Back in the present, at the moment when Lira and Kilay had already stepped into the arena, on the other side behind several walls and corridors, Neale had just arrived in front of a door while he was still being supported by the medic who had treated him.
The door opened, revealing a small dark room illuminated by transparent tubes containing phosphorescent material. Long benches were lined up against the walls.
Fitty, Nuke, and Luan, who were already inside the room, immediately recognized that it was Neale being carried in practically unconscious. The girls stood up to help lay him down on one of the benches, while Luan, who still seemed to be in shock, remained seated staring down at his own feet.
The medic thanked the girls for the help and began explaining Neale's condition to them, saying that as soon as a large part of his soul recovered from Four Soul, he would wake up normally again. After settling the young man into the waiting room so he could rest until the beginning of the final stage, she left, the door closing behind her and leaving the four youths alone there.
"So that's it, our team is already having its final fight."
Nuke
"Out of ten people, only us are left. I keep trying to imagine what the final stage will be like." Fitty said while lying down on the bench. "Do you think we'll actually pass in the end?"
"Right now I can't think about anything except my sister." Luan said in a depressed tone while rubbing his hands together.
The room then fell silent. Fitty and Luan remained still, lost in their own thoughts while waiting for the next person to walk through that door. Nuke, meanwhile, couldn't stay still and kept pacing from side to side as time passed. After nearly two full minutes had gone by, Neale's body finally gave in, allowing him to sleep, his long hair practically covering his entire face as he rested on the bench.
They thought they would have to wait a long time until the final winner of the second stage also showed up inside that waiting room, but that wasn't what happened. Not long after Neale arrived, the medic appeared again, opening the door, and this time it was Kilay entering while thanking her for kindly showing him the way.
But unlike everyone else who had entered that room before him, Kilay looked completely fine. He didn't seem tired in the slightest. His clothes weren't dirty with arena dust, not even stained with blood, and most importantly, out of the five who had fought so far, he was the only one who had finished his fight quickly.
"Is it just me, or was that really fast? Did the fight between you two actually end already?"
Fitty
"Yes... it's over."
Kilay
"How is she? Lira? Is she okay?" Fitty asked, her eyes turning toward the medic still standing by the door.
"Don't worry, she'll receive proper treatment before being escorted outside the city."
Medic
"I'll be leaving now, alright? Get as much rest as possible until you're called."
Medic
"So tell us already, what was it like fighting Lira? We want to know since you came back so fast."
Nuke
"Yilira and I simply entered that arena and fought the way we were told to. There was nothing different from your fights." Kilay spoke calmly, as if forcing himself not to show his emotions. "But at least I tried to be gentle with her when I knocked her out."
"What the hell happened in that arena? He doesn't seem interested in talking about it at all."
Fitty
"What happened to Neale? Why is he passed out like that?"
Kilay
"All of us ended up like this after receiving treatment. He should wake up soon."
Nuke
"You should sit down too while we have time. You must be tired after the treatment."
Fitty
"Thanks, but I'm fine. I didn't need that treatment." Kilay said casually as he sat down with the room's dim light falling across his face.
When Kilay finished speaking, everyone stared at him seriously. Even Luan, who had seemed lost in distant thoughts, felt drawn to look at him and ask the same question everyone else was asking themselves.
"What happened in their fight?"
Luan, Fitty, and Nuke
Time didn't seem to move inside that dark room. Sometimes it felt like hours had passed, other times mere seconds. Some tried to pass the time sleeping, others by talking, even if only to themselves, like Nuke occasionally did whenever nobody else was awake. Yet even if it didn't feel like it inside that room, outside the arena fights continued one after another, group after group being eliminated. With every passing hour, the stands grew emptier.
In the elite stands.
"I'm starting to think you missed the best fights the rookies had while you were out smoking, Vastos." Matteo F. Mouro said with a yawn while watching the current fight. "You missed the end of Team Twelve's second-to-last fight, and by the time you got here for the last one it had already heated up."
