The instant Adam's blade slipped free of its sheath, the world sharpened into a single, lethal line.
A radiant arc of energy erupted from the edge, appearing across the space between them and cutting through the air like a beam of condensed annihilation. It crossed the distance in less than a heartbeat.
Neither Jaune nor Pyrrha wasted time in thinking.
They moved together, perfectly in sync.
Jaune's hand snapped out, gripping Pyrrha's wrist as both of them dropped, diving straight down into the molten shadow below. The arc screamed past just above their heads, so close that Jaune felt the skin along his neck blister from the energy.
Then they hit the lava.
Or rather, they entered it.
Jaune's Weakness rune, unraveled the structure of the molten shadow just enough to let them pass through without being instantly consumed. At the same time, Pyrrha's aura surged, metal flowing around them like a second skin, forming a protective barrier that held back the crushing heat and pressure.
For a brief, suffocating moment, the world became red.
Blinding, boiling and suffocating.
Then they burst upwards and the molten surface exploded as the two of them surged out from below, sending lava and shadow rock spraying into the air like a volcanic eruption. The sudden reversal forced both Adam and Grise to react.
Adam's floating blade, drifted backward as his sword rose to meet the incoming chaos. Grise launched backwards in an arc of motion to evade the eruption.
But Pyrrha didn't give either of them time to breathe.
The metal that had protected them twisted and expanded outward in an instant, transforming into a massive branching structure. It grew rapidly, like a tree of coral that was forged from steel, its limbs splitting and extending in every direction.
Then it attacked and branches shot outward like spears, each one aimed at the two of them with lethal precision.
Adam met them head on.
Every branch that collided with his sword was either shattered or deflected, but something else happened too. The energy behind each strike, the force embedded within Pyrrha's constructs, was absorbed into him.
Jaune saw it immediately. That kinetic build up and dangerous accumulation.
Grise, however, responded differently.
His body transformed completely.
Flesh became steel and steel became multiplicity. He expanded into a massive blade before splitting apart into dozens of other swords that weaved through the metallic branches with unnatural fluidity.
They slipped through it and then they struck.
The swarm of blades redirected, all of them converging toward Pyrrha from impossible angles.
Jaune moved.
He stepped in front of her, both swords spinning in a wide arc. The incoming blades met his defense in a rapid cascade of impacts, each strike ringing out as he deflected them one after another.
Sparks flew and pressure built but then Jaune kicked off the platform beneath him and launched upwards just as a small rift opened in the air. From it, the real Grise emerged, riding a giant blade like a spear aimed directly at Pyrrha.
Jaune intercepted him mid flight and their swords collided with explosive force.
The impact sent both of them flying apart, their bodies thrown in opposite directions as the force of their clash rippled through the air.
Jaune twisted in mid air, regaining control.
And that was when he saw Adam's move.
Everything seemed to slow.
Adam stood below, his posture calm, almost casual, as he brought his blade down in a smooth, deliberate motion. The energy gathered along the edge glowed brighter and brighter until it released.
A massive arc of energy surged upwards and tore through the air toward Pyrrha.
Pyrrha however, did not move. Instead, she raised her hand and metal responded.
Dozens of spears formed in front of her, arranging themselves into a precise circular pattern. The arc collided with them and instead of breaking through, it was redirected, deflected outward in a controlled burst of force.
For a moment, it looked like she had stopped it.
Then more arcs followed.
A dozen which came in rapid succession, each one layered with devastating force.
The battlefield became a storm of cutting energy.
Jaune landed.
Platforms of metal appeared beneath his feet one after another, forming a scattered network in the air. He crouched low, muscles coiling as he calculated the trajectory of the incoming arcs.
Then he moved.
He launched himself forward, kicking off each platform in rapid succession. His body became a blur as he ricocheted through the air, weaving between the arcs like a pinball in motion.
Each step precise and explosive.
Before long, he reached Adam, appearing directly in front of him, both swords crossing in a scissoring strike aimed at his neck.
It should have connected but Adam had seen him and easily leaned back.
His entire body arched backward at an impossible angle, the blades passing just inches above his face. In the same motion, his sword slid back into its sheath.
And then—
He drew again and a new arc erupted upward.
Jaune had no time to evade.
He brought his blades together, blocking the strike directly in front of his chest. The impact detonated against him, launching his body upward with violent force.
The sky spun and heat and pressure twisted around him.
Jaune glanced slightly at Crocea Mors. The blade was slightly damaged.
And then—
A massive spear shot forwards.
It tore through the air and slammed into Adam. He barely managed to bring his blade up in time to block, but the force still sent him crashing off his flying sword and down into the molten expanse below.
Jaune's head snapped toward Pyrrha.
