The ride to the outskirts of the city had been long and silent. The further Kai and Zayn traveled, the thinner the buildings became, replaced by wide, empty fields and dense lines of trees. It wasn't until the road dissolved into cracked asphalt and dirt that Zayn finally spoke.
"We're close. The readings were strongest here," he muttered, his breath fogging the window.
Kai grunted in acknowledgment, eyes narrowed on the growing silhouette of the forest ahead. Something about it put him on edge. Not the normal nervousness he felt before a battle—this was deeper. A cold instinct thrumming in his bones, warning him to turn back.
They didn't.
Kai pulled the borrowed car to a slow stop near the tree line. The forest was old, ancient almost, the canopy thick enough to block out most of the afternoon sun. Strange, how quiet it was. No birds. No wind. Only the low creaking of branches rubbing against each other like some breathing, living beast.
Zayn stepped out first, book strapped securely to his side. He sniffed the air and winced.
"It's heavy," he said quietly.
Kai nodded. "I feel it too."
There was a wrongness in the air, a weight that pressed down on their shoulders like unseen hands. Kai reached for the spellbook instinctively, feeling the leather under his fingertips bring a strange kind of comfort.
"Stay sharp," he said. "We don't know who we're dealing with."
They moved deeper into the trees, careful to keep silent. Every step crunched dead leaves and broken twigs underfoot. It didn't take long before the ground began to slope downward, leading them into a small ravine swallowed by mist.
It was there they saw them.
Two figures stood waiting in the clearing: a young woman, tall and severe, dressed in black and grey. Beside her, a Mamodo—dark-haired, clothed in ragged robes, eyes sharp and predatory.
Kai froze. The sheer force emanating from the two was unlike anything he'd felt before. Not even the fire Mamodo they'd fought last time had this kind of presence.
The woman—Sherry, though Kai didn't know her name yet—watched them with cold, assessing eyes. The Mamodo next to her radiated silent power, as though the very ground bent toward him.
Zayn shifted, his instincts screaming danger.
Kai took a breath, forcing down the sudden spike of fear. They could handle this. They had fought before. They had grown stronger.
He stepped forward and called out, "We don't want a fight. We're just investigating strange activity."
The Mamodo tilted his head slightly, as if amused.
Sherry spoke, voice cutting through the mist like a blade.
"If you're here, you're participants."
Her words weren't a question. They were a declaration.
Kai opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, the Mamodo beside her raised a hand.
The ground at Kai's feet shuddered—and without warning, a black sphere of compressed gravity smashed into the earth in front of them with a deafening boom, sending dirt and rocks spraying through the air.
Kai barely managed to shield his eyes.
Zayn snarled, dropping into a ready stance.
There would be no negotiation.
Kai gritted his teeth and flipped open the spellbook.
"Zaker!"
A bolt of lightning screamed from his hand, hurtling toward the enemy Mamodo with all the force he could muster.
The Mamodo—Brago—didn't even blink. He raised a hand lazily, and the lightning dispersed midair, as though it had slammed into an invisible wall.
Kai's heart plummeted.
Zayn launched forward, attempting to close the distance, but the ground itself seemed to resist him, heavy and sluggish. Another gravity sphere detonated near his feet, knocking him off-balance.
Kai turned a page frantically. Another spell—any spell.
But Brago was already moving.
With a flick of his wrist, another black sphere exploded against the tree behind Kai, the force sending him tumbling to the ground. His chest heaved, pain spiking through his ribs.
Zayn barely managed to catch himself, his glare sharp with frustration.
This was no ordinary opponent.
This... this was something else entirely.
Kai struggled to his knees, panting. His mind raced.
This isn't like before. This isn't a battle we can win just by hitting harder.
He looked at Zayn—and in Zayn's furious, determined eyes, he saw the same realization.
They were outmatched.
Badly.Brago stood like a statue forged from shadow, the very air around him heavy and distorted. Sherry, her expression unreadable, flipped through her grimoire with calm precision. In that moment, the forest held its breath.
Kai's heart thudded in his chest as he watched them both. He opened his own book, hands trembling. Zayn crouched beside him, muscles coiled.
Sherry closed her eyes, lifted her head, and spoke clearly: "Reis!"
At her command, Brago's dark eyes glowed. Without another word, he lifted his palm—and the earth before him erupted, thrusting a sphere of crushing gravity forward. The blast struck the ground where Kai stood. Dirt, pebbles, and dust exploded outward, and the weight slammed into Kai like an invisible fist. He stumbled back, breath stolen, boots buckling under the unbearable pull.
"Zaker!" Kai gasped, flipping a page. His voice echoed across the clearing. Zayn's body lit up with golden energy as he channeled the recitation. The lightning spear formed instantly, crackling with intent.