"It's fine. Leonardo told me everything about the fights that happened and what he thought about them, so technically I didn't miss them." Vastos S. Agiades replied carelessly.
"I never want to sit in the leader's chair again. Never."
Leonardo Krivak
"What fight are we even on now?... Which group are we watching?... I honestly don't even know anymore."
Kássia D. Apolodoro
"You know why that's happening to you, Kássia? I do. It's because none of these other groups managed to be as memorable as Team Twelve. These are all bland. They don't stand out, they don't convey that sense of anguish. Even that whole mess earlier was more interesting than this." Matteo finished while pointing toward the arena.
"Matteo... don't say things like that. Every one of these young people is interesting in some way, and each of them came here through their own efforts to learn what we have to teach." Igor Xen Don Crates spoke calmly, as always, while looking over the notebook filled with notes about the fights he had watched so far. "Besides, there's no reason to waste time discussing something Sindy already resolved."
Matteo fell silent, agreeing with Igor.
"Sindy, as always, bringing good results to the Order."
Vastos
"Miss Sindy always surprising us with her talent for leadership."
Kássia
"Absolutely, very... well then, why don't you tell us how it went?"
Matteo
"Thank you for the compliments, gentlemen." Sindy looked toward Igor after thanking them, as if asking permission to speak.
Igor simply responded by blinking and slightly tilting his head.
"Well, to answer you, Mr. Matteo, it was only possible thanks to the help of Representative Kássia's substitute, the medical team, and several other members of the Order who helped divert the rookies' attention away from the incident while we secretly moved the injured to receive treatment in a separate room. All while we were collecting the weapons from every floor."
Sindy
"Excellent, Miss Sindy. Keep this up and one day you might even become a leader yourself." Matteo said while clapping, wearing a smile impossible to tell whether it was genuine or sarcastic.
"By the way, Sindy, all those weapons were placed in our storage, correct?"
Igor
"Yes, Mr. Igor. All of them were stored in separate crates so they wouldn't mix with the other weapons. Would you like me to prepare a team to return them?"
Sindy
"That won't be necessary. It would be too much trouble, but we won't keep them either. Once the admission stages are over, throw them all away."
Igor
"It will be done exactly as you ordered, sir."
Sindy
"And the winner of the final fight between Guto and Vernay from Team Sixty... Guto!" The Instructor shouted, announcing the end of another fight, his voice crashing through the leaders' ears like thunder.
"So that was the current team number."
Matteo
And so time passed, with no other group managing to attract as much attention as Team Twelve. Even though several fights were good, they still felt different from the first group's battle. When the rookies' fights ended, the leaders prepared themselves to watch the fights involving the children of the Order's soldiers, children who had been taught about Just Wrath since birth. To the leaders, it would be like watching experienced professionals fight.
Those battles continued until the sun began to set, announcing the arrival of night. With the end of the second stage, the leaders took a short break before announcing the beginning of the third and final stage of the admission exam.
A few hours before the second stage officially ended, Neale finally woke up, though he still felt the exhaustion his body and soul had suffered after enduring the medic's technique. He felt tired and starving.
"You're awake, Neale."
Nuke
"Take it easy, you can sit up slowly."
Fitty
"How are you feeling?"
Kilay
"Guys... so I wasn't hallucinating when I thought I saw you... I'm okay, honestly just starving."
Neale
"How long have we been in this room?"
Neale
"We kinda lost track a while ago." Luan said while staring at the ceiling, discouraged. "We don't know anything. Nobody tells us anything. There might not even be anyone behind that door."
"Since Luan already summed it up, that's basically our situation."
Kilay
"And it's boring being trapped in the dark like this."
Nuke
"But now that Neale mentioned it, things would be a little better if we at least had food. I'm starting to get hungry too."
Fitty
"I can't even sleep anymore from how many naps I've taken inside this room."
Fitty
A few more minutes passed when the room's phosphorescent light suddenly reacted to something, its blue glow slowly turning purple. That abrupt shift, as if announcing something, caused all five of them to stand up in confusion, wondering whether something was about to happen.
