The night in Vorara City only grew more vibrant as ti passed.
After the long feast and the first round of gas, the group stepped back into the entertainnt district once again, and this ti, they did not rush anywhere. They simply wandered.
The floating islands of the district had transford compared to earlier. What had been lively before was now bursting with color, music, and wild energy. Thousands of lantern-like spirits drifted through the air, illuminating the sky rivers that flowed between islands. So rivers shimred like molten silver, while others glowed soft violet or erald green.
Music from dozens of stages blended into a strange but pleasant symphony.
So islands hosted orchestras made of pure mana constructs. Others had dancing crowds beneath spiraling lights. One distant island even had enormous beasts made of clouds performing aerial acrobatics for cheering spectators.
Natalia stretched her arms behind her head as they walked along one of the crystal bridges connecting two islands.
"Now this," she said with satisfaction, "is a proper place to celebrate winning a suicidal bet."
Kayla laughed softly.
"I still think you enjoyed the fight more than the victory."
"Of course I did."
Up ahead, a massive floating structure caught their attention. It looked like a giant sphere made of translucent crystal panels, each one displaying colorful moving scenes from inside.
A glowing sign rotated slowly above the entrance.
[Celestial Ga Sphere]
"Oh?" Ainen said with interest. "This looks promising."
Inside, the place was enormous.
The interior of the sphere contained dozens of ga arenas suspended at different heights. Platforms floated in mid-air like stepping stones, and people traveled between them using streams of glowing mana that functioned like moving walkways.
Everywhere they looked, sothing entertaining was happening.
There were competitive card simulations, puzzle arenas, racing courses, illusion gas, and strange challenges that none of them could imdiately understand.
The air was filled with excitent and laughter.
"Where first?" Fraisea asked.
Natalia’s eyes locked onto sothing imdiately.
"Over there."
...
The first ga they approached looked simple.
A massive board floated in the air, made of hundreds of glowing hexagonal tiles. Tiny star-like constructs moved across the board, representing fleets and celestial formations.
A hovering sign read:
Constellation War — Tactical Dominion.
"Strategy ga," Almond said.
Natalia cracked her knuckles. "Perfect."
They sat across from each other while the others gathered around.
The board lit up.
Planets appeared.
Nebulas ford.
Tiny fleets of glowing stars erged from different corners of the board.
At first, it looked like a complicated chess ga.
But within minutes, Natalia realized it was far more insane.
So constellations could bend gravity.
Others could sacrifice stars to unleash supernova attacks.
One formation created illusions that hid entire fleets.
Another allowed stars to "evolve" mid-ga.
Natalia leaned forward with growing interest.
"Okay... this is actually good."
She launched a flanking manoeuver with a crescent-shaped constellation.
Almond countered by collapsing a star cluster into a black hole that swallowed three of her fleets instantly.
Natalia stared.
"That’s illegal."
"Perfectly legal."
"Bullshit."
She retaliated by detonating two sacrificial stars to trigger a chain supernova that wiped out half the board.
Spectators nearby began watching the match with growing interest.
Ten minutes later, the board was a chaotic ss of collapsed stars, fractured nebulae, and two extrely stubborn players refusing to surrender.
Eventually, both of them triggered endga abilities at the sa ti.
The board exploded in cosmic light.
DRAW!
Natalia leaned back and groaned dramatically.
"I refuse to accept equality."
Almond smiled.
"Next ti."
...
anwhile, Kayla had wandered toward a completely different kind of attraction.
This one was loud.
Very loud.
It was a racing arena.
Suspended in the center of the chamber was a massive obstacle course made of floating rings, twisting tunnels, gravity flips, and rotating platforms.
Dozens of crystal creatures waited at the starting line.
Dragons.
Phoenixes.
Beasts shaped like lightning bolts.
Each one was made of translucent crystal and pulsed with energy.
A sign hovered above them.
Astral Rider Grand Prix.
Kayla blinked.
"You ride them?"
Fraisea had already climbed onto one that looked like a crystal hawk.
"Yes."
