The tournament venue was visible from far away — a massive, open arena on the edge of the city, surrounded by temporary stands. In the sky above, the faint golden light of the Eclipse Nexus still hovered, as if watching over those arriving.
Kael and his team arrived out of breath, just in time to see the crowd slowly gathering at the entrance.
"We made it," Akira panted. "Right on time."
Kael didn't answer right away. Something uneasy churned in his stomach, something he couldn't quite name.
"Something's off," he said quietly.
"You're just nervous," Ren waved it off.
Shiro, however, looked around seriously.
"No. Kael's right. It's too quiet."
Despite the noise of the crowd, there really was a strange stillness in the air — as if the whole place were holding its breath.
Then, from the entrance, a familiar voice called out.
"Kael! Wait!"
Everyone turned. Orion came running toward them, his coat flying behind him, his face flushed from the run.
"Orion?" Kael stared at him, stunned. "What are you doing here?"
"I have to stop this," Orion gasped. "I talked to someone. The tournament isn't what it looks like."
Nearby people started to take notice, some stopping to listen.
"What are you talking about?" Kael asked.
Orion straightened up, his voice now strong enough for several people to hear.
"This isn't a competition. It's a ritual. Aurelion isn't looking for the best fighter — he wants to collect your energy."
A murmur rose through the crowd. Some laughed, others eyed Orion suspiciously.
"Do you have proof of that?" someone shouted from the crowd.
Orion pointed up at the sky, toward the Eclipse Nexus.
"Look for yourselves! Every battle you've ever fought in the Nexus's shadow has fed something. You've felt it too, haven't you? How much more exhausted you were afterward than you should have been."
The murmur grew more uneasy. Some of the competitors glanced at each other uncertainly, as if recognizing the truth in his words.
Then the speakers crackled to life.
"What an unexpected guest."
Aurelion's projected form appeared above the crowd, his smile calm, but for the first time something cold flickered in his eyes.
"Orion. You always did see too much."
"Then you know I'm right."
"I know you're disrupting the order," Aurelion replied evenly. "But don't worry. I have a solution for that."
Kael felt the ground tremble slightly beneath his feet.
"What is he planning?" he whispered.
Aurelion raised his hand, and the Eclipse Nexus suddenly began glowing more intensely.
"If you won't fight for me willingly…" His voice now filled the entire space. "Then I'll find those who will, in your place."
The light spread out over the stadium, and the air suddenly turned cold.
The ground cracked open at several points across the stadium. Dark, smoke-like figures began rising from the fissures — humanoid silhouettes without faces, their bodies as if molded from solidified shadow. Each one held a spinning top, its surface glowing with the same eight-pointed sigil in dark, red light.
"What are these things?!" Akira shouted, backing away.
Orion's face went pale.
"Shadow warriors. Aurelion's creations."
One of the figures slowly raised its top, then launched it with a single motion. The dark top flew through the air almost silently, heading straight for Kael.
"Watch out!" Shiro shouted.
Kael instinctively drew Iron Blaze and launched it. The two tops collided, sparks and dark smoke bursting out at the point of impact.
"Is this for real?!" Kael shouted, stumbling back from the force of the collision.
The crowd panicked. People ran toward the exits, screams filling the air, as more and more shadow warriors rose from the ground — a dozen, then several dozen, each one holding a top.
Ryujiro stood at the edge of the stands, arms crossed, calmly watching the chaos. He didn't move.
"Ryujiro!" Kael shouted, deflecting another shadow top. "Help us out here!"
Ryujiro looked down at him slowly, no urgency on his face at all.
"Why would I?"
"Are you seriously asking that?! We're all under attack!"
"You're under attack," Ryujiro replied coldly. "I'm still doing just fine up here."
A shadow warrior turned toward him then, its top already launched. With a single lazy motion, Ryujiro launched Dragon Vortex, which easily shattered the incoming threat before returning to his hand.
"Well, all right," he muttered. "Maybe this got a little interesting after all."
But he didn't step up beside Kael. Instead, he started fighting on the other side of the field, on his own, as though waging an entirely separate battle — not as an ally, just because that's how the situation had fallen.
"Don't count on me, Kael," he tossed out, destroying another shadow warrior. "That doesn't mean we're a team."
Kael clenched his jaw, but he had no time to argue — three more shadow warriors were closing in on him at once.
Zerath watched the scene from the far end of the crowd, his gaze remaining cold, but his hand already reaching for Apollyon Genesis.
"So this is how you want to play it, Aurelion," he muttered to himself.
With a single motion, he launched his top, which cut through the air with cosmic light, scattering three shadow warriors in one strike.
Ren and Shiro stepped forward as well, preparing their tops — Shiro's Frost Phantom already glowing with a faint blue light in his hand, Ren's Crimson Tornado trailing a hot vortex behind it.
Orion stood in the middle of the chaos, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them with determination.
"I won't let this happen."
Titan Chronos appeared in his palm, pulsing with a faint blue light.
"Titan Chronos! Get ready!"
Above the stadium, the Eclipse Nexus continued to glow, bathing the entire arena — now turned battlefield — in golden light. Aurelion's projected form slowly faded, but his voice still echoed in the air for one more moment.
"Show me what the Starcore deserves."
Kael looked around, breathing hard. Five Heirs were fighting in the stadium — himself, Orion, Shiro, Ren, and Zerath — each on their own front, trying to push back the ever-growing number of shadow warriors. Ryujiro fought at the edge of the field, but clearly only for himself.
Reizen was nowhere to be found.
And no one knew anything about Virex either.
The crowd fled around them, the stadium walls trembling under the weight of the clashing forces, and Kael knew — this was only the beginning of what awaited them.
To be continued in Chapter 16…