The second phase transformed the coliseum into something unrecognizable, the open arena sealing itself off as stone walls rose from the ground, twisting and shifting into a massive maze that stretched far beyond what the eye could follow. High above, nobles, knights, and spectators watched from enchanted viewing platforms that revealed the maze from above, while the competitors themselves were trapped inside without any sense of its true scale or shape.
The rules were simple but cruel: reach the center of the maze, and any opponent you encountered could challenge you to a duel — once challenged, neither party could refuse, and the fight would continue until one was unable to stand. Only those who reached the center would advance.
Inside the maze, corridors split endlessly, some lit by glowing moss, others swallowed by shadow, and faint echoes of battle drifted through the stone like distant thunder. Some competitors clashed almost immediately, magic lighting up narrow hallways with flashes of fire, ice, lightning, and steel, while others avoided conflict entirely, choosing stealth and awareness over confrontation.
Lily moved like a whisper through the maze, flowers blooming briefly beneath her steps to mark safe paths before fading again, while Neo relied on her calm focus and fluid movement to slip past danger rather than face it head-on. Eira moved differently, slower but deliberate, listening more than looking, letting the maze speak through subtle vibrations in the stone, the air, and his own instincts.
Jack encountered Ark in one of the wider corridors where the walls opened into a circular chamber lit by floating embers. Ark stood at its center like he belonged there, flames drifting lazily around his shoulders, his eyes calm but sharp, and when Jack stepped forward, gravity magic rippled outward in warning before Ark even spoke. The challenge was silent and immediate, gravity crushing downward as Jack attacked first, forcing Ark to one knee, but fire answered gravity with explosive force, heat bending the air, flames spiraling upward in violent defiance.
The clash was brief but overwhelming, power shaking the chamber, stone cracking under the strain, and in the end Ark's fire burned hotter than Jack's control could hold, breaking through his magic and sending him collapsing to the floor, defeated, breathless, and stunned.
Jack's fall was visible only to the spectators above, his defeat unfolding in full view of nobles and knights alike while the maze itself swallowed the sound and sight of it from the competitors within.
One by one, challengers fell or withdrew, and the corridors grew quieter as the number of fighters thinned. By the time the center of the maze finally revealed itself — a vast circular platform carved with ancient runes and surrounded by towering stone — only eight remained.
Lily stood among them, calm and radiant in quiet control, Neo steady and unshaken despite the danger, Ark burning with contained intensity, and Eira silent and unreadable, his presence unsettling in its stillness.
Alongside them stood unfamiliar faces, fighters whose strength had only just been revealed, and among them was one presence that drew the attention of the royal knights watching from above — the unknown competitor whose aura felt wrong, whose magic carried something foreign and unsettling beneath its surface.
The maze fell away as the eight gathered at the center, the stone retreating into the ground, leaving them exposed beneath the open sky once more, watched by thousands, judged by fate, and standing on the edge of what would decide not just victory, but whose power truly deserved to be seen.