The platform floated in an endless gray void, a circle of white stone so vast its edges blurred into mist. Nero, the protagonist of this stage stood at its center, small as an insect on a plate of bone. Above, lightning flickered in clouds that had no source. Below, only emptiness lay.
He had rested. He had recovered. Now he stood ready for the most awaited clash to learn more about his adversary.
The windows appeared before him, a cascade of translucent blue, each one showing a face, a name, a record of battles past. He scrolled through them, his red eyes scanning, dismissing. Cadets he knew. Cadets he didn't. Names that meant nothing.
Then he found her.
Black hair, falling straight and sharp as blades. Golden eyes, cold and calculating. A face that could have been carved from ice, if ice could burn. Elysia Raizen. Law of Lightning. Late Red Knight.
The window hung before him, as if waiting especially for this moment.
