[Pinnacle Academy, Stadium 1 - Arena A: VIP Suite 3#]


    "Interesting,"


    Ajax, the guild leader of Visionary Syndicate, surveyed the battle below with a gaze of intrigue.


    he mumbled, his voice tinged with genuine fascination.


    "Indeed, very interesting!"


    His gaze fell upon the arena, where Jan and Louise shed like opposing elements – one a zing me and the other calm as a river.


    "The talent pool hascked in recent years," he spoke aloud, "but these two... they possess a spark, a potential that could ignite entire guilds."


    His mind raced with possibilities. With careful management and the right resources, either could rise beyond the top guild leader status.


    A sh of greed sparked in his eyes as he imagined them fighting under the Visionary banner.


    Recruiting these prodigies was like ying a delicate game of chess. He needed the right move to secure their loyalty.


    reeeee...


    "Haven''t you heard the news about Louise, Ajax?"


    [Dempsey te - Vice Leader of Visionary Syndicate]


    A shadow fell across the VIP box as Dempsey, his trusted vice leader and Lyra''s cousin, entered the room.


    Dempsey''s voice cut through the tense atmosphere.


    Ajax turned, curiosity flickering in his eyes, recing the focused intensity.


    "News? I was absorbed in the match," he confessed.


    "Come, have a seat. A match like this deserves attention."


    Dempsey obliged with a sigh, taking a seat beside his superior.


    "Very well," he began, returning to the previous topic, "Louise has been chosen as the sessor for the Guild Trinities Centurions."


    Ajax raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? He''s far too young for the position. Youngest guild leader on record, perhaps?"


    Dempsey shook his head. "That''s the twist. The position isn''t immediate. Kang likely won''t retire anytime soon. It''s a calcted move, securing Louise''s ce and allowing him to mature before he assumes the full cover of leadership."


    Ajax hummed his agreement. It was a bold, shrewd move. "Smart," he admitted, turning his attention back to the battle.


    "In terms of technique, then, Louise is clearly the superior of the two." He muttered...


    ***


    [Pinnacle Academy, Stadium 1 - Arena A: Main Stage]


    A tremor coursed through the shattered tform as Jan and Louise locked gazes, their des shining in the bright light.


    The sh had reached its peak.


    Jan, despite his waning strength, burned with a fierce resolve.


    Louise, his body wracked with pain, gritted his teeth.


    His mana pool was all but exhausted, yet his pride, his Villerion name, refused to let him back down.


    The crimson aura clinging to his polearm dimmed and flickered, barely clinging on by sheer force of will.


    Every second pushed him closer to the edge.


    DASH!


    They both moved as one, weapons raised.


    BANG!


    Each strike was a burst of desperation, steel ringing against steel.


    As both imbued their des with aura, each sh was a blinding light of thunder that echoed through the arena.


    Lightning poured around them, the fury of their battle mirrored in the heavens.


    SWING!


    Jan swung, his de aet of azure energy, but Louise parried the blow, the shockwave sending them both skidding backward.


    He capitalized on the opening, driving his polearm forward, but Jan twisted miraculously at thest moment, receiving the ncing blow with a grunt of pain.


    "...!"


    Then it was Louise''s turn. He spun, mming the heavy butt of his pole into the ground, using it as a springboard tounch a brutal kick.


    THUD!


    It caught Jan square in the chest, sending him flying, his sword ttering across the broken tform.


    With his remaining energy, Louise pressed the attack.


    SLASH!, SLASH!, SLASH!


    His polearm arced downwards, each strike aze with his aura, leaving fiery trails in the air.


    Once, twice, thrice he shed at Jan, driving him back with each relentless blow.


    Jan, barely able to defend himself, was bleeding from ragged cuts, his strength depleting away with each wound.


    But despite the pain and exhaustion, Jan refused to lose.


    His mind, honed by years of focus, aimed a way out of this corner.


    A desperate roar ripped from Jan''s throat, raw and ragged.


    His broadsword zed azure, the power scorching his hands.


    "Diagonal sh!"


    His voice was a broken rasp, yet the force behind his swing was undeniable.


    the aura rippled forth in a massive arc, slicing through the air toward Louise.


    "...!"


    Louise, slow to react due to his exhaustion, attempted a rash block, but it was useless.


    SLASH!


    The sh of aura tore through his defences, searing a diagonal line from hip to shoulder, ripping through his clothing and leaving a bleeding wound in its wake.


    Louise staggered, his aura faltering and almost fading.


    His vision wobbled, trying to keep his eyes on his opponent.


    He struggled to stay upright, his polearm slipping from his trembling grip.


    "How... how had he mastered such a difficult technique?" he muttered under his breath.


