BOOM.
Sora's plasma-enhanced kick was caught mid-swing—Fish grabbed his ankle with one hand, grinned, and threw him.
Not gently.
Sora's body tore through the air, crashing through a storefront window before tumbling across tile and broken glass.
Kael attacked from the side—flames spiraling—
Fish pivoted, delivered a perfect palm strike to Kael's chest—
CRACK.
Kael was launched backward, slamming into a car hard enough to flip it.
Both Sora and Kael pulled themselves upright, breathing hard, bloodied, battered.
And for the first time since the fight began—
They exchanged a glance.
Sora's eyes flicked to the flag tucked into his belt.
Kael's hand moved instinctively toward his own.
We can't beat him.
Not like this.
Sora clenched his fist.
"How much time left?" he muttered.
Kael's jaw tightened. "Two hours."
Two hours.
Just... survive two hours.
Fish cracked his knuckles, grinning wider. "You guys done already? I was just getting—"
Sora moved.
He turned and sprinted toward the nearest building—a half-collapsed skyscraper, its lower floors exposed, upper structure leaning precariously.
Kael hesitated for half a second.
Then followed.
Flames propelled him forward, and he shot past Sora, both of them disappearing into the building's darkened interior.
Fish blinked and tilted his head.
"Huh?"
He stood there for a moment, genuinely confused.
Then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted:
"HEY! WAIT! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!"
His voice echoed across the ruined battlefield.
Behind him, one of his team members—arms crossed, expression flat—sighed deeply.
"He is always dumb."
Another teammate nodded. "Every single time."
Fish turned, grinning. "What? They just left! Rude, right?"
The first teammate pinched the bridge of their nose. "They're preserving their flags, you idiot. It's an exam."
"Oh."
Fish paused.
"Ohhhhh."
He turned back toward the skyscraper, scratching his bald head.
"Right. Flags. I forgot about that."
He started walking.
Like he was strolling through a park instead of a battlefield.
His team stayed behind, watching.
One of them muttered, "Should we stop him?"
"No point. He's already decided."
"Think they'll last?"
"...No."
Inside the skyscraper.
Sora and Kael moved quickly through the darkened interior, boots crunching over broken glass and debris.
The building groaned around them—steel supports twisted, concrete cracked, entire sections missing from previous destruction.
Sora ducked behind a thick support pillar, pressing his back against it, breathing hard.
Kael moved to another pillar ten meters away, flames dimmed to faint embers around his hands.
For a moment, silence.
Just their ragged breathing and the distant sound of settling rubble.
"Two hours," Sora said quietly, not looking at Kael. "We just need to last two hours."
Kael's jaw clenched. "He's not going to let us hide."
"I know."
"We can't beat him."
"I know."
Sora's fist tightened, red-white mantra flickering weakly around his knuckles.
"But we don't need to beat him. We just need to survive."
Kael stared at the entrance—a gaping hole where the glass doors used to be, now just an open maw leading into darkness.
"Then we—"
He stopped.
Because the air felt heavy and Oppressive.
Like the air itself had become thick, like gravity had doubled, like the world was holding its breath.
Sora's eyes widened.
What is—
The pressure intensified.
It slammed into both of them like a physical wave, and Sora gasped, his vision swimming, legs trembling.
Kael staggered, catching himself against the pillar, flames flickering weakly before nearly extinguishing.
What... is this...?
The building groaned from presence.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling. Lights—what few remained—flickered erratically. Dust rained down from above. The very atmosphere shifted, became heavier, colder, suffocating.
And then—Footsteps.
Fish walked through the entrance.
But the moment he crossed the threshold—
The pressure exploded.
Like standing at the bottom of an ocean, like the weight of the sky pressing down, like being in the presence of something that shouldn't exist.
Sora's knees buckled.
He caught himself against the pillar, gasping, sweat dripping down his face despite the chill in the air.
This mantra...
It's not just strong...
It's...
His hands trembled.
...it's on a completely different level.
Kael's flames sputtered, barely holding form, his breathing ragged.
"This is..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Because the pressure wasn't just there.
It pulsed with every step Fish took, growing heavier, denser, like reality itself was bending around him.
Fish stopped in the center of the lobby, twenty meters from where Sora and Kael hid.
He tilted his head, scanning the darkened interior casually.
"I know you're in here," he called out, voice echoing through the empty darkness.
"Come on. Two hours is boring. Let's make it fun."
Sora pressed harder against the pillar, trying to steady his breathing, trying to think—
But his body wouldn't respond properly.
The pressure was crushing him.
Every instinct screamed at him to run, to hide, to get away—but his legs wouldn't move.
Kael's fist clenched, flames flickering desperately.
