and the young Spear recoiled, flinching as the sting of impact ran up his arm.

Keilan did not waste the moment. A spear took shape in the air as it hurled it straight for Kaen’s chest.

Kaen immediately composed himself as he leaped to catch the spear. He adjusted his body, turning the momentum of the projectile against itself, driving the weapon into the ground.

Meanwhile, Sorn was already in motion, his body a blur as he dashed towards Keilan. He slammed an explosion into the ground, the force rippling outward. The impact sent Keilan staggering backward, giving Sorn a chance to capitalize on the opening.

But Keilan had already regained his footing. His sword was a flash of blue as he shifted, his movements displaying the agility of the Dancing Blade. He used Sorn’s momentum against him, the difference in their battle experience clear in this moment as he aimed once more for Sorn’s legs.

The strike would have landed, leg hooked behind the back of Keilan’s knee, sweeping his feet out from under him. He dropped and Sorn was already there, his fist descending in a finishing strike.

Another shield appeared in an instant, forming beneath Sorn’s knuckles. His punch was stopped against it, and Keilan had already used the brief reprieve to recover. He caught himself mid-fall, flipping onto his hands as twin spears formed at both sides of his body. Their points gleamed with malice as they were launched towards both of his opponents.

Kaen and Sorn dodged on instinct, leaping backward as the spears whistled past harmlessly, but the rhythm of their attack was broken, and the fight had reset.

Keilan gave Kaen a strange look. “Out of all Academy students,” he mused, “you’re the fastest. How’d you manage to hide your skills for this long?”

It was an assessment Sorn didn’t disagree with.

Kaen’s entry into the Tournament had been a result of Varian’s schemes—allegedly. But watching him fight now, it was clear that he had every right to stand amongst the strongest Ice Elementals. Even despite him never once displaying proficiency with his own elemental powers.

“I’m going to die soon anyways,” Keilan continued. “Your time would be better spent in hunting Raven.”

“Afraid you’re going to lose?” Kaen retorted.

“No,” Keilan said, “I’d just like to get this fight over with faster.”

“You know, Keilan,” Sorn said suddenly as he took a step forward. “I’ve always been nice to you.”

The wisps around him flared, curling outward as though they were alive. In an instant, he dashed toward Keilan, his foot connecting with the ice shield once again, but the force of the explosion sent the Royal stumbling backward. Sorn lunged again, but Keilan had already jumped to a side, creating a safe distance between them.

“You caught me off guard there,” Keilan admitted. “I’ve always wondered, Sorn—why didn’t you ever just run away? You had the freedom and the ability. Yet you insist on staying here, meddling with matters that aren’t yours to interfere with.”

Sorn exhaled, his wisps suddenly disappearing. “Because I want to help you.”

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Keilan blinked. “Huh?”

“That doesn’t even matter. What I’m trying to say is stop bending your knee to those slimy bastards. It’s time you put your faith somewhere else. Trust the people that actually care about you, instead of giving everything to the man who wants the worst for you!”

Keilan’s lips parted, but before he could speak, his eyes caught movement to his side. A sharp shard of ice whistled through the air, aimed straight at his face. Keilan caught it effortlessly, his grip crushing the small thing.

“Wait,” he said without even looking at Kaen. “Let me hear what the outsider has to say.”

Sorn took a breath. “Listen, everything here is a mess—”

“And whose fault is that?”

“You need to stop blaming me for all of your troubles. Aim your anger at the people controlling everything.” He paused, then took another step forward. “Look, Keilan. Let’s make a deal.”

Keilan’s nose scrunched in disgust. “A deal?”

“Yes. Just hear it. If you don’t like it, we can go back to fighting.”

Keilan didn’t speak. Sorn took the silence as permission to continue.

“There’s a lot we both don’t know. The biggest difference between us isn’t who we serve or who we are. It’s the fact that you don’t want to learn the unknown—because you’re afraid of it.”

“I’m not afraid—”

“But you are,” Sorn interrupted. “You think you’re some kind of tragic hero. You serve evil and remain ignorant so you can trick yourself into thinking you’re more moral than you are. So let’s follow through with your sister’s plan. She wants to see the truth. Give her a chance, for once. Instead of Varian.”

What Sorn was relying on now wasn’t just instinct—it was a theory Oden had confided in him once.

Oden believed that Keilan wasn’t a true believer of the Order. He wasn’t bound to it by faith or loyalty but by fear of what it meant to break the Order. He had been only ten when Varian claimed him in the aftermath of Draco’s massacre. Oden was convinced that it had been nothing more than an act of petty revenge. Varian wanted to twist Keilan to be purposeful to him and also to indirectly spite Draco’s memory.

Sorn was now testing that theory as he extended his hand. If Keilan could not trust him, then perhaps he could trust his sister.

For a moment, Keilan hesitated. But then, slowly, he reached forward, grasping Sorn’s hand.

“If I come to regret this you’ll be the first I kill.”

