The battlefield was no longer a battlefield—it was a maelstrom of chaos.
Fire, ice, and sandstorms raged across the once-structured tournament grounds, tearing apart the delicate balance that had kept the biomes separate. The competitors who had spent the first rounds hunting, fighting, and scheming now faced a singular, unavoidable truth.
They were prey.
Jhaeros & Nara: Through the Blizzard
The snow came fast and relentless, coating the ground in a thick layer of frost.
Jhaeros pulled his cloak tighter, his feline ears flattening against his skull as the wind howled through the trees. Even his enhanced senses were struggling—his whiskers twitched, but the air was so thick with ice that scent and sound were muffled.
Velka whined beside him, shaking her fur to rid herself of the growing frost.
Nara, still catching her breath from her previous rampage, cursed.
"Where the hell did this storm come from?!"
She stomped the ground, and a small burst of fire erupted beneath her feet, melting the snow around her.
Jhaeros didn't answer immediately.
He knew the answer. They both did.
Kalem.
"He must have overloaded the circuits," Jhaeros finally muttered, adjusting his grip on his weapons.
"Yeah? Well, he can shove his circuits up his ass," Nara growled, rubbing her arms for warmth.
They had to move. The cold was only getting worse.
Nara turned to the elf she had beaten senseless earlier—the one responsible for drugging her.
He was barely conscious, his lips turning blue.
"We taking him with us?" Jhaeros asked.
Nara looked down at the elf, her expression unreadable.
"...Yeah."
She grabbed him by the collar and threw him over her shoulder.
"Let's go."
The Noble Combatants: Scattered and Isolated
The noble combatants, once fighting in tight, coordinated groups, had been forcibly separated by the storm.
1. Lord Reynard's Plight
Lord Reynard, heir to House Virentis, had been using his wind magic to great effect throughout the tournament.
Not anymore.
The artificial sandstorm had swallowed him whole, and no amount of wind manipulation could push back the unnatural force of it.
He stumbled forward, coughing, his fine silver cloak now torn and covered in dust.
"Damn it—!"
The storm shifted suddenly, revealing a silhouette approaching him.
Reynard's eyes widened.
It wasn't human.
A dune beast—one of the creatures native to the desert biome—was emerging through the haze, its insect-like exoskeleton glinting beneath the swirling sands.
He reached for his sword.
The beast lunged.
2. The Siblings of House Drayne
Elsa and Gregor Drayne—twins and warriors of House Drayne—had been locked in a duel with another competitor when the storm hit.
Now, they were trapped in the frozen wasteland.
Elsa shivered violently, her fingers barely able to move as she clutched her spear.
"This is impossible," Gregor growled, his sword glowing faintly with fire enchantments.
"We need to find shelter."
A shadow moved in the blizzard.
A white-furred predator, eyes glowing blue, stalked them from the snow.
Elsa barely had time to shout a warning before it pounced.
Opportunists in the Chaos
Not everyone was suffering.
Some were thriving.
1. The Shade of Blackstone
A lone rogue, known only as "The Shade", had remained unseen for most of the tournament.
When the storms erupted, he didn't panic.
He adapted.
Using the sandstorm as cover, he moved silently through the battlefield, finishing off competitors too weak to fight back.
A mage stumbled past him, blind from the storm.
A knife slid into their ribs.
The Shade vanished again.
2. The Blood Hounds
A trio of mercenaries, known as The Blood Hounds, had entered the tournament for one reason only—to eliminate key competitors under orders from a noble family.
They had been waiting for an opportunity.
This storm was it.
"Find the Ilvaar," their leader growled, pulling his hood up against the cold. "And bring me his head."
They moved as hunters, their prey already chosen.
Kalem's Perspective: The Observer
Kalem sat atop his crate, still overlooking the battlefield, his fingers tapping against the metal.
He had expected a reaction.
He had not expected this level of devastation.
"Hmm."
He pulled out his journal and began writing.
Observations:
The ruin circuit was far more delicate than anticipated. The mana flow had surged beyond controllable limits. The elemental forces were now unstable and could take days to rebalance.
Kalem exhaled.
"Interesting."
From his vantage point, he watched as firestorms clashed with ice winds, as warriors fought monsters just to survive, as entire groups of combatants vanished into the sand.
There were two types of people now.
Those who panicked.
And those who adapted.
Kalem smirked.
"Let's see who survives."