    Aura attacks were incredibly taxing, yet he easily unleashed an insane amount of aura shes.


    Louise looked at Jan, weary eyes finding not just an opponent, but a mirror of his own relentless struggle to improve, to push beyond his limits.


    A tense silence descended upon the arena.


    The roar of the crowd had faded into nothingness, every eye fixated on the two battered figures.


    haah...huuu...haah...


    Louise leaned heavily on his polearm, his breathsing in ragged gasps.


    Across from him, Jan pushed himself up from his kneeling position.


    He was struggling to breathe, his body screaming to give up, but his eyes held a stubborn resolve.


    shuuuuuu...


    The remaining energy of their auras flickered around them.


    With each rasping breath...


    Each staggering step...


    Seemed to drain thest reserves of their strength.


    Yet, neither faltered.


    Louise, fueled by pride and unwavering determination, focused the entirety of his being on a simple, brutal reality: if he failed, he could still direct the sphere of blue me upon Jan.


    It was hisst, desperate gamble, but a risk nheless.


    Jan, however, had no such trump card. He could sense time slipping through his fingers


    the words of the Lost Archives echoed within his mind.


    [One minute and thirty seconds have passed.]


    It was the countdown to his copse.


    And yet, as they stood on the brink of exhaustion, a final surge of energy pulsed through them both.


    They channelled their aura onest time with every ounce of their remaining strength.


    Louise''s polearm once again glowed it''s crimson red, thest remains of his Fire,


    While Jan''s broadsword pulsed faintly, the azure light shining to his enduring Light.


    There were no strategies left to use, no tactical tricks left to y.


    They had poured everything into this final sh, their bodies pushed beyond their limits, and their spirits strained to the breaking point.


    The Battle has reached its climax.


    And now it was time for the conclusion.


    Every step, every forced breath, every desperate motion yed out as if etched into eternity.


    Jan and Louise, their bodies broken advanced towards each other.


    tap...tap...tap...


    Their once swift footsteps had be a heavy march, yet neither hesitated, and their pace quickened with every second.


    Tap...Tap...Tap...


    ...


    ...


    DASH!


    Then, it was a dash, their ragged bodies running on the shattered tform.


    With a final roar, fueled by adrenaline and sheer, desperate will, they unleashed theirst attacks.


    "Cleaving Arc!"


    Jan''s cry pierced the air. His broadsword erupted with a final surge of aura, a blinding crescent of power that arced towards Louise.


    The technique, born of his raw strength and his indomitable spirit, represented the culmination of his battle today.


    Louise, pride zing in his eyes, answered in kind.


    "Skyward Strike!"


    His polearm buzzed with the final me.


    With a desperate effort, Louise thrust the glowing weapon overhead, channelling thest of his aura into a single, devastating upward aura sh.


    ...


    ...


    Time seemed to freeze – two attacks, their trajectories crossing.


    CRASHHHH!!!!


    The azure arc met the crimson strike, their auras shing in an explosion of light a sound that sent tremors rippling through the stadium.


    For a heartbeat, the arena held its breath.


    Watching on as the two auras fight for the winner...


    CRACK!


    ...


    CRACKKK!!


    Then it happened.


    The azure arc tore through Louise''s attack.


    With a deafening BANG!, Jan''s attack continued its path.


    "...!"


    Louise, filled with shocked disbelief in his eyes, reflexively extended a hand towards the sphere of crackling me, trying to direct its path.


    But it was toote.


    SHAWWWWW!


    The Cleaving Arc struck Louise in the chest, sending him flying.


    His battered body tumbled across the wreckage, his polearm slipping from his hand.


    haah...haah...haah...


    He skidded to a stop at the very edge of the stage, his breathing shallow.


    Jan, his own strength utterly spent, remained standing, barely.


    His sword quivered, its point driven deep into the fractured stone, supporting his exhausted frame.


    His eyes fixed on Louise''s motionless form, a wave of relief and disbelief washing over him.


    The arena remained silent broken only by the rasp of Louise''s forced breaths and the ttering of stone as rubble crumbled under Jan''s trembling legs.


    Then, the announcer''s voice pierced the silence, shattering the illusion of stillness.


    "The Winner Of the semifinal by knockout... everyone give it up for Jan Ates!"


    His voice boomed across the arena, shattering the silence that hung over the battlefield.


    For a breathless moment, the crowd was frozen, stunned into disbelief.


    Then, like thunder breaking after a storm, a roar of apuse and cheers erupted.


    It was over. Jan, against all odds, had imed victory.


    _____________


    Authors Notes:


    - Jan''s strongest named move attack is Cleaving Arc.


    - Louise released his first-ever aura sh during the final moments of their battle.