The massive metal tree from earlier had been reshaped, condensed into that single devastating spear.
She didn't stop as Grise was already on her. Their blades clashed in rapid succession. For a moment, Pyrrha struggled to keep up against his relentless precision.
Then—
Grise froze and his body halted mid motion, stiff and unnatural, like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been pulled tight.
Just for a moment, yet that single moment was enough.
Pyrrha drove her spear forward and it pierced toward his heart.
However, before the action could be completed, space twisted and a rift portal opened directly in front of Grise.
The spear passed through it and another portal opened behind Pyrrha. The same spear emerged from it and aimed straight at her own heart.
She reacted and the spear dissolved mid motion, breaking apart into liquid metal that flowed around her body and hardened instantly into a full suit of armor.
Jaune didn't waste the opening.
He kicked off another platform and surged back toward her just as new threats appeared.
Portals.
Dozens of them.
They opened all around the battlefield, small rifts scattered through the air like fractures in reality itself. From each one, blades emerged.
Hundreds of them launching simultaneously.
Jaune's Weakness rune flared at full force. The incoming blades destabilized mid flight, their structure collapsing into slurry that rained down harmlessly around them.
But it wasn't over. One of the portals shifted and Adam launched through. He emerged mid strike, his blade already in motion as it cut toward Jaune.
This time, the attack was different and Jaune felt it immediately.
It wasn't just kinetic force but layered with something else. A small amount of Spatial distortion.
Portal energy.
The strike warped as it moved, bending the space it traveled through, making it impossible to judge its exact trajectory.
Jaune raised his swords to block and the impact came.
Except... something broke.
He felt it before he saw it.
Resistance vanished.
Crocea Mors split cleanly in half.
The blade that had been reforged using runic forging was severed completely as Adam's strike carved through it and continued forward towards Jaune's neck.
Jaune's eyes widened.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Time compressed into a razor thin instant. Jaune twisted his body, forcing himself into a desperate lean, his muscles straining to pull him just out of the path of the strike. The heat of the blade kissed his skin, close enough that he could feel the promise of death riding along its edge.
Then Adam stopped, his body locking mid motion, muscles freezing in a rigid, unnatural stillness. The killing strike hung in the air, suspended inches from Jaune's neck.
Jaune's eyes flicked past the blade.
Pyrrha.
Her hand was outstretched, fingers curled slightly as if gripping something invisible. The faint shimmer of runic energy coiled around Adam's form, threading through him like puppet strings.
Blood.
She was controlling his blood.
Jaune didn't hesitate.
He turned the momentum of his dodge into motion, his body snapping backward into a clean arc as his leg lashed out. The kick connected solidly with Adam's chin, the impact cracking through the air with a sharp, brutal sound.
The moment the strike landed, the control broke.
Adam's body snapped free of Pyrrha's hold, the runic threads unraveling as his internal Will surged in resistance. He tried to bring his blade up in time to guard, but he was too slow.
The force of Jaune's kick launched him backward.
Adam flipped mid air, recovering with practiced precision before landing lightly atop a floating sword. The molten glow below reflected against his cracked Grimm mask.
Grise drifted into position beside him, standing balanced on his own blade, calm and composed despite the chaos.
For a moment, everything stilled.
Jaune and Pyrrha hovered opposite them, the battlefield suspended in a fragile equilibrium. Heat rolled through the air in waves, the distant clashes of higher ranks rumbling like thunder beyond the horizon.
Jaune's gaze dropped briefly.
Crocea Mors was broken.
The blade that had stood beside him through every trial, reforged again and again was now split cleanly in two.
Before he could react, the severed half rose from the molten ground, drawn upward by Pyrrha's control. It hovered for a moment before aligning with the remaining half in Jaune's hand.
Metal flowed and it fused.
Pyrrha exhaled softly. "It's temporary," she said. "The integrity is compromised which means that it won't hold under repeated stress."
Jaune tested the weight.
"It's fine," he said.
And it was. It would have to be. What occupied his mind more was Pyrrha herself. Jaune glanced at her, really looked this time, past the surface of her composure.
She was keeping up.
Against two opponents like this.
It shouldn't have been possible.
Not in the Shadow Realm, where her physical body wasn't even fully manifested in the same way his was due to the shadow body of Gula. Her base physicality should have been lagging behind, unable to match the demands of a fight at this level.
And yet she was still able to keep up.
Fluidly, precisely and fast enough to react and counter without hesitation. Jaune's eyes sharpened slightly as he observed the subtle details.
The way her movements carried a faint delay, corrected instantly by something deeper. The way her aura threaded through her limbs in tight, controlled pulses.
Blood.
