Lucifer, Jack, and I stood in a triangular formation at the heart of the Crown Challenge arena, each of us measuring the others with calculated precision. The distant sounds of combat from the four girls' battle created a fitting backdrop to our own impending clash.
'Arthur, do you feel confident?' Luna asked in my mind, her qilin presence cool and steady at the edges of my consciousness.
'Of course,' I responded, feeling my heart accelerate with a familiar rhythm. The anticipation of genuine challenge hummed through my veins, awakening something I'd kept carefully controlled since arriving at Mythos Academy.
The danger of battle. The primal thrill of facing worthy opponents.
How long had it been since I'd felt this particular tension? This electric certainty that miscalculation meant defeat? Too long, perhaps.
