---
A few nervous laughs sparked among both sets of soldiers and died quickly.
Miryam’s head snapped toward him.
Kai felt the surge of her killing intent like a wave.
He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Another day," he repeated, low. "Let have this one. If I fall and he breaks his word, then you may eat him. Slowly."
Her pupils thinned to slits.
"I will hold you to that," she said.
She stepped closer, close enough that her aura wrapped his like a second skin.
"Do not die," she whispered, echoing last night. "If you do, I will make you regret it."
He smiled faintly.
"I am unclear on how that would work," he said. "But I believe you."
She pressed her forehead to his for one brief, fierce heartbeat, then let him go.
He turned away before he could change his mind.
The ramp down felt longer this ti.
Every drone he passed watched him with a kind of terrible devotion. So touched their chests, palms over plates. So lifted their spears in silent salute. Yavri’s watchers tracked his descent with wide, dark eyes.
At the base, the stone gave way to sand.
Kai stepped off the ramp and onto the flats.
The circle waited.
Vorak watched him approach, spear grounded, expression sober.
Up close, Kai could see the lines etched into the general’s plates – old scars, old campaigns. This was not a fresh minted officer burning for glory. This was a man who had counted costs for a long ti.
The system, perhaps deciding that now was the appropriate ti to be helpful, flashed a series of windows across Kai’s inner sight.
[Ding! System notification- Target appraisal for the battle.
Scanning... scanning... scanning...
Subject: Vorak.
Race: Scarlet Antkin.
Rank: 8-Star Battlefield General.
Affiliation: Scarlet Ant Kingdom.
Title: Ledger of Blood.
Core stability: exceptional.
Aura reserve: 8800 / 8800.
Primary attributes:
Strength 872.
Speed 861.
Stamina 889.
Defense 858.
Will 904. (Note: A battle will just for the mont)
Advisory: all major combat stats exceed host’s base values. Host Apex Form may reach parity or slight superiority in select attributes for limited duration.
Warning: subject possesses high order battlefield trait tree. Unknown conditional bonuses likely in duel context.]
Kai’s own numbers slid into place alongside.
[Host: Kai.
Rank: 7-Star Monarch Devourer Ant.
Core stability: high.
Aura reserve: 7000 / 7000.
Primary attributes (base):
Strength 807.
Speed 807.
Stamina 807.
Will 845. (Note: A battle will just for the mont)
Projected Apex Plus modifiers:
Strength 55 percent.
Speed 40 percent.
Stamina 35 percent.
Defense 40 percent.
Advisory: with Apex Plus active and aura expenditure controlled, probability of duel victory against subject Vorak estimated at 63 percent, assuming no external interference and Crown remaining dormant.]
Sixty three percent.
Better than a coin flip.
Worse than certainty.
"I suppose it would be impolite to ask you to lower your stats," Kai murmured, mostly to himself.
Vorak blinked, then barked a short laugh.
"If you are trying to flatter before we begin, it is working," the general said.
Kai huffed once. "Just taking stock," he replied.
They stepped into the circle together, sand crunching underfoot. The air inside felt different – not warded, exactly, but expectant.
Behind Kai, the ramp lood. He could feel seven hundred eyes on his back, and more from the galleries.
Behind Vorak, thousands of Scarlet soldiers watched, shifting their weight, hands tight on their weapons. The princesses, sowhere safe inside the mountain, would be listening too. Ikea, in her tree. Miryam, in her drones among others. The whole crowded universe of his problems.
Vorak planted his spear in the center of the circle and bowed his head slightly.
"I am Vorak," he said, formal now, voice ringing. "Eighth star, general, ledger keeper. I co in the na of the Scarlet Ant Kingdom, under the flag of parley. I will not call on casters, crowns, or old pacts. My spear, my flesh, my aura. That is all."
He lifted his head.
"Who stands against ," he asked.
Kai rolled his shoulders once, feeling plates settle.
"I am Kai," he said. No titles. No list. He let the word carry everything it had co to an. "Seven star. Lord of this hive. I stand for my mountain. I stand for my people. I will not call on Miryam’s teeth, Luna’s tricks, or any of the Crown’s hungers. My spear, my flesh, my aura. That is all."
They t each other’s eyes.
Above, Akayoroi’s command flicked across the Net.
"No one moves," she said softly but with enough steel to cut armor. "This is their ledger now."
On the flats, Scarlet officers echoed similar orders.
No arrows.
No spells.
No interference.
The world shrank.
Vorak lifted his spear smoothly, settling into a ready stance. He spun it once, testing the balance, the motion precise, economical. No wasted flourishes.
"Any last advice from your guardian," he asked, a trace of wry humor under the words.
Kai thought of Ikea on her branch, of Miryam in her coat, of Luna’s hands still stained with other people’s blood, of Akayoroi’s quiet faith.
"Yes," he said. "Do not underestimate how stubborn I am."
Vorak grinned, teeth flashing.
"I would not dream of it white hair of the mountain," he said.
A gust of wind swept across the circle, flattening banners, lifting dust.
For one stretched heartbeat, everything held.
Then both n moved.
Vorak’s spear ca up in a blur, point angling for Kai’s throat with terrifying speed, his aura compressing into a tight, hard knot at the tip.
Kai’s plates unlocked along his spine as he called Apex Plus.
[Ding! System notification- Apex Form is activated. Aura spend: 600 / 7000 and rising.]
His fra lengthened, his joints thickened, his veins flooded with burning power.
He stepped into the strike instead of away, spear coming up to et spear.
Dong!
Steel kissed steel with a sound like a cracked bell.
The impact shuddered down both shafts, through both n, into the sand.
Around them, the watching armies held their breath as the first clash of Lord and general lit the morning.
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