Kayla hesitated only for a mont before climbing onto a sleek dragon-shaped one.
The creature humd beneath her like a living engine.
A countdown appeared.
3
2
1
The creatures launched forward like missiles.
The entire course twisted through the air like a roller coaster.
Kayla leaned instinctively as the dragon dove through the first ring, then spiraled upward through a gravity flip that sent them racing sideways across the arena.
Wind roared past her ears.
A crystal phoenix zipped past her in a streak of fire.
Fraisea laughed wildly as she perford a sharp dive through a narrow tunnel filled with rotating blades.
Kayla followed.
Barely.
They burst out the other side and shot through the final ring almost simultaneously.
Kayla slid off her dragon afterward with wide eyes.
"That was terrifying."
Fraisea grinned.
"Again?"
Kayla nodded imdiately.
...
Elsewhere, Ainen had discovered sothing even better.
A cooking arena.
The sign read:
Chef Duel.
Contestants were given random alien ingredients and had ten minutes to cook sothing edible.
The mont Ainen stepped forward, the crowd gathered.
Natalia leaned against a nearby pillar.
"He’s going to show off, isn’t he?"
Lily smirked.
"Obviously."
The ingredients appeared in a flash of light.
A glowing jellyfish.
Crystal mushrooms.
A fruit that emitted actual flas.
A block of at that slowly changed color every few seconds.
Ainen’s eyes glead.
"Interesting."
His knives moved like lightning.
The jellyfish was sliced into delicate ribbons.
The mushrooms were crushed into glowing powder.
The fla fruit was caralized into a golden glaze.
Within minutes, the entire arena slled incredible.
Even nearby spectators began drooling.
When the judges tasted the final dish, one of them actually started crying.
"I... I have tasted enlightennt."
Perfect score.
The audience exploded in applause.
Natalia stared.
"...I understand now. Can’t wait to eat his food."
...
Later that night, the group wandered onto one of the quieter islands.
This one hosted illusion-based gas.
The most interesting attraction was sothing called the Labyrinth of Minds.
Players entered a floating maze made entirely of illusions and shifting corridors.
The challenge was simple.
Find the exit.
The difficulty was ridiculous.
The maze constantly rearranged itself and tried to trick players with false paths, gravity distortions, and psychological illusions.
Kayla entered first.
The others watched through a floating viewing crystal.
Inside the maze, walls transford into forests.
Floors beca rivers.
Sotis entire corridors vanished.
But Kayla moved calmly.
She studied the patterns.
Watched how illusions repeated.
After twenty minutes, she discovered the trick.
The maze wasn’t random.
It followed a living cycle pattern.
Bloom.
Decay.
Renewal.
Just like her powers.
Once she realized that, the path revealed itself.
She walked straight to the exit.
The spectators applauded.
Natalia clapped slowly.
"That was actually impressive."
...
Hours passed.
The group explored island after island.
They played combat simulations.
Rhythm battles where sound waves beca weapons.
Puzzle challenges that required bending gravity.
At one point, Gopu accidentally destroyed an entire monster simulation arena by breathing too much fire.
The crowd loved him.
Eventually, the group ended up sitting together on a quiet floating balcony overlooking the entire district.
Below them, thousands of lights shimred across the islands.
Music drifted upward.
The rivers of mana glowed softly in the night sky.
Natalia leaned back against the railing.
"This place is insane."
Ainen nodded.
"Perfect place to relax before the next layer tries to kill us."
Kayla looked at the distant horizon where larger islands floated far away.
"I still can’t believe we reunited this soon."
Almond looked out over the glowing city.
"The Layers are huge."
"But fate has a strange sense of humor."
Lily rested her head on his shoulder.
"And Regalons tend to find each other."
Natalia smirked.
"Well then."
She stood and stretched.
"Next."
She pointed toward the distant islands.
"We prepare."
Almond raised an eyebrow.
"For Layer Three?"
Natalia grinned.
"The Realm of Puppets and Kings."
The group looked out across the endless glowing city.
Tonight was for fun.
But soon, a new stage awaited them.
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