Then the door opened once more, and a soldier entered pushing a small three-tiered cart filled with plates of food.
"Each of you may take only one plate from this cart."
Everyone grabbed their own plate, and then the soldier left with the cart, the room once again closing behind him as the lights slowly returned to their blue color. The food looked like something simple and easy to prepare in large quantities. Because of the dim lighting, it was impossible to tell exactly what they were eating, but it tasted delicious. Or maybe hunger was simply playing tricks on their taste buds.
With the second stage concluded and the leaders having finished their break, they ordered the groups to return to the arena in the same order they had fought before.
As a result, the waiting room door where the remaining members of Team Twelve were gathered became the first to open after such a long wait.
"Team Twelve, come outside now."
Guard 1
"And where are we going this time?" Fitty quickly stood up and asked.
"Just follow us, and do so silently."
Guard 2
After receiving that order, the four who were still seated got up and began following the two guards through long, dimly lit corridors.
"Where do you think they're taking us?" Nuke whispered.
"No idea. These hallways look like one giant maze to me." Neale whispered back.
"We're probably heading back to the arena." Kilay whispered. "The details are subtle, but I can recognize these corridors with some effort."
"Walk in silence."
Guard 3
After following the guards for some time, the end of the tunnel finally appeared, illuminated just slightly brighter than the corridor itself. When the five of them entered the arena once again, the Instructor wasn't waiting at its center this time, but rather seated in the first row of the stands while announcing Team Twelve.
"Congratulations, Team Twelve. All five of you advanced through the second stage, and now, on this very same day, we will begin the final stage of the admission exam, so that the very best among you may finally become students."
Instructor
Looking upward, their eyes clashed against the light, but once they adjusted, they realized the stands were completely empty and that the lights illuminating the arena were mounted high above, hiding some of the stars already scattered across the night sky.
"Now I will announce how many of you will be admitted during this final stage."
Instructor
All five fixed their eyes attentively on him.
"What do you mean?"
Neale
"What exactly are you planning now?"
Kilay
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
Fitty
"Out of the five of you... only... two may become students of the Order." The Instructor announced dramatically while raising his fingers to show the number.
"Begin! Let only the two strongest among you remain standing!"
Instructor
At the center of the arena, illuminated by white lights, the five felt confused about what to do, how to fight, how to react. Nothing was clear during those first moments.
Kilay searched among the four others with his eyes, trying to decide who his opponent should be.
Nuke quickly distanced herself from everyone, trying to protect her back and feel less vulnerable.
Neale, standing directly in front of Luan, instinctively raised his fists without knowing what to do or where the next attack would come from.
Luan did the same, though his expression looked serious and depressed at the same time.
Fitty raised her guard with both hands and one leg, ready to run and attack whenever necessary.
The five closed in on one another. Nuke reached her opponent first, leaping at Kilay with a right hook, but Kilay dodged and caught her punch before counterattacking with three consecutive elbow strikes to her face.
The instant he landed the final elbow strike, Fitty also rushed him with a flying kick, but he moved his face away from the strike, grabbed her ankle, and yanked her violently toward himself until she was close enough for him to drive a punch straight into her stomach so hard it nearly made her vomit instantly.
Meanwhile, Neale traded blows with Luan while trying to understand his capoeira movements.
At some point in the chaos, Neale and Kilay's backs collided. Both immediately reacted as if ready to attack each other, but after dodging incoming attacks from the others, they ended up switching positions. Neale was then forced to face Nuke and Fitty, while Kilay ended up dealing with Luan.
Neale started off well against Fitty. He managed to land a kick that sent her flying away from the fight after tricking her with a feint kick before striking with his other leg. But during that brief distraction, Nuke hit him with such a heavy punch that he found himself launched straight toward Kilay.
Kilay dodged him easily, but Neale's body crashed into Luan instead. That caused Kilay to turn back toward the two girls who suddenly attacked and struck him together.
"I think I should stop hiding things and just beat these two already." Kilay thought while still feeling the impact of their attacks. "I'll win using the bare minimum."