We can't... fight this...
Fish took another step forward.
The pressure intensified again.
A support beam cracked, splitting down the middle.
Windows that had somehow survived previous battles shattered simultaneously, glass raining down.
The floor beneath Fish's feet cratered slightly—not from force, just from the sheer weight of his presence.
Sora's vision blurred.
He's not even trying...
This is just... his mantra...
Fish's grin widened.
"Found you."
His eyes locked onto Sora's pillar.
Then Kael's.
"Hiding's cute," Fish said, walking forward slowly. "But it won't help."
The building screamed.
More cracks. More debris. The entire structure groaning under pressure that had nothing to do with physics.
Sora forced himself to move—stepped out from behind the pillar, fists raised, red-white mantra flickering weakly around them.
Kael emerged from his own cover, flames struggling to hold form.
Both stood facing Fish.
Battered. Exhausted and terrified.
Fish stopped, looking at them both.
Then grinned wider.
"That's better."
The pressure pulsed once more—
And both Sora and Kael felt their knees threaten to buckle again.
Fish cracked his knuckles.
"Two hours, huh?"
He dropped into stance.
"Let's see if you last two minutes."
BOOM.
Fish's fist drove into Sora's guard—perfect boxing straight—and the impact sent Sora skidding backward, boots carving trenches across broken tile.
Before Sora could recover—
Fish was already moving—Muay Thai knee strike aimed at Kael's ribs—
Kael twisted desperately, flames flaring defensively—
Fish's knee punched through the flames like they were paper and connected with Kael's side.
CRACK.
Kael gasped, folding, and was sent tumbling across the lobby floor.
Sora charged from the side—mantra igniting around his fist—
Fish pivoted—Judo throw—grabbed Sora's wrist mid-punch, used his own momentum, and hurled him overhead—
Sora's body slammed into the floor hard enough to crater it.
BOOM.
He rolled, came up gasping, vision swimming.
He's... too fast...
Kael forced himself upright, flames sputtering weakly now.
"We can't... keep this up..."
Fish straightened, dusting off his hands casually.
"You're slowing down," he observed.
He walked toward them slowly.
"Know why?"
Sora's fist clenched, red-white mantra flickering weakly.
Fish tapped his temple.
"Stamina."
He dropped into stance again—relaxed, loose, perfect form.
"Mantra comes from your soul, yeah. But your body's the vessel. And vessels run on fuel."
He shifted—Wing Chun—and delivered three rapid chain punches to Sora's chest—
Sora stumbled backward, gasping.
"The more tired you get—" Fish continued, transitioning to Capoeira—leg sweeping Kael's feet out from under him— "—the less mantra you can channel effectively."
Kael hit the ground hard.
Fish stood over him.
"You can have all the power in the world. Fire. Lightning. Whatever."
He delivered a casual palm strike to Kael's chest—
BOOM.
Kael was sent sliding backward across the floor.
"But if your stamina's shot—" Fish turned toward Sora, who was struggling to stay upright. "—your attacks become weaker. Slower. Useless."
Sora's legs trembled.
He's right...
His mantra was barely holding form now—sputtering, flickering, fading.
Every breath was harder than the last.
Every movement felt like dragging weights.
I'm... running out...
Kael forced himself to his feet one more time, flames barely visible around his fists.
"Then... we just... keep fighting..."
Fish grinned.
"Good spirit."
He moved—
So fast Kael barely saw him—
Fish appeared directly in front of him—Taekwondo spinning kick—heel aimed at Kael's temple—
Kael raised his arms to block—
CRACK.
The kick connected.
Kael's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed— unconscious before he hit the ground.
THUD.
Fish looked down at Kael's crumpled form, then casually reached down and plucked the flag from his belt.
He held it up, examining it.
"One down."
He turned toward Sora.
Sora stood twenty meters away, swaying slightly, breathing ragged, red-white mantra barely visible around his fists.
The V-mark on his forehead flickered weakly.
Fish pocketed Kael's flag and started walking toward him.
"You're next, brown hair."
Sora's fist clenched.
I can't... beat him...
His legs trembled.
"I can barely... stand.."
Fish closed the distance—ten meters, five meters—
Sora's vision blurred.
"But...
Fish reached out casually toward Sora's belt, toward the flag tucked there.
...I I can try."
Sora's eyes focused.
Fish's hand was inches from the flag—
Sora's leg moved.
He shifted his weight—left foot planted firmly, right leg rising—
Hip rotated—
Knee chambered—
And he muttered, voice barely audible:
"Taekwondo."
His leg snapped forward.
Hip rotation. Full extension. Heel driving forward with all remaining force.
Aimed directly at Fish's center mass