Cassian was burning out.
Every breath he took felt like the air was laced with flas, scorching his lungs. The curse marks crawling across his body—fortunately still hidden beneath his uniform—flickered erratically, like live wires sparking through his veins.
He felt like his skin was being chewed by thousands of invisible ants.
If he didn’t end this match soon he would lose. But he wouldn’t lose to Jade—he’d lose to the damn curse Soreia had cast on him.
’I should’ve ignored Father and led an army to wipe that damn family off the map the mont I sensed what she did,’ he thought bitterly. ’Consequences be damned. Now they’ll be on guard... harder to pin down.’
Cassian clicked his tongue in annoyance.
----------------------
Jade, anwhile, had wasted no ti.
Her Thunderfang Tiger and Windstrike Cheetah flanked the massive Wooden Dragon, launching coordinated attacks from both sides. Electricity surged from the tiger’s fangs, each swipe of its claws crackling through the air. The Windstrike Cheetah blurred with rapid bursts of motion, darting in and out like a blade of wind.
But even 2-on-1, they weren’t winning. The Wooden Dragon was injured due to Vauleth’s final attack—which strangely even Cassian’s own spiritual skills couldn’t fully heal—but still terrifying. Bark-like scales deflected glancing blows, and when it retaliated, the entire platform trembled.
Across the field, the Shadowstrike Jaguar continued its stalk.
It had not yet erged from the darkness—but its presence could be felt like a blade at the back of the Nightmare Dragon’s neck. Every ti the latter phased into the shadows to reposition, the Jaguar followed.
The Earthshatter Lion was battling two opponents: the Coronaflow Dragon and the recently healed Solar Dragon. Both had regained physical strength and had resud a pincer formation that battered the lion’s defenses. Jade watched closely—but her expression remained calm.
She wasn’t worried.
Her Gift guaranteed that even if the Earthshatter Lion had all of its limbs torn off, it would recover swiftly.
But the most troubling area of the battlefield was where the Viperfang Lioness and Frostmane Lynx were.
They were helpless sitting ducks.
The Ethereal Dragon floated above them, its breath swirling with srizing colors. Its tail flicked lazily as it released another attack, leaving the two felines severely injured.
But the Dream Dragon’s ntal restraint was keeping their minds in a dream and unable to respond to the threat.
Their gazes were vacant.
And that was the real danger.
Not physical injuries. But ntal injuries.
Jade frowned. Before relaxing again. Fortunately, her weakness had been pointed out to her before the tournant began.
Despite her contracts being nearly indefeatable if one was relying on injuring them physically, they were still quite weak to select attributes...such as the ntal attribute.
Her Gift did not extend to non-physical wounds.
But thankfully, she’d prepared for this.
She activated a spiritual skill she hadn’t used before in this tournant.
A wave of soft violet and silver light enveloped the two braindead contracts.
"That’s... new," the announcer noted. "Jade Everbloom appears to be using a spiritual skill that enhances ntal defence."
"And if I’m not mistaken," the other announcer said, "that’s a unique skill said to have been gifted by the Seraphina Mindshade herself to Jade’s grandfather."
The Everbloom family has long been known for their unusually strong life force and lineage of healing-oriented Gifts. Their legacy as royal healers is well-docunted, even if their na doesn’t command the sa political weight as families like the Lysanders or Storms.
Jade’s rapid regeneration is a rare manifestation of that legacy. Her brother—whom Kain had briefly encountered during the entrance exams at Dark Moon College—is currently a third-year student and one of the top healers in the school, rivaling even healer faculty and staff in ability. He may lack offensive power, but his mastery over healing and restoration is second to none among students. A classic mber of the Everbloom family.
Given their reputation as so of the strongest healers the Empire had to offer, it wasn’t surprising that at so point in the past one of Jade’s ancestors had healed nearly every 9-star beast-tar in the Empire.
And it also wasn’t surprising that Lady Mindshade gifted a spiritual skill in thanks. Outside of the top noble families descended from the 5 founders of the Empire, the Everbloom family probably has the most impressive catalogue of relics—not created by their own ancestors, but bestowed over the years.
Jade’s spiritual skill pulsed outward.
The glazed expressions of the Lioness and Lynx flickered.
The Lioness twitched first.
Then both of them roared.
The dream flooding their mind and trapping them like a ntal cage finally broke.
The Ethereal Dragon’s body rippled with displeasure. Hidden within an illusory fold of space, it frowned as its influence was severed. Its unstable emotions exposed its body to everyone on the field briefly.
As if in retaliation, the Viperfang Lioness leapt and slashed at the floating dragon, venom lacing her claws.
The Frostmane Lynx also headed toward the outnumbered Earthshatter Lion to support.
On the sidelines, the audience held its breath as the scale for victory, long tilted toward Cassian, began to balance out.
The cara lingered on Cassian.
He stood tall.
But his hand had clenched into a fist. Sweat dripped from his temple.
And for the first ti that day, the crowd noticed sothing.
Cassian’s breathing was ragged.
His steps less certain.
Even as his dragons surged forward, Cassian himself—was fraying.
Jade, watching him, narrowed her eyes.
She’d fought Cassian before. She knew his rhythms. His presence. And she knew that sothing was wrong.
And Jade Everbloom intended to exploit every second of it.
"Press forward," she murmured while gearing up to launch her strongest spiritual skill yet.
But before either she or her contracts could launch their attacks—
Cassian Lysander collapsed.
Face-first, without a sound. One mont he was standing tall—his expression strained but composed—the next, his knees buckled, his arms failed to catch him, and he fell like a puppet with its strings cut.
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