“Pathetic cowards. Hand over your flags and I won’t break all your bones.”
Gozen said with contempt

Finde checked the timer: 17 minutes.
He looked at Katrin.
“Move as far away as you can. I’ll hold him off.”

Her expression flickered.
“No, Finde. I’m staying with you. You can’t beat him alone.”

“Go, Katrin! Seventeen minutes left! If I can't keep it at bay for such a short time, I don’t deserve this Arena.
If it goes wrong… at least you’ll be safe.”

She hesitated, then nodded.

Finde smiled.

Katrin returned the smile and limped off.

Gozen sneered.
“You make me laugh, filthy white.
A few seconds and I’ll turn you into a sack of meat.
Then I’ll grab your flag and reach Katrin.
Maybe I’ll check if she hides something… between her legs.”

Finde clenched his fists.
“You have to get past me first, bastard.”

“With pleasure.”

Gozen advanced, the greatsword still on his back.

Finde took a fighting stance, right fist clenched.
When Gozen closed to two meters, Finde threw a handful of sand he’d kept in his fist.

Gozen shut his eyes, blinded.

Finde struck — a kick to the ribs, a punch to the temple.

Gozen rolled on the ground, gasping.

Finde pressed the attack — another kick to the stomach, a punch to the face.

Blood.
Sand.
Shattered breath.

Gozen dropped to his knees, coughing.

Finde moved in to finish him, but the black swung his leg fast — a quick trip.

Finde fell.

Gozen mounted him, pinned an arm with his knee and rained blows down on his face.

If I stay like this… he’ll kill me, Finde thought.

In desperation, he slipped his hand under Gozen’s thigh and squeezed a testicle.
Gozen’s scream ripped the desert.
He curled up, clutching himself, retching.

Finde, face swollen, staggered up.
He tried to get away, but Gozen grabbed his leg and dragged him down again.

They writhed, rolled, then rose in sync, both armed.

Gozen raised his greatsword and brought it down from above.

Finde deflected the arc, then countered with the pommel to Gozen’s face.
Gozen dodged and replied with an upward blow — the weapon’s guard slammed into Finde’s chin.

Finde staggered.
He spun sideways and grazed Gozen’s forehead.

Both fell — one to his knees, the other to the sand.

Blood ran from both wounds.

Gozen touched his wound and, seeing the red smear on his fingers, lost his mind.
“How dare you make me bleed, you little worm?! I’ll kill you!!”

He lunged with bestial fury.
His greatsword cleaved the air in relentless strikes.

Finde parried as he could.
The next blow threw him to the ground.
He rolled away and rose with effort.

Gozen pressed him, blow after blow.

Finde tried to strike back, but a kick to his gut knocked the wind out of him.

A punch to the face.
A kick to the calf.
He fell supine, coughing sand.

“Pathetic,” Gozen hissed.
“Now I’ll go take your girl. Then I’ll come back and finish you both.”

He moved to leave — but his foot hit resistance.
He looked down: Finde had grabbed his ankle.

Gozen smashed Finde in the side with a devastating kick.
Finde screamed and rolled away, then rose to his knees, gasping.
His vision blurred, but he didn’t give up.

Gozen closed in, lifting the greatsword for the killing blow.
Finde inhaled.
He seemed about to faint — but it was a bluff.

He surged forward, head down, and smashed a violent headbutt into Gozen’s face.

The sound was sharp.
They both fell.

Gozen lay stunned, a deep cut splitting his brow.

Finde stood and scanned the horizon…
Katrin was far off, safe.

But what he saw next froze his blood.

A few meters away, Yano.
One arm wrapped around Katrin’s neck, her arm twisted behind her back.

His smile was pure venom.

“Hand over the flags, asshole,” he said.
“Or I’ll tear that arm apart.”

Yano held Katrin pinned in front of him.
Her pockets were torn.
His face was swollen, bruises everywhere.
He looked ready to collapse, but his eyes still burned with hate.

Finde glanced at his bracelet — ten minutes left.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled. “You were out. You should’ve left the tournament.”

“Like hell,” Yano spat. “I wasn’t completely out, and I never said I surrendered. I just... took a break.
Enough talk. The little tramp’s got no flags on her... so hand them over, or I’ll snap her arm.”

He kept twisting Katrin’s arm.
She grimaced, a strangled cry escaping her lips.

Gozen, still on the ground, let out a groan.
He was moving.
Finde noticed immediately.
I need to hurry. If he gets up too, it’s over.

Yano sneered.
“How the hell did you mess him up like that?
You jumped him from behind, like you did with me, huh?”

“In that case,” Finde replied, “he’d be bleeding from the back of his head.
What do you think, genius?
Kind of like the cuts I left on your face, idiot.”

“Fuck you!” Yano shouted, spitting saliva.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that! You’re an insect! You’re nothing!”

Finde smiled — tired, but sharp.
“It stings, huh? Hurts getting beaten by an insect?
Why don’t you let Katrin go and come take the flags yourself?
Or are you scared of hitting the ground again?”

Yano’s face twisted into pure hatred.
He threw Katrin to the ground and started toward Finde, one heavy step at a time.
Every fiber of his body screamed for blood.

He was a breath away when Finde tossed something at his feet.
A small pop.
A burst of flame exploded between them.

Yano shouted, leaping back.
As soon as he looked up, Finde was on him — a sharp punch straight between the eyes.

