Back at the Reginald training grounds, completely deserted since the entire family was at the stadium, golden lines sliced through the empty air like glowing blades cutting through parchment. The space rippled and folded as Jayden, no longer 2 anymore, stepped out of the chamber of time with a confident grin.
"I'm back baby," Jayden said as he emerged, his voice echoing faintly in the quiet field.
The moment his foot touched the ground, his body buckled. He collapsed face first onto the dirt, screaming as a flood of memories from his two form surged into his mind. The empty training ground seemed to tremble with the intensity of his cries. His brain, never meant to carry that much information at once, strained under the pressure. Even so, his body had already begun repairing the damage on its own.
Minutes passed before Jayden finally stopped screaming. He lay flat on his back, chest rising and falling in heavy breaths, sweat shining on his skin beneath the pale afternoon sun.
"I did feel like I needed to create a clone, but it was just in case anyone asked for me during the day, since I thought time would be slowed. Maybe I did not complete the skill."
He sat up slowly, holding his head as the fatigue weighed him down. Sweat dripped from his forehead and fell onto the cracked dirt.
"So all that has happened and it has only been two days. Hmm. I missed the first match but I feel like I actually fought and won, so how can I complain?"
Jayden forced himself upright and dusted off his clothes.
"Now that I am okay, I am just noticing something now. The air... it is kind of filthy, like some kind of dark smog, and surprisingly Logic Disruption is reacting to it."
He created a mana flame, a flickering swirl of blue light forming in his palm. The flame bent slightly, its tip pointing in a clear direction.
"Looks like I am supposed to go there."
"I will have to be fast if I want to meet up with my fight today."
Lightning crackled across his skin, sparks dancing at his feet.
"Off I go."
The ground burst open beneath him as he vanished into the horizon.
"Ready on the left?"
"Yes!" Rex and Judas answered at once.
"Ready on the right?" the official asked as he turned to Kevin.
Kevin gave a small nod.
"Fight!"
A shimmering barrier rose around the arena, trapping swirling dust and energy inside.
Rex's leg immediately transformed into that of a cheetah, muscles tensing before he launched himself forward with incredible speed.
"Aura Extension, Misty Haze," Judas declared as a thick fog rolled across the arena floor, swallowing the battlefield in ghostly white.
Six different Judases emerged from the haze, all rushing toward Kevin.
"Soul Weapon, Seventh Wielder," Kevin murmured. His katana glowed, splitting cleanly into two.
Rex, now with cheetah hands, slashed at Kevin. His claw was instantly parried as Kevin redirected the force, exposing Rex's chest.
"Soul Weapon, Ninth Wielder. Twelve Palms of Destruction."
Kevin struck Rex with rapid palm attacks, each impact sharp and precise. His dual katanas shifted, forming brass knuckles that shimmered with mana.
"Armadillo scales. Smart," Kevin noted as he watched cracked brown plates fall from Rex's chest.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about you. Try to keep up."
Kevin spun around, dodging a kick from Judas. His brass knuckles lashed out, but the target vanished like dust in wind.
"Illusions. Annoying."
He leapt high, rising far above normal human height as tentacles whipped beneath him.
"Does this transformation ability have any limits? A freaking octopus now?"
He barely blocked a blow from above and landed with a skid, dirt spraying under his boots.
"I do not really want to use it," Kevin thought as he sprinted toward Rex. "He is the real damage. The illusion guy will be useless without him."
"Soul Weapon, Thirteenth Wielder."
Kevin hurled a glowing spear at Rex, using it as a distraction. Rex dodged, but not fast enough to prepare for the coming kick. Kevin's roundhouse passed straight through him.
The image dissolved.
The real Judas struck, a tentacle wrapping around Kevin's leg and hurling him across the arena. Judas caught him mid flight by the shirt, punching him repeatedly before tossing him aside.
Rex burst from the mist, raising his arm for a gorilla smash.
"Soul Weapon, Seventeenth Wielder."
A large sword materialized, blocking the blow with a thunderous clang. The force doubled and rebounded, launching Rex backward.
Kevin stood, dusting off his clothes.
"I was wrong and being too arrogant. Beating you all at this point without it was not possible. So I will fight you with all my power. Be ready. Aura Extension. Hereditary Skill: Archangel of Wisdom."
A surge of mana exploded outward, blowing away the mist. Kevin now stood glowing like a celestial being. A light blue wing unfurled from his back and a radiant halo shimmered above his head. His eyes sparkled like the calm surface of a bright ocean.
"Let's finish this."
"Let us beat him at his own game," Rex said as his hand morphed into the long jaw of a sword fish. Judas summoned a blade through illusion magic.
Kevin appeared in front of Judas, kicking him aside in a blur.
"When did he..."
Kevin slashed toward Rex's head. Rex blocked with his transformed hand and countered, but Kevin was already behind him, holding a single katana.
"You said you wanted to beat me at my own game. Try your luck. I wont hold back."
The two clashed in a storm of rapid slashes, streaking around the dome in blurs of motion.
"I cannot keep doing this. If it is a contest of swordsmanship, I lose completely."
Rex's other hand turned into that of a porcupine. He fired brown spikes toward Kevin. Kevin parried every spike with ease, barely breaking a sweat.
"You are back again. Do you not think you should just give up and let us two actually fight?"
Kevin dodged a slash from the Judas clones circling him.
"Do not take it personal, but I will have to get payback for Victor and the rest of my teammates. Soul Weapon: First Wielder."
Ren and Judas rushed him.
"Too late," Kevin said with a grin.
A sharp double clang echoed through the arena. As the dust cleared, Kevin stood holding two glowing crowbars, blocking both incoming attacks.
"I do not know why the First Wielder used two crowbars, but this has great potential. I wont deny that." Kevin said before twisting one crowbar to knock their weapons away and striking both opponents.
"We are at a disadvantage as long as we do not know how his main power works," Judas whispered.
Kevin held out the glowing crowbars.
"In this form, I can predict movements through body motion, angles, and science. I can see three to five seconds into the future and can perfectly use the weapons of all former IQ magic users. There are twenty four of them besides me. And the most important fact is that I am simply way smarter than you. Now that I have revealed my cards, I will end this match. Is that okay with you?"
Rex and Judas exchanged one last look.
"Ready," Judas whispered, barely able to stand.
"As always. Even if we do not win, we go out loud and leave the rest for our teammates," Rex shouted.
They charged forward with everything they had. Five fully materialized illusions and twenty more false ones accompanied them.
Sparks of pressure and excitement filled the air.
Three illusions were about to strike Kevin when he flew upward.
"Did you think the wings were just decoration? Soul Weapon: Twenty First Wielder."
Dual chains with scythes appeared. Kevin swung them in a violent arc, clearing all the illusions at once.
Sensing danger behind him, he turned. A massive red dragon rose in the sky above, its body swirling with unstable mana.
"From the way it moves, with the shadow configuration and gravitational movement, assessing the wind pressure and mana percentage, it is only half manifested then… Soul Weapon: Sixteenth Wielder."
A hammer five times his size formed in his hand. With a broad grin, he spun and smashed the dragon's head. The dragon burst apart like mist. Landing lightly, he reshaped the chains and blocked Rex's porcupine spikes, though some sliced shallow cuts across his skin.
Flash stepping behind Rex, Kevin wrapped the chain blades around his opponent's neck.
"The fight is over. I win."
Blood trickled from the slight pressure on Rex's skin.
"Stop!" the referee shouted as he stepped between them. "Winner: Kevin Dominic."
The commentator groaned loudly. "There you have it folks! Although I lost my money, it was worth it. That match was too intense! The winner is Kevin Dominic!"
"Next up, Jayden Reginald versus Levi Henso. You may start coming to the..."
The commentator paused, touching his earpiece. Around him, cleaning mages restored the arena to its flawless state.
"Slight problem here. We are currently unaware of the location of Jayden Reginald."
Luke let out a long exhausted sigh.