“That’s fine by me. We’ll make sure you never regret this.” As his hand was taken, Sorn felt a quiet sense of victory. He had accomplished something once again that he never thought he could.

Then his gaze drifted to Kaen. Varian’s son had been watching the entire interaction in silence.

“I’d still like to kill you,” Kaen admitted to Keilan. “But after seeing that, I’d feel bad about it.” He then shrugged. “Oh well. It’s a shame I didn’t get to use my full power.”

“You know very well I haven’t gotten to either,” Keilan replied.

The two locked eyes and the silence stretched too long, so Sorn broke it.

“Kaen, you should join us too,” he said. “Aren’t you curious about what secrets—”

“Sorry,” Kaen interrupted, already turning away. “There’s something else for me to do.”

Then he sprinted away before vaulting up onto a ledge, disappearing into one of the many corridors around them.

Sorn exhaled, turning awkwardly toward Keilan.

“Um… let’s go?”

Keilan gave him a sidelong glance. “Sure.”

And together, they began their trek to the throne room.

----------------------------------------

Aria had been lost for quite some time. She had no idea what she was doing here, or where she was meant to go. She stopped for a moment. Hadn’t there been instructions on a wall? She hadn’t given him much attention, and she was now seeing the consequence of her ignorance. She angrily kicked an ice statue, taking her frustration out on it, the deadly blade of the axe in its arms nearly missing her face.

After a quarter of an hour of aimless wandering, she felt a touch of progress. She had stepped into an open hall, a nice departure from those narrow corridors. Unfortunately, her joy was short-lived as she heard an eerie high-pitched voice from the other end of the hall.

“And just when I thought my day couldn’t get better! You look quite stunning today Aria! You wouldn’t mind if I ripped off your face, right?”

Raven appeared from behind a wall, with Neville close behind her. The boy was holding a grotesque head on the edge of a spear, the flesh horrifying to even look at.

“Is that Flem?” Aria asked in disbelief.

“And you’ll be next! Isn’t that just amazing!” Aria didn’t respond, so Raven turned to Neville, who gave a slight nod.

Raven frowned, and she suddenly slammed his head into the wall, shaking off the blood and bits of flesh that came out of his crushed head. “I do not tolerate disrespect,” she said to the mangled corpse.

“You’re insane,” Aria said simply, and Raven flashed a wicked smile.

“Oh dear, what have I done? Toren will be enraged at me for killing his little friend,” she looked at Neville with some somberness, “Oh well, if he can’t deal with it, he can join my collection too.”

The Silent Killer was so lost in her own words, that she hadn’t noticed Aria rushing at her with a deadly dagger of ice. Raven held up her hands, but it was too late. She had underestimated Aria, who had cut her arm clean off.

“Ow!” Raven exclaimed as she jumped back.

“I’m not done!” Aria yelled. She was the only Dancing Blade to use daggers instead of a needle, but it couldn’t be denied that her style of fighting, despite being unique, had surpassed every other Dancing Blade student. Except for maybe Toren, but Toren was only a competitor when it came to agility. When talking about sheer physical prowess, Aria truly believed none in the Fortress could match her.

She moved her blade upwards, slicing through Raven’s cheek in a single motion. She had the advantage of close combat against a Spear, but Raven was still not one to be taken lightly. As she was struck, she pointed three of her fingers toward Aria’s torso, and small spears came shooting out in a flash, puncturing Aria’s core. They were two fighters of pure offense, and this battle would be decided by whoever’s aggression triumphed, as both of them were instantly freezing their wounds.

Raven launched another spear, but Aria sliced the projectile with her dagger. Neither of them had spoken a word during this exchange, as this back and forth required the peak of their focus.

They exchanged blows for a short while after, both of them dealing more wounds against each other, though none were fatal. Aria suddenly slipped her foot backward on the ice. If she couldn’t win through normal means, then it meant only one thing.

Just go faster than ever before.

She lurched forward, driving her knee into Raven’s stomach. She fell on top of the Spear as she tried to bring her dagger down into Raven’s head. Raven tried to summon a spear, but the dagger broke through it. However, the dagger had been angled away just enough to cut upon another part of Raven’s upper cheek.

Aria began another strike, but then Raven suddenly yelled, “Look!”

Raven had grabbed Flem’s head with her spear earlier, and now it had flown back towards them. Aria glanced at the harrowing thing for a second too long, and Raven took that moment to shoot another three spears into Aria’s brain.

Raven pushed the corpse off her and took a moment to stretch. Then she leaned over the body, smiling as she began to fantasize about what horrors could she make out of that body.

Then, a hand passed through her chest.

She didn’t recognize the hand, but it was covered in a strange, dark-blue lightning.

She slowly turned around, and just barely made out Kaen’s face.

“You—” Raven began but Kaen interrupted her.

“Die, you freak.” The electricity within Raven’s body intensified, and she crumbled to the ground. Kaen stared at it for a second, before turning towards Aria, who was lying next to him, lifeless. The lightning around his body faded away as he gave a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”