"Sloppy, Nexburst!" Gamuikaze jeered, spiraling beside him. "Too focused on your toy to see the wind coming?"

  Nex grit his teeth and hissed through them. "Frick off."

  Gamuikaze snapped his scythe arm forward and a tornado punched into Nex like a wall. The wind shoved him backward and kept shoving, ripping control from his wings and grinding him into the air like sandpaper.

  Nex snarled. "Enough."

  He drove his wings hard and forced a burst of sound through his chest. The tornado ripped and split as his vibration hammered through it. Nex burst out the other side and zigzagged through the sky, sharp angles, sudden drops, then a climb. He flew like a knife looking for a gap.

  Gamuikaze chased, cackling, tornado streams curling behind him like tails. "Run faster, Nexburst. Maybe you will impress me."

  Nex did not answer. He saw the [Extreme Shuriken] ahead and it looked like a star that wanted to cut the world. He surged toward it, then his echolocation pulsed and his skin went cold.

  Eyes were on him again.

  Yasuya watched from above the cloud line, calm and bright, his horns glinting with that same signal shine. The dragon did not attack. He merely observed.

  Nex felt the stare and an idea surged up so hard it hurt. He did not like it. He loved it.

  He barely reached the [Extreme Shuriken] in time and spiked it back into control with a sharp claw tap. The rim screamed. The vortex inside tightened and tried to buck away.

  "Mine," Nex growled. He spun with it, letting its momentum pull his whole body through a tight arc. He used that spin like a sling and hurled the [Extreme Shuriken] toward Viz.

  Viz caught sight of it and moved to receive.

  Gamuikaze saw it too and chased the weapon, hungry to ruin the pass. His wind tunneled behind him, pushing him like a missile.

  Nex's eyes widened. That chase line aimed straight at Viz.

  "Viz," Nex shouted, panic finally breaking through his pride. "Let it pass! Hit him and run to me!"

  Viz faltered for a breath. His wings stuttered. He stared at the incoming shuriken like it was a loaded bomb.

  Then he listened.

  Viz dipped under the [Extreme Shuriken] and did not touch it. He twisted toward Gamuikaze and opened his maw. A violent electrical current surged from his mouth in a snapping wave.

  It struck Gamuikaze in the chest. The weasel jerked, eyes wide, scythe arm locking mid swing. His tornado sputtered and collapsed into ragged gust.

  "What," Gamuikaze choked.

  Viz did not wait. He fled toward Nex, wings pumping, still shaking, still alive.

  Nex felt the [Extreme Shuriken] passing far out ahead, still spinning, still screaming, too far to reach with claws.

  So he reached with sound.

  Nex threw out sound strings, long and taut, invisible cords that vibrated through the air. They caught the shuriken at its rim and latched like hooks. Nex's jaw clenched as the pull yanked at his throat and shoulders.

  The distance was brutal. The tension burned.

  Nex roared and tugged. The [Extreme Shuriken] swung on the sound strings like a flail. Its comet trail curved. The spinning rim turned toward the stunned Gamuikaze.

  Gamuikaze saw it at the last second. His eyes went huge. "No no no!"

  Yasuya finally moved. The dragon coiled into the path and positioned his body between the shuriken and his disciple. His eyes flashed and his horns glinted, and for the first time Nex felt something like urgency from him.

  Gamuikaze gasped, stunned in more ways than one. "Master Yasuya!"

  Yasuya did not answer. He only took the line of fire.

  Nex's mouth went dry. Then his mind sharpened.

  He did not aim for the front. Instead, he went up.

  Nex shot above the cloud edge and rode the thin air, using the last of the shurikens pull to slingshot his body. For a heartbeat he was weightless above Yasuya, staring down at the dragon's back, scales shining, storm light leaking from between them.

  "You wanted to watch," Nex snarled. "Watch this!"

  He released the sound strings at the perfect moment and dropped with the weapon.

  Nex appeared above Yasuya and shoved the [Extreme Shuriken] into the dragon's back with both claws and his whole body weight. The impact sounded like the sky cracking.

  The force hit Yasuya like a meteor screaming through the atmosphere. The dragon lurched and vanished through the clouds, driven downward in a thunderous plunge. Nex saw coils disappear, then light, then nothing but a widening hole in the cloud sea.

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  A moment later the continent below flashed.

  A pillar of energy erupted upward from the surface, roaring through the cloud layers like a beacon. The aftermath of the [Extreme Shuriken] punched the sky and made the whole arena tremble.

  Viz reached Nex and grabbed him with shaking breath. "Did we—?"

  Nex stared at the rising pillar, chest heaving, eyes wide, pride and fear colliding in his throat.

  He forced a grin anyway. "Yeah. We hit him."

  The sky stayed bright for several long seconds after the pillar of energy faded. The clouds were torn open in rings and spirals, and the air still hummed like a struck bell.

  Gamuikaze hovered in place, frozen.

  His scythe arm hung limp at his side. His winds, once wild and loud, barely stirred around him now. He stared at the distant point where Yasuya had vanished, then slowly turned his head toward Nex.

