The artificial sky had shifted to a pale afternoon blue.
Four teams remained active in the sector.
Team 7 stood on a raised platform overlooking what used to be a park simulation, now converted into a combat grid. Concrete barriers. Elevated walkways. Four marked zones glowing faintly on the ground.
Their phones vibrated.
> Task 3: Strategic Territory Capture
Hold two zones for five minutes.
Direct confrontation permitted.
Excessive force penalized.
Enma rolled his neck once.
"Finally."
Rei blinked.
"That's your reaction?"
Enma glanced at him sideways.
"You wanted another group discussion?"
"…No, I just thought we'd plan first."
Shiori stood between them, quiet.
She activated her domain.
The grid unfolded over the field.
Four major squares.
Multiple smaller nodes.
Three opposing teams already dispersing.
She exhaled slowly.
"Zone C and D are closest."
Enma smirked faintly.
"Then we take A and B."
Rei looked between them.
"…Why not just take the easy ones?"
Enma's eyes sharpened.
"Because everyone else will."
Rei paused.
"Right."
Shiori tilted her head slightly.
"He's correct."
Enma didn't react outwardly, but the smallest flicker of approval passed through him.
Rei noticed it.
Interesting.
They split without speaking further.
Enma moved straight for Zone A, direct, and fast.
Rei jogged toward B.
Shiori stayed centered.
Her domain widened.
The board sharpened.
Enemy signatures flared.
Team 3 approaching C cautiously.
Team 5 splitting toward D.
She recalculated.
If Enma meets resistance at A, he escalates.
If Rei gets pressured, unpredictable variable.
She turned slightly.
"Rei."
He slowed mid-step.
"Yeah?"
"Do not overextend."
He grinned faintly.
"That sounds like something you'd say before something goes wrong."
"…Rei."
"Okay, okay. I'll behave."
She wasn't reassured.
Zone A
Heat surged.
Enma didn't wait for formal engagement.
Two opposing students stepped into the zone at the same time.
One of them activated a defensive barrier.
Enma didn't even slow down.
Flame coiled around his arm, not wild but controlled.
Precise.
He punched forward.
The barrier cracked but didn't shatter.
The student grimaced.
"Dude, what is your problem?"
"You're in my way."
A burst of controlled heat expanded outward, enough to force them back without causing structural damage.
The zone flashed blue.
Captured.
Enma exhaled once.
Efficient.
Zone B
Rei arrived to find two students already arguing about positioning.
"…You said left!"
"Well maybe if you…"
Rei stood awkwardly at the edge of the glowing circle.
"Uh. Hi."
They turned.
"Oh great."
One of them rushed forward.
Rei reacted instinctively.
The world thinned.
He slipped sideways, not fully phasing, just enough that the grab passed through his shoulder.
He stumbled, surprised at himself.
"Sorry… I didn't mean…"
The second student lunged.
Rei raised both hands.
"Wait wait wait… can we just…"
Too late.
They collided.
Rei lost balance, reflexively stepping backward into the zone.
The system registered three occupants.
Conflict.
Shiori felt the board distort.
Rei wasn't attacking.
He was surviving.
But survival was messy.
"Rei,"
She said quietly through the team link.
"Yeah I know I know."
He inhaled.
Then did something simple.
He stopped moving.
The two opponents hesitated.
He lowered his hands.
"You guys want this zone?"
They blinked.
"…Yes?"
"Cool."
He stepped out.
The zone flashed red.
They stared at him.
"…You just giving up?"
Rei shrugged.
"Enma already has one. We just need two."
He tapped his earpiece.
"Shiori, which one's weakest?"
She adjusted.
Zone D.
Minimal resistance.
"D,"
She replied.
Rei jogged off.
The two students stared after him.
"…What just happened?"
Midfield
Shiori's head throbbed faintly.
Rei had abandoned a contested square without emotional attachment.
Enma would never.
She shifted her focus.
Zone D.
Two students. Defensive type.
She moved.
Rei arrived first.
"Hey."
The two defenders activated abilities instantly.
One manipulated gravity pressure in pulses.
The other projected short-range shockwaves.
Rei ducked the first pulse barely in time.
"Okay, that's new."
Shiori stepped into range.
Her domain expanded fully.