But Brago, arms extended, commanded again: "Gravirei!" Sherry's voice cut through the air. The moment the lightning and gravity fields collided, the spear fizzled into nothing, diverted by a surge of warped space.
Kai's legs trembled. His throat burned from shouting the incantation; the exertion left him reeling. Zayn staggered, the electricity sputtering from his fingertips as he fought to maintain the spell.
Brago advanced, each step sending tremors through the ground. His eyes were cold, merciless.
Kai pressed his hand to the bark of a nearby tree to steady himself. "He's… bending everything."
Zayn's breath was ragged. He rubbed his shoulder where the ground's pull had nearly crushed him. "You're doing great," he panted. "We just need—"
Sherry raised her grimoire again, voice steady and crisp: "Dioga Gravidon!"
Another pulse of gravity burst outward, radiating in a widening circle. Kai felt the weight anchor his chest and shoulders. He coughed, each breath a battle. The air itself seemed to press into his lungs.
Kai shook his head, trying to clear the haze. His fingers fumbled for his grimoire's edge. He couldn't afford to falter. He recited, voice trembling at first: "Jikerdon!"
The letters glowed on the page, and Zayn's form flared with electric light as he cast the EMP pulse. A wave of static energy exploded from Zayn's fingertips, washing over the clearing.
Branches rattled; leaves quivered. For a heartbeat, the gravity distortion stuttered—Brago's silhouette flickered like a flame in a breeze.
But Brago's hand shot upward in a defiant gesture. "Reis!" Sherry's tone was dismissive. The EMP dissipated instantly, unraveled by the force of his new gravity field.
Kai's knees gave out. He dropped to one elbow, coughing. His side throbbed where a stray rock had cut him earlier; blood mixed with sweat on his skin. He looked up to see Zayn's shoulders slump before he shook himself upright again, eyes blazing with determination.
Between them, a tense silence settled, broken only by shallow breathing.
Kai struggled to his feet, spine aching. He forced his hands to work the pages again, each turn an act of will. "Zaker!" he called, voice hoarse.
Zayn's body struck with renewed vigor, lightning arcing toward Brago. This time, they angled the bolt at a distance—hoping distance might bend the gravity less perfectly. The spear struck Brago's side, and for an instant, he wavered.
Kai's chest swelled with hope—until Brago exhaled and the stone beneath his feet buckled, reshaping itself into a wall between them and the lightning bolt. The barrier absorbed the strike, then crumbled as though it had never existed.
Kai's vision blurred. He sank to his knees again, trembling. "He… anticipates us."
Zayn knelt beside him, placing a hand on Kai's shoulder. "We're pushing ourselves too far," he said quietly. "Every spell you recite wears you down."
Kai shook his head, eyes fierce. "I can't stop. Not yet."
But Brago was already moving. With a single, fluid motion, he stepped across the clearing's center and raised both arms. The forest floor groaned and cracked as an immense well of gravity swallowed the space between them. The pull was instantaneous — a vortex of weight that yanked at souls, at hearts, at bones.
Kai gritted his teeth, white-knuckled, but he couldn't resist. Even Zayn, straining every muscle, was dragged to the ground. The duo's combined strength and strategy, honed through countless battles, crumbled under Brago's mastery of gravitational magic.
As they lay gasping in the dirt, Sherry closed her grimoire with a satisfied click. "You fought well," she said, voice cool. "But this forest is not the place of heroes."
Brago's soft laughter echoed through the trees as he looked down at them. "Now you see. The tournament isn't a contest of spirit. It is war."
Kai swallowed, heart pounding. The words cut deeper than any spell could. In the hush of the forest, they realized—a battle won here, a chance to escape, was not yet possible. They had met the true power of this ancient arena… and they had failed.
Kai and Zayn lay panting on the forest floor, their bodies battered and trembling. Above them, Brago and Sherry stood like gods ensconced in shadow, the shifting light through the canopy catching on the dark leather of Sherry's grimoire and the swirling aura of Brago's form.
But Kai was not yet ready to surrender. He struggled up to one knee, chest heaving. Every breath jagged against the memory of crushing gravity. His vision swam, but he forced his hand toward his backpack. Out came the battered grimoire, its pages curling at the edges.
"Rashield!" Kai gasped, voice cracking.
The words spilled from his lips as he slammed the book shut and slammed it open again. Lightning flared across the clearing—Zayn's body surged with energy as he cast the barrier, a shimmering dome of crackling light enveloping them both. The factory of gravity that threatened to smother them momentarily recoiled, splintering against the shield's force.
Brago's lips curled into a thin smile. With a single, haunting syllable from Sherry—"Reis!"—he dismissed the barrier, magnetic waves bending the dome inside-out until it collapsed in on itself like a dying star. The echo of its destruction rang in Kai's ears.
Zayn slapped at the dirt, adrenaline still thrumming through his veins. "That's not enough," he spat.
