Up in the tournament skybox, the noise rolled like thunder under the sigil-glass and steel, thousands of voices still buzzing from Lila's match and the next bracket chatter already building somewhere below.
Laila sat beside him like she owned the whole row.
Which, honestly, she kind of did.
One leg crossed over the other. Compact mirror in one hand. Makeup brush in the other. Gold hoops catching the light every time she turned her head. Calm on the outside. Too amused by everything on the inside.
She smiled at her own reflection.
"Woah, William."
A little blush still sat under her makeup from earlier.
"Looks like your kids"—she smirked—"Squad Three are top-tier demons."
William let out a breath through his nose and leaned back in his seat, one arm over the chair like he was trying very hard not to sound proud and failing.
"Righttt."
He nodded once, then looked out over the arena like he was listing natural disasters.
"Who would've thought I'd end up with Rin Kairo." He pointed vaguely into space. "The Black Clan heir himself. Little brother to the Black Prince. Brother to one of the Shinshō—Seizen Kairo."
He looked back at her.
"That alone is already insane."
Laila hummed. "Mhm."
William kept going.
"Then Aria Flamehart." He actually sat up straighter now. "Daughter of Artemis Flamehart—the freaking Ice King himself."
He said it with just enough fan in it that Laila looked over the mirror at him.
"Oh, brother."
William ignored that completely.
"Battle of the Ice Cliffs. Trapped Momon the Defiled in a mountain of ice and made a whole new mountain range in Rajistan." He shook his head like he still couldn't believe it. "One of the youngest Grand Seekers in history. Eighteen."
Then his mouth twitched.
"Heard he's also a deadbeat, though."
Laila snorted into her compact.
William grinned.
"But Aria?"She's got all the potential and raw power to surpass him. Easy. Especially with that lightning affinity. Rare. Violent. Horrible for whoever has to stand in front of it."
Laila closed the compact halfway now, more interested in him than her face.
William wasn't done.
"Then the prodigy—Lila Butters."
He laughed a little under his breath.
"The Water Queen."
That got her.
Laila tried to stay cool.
Didn't.
William turned and looked right at her now.
"Daughter of the famous Laila Butters."
Laila rolled her eyes.
"William—"
"The Water Demon herself."
A little more color hit her cheeks.
He kept going anyway.
"The greatest water user in Margerina."
"Stop it," Laila said, but it came out softer than she wanted.
And because William was William, and because he could see the blush getting worse, he got even more shameless.
"She might even be prettier than the rumors."
Laila stared at him over the mirror.
Long.
Slow.
Then looked away and smiled to herself.
"Baby, don't start nothing you can't finish."
William coughed once into his hand like that definitely hadn't hit him harder than expected.
Then he cleared his throat and kept talking before she could enjoy that too much.
"And then there's Kai."
That made Laila glance back over.
William's tone shifted a little there.
Still casual.
But with more thought under it.
"Darius told me about him in Chun. Said he trained with him while traveling from Rajistan to Chun. Trial by Mind to Trial by Combat."
William's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Said the kid has unlimited potential. Learns on the spot. Not the sharpest tool in the shed"—he shrugged—"but battle-hardened. Disciplined. And whatever those monks taught him, it wasn't normal."
Laila lowered the mirror completely now.
William leaned back again.
"Darius even hinted he thinks he knows who Kai's father is."
That got her full attention.
William looked out over the crowd.
"But he also made it very clear that kind of information gets people killed."
Laila's smile faded into something more interested.
"So the kid's not just talented," William said. "Somebody higher up definitely has eyes on him."
Laila looked at him for a moment.
Then her smile came back.
Slow.
Dangerous.
"Well," she said, setting the compact aside, "looks like you got your hands full, White Knight."
Her hand slid onto his leg.
Light.
Then not light.
William went very still.
Laila leaned a little closer, voice dropping just enough.
"But just promise me one thing, baby boy."
William turned his head.
She was smiling that lazy, beautiful, unfair smile that had ruined harder men than him.
"Keep my daughter safe."
William stood.
Slowly.
Like sudden movement might kill him.
He took her hand in both of his, bent, and kissed the back of it.
"Of course I will, my lady."
That got her worse than the compliment had.
Laila looked away fast, blushing for real now.
"Get outta here," she muttered.
William smiled once, small and clean.
Then Light Muti sparked under his boots.
He vanished.
Not teleportation.
Just speed so obscene most people's eyes gave up.
Light Muti: Lightstride.
He flashed through the corridors of the Grand Amphistad in gold-white streaks, cutting through the massive structure in bursts of moving light—past med bays, past sealed hallways, past crowds, officers, attendants, and stunned workers who only caught a warm gust and a flicker before he was gone.
Then he found the infirmary.
Inside, Squad Three was mid-conversation.
Lila still half on Rin.
Aria laughing.
Kai talking with his hands.
Rin suffering visibly.
Then William appeared behind them.
Lila screamed.
A startled rich-girl scream.
The whole room jumped.
Aria damn near sparked.
Kai almost swung.
A nurse in the back dropped a tray.
Even Rin's good eye widened for half a second.
William blinked.
"…Hello."
Lila clutched her chest. "Oh my God!"
Kai had his staff halfway raised. "Captain, you can't do that!"
Aria pointed at him, still breathing hard from the scare. "What the hell was that?"
Rin, somehow the calmest one there, looked once at William and said flatly,
"One of his famous Light Muti techniques."
William gave him a small nod. "Correct."
Lila glared at him from where she was still half-crushing Rin. "You almost killed me."
Rin, muffled under her again, managed, "Unfortunate that it failed."
That made Aria and Kai laugh instantly.
William's mouth twitched.
He looked over all four of them.
Rin bandaged and pale but awake.
Lila bright and emotional and still riding her win.
Aria charged up with that raw dangerous spark she always had.
Kai loose on the outside, but something in his eyes sharper than the rest of the room knew.
William took that in.
Then smiled.
Soft.
Proud.
A little tired.
"Let's get you kids home."