The entire battlefield snapped into clarity.
Every piece.
Every square.
Time slowed in her perception.
Gravity user: Bishop trajectory.
Shockwave user: Knight pattern.
Rei: ???
Her breath hitched.
He flickered.
King.
Pawn.
Empty square.
Her vision blurred at the edges.
"Shiori?"
Rei's voice cut through.
She forced focus.
"Three seconds,"
She whispered.
"What?"
"On my mark, move right."
He didn't question it.
Enma's voice cut in over comms.
"Need help?"
"No,"
She said.
A beat.
"…Trust me."
Silence.
Then:
"Fine."
Three seconds stretched.
She mapped impact angles.
Pulse interval.
Shockwave recharge.
Her head felt like it was splitting.
"Now."
Rei dashed right exactly as gravity pulsed left.
The two defenders collided with their own interference.
Rei didn't attack.
He simply stepped into the zone.
Shiori followed.
Her domain wavered violently.
Zone D flashed blue.
> Task 3 Completed – 310 Points
The board shattered.
Her vision went black.
Darkness.
Not her usual kind.
Heavy darkness.
When Shiori regained partial awareness, she realized something was wrong.
No grid.
No outlines.
No spatial markers.
Her phone vibrated.
> Task 4: Blind Zone Retrieval
Retrieve the core object within the interference field.
Sensory abilities restricted.
Restricted.
Her throat tightened slightly.
This wasn't coincidence.
Enma swore under his breath.
"They're targeting you."
Rei looked at her carefully.
"You okay?"
She stood still.
Listening.
The interference field wasn't physical darkness.
It was distortion.
Her domain couldn't form.
For the first time in a long time.
She felt unanchored.
"…I'll be okay, I'll proceed."
She said calmly.
Enma frowned.
"With what?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Rei stepped closer, not touching, just near enough.
"You don't have to do it alone."
She almost snapped back automatically.
But she stopped.
Silence.
Then:
"…Describe the room."
Rei blinked.
"Uh. Warehouse vibe. Metal floor. Four pillars. There's a box in the center on a raised platform."
She inhaled slowly.
"Distance?"
"Ten steps from us."
"Obstacles?"
"Random crates. Nothing crazy."
Enma added, quieter now.
"Two drones. Hovering near the ceiling."
She nodded faintly.
Okay.
Old method.
Before the academy.
Before the board.
Raw processing.
"Rei,"
She said.
"Yeah?"
"Walk me forward. Count steps."
He hesitated only half a second before lightly guiding her elbow.
Not grabbing.
Just direction.
"One."
Metal floor echoed.
"Two."
A drone hummed above.
"Three."
She listened to the pitch shift.
"Stop."
He froze.
She tilted her head.
"Drone descending. Enma."
A flash of heat.
Metal clanged to the floor.
Rei blinked.
"…That was kind of cool."
"Focus,"
Enma muttered.
They moved again.
"Eight."
"Nine."
"Ten."
They stopped at the platform.
Shiori reached forward.
Empty air.
Slightly higher.
Her fingers brushed metal.
The box.
Her chest tightened faintly.
No grid.
No structure.
Just sound. Air. Instinct.
She lifted it.
> Task 4 Completed – 250 Points
The interference field dropped instantly.
Her domain tried to reform automatically.
She stopped it.
Didn't activate.
Didn't need to.
She exhaled slowly.
Rei let go of her arm gently.
"You were fine."
She turned slightly toward him.
"…I was not."
Enma crossed his arms.
"But you did it."
She considered that.
Then, quietly:
"Yes."
Silence settled between the three of them.
Rei scratched his cheek.
"So… are we, like… a functional team now?"
Enma scoffed.
"Don't push it."
But he didn't disagree.
Shiori tilted her head slightly toward Rei.
"You are still inconsistent."
Rei grinned faintly.
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
She paused.
"…But not unreliable."
That was the closest thing to praise she'd given all day.
Rei blinked.
"Oh."
Enma looked away.
"…Let's go."
They walked out together.
Not perfectly aligned.
But no longer strangers forced into the same square.
Above them, the artificial sky dimmed toward evening.
Four tasks complete.
And somewhere deep within the system.
Rei Mizunagi's file updated again.
And now.
He was seen as effective.