The moment his body fully absorbed the blows, he counterattacked, vanishing from Fitty's sight and instantly appearing behind her, grabbing her shoulders while striking her ribs repeatedly. She tried to retaliate using her triceps, but he dodged, locked her into a rear chokehold, and kicked Nuke away.
Fitty remained trapped in Kilay's chokehold until she finally passed out in his arms.
"One less."
Kilay
On the other side, Neale was on the ground getting beaten by Luan. When he finally reacted, he kicked Luan's heels out from under him before driving both feet into his chest. Only then was Neale able to stand after sending Luan flying away.
Neale continued fighting desperately while trying to understand the capoeira strikes Luan kept throwing at him.
Neale took a brutal beating while attempting to land his own attacks. Then he finally spotted an opening in Luan's guard and grabbed his left arm with his right hand, throwing him to the ground while trapping his legs with his own. From there, Neale repeatedly punched Luan in the face until he finally lost consciousness, bleeding across the arena floor.
Neale stood up, dizzy and breathing heavily, still trying to maintain a guard in case the fight wasn't over yet. But when he turned toward the direction where the other three had been fighting, Kilay was already sitting down waiting for Neale and Luan's fight to end, with both Nuke and Fitty unconscious behind him.
"Why did you... just sit there instead... of fighting if you'd already won?" Neale asked between breaths.
"Why?... Because if I interfered in your fight, then we wouldn't be the two strongest left standing. It would just be the strongest and the weak one I saved out of pity... understand?"
Kilay
"I think... yeah, I get your reasoning..."
Neale
"Congratulations to the winners. You are now officially our students."
Instructor
With the Instructor's booming announcement declaring the fight over, the gate to the left side of the arena opened, and a medical team large enough to carry the three losers away on stretchers entered so they could receive treatment before facing their fate.
"Please follow us, winners. We'll treat your injuries, and afterward you'll be taken to the academy where you'll be shown your quarters."
Medic
In the elite stands, where the leaders watched the nighttime battle.
"So these are officially our first students of the year."
Vastos S. Agiades
"The boy in white has a lot of potential. He fights extremely well for someone who doesn't have Just Wrath yet."
Matteo F. Mouro
"..."
Igor Xen Don Crates
"Looks like I lost the candidate I had my eye on, but honestly the winners couldn't have been better choices. Though the long-haired boy will still need a lot of polishing."
Kássia D. Apolodoro
"All of them will, with enough time and training from us."
Igor
The fights between the other groups continued without pause, following the same rules until only two members remained from each team. The battles lasted almost until dawn, by which point the new students were finally free to rest or properly explore the academy, and they now also had access to the entire city of Kirden as residents.
Meanwhile, the losers of the second stage were gradually released and escorted outside the city once the morning fully arrived.
As for the losers of the third stage...
"How are the losers from the final admission stage?"
Sairus
"They've all received the minimum basic treatment. They'll wake up as soon as we stop administering the medication."
Medic
"So you're the one responsible for this year's inspection, Sairus."
Medic
"I am. You can stop administering the medication now. It's time. Let's start sending them all to the underworld."
Sairus
Roughly two months later.
"LoOkS lIkE wE'rE fInAlLy ReAdY."
Lie
"I cOuLdN't TaKe ThIs WaIt AnYmOrE."
Lie
"We ended up delayed because of some complications, but now we'll finally get to see his plan."
Balety
Lie and Balety stood some distance away, directly facing the main gate of the city of Kirden. They were merely waiting for Calamity, but if you looked around, you wouldn't find him, because he was gliding high above the city. This time he wasn't wearing his tactical mercenary leader outfit as he held an enormous sphere made from his Grace in one hand alone.
The waves rippling across the sphere's surface reacted violently. It looked chaotic, screaming like a storm trapped inside a pressure cooker.
With the wind whipping against his long hooded cloak, his altitude slowly decreasing, and a smile escaping through the shadows cast by the clouds above his head, he felt ready for war.
"You'd better be ready... child of Kallay."
Calamity
"Let's... begin!"
Calamity