She was using it as a medium, puppeteering her own body and overriding natural limitations by directly manipulating the flow of her blood to force movement, speed, and strength beyond what her current form should allow.
It was brilliant... and dangerous.
Jaune turned his head slightly. "How are you holding up?"
Pyrrha didn't answer immediately.
A thin line of blood slipped from the corner of her lip. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, her expression tightening for just a fraction of a second before settling into determination.
"I'll be alright," she said.
Jaune nodded once.
That was enough.
Across from them, Adam reached up and touched his mask. His fingers traced the crack running through it before he pulled it free, lifting it away from his face.
For a moment, he held it.
Then he let it fall.
The mask dropped into the molten lava below, vanishing beneath the glowing surface without a trace.
Jaune saw his face clearly now.
Cold.
Those piercing blue eyes, unchanged from the first time they had met.
Adam rolled his jaw slightly, testing the damage from the kick, before his gaze locked onto Jaune.
"You should join Sleepless," he said. "We could use someone like you."
Jaune didn't respond.
Adam continued, his voice steady. "And besides… your father is already one of us."
A deliberate strike against his mind.
Jaune's grip tightened on his swords, but his expression didn't change.
"It seems everyone and their dog really knows about my father in Sleepless. I guess he's much more famous than I was expecting. However, I'm not my father," he said.
His voice was flat and final.
"Don't bother asking again."
Adam studied him for a moment, then exhaled lightly and shook his head.
His gaze shifted to Pyrrha.
"And you?" he asked. "With your ability, you'd be a valuable asset."
Pyrrha didn't speak.
Her eyes met his, cold and unyielding. There was no hesitation or flicker of doubt. Just a silent refusal that carried more weight than any words.
Adam tilted his head slightly.
"We could make you stronger than you are now."
Still nothing. The silence stretched.
Jaune shook his head. "Enough, Adam."
A pause.
Then Adam nodded once. "Fine. At the end, when the Sleeper awakens, you better not regret it."
His hand moved toward his blade again.
But before anything else could happen—
The energy threading through the air shifted.
It wasn't subtle or gradual.
It was as if the very air itself detonated.
A violent surge of power erupted across the battlefield, slamming into all four of them at once. The force staggered them, throwing off their balance as the very fabric of space trembled.
Instinctively, all of them turned.
Their attention snapped toward the distant battlefield where the Rank 2 clashes were unfolding.
And there—
Something impossible had appeared.
A crack, massive and jagged, split the air open like shattered glass, stretching upward and outward in a chaotic fracture that bled light and darkness in equal measure.
The edges of the tear pulsed, unstable and violent, as if reality itself was struggling to hold together.
Grise clicked his tongue. "Tch."
His gaze sharpened.
"Looks like they're struggling," he muttered.
He shifted his stance, blade angling beneath his feet.
"Come on," he said to Adam. "We don't have time to waste here. They've already started plan B."
Adam nodded once.
The both of them moved at the same time, launching forward atop their flying swords, cutting across the battlefield toward the Rank 2 conflict without another glance back.
Jaune blinked and Pyrrha turned to him.
For a brief moment, confusion flickered between them, then they moved. Pyrrha's platform surged forward, carrying them both as they accelerated in pursuit.
"Don't let them get away," Jaune said.
Pyrrha nodded, increasing speed.
Ahead, Adam twisted his body mid flight, turning just enough to face them while still moving forward. His blade flashed.
Arcs of energy erupted from it, tearing backward toward Jaune and Pyrrha in rapid succession.
Beside him, Grise lifted his hand and swords formed.
They launched in a scattered barrage, filling the air with lethal trajectories.
Pyrrha maneuvered the platform sharply, weaving through the incoming arcs with tight, controlled movements. Jaune moved forward, his Weakness rune flaring as he cut through what they couldn't avoid.
Blades dissolved into molten fragments. Energy arcs split apart under precise deflection.
They pushed forward.
Faster and closer.
And then—
The glass-like crack in the air changed. It expanded wider, its edges peeling back like torn fabric.
Beyond it—
A world which wasn't unfamiliar.
Jaune's breath caught.
A ruined city stretched out on the other side. Buildings decayed and rusted, their structures warped and broken as if time itself had abandoned them. The ground was cracked and uneven, streets swallowed by neglect and something far worse.
And above it—
A moon that was broken and blood red. Hanging low in a sky that felt wrong in every possible way. Jaune's eyes widened as recognition hit him like a physical blow.
The Dream Realm.
The crack wasn't just damage but a portal and a bridge. A forced connection between two spaces that were never meant to overlap like this.
"What…" Jaune whispered.
The battlefield around them seemed to pale in comparison to what lay beyond that tear.
"What the hell just happened?"