  Then toward Viz.

  For once, Gamuikaze had nothing to say. The usual grin did not come back. The sharp, mocking eyes dulled into something quieter.

  "…Tch." His shoulders sank. He let out a long breath, one that sounded heavier than any storm he had summoned. "I lost."

  The words seemed to surprise even him. He looked down at his own paws, flexed them once, then laughed under his breath, hollow and bitter. "I let it get to my head. Again." He shook his head. "All that power, all that training, and I still thought I was untouchable."

  His eyes lifted back to the clouds. "I failed my mentor. I failed Lord Jalkra." His jaw tightened. "I thought I was fighting to prove myself. Turns out I was just showing off."

  He turned fully toward Nex now, eyes sharp again, but stripped of malice. Only disbelief remained.

  "You knew," Gamuikaze said. "You knew he would step in."

  Nex steadied his breathing and met the stare without flinching. His voice came out rough, but certain. "I did."

  Gamuikaze frowned. "How?"

  Nex glanced at Viz, then back at Gamuikaze. "I would have done the same." He lifted his chin, proud and resolute. "If someone aimed that at my brother, or my sister, or even Perl, I would have moved without thinking. No technique. No pride. Just instinct."

  Gamuikaze's eyes widened slightly.

  "And Yasuya," Nex continued, quieter now, "he looked at you the same way my father used to look at us. Like the fight did not matter as much as who survived it."

  The wind stilled around them.

  Gamuikaze swallowed, then exhaled again, slower this time. He straightened, then bowed his head once, deeply.

  "I forfeit," he said. "This match is over for me." He drifted backward, giving them space, his storms fully dissipated. Before anyone could speak again, a sharp chime rang through the sky.

  The fairy announcer reappeared in a flash of glittering light, wings fluttering with barely contained excitement. "Ahem! Attention, competitors and honored spectators!" She raised her staff, and her voice boomed across the arena.

  "By forfeiture of Gamuikaze and confirmed incapacitation of Yasuya, this round is officially concluded!"

  The words felt heavier than any blow.

  Nex blinked once, then twice. His chest still burned. His wings still trembled. He looked at Viz to make sure he had heard it right.

  Viz stared back, wide-eyed and exhausted. "…He gave up."

  The fairy announcer zipped into view in a flash of glittering light, spinning in a loop over the battlefield.

  "WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS! WHAT A FINISH! WHAT A SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF OVERWHELMING, RULE-BREAKING, SKY-DESTROYING VIOLENCE!"

  She hovered high and pointed her staff toward the distant crater where Yasuya had fallen.

  "YASUYA IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE!"

  She spun and pointed toward Gamuikaze.

  "AND GAMUIKAZE HAS OFFICIALLY FORFEITED THE MATCH!"

  Confetti that absolutely did not belong in this ruined sky exploded into existence around her.

  "WHICH MEANS," she sang, "THE WINNERS OF THIS ROUND ARE…"

  She paused dramatically, then threw both arms wide.

  "NEX AND VIZ of the CHIMERA CREW!"

  A fanfare of magic trumpets blared from nowhere.

  Nex let out a long breath he did not realize he had been holding. His wings sagged a little. Then he straightened, lifted his chin, and allowed himself a slow, proud grin.

  Viz laughed weakly. "We… we actually did it."

  Nex glanced at him, then at the shattered clouds, then at the distant, fading glow where Yasuya had fallen.

  "Of course we did," Nex said. "Did you expect anything else?"

  Gamuikaze drifted a little closer, still looking shaken, still quiet. He looked at Nex, then at Viz, and gave a short, respectful nod.

  "…Do not let it get to your heads," he said. "What you just hit him with. That was not normal."

  Nex's smirk widened. "Neither are we."

  The fairy zipped in between them, already glowing with excitement. "MEDICS ARE ON THE WAY FOR YASUYA," she chirped. "AND YOU TWO ARE CLEARED TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT ROUND!"

  She leaned in close to Nex and whispered loudly, "Also, please try not to erase the arena next time. It is very expensive. Don't make me delete you."

  Nex shuddered from the dangerous vibe that emanated from her. He laughed, a sharp, confident sound, even as his chest ached and his wings burned.

  Viz hovered beside him, still a little unsteady, but smiling.

  Below them, the clouds slowly began to close. And far beneath the battlefield, the continent still smoked where a dragon had fallen.

  ??? ??? ???

  Nex led the way, he and Viz turned and flew back toward the arena proper.

  The stands came into view, massive and loud, still buzzing with shock and awe. As Nex descended, he felt every bruise, every strained muscle, every burned patch of fur. He welcomed the pain. It meant he was still standing.

  When his feet touched down, his gaze lifted.

  Straight to her.

  His mother stood with her wings folded, her usual sneer already in place. But for just a fraction of a second, before she masked it, Nex saw something else in her eyes.

  Fear.

  It was small. It was quick. But it was real.

  Nex felt something cold and sharp settle happily in his chest.

  He met her stare and did not look away.

  Then he thought, very simply, very clearly.

  "Heh. You're Next."