The hit shook the air.
They both went down.

Finde couldn’t feel his legs.
Every breath was pain.
He lifted his head: Yano and Gozen were both moving.
No… they’re getting up.

He crawled toward Katrin.
“Kat! The pouch, quick!”

She untied the fabric around her knee and handed it to him.
“Careful,” Finde murmured. “Just like that.”

He opened it slowly.
Katrin’s eyes went wide — she jumped back in shock.
Inside was a tiny desert rodent, no longer than a finger.

“Finde... what the hell!”
“You made me carry this thing the whole time?!”

“Please, Kat. No time. They’re getting up.”

――

Gozen could hear only muffled sounds.
His vision was blurry, his head pounding.
Finde’s headbutt would’ve knocked anyone out — but he wasn’t the kind to stay down.

He touched his forehead.
His fingers met dry blood and sand.
He rolled to his side, gasping for air.
I have to get up. I have to kill that little bastard.

He looked up: Yano, Katrin, Finde.
All within reach.
Good, Yano. You showed up just in time.

Rage cleared his mind.
He clearly heard Finde’s voice:
“Or are you scared of hitting the ground again?”

Then an explosion.
A scream.
The thud of a struggle.

Yano, what the hell are you doing?
He tried to stand, but his legs were jelly.
He breathed. Once. Twice. Three times.

He opened his eyes to the pale Castor sky.
His sight cleared.
He saw Yano crawling in the dust — beaten, but alive.
Gozen checked his bracelet: five minutes.

I have to move.

He stood, wobbling.
Yano glared back at him, eyes full of rage.
“I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch.”

Gozen nodded.
“First we take the flags. Then we hurt him.”

Yano grinned. “Deal.”

They walked toward Finde and Katrin.
The two sat on the ground.
Finde held something in his hand — smiling.

Gozen’s face darkened.
“What the hell are you laughing at, worm?
The arena ends here for you.
Oku said not to kill, but he never said anything about not breaking spines.”

Finde slipped his hand into the pouch.
He pulled out the small rodent, the red flag tied to its tail.

“What the fuck…” Yano muttered.

Finde raised his voice.
“Hey, idiots! You realize you’re ending this tournament with a crap score?
The two ‘aces’ of the arena, reduced to this?
If you don’t want Oku to kick your asses out… then go fetch this!”

He placed the rodent on the ground.
“Go, my friend. Faster than the wind.”

The tiny creature darted off into the dunes.
“Shit!” Yano yelled, taking off after it.

Gozen was about to follow but stopped.
He looked again at Finde and Katrin, now standing.

“Nice trick, coward.
But I know you’ve got another one.
I’ll break Katrin’s bones one by one until you hand it over.”

Finde raised an arm.
In his hand — the white flag.

“It’s all yours. Come and get it.”

He opened his fingers — just as a gust of wind swept across the desert.
The flag took flight.

Gozen cursed and ran after it.

Finde crouched.
“Let’s go, Kat. Quick.”

She climbed onto his back.
He broke into a run in the opposite direction.

“You should’ve escaped with the flags,” she whispered.
“Left me there. You would’ve avoided all this.”

“Nah. No flag’s worth more than a teammate.”

Katrin said nothing.
Her arms wrapped around his neck.
She looked at her bracelet: one minute.
Thirty seconds.
Ten.
Three seconds.

――

A loud bang filled the sky.
Then Oku’s metallic voice echoed from a drone above them.

“Alright, chicks. The tournament’s over.
No more hits, no more tricks, no more funny business.
If you can still walk, head back to camp.
The rest of you, stay where you are.
We’ll pick you up like sacks of potatoes.
Over and out.”

Finde slowed down.
Stopped.
Let Katrin slide off his back and dropped to the ground, exhausted.

She sat beside him.
Silence.

“What the hell did you do to Yano back there?” she asked softly.

Finde smiled.
“It was the trick I used with my brother when we used to wrestle.
Little pouches of magic dust.
My father made them.
Just slam them against something hard and... boom.”

He laughed. But a tear rolled down his cheek.

Katrin looked at him gently.
“I know. I lost someone too. I’m sorry, Finde.”

He wiped the tear away.
“Thanks, Kat.
That’s why we’re here, right?
For the ones who aren’t.”

She nodded, with a trembling smile.
Then looked down at her bracelet — and the final scores.

――

Guster sat in the sand, panting.
He was bleeding from four or five spots.
He couldn’t remember ever taking such a beating.

Beside him, Jhoanna lay unconscious.
Lucky she was already spent, or he’d never have beaten her.

He looked at the black flag in his hand.
Smiled.
Then raised his wrist and checked the scores.

――

Yano lay in the dust.
In his hands, the rodent stared at him with small black eyes.

“You’re not part of this, little guy. You get a pass this time.
Next time, though... no mercy.”
The creature scurried off into the dunes.
Yano followed it with his eyes, then wiped sweat from his face with the red flag.

He smiled.
Then tapped the bracelet screen.

――

Gozen sat with his head between his knees.
He trembled with rage.
Tears of frustration streaked down his dust-stained face.

“How dare he?”
“How dare he make a fool of me?”

He clenched a shred of white cloth between his fingers.

――

Final Scores
Black Team: +1
Red Team: –2
White Team: +3
Blue Team: –2