~BANG~BANG~BANG!~

Under a rain of intense fire, the last attacking monster collapsed back into the Ashen Waters with a hiss, smoke still billowing from its burnt body.

Havoc and Ruin cooled in Albedo's hands as the final echo of gunfire faded, leaving only the sound of the ferocious waters flowing.

Albedo quickly turned to the others, making sure they were okay, and they all were, albeit a little exhausted. The waters were constantly absorbing their mana every instance they touched it, like a ferocious typhoon with endless hunger.

Most of them were now running low on Mana and were currently stabilizing themselves and regaining their mana.

Once he realized they were okay, Albedo tuned to Fade, who was standing a short distance away on another one of the mini-ridges in the water, her sword planet next to her to help with balance, while her emerald cloak streaked with the blood of the monsters, and some drops of her own blood.

Her breathing was sharp and uneven, but her grip on the blade never faltered. The faint rainbow light that had burned in her eyes during the fight still shimmered, a quiet reflection of the storm inside her.

Albedo walked toward her, each step steady and deliberate. When he stopped in front of her, the air between them carried the faint tang of burnt mana and blood.

"Are you okay?" he asked, Havoc and Ruin vanishing in his arms and being sent back to his Soul Weapon storage space.

Fade's lips parted as though to answer, but for a heartbeat no sound came. Finally she managed, "Yeah...you made sure I am didn't you."

Albedo chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, nodding as he looked at her, noticing how Fade's eyes had softened as she searched his face.

"You fight like someone with no master. As if the world can demand nothing of you." Fade said.

Albedo held her gaze as he quickly responded, "The world demands all it wants. I just don't let it decide for me."

The words landed like a blade drawn across silk. Fade felt the truth in them resonate through the quiet chains she had worn all her life.

Her duties as princess, the expectations of her house, the marriage contracts negotiated in halls of cold marble, all of it felt suddenly fragile compared to the freedom in his voice.

Before she could answer, a ripple of mana cut through the tense quiet. Albedo's eyes narrowed as new figures approached from the northern ridge.

An armed company stepped from the thinning mist, banners of the Moon Court glinting under the dim light. At their head strode Valerian, his friends and guards flanking him in a precise formation.

He slowed as he took in the sight before him: the corpses of Amethyst horrors, the shattered stone, the faint scorch marks where crimson fire had burned through monsters that should have been invincible.

Valerian's gaze locked on Albedo. For a single heartbeat his confident stride faltered. He remembered the duel, the way his every move had been broken apart and crushed beneath a storm of fire and gravity. That memory clawed its way up from the pit of his stomach and settled in his chest like a weight of lead.

He masked it quickly, straightening with the polished elegance of a noble heir, but his eyes betrayed the flicker of unease.

"Princess," Valerian said, voice carefully formal, "Are you okay? We lost track of you when the waters grew extremely violent,"

Fade's eyebrow twitched and her eyes displayed a variety of emotions as she noticed Valerian, "Yes I'm fine, don't worry too much," she said, her voice slightly cold which Valerian definitely realized, causing his jaw to tighten.

"But Princess.."

"Quiet," Fade cut Valerian off before he could speak again, causing the persons behind the Elven man to shift uneasily, eyes darting between Albedo, Fade, Valerian and the ruined battlefield.

Valerian felt their nerves like a current pressing against his spine while Albedo said nothing, merely meeting Valerian's gaze with a faint, quiet smile, the same kind of smile he had worn before their duel ended in humiliating defeat.

No threat, no boast. Just the reminder of what he could do if provoked.

Valerian looked away first while Albedo looked towards the others who were ready, and decided to walk off towards the ends of the Ashen Waters.

Fade was walking beside him, her heartbeat quickening with a strange exhilaration she had never known within the marble halls of her people. Each stride away from Valerian felt like another chain snapping free.

Behind them, Valerian remained at the ridge, fists clenched so tightly his nails bit into flesh. He watched the group disappear into the mist, his pride burning hotter than the crimson flames that had devoured the basin.

He did not speak, but his thoughts burned like poison, 'Not again. I will not be humiliated by him again. This isn't over.'

The only answer was the fading echo of footsteps and the faint hiss of cooling stone as the group moved across the Ashen Waters which still raged continuously, trying to hold them back from achieving their goal, birthing scattered horrors that lunged from the depths in desperate, final attempts to kill.

A winged wraith shrieked as it burst from the water ahead, violet mist trailing its torn wings.

Albedo didn't even slow. Havoc reappeared in his right hand with a flicker of crimson light.

~BANG~

The wraith's chest caved in, gravity collapsing the creature into a wet spiral of flesh and steam before it even reached the ridge.

"Still breathing?" Zeus asked, his axe already crackling with gold.

"Barely," Morgana said dryly, shadows coiling at her feet to intercept a pair of crystal-backed serpents that slithered over the stones.

Elara flicked her wrist, sending a precise volley of potion-imbued seeds into the air. Each one burst in flashes of viridian flame, cutting down the smaller pests before they could reach the group.

She caught Albedo's glance for a heartbeat and gave the slightest nod, her face unreadable but her eyes carrying a quiet relief.

Lucian stepped forward to meet a final clawed beast, emerald blade slicing a clean arc through the creature's skull. "Stragglers," he muttered, wiping black ichor from his cheek. "Nothing compared to earlier."

Fade kept pace beside Albedo through it all, silent but watchful.

Every so often she caught herself looking at his profile, at the faint glow still lingering in his eyes, at the calm precision with which he dispatched each new threat.

Each shot, each motion, was a wordless declaration of freedom, and with every step she felt her own heartbeat match his rhythm.

The ridges finally began to widen, the endless mist thinning into pale threads. Ahead, the faint glow of stabilizing wards shimmered like distant lanterns—the protective perimeter marking the far side of the Ashen Waters.

A cluster of figures waited just beyond the wards.

The Professors and the others.

Headmaster Arannis looked at all the students, a pleased look on his face, "It seems you all are indeed qualified to be here. A fantastic performance,"

Zeus planted his axe on the basalt and grinned. "Give the credit to the guy with the pistols."

Albedo only offered a quiet shrug, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "Everyone played their part."

Arannis chatted with the students and the other Professors & Raphaeline for a bit, but amidst all of them, a figure emerged from that group.

The Elven Prince Dorne, Fade's brother, and his gaze was fixed on his sister as he took measured steps, noticing her walking at Albedo's side and chatting with him occasionally.

The prince's sharp green eyes flicked from Fade to Albedo, then back to Fade again, catching the faint glow in her gaze and the slight tilt of her chin, a quiet defiance that had never existed back in the marble halls of their home.

"Fade," Dorne said at last, voice crisp but edged with something sharper. "You're safe."

"I am," she replied evenly, not breaking stride. "Thanks to Albedo."

Dorne's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. He inclined his head toward Albedo in a gesture that was more acknowledgment than gratitude. "I see."

Fade stepped fully past the perimeter, her cloak brushing against Albedo's sleeve as she moved.

Dorne's eyes narrowed at the tiny detail, the unspoken closeness.

The professors began congratulating the rest of the group, but Dorne barely heard them. His gaze stayed locked on his sister and the man beside her, the man whose crimson flames still seemed to linger in the air like an unspoken challenge.

Fade did not look back, already knowing what her brother was thinking and planning to talk to him later about the situation lest he takes things too far already.

Albedo said nothing and just waited for Arannis and the others to stop chatting so they could leave and return, already bored with this so called 'trial.'

And Dorne's thoughts sharpened into a single, silent vow as the victorious party disappeared into the protective glow of the wards:

'This… will complicate everything.'

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