The room stayed frozen in place.
Thousands of soldiers stood with bows drawn, arrows aimed directly at Ishimo. Not one of them lowered their weapon, but something in their posture had changed. What they had witnessed moments ago still lingered in their eyes.
Shock.
Above it all, Cuppy slept.
Curled on Ishimo's head, unmoving, as if none of this concerned it.
Ishimo glanced around at the sea of arrows, unimpressed.
"your men are still pointing those thing's at me I'll admit it they are brave"
Subastian's voice slipped through the room, calm as ever.
"of course they are I notured them my self"
Ishimo let out a quiet breath, almost amused.
"I'd expect nothing less from Kazuls bloodline, so what do you say wanna train or what"
A brief silence followed.
Then—
"let's talk somewhere private"
The shift was instant.
The air fractured.
Thin lines spread across the space like cracks in glass, stretching along the walls, the floor, even the air itself. Reflections began to form—distorted, overlapping, multiplying.
Thomas turned sharply, his own face staring back at him from a dozen angles.
Before he could react—
Everything snapped.
The world folded in on itself.
For a single second, nothing made sense. Up and down disappeared. Sound collapsed into silence.
Then—
Grass.
Soft, uneven ground pressed beneath their feet. A quiet breeze moved through an open field, bending the green in slow waves. The sky stretched endlessly above them, calm and undisturbed.
The base was gone.
So were the soldiers.
Only the three of them remained.
Ishimo looked around once, taking in the empty landscape.
"privacy you said so what's it gonna be"
Subastian stood a short distance away. The light touched him now, but his face still refused to fully reveal itself, like something unseen was keeping it hidden.
"under one condition you win a fight between me and Thomas then we'll talk"
Thomas stiffened beside him.
Ishimo laughed.
"hahahaha ohk ok fine let's do it so a 2 V1"
The air tightened.
Thomas moved first.
His foot dug into the ground, and in the next instant he was gone—his body cutting forward with speed that tore through the grass beneath him.
At the same time, Subastian raised his hand.
The space around him bent.
Not visibly—but enough to feel wrong.
Two attacks.
Two directions.
One moment—
Ishimo moved.
Barely.
A single step forward.
His hand lifted slightly, almost lazily—
And everything ended.
A sharp force rippled outward, silent but absolute.
Thomas's body stopped mid-motion before being thