POV: ARENA / SYSTEM BROADCAST
The Tournament Arena unfolded like a living contradiction.
Floating platforms drifted in layered orbits. Gravity fields pulsed and inverted without warning. Entire landscapes folded into one another—city ruins bleeding into moonscapes, oceans hanging upside down in the sky.
The Supernova System stabilized it all.
Barely.
> "Preliminary Phase Initiated."
"Survival is mandatory."
"Adaptation required."
"Fatality probability: elevated."
The broadcast echoed across every platform, every faction feed, every observation deck across the world.
This wasn't a battlefield.
It was a stress test for existence.
And something unseen had already begun applying pressure.
---
POV: PARTICIPANTS (GENERAL)
They felt it immediately.
Attacks landed… slightly off.
Barriers formed… a fraction too late.
Movement predictions failed by milliseconds.
Not enough to scream "cheating."
Not enough to accuse the System.
Just enough to feel wrong.
> "My timing was perfect—why did it miss?" "The platform moved—did it react?" "No, I misjudged… I think?"
Nobody wanted to say it out loud.
Because if it wasn't them…
---
POV: DIOKA
Dioka lay sprawled across a drifting shard of fractured sky, hands behind his head, watching chaos unfold below like it was a comedy show.
> "Man," he sighed happily,
"they really put their whole soul into this place."
Below him, a high-ranking elemental unleashed a flawless fire sequence—textbook execution, devastating power.
The flames detonated.
Half a meter short.
They dispersed harmlessly into the air.
The contestant froze.
> "What…?"
Dioka blinked.
> "Huh," he muttered.
"Guess the arena's feeling quirky today."
He grinned.
---
POV: GUAKULIA
Guakulia hovered nearby, eyes unfocused—not watching fighters, but systems.
Flow vectors.
Response delay.
Correction thresholds.
The arena wasn't malfunctioning.
It was overcompensating.
> "It's adjusting faster than usual," he said quietly.
"Still not fast enough."
A telekinetic participant attempted to lock the space around Dioka—clean execution, strong control.
The bind formed.
Then… slid.
Not broken.
Not overridden.
Just… redirected.
The telekinetic staggered as their own force displaced them sideways, crashing into another platform.
> "I—I didn't release it!" they shouted.
Guakulia smiled faintly.
---
POV: OBSERVATION DECK — HERO COALITION
Commander Roval stared at the live data feed, brow furrowed.
> "No anomalies detected," he muttered.
"No external interference."
Lieutenant Mara swallowed.
> "Then why does it feel like the arena's reacting to people?"
Roval didn't answer.
He was watching two empty zones on the sensor overlay.
Blank.
Unregistered.
Yet constantly shifting.
---
POV: PARTICIPANTS (ESCALATION)
The confusion spread.
Teleporters landed off-target.
Psychic constructs fractured at unfamiliar angles.
Heavy hitters overcommitted and lost footing.
> "The System's lagging!" "No—it's responding early!" "Something's inside the margins!"
But there was no proof.
No readings.
No signatures.
No names.
Only pressure.
---
POV: DIOKA & GUAKULIA
Dioka popped open a snack from a pocket that definitely didn't exist.
> "They're already stressing," he said cheerfully.
Guakulia watched the arena subtly recalibrate.
> "Because they think they're losing control."
> "Aren't they?"
> "They never had it."
A contestant tried to rush them.
The jump fell short.
The platform drifted sideways.
Gravity shifted ninety degrees.
The contestant missed entirely and vanished into a recovery warp.
> "Unlucky," Dioka said sympathetically.
> "Statistically inevitable," Guakulia replied.
---
MONTAGE — PRELIMINARY DISTORTION
– A barrier activates milliseconds too late
– A precision strike overshoots
– A teleport misaligns
– A low-tier supernova floats helplessly, screaming
No direct attacks.
No obvious domination.
Just invisible pressure twisting outcomes.
---
ENDING BEAT
The preliminaries dragged on.
Top-tier contenders frowned.
Mid-tier fighters sweated.
Low-tier participants broke.
Above it all, the arena pulsed—stable, intact, but undeniably strained.
Dioka stretched lazily.
> "Warm-up done."
Guakulia watched the System quietly recalibrate again.
> "And it still doesn't know we're here."
Far above, deep within the Supernova System, a log updated:
> Deviation within acceptable range.
Cause: Unknown.
Status: Monitoring.
The Tournament of God had begun.
And the anomalies were already inside the margins—
unlogged, untouched, and laughing.