"Then we hit harder," Kai rasped, flipping frantically through the pages. His fingers paused on a familiar incantation.
"Jikerdon!"
He shouted with every ounce of will he had left. A pulse of electromagnetic energy exploded outward in a pulse of brilliant gold, engulfing the immediate area. The forest fell silent for the briefest of instants—leaves stilled, insects hushed, the world blinked.
Kai dared to hope as he watched the pulse wash over Brago. The Mamodo staggered, the gravity distortion flickering. For a heartbeat, Kai and Zayn exchanged a look of triumph. They had struck true for once.
But even triumph can be fleeting.
With a contemptuous laugh, Sherry intoned, "Dioga Gravidon!"
The earth beneath them buckled in protest as Brago summoned an enormous rift of gravity. It tore through the clearing like a black hole, swallowing light and sound.
Kai's stomach lurched as the rift smashed him into a fallen log, pins and needles flaring across his body. Zayn, thrown aside, landed hard against a mossy stump, the world twisting around him.
Kai groaned, pushing himself up. Every limb protested. His vision blurred, but he forced his gaze toward Brago. The forest floor behind the Mamodo was now littered with the wreckage of their efforts—splintered shields, smoking patches of earth, and the faint glow of the failed EMP.
Zayn staggered to his feet, chest rising and falling rapidly. He caught Kai's eye, nodding once, determined.
Kai coughed, blood flicking from his lips, but he managed a fierce grin. "One more try."
Zayn closed his eyes, gathering every last spark of lightning. "Zaker!"
The bolt tore across the clearing—a pure, focused lance of electric fury. It struck the rift's edge, carving a jagged scar through the gravity field. Rocks and debris hurtled upward in a spray of splinters. For a moment, the rift shuddered—and then collapsed inward, imploding in on itself.
Kai staggered forward, hope igniting in his chest. He opened his book again and recited, "Rashield!"
Zayn raised his arms, erecting a final, desperate barrier. The two spells piled atop each other, a fusion of electromagnetic pulse and pure lightning, the forest around them crackling with unstable energy.
For the first time tonight, Brago hesitated. The ground at his boots quaked; the very air quivered. Sherry's eyes narrowed in surprise.
They had broken his stride.
But Brago's power was born of unyielding will. He exhaled, voice cold and low:
"Gigara Gaviton!"
Even saying the name twisted the forest around them, warping space itself in a spine-crushing wave. Kai and Zayn's combined defense buckled under the onslaught.
Kai screamed, the barrier shattering in a cascade of sparks. He felt Zayn's grip on his arm one last time before the world went black.
Kai's vision swam as he and Zayn lay crumpled among the shattered remnants of their final barrier. The forest around them was silent, save for the soft rustle of leaves settling after the battle's fury. Every breath felt like dragging blades through his lungs; his chest ached as though every rib had been fractured anew. Zayn's form lay beside him, unmoving, the faint sparks of his strength flickering out.
Above them, Brago and Sherry stood victorious. Sherry snapped her grimoire closed with a precise click. Her face was impassive, yet Kai could almost taste the respect that glimmered behind her eyes. Brago's dark silhouette was slightly hunched, as if expending power of that magnitude weighed on his very spine.
Sherry spoke first, her voice cool and controlled. "You have spirit, I'll give you that."
Brago's lips curved into a slow, pale smile. "But spirit alone does not win wars."
He glanced down at Kai's broken shield, now nothing but smoldering embers on the forest floor. "Remember that," he said, voice echoing through the hush. "This tournament is deeper than mere battles. It is a test of will, strategy, and survival. We will meet again."
He turned to Sherry. "Come." With that, the two strode back toward the heart of the forest, their forms dissolving into the mist and shadow.
Kai's hand twitched, fingers brushing the splintered wood of his broken shield. He swallowed hard, a bitter taste at the back of his throat. Pain radiated from every bruise, every strike — but beneath it all, a quiet ember glowed in his chest. A promise of return.
Zayn stirred beside him, eyelids fluttering. He coughed, voice ragged: "We… can't keep running."
Kai forced his arms under him and sat up, wincing as pain lanced through his side. He reached for his grimoire, pages scorched and edges singed, and closed it carefully.
Zayn managed a weary smile. "Next time… we do more than defend." He touched Kai's shoulder lightly, solidarity in the gesture.
Kai nodded, vision blurring with tears too tired to fall. "We'll learn. We'll grow." His voice was a broken vow.
They stayed there for only a moment longer — two warriors, beaten but unbowed, wrapped in the forest's oppressive quiet. Then, together, they hauled themselves to their feet. Each step was agony, but they would not be crushed by this defeat.
As the clearing receded behind them, the forest seemed to shift again — the ancient trees closing ranks, as if swallowing the battlefield whole. But Kai and Zayn pressed on, carrying wounds and wisdom. They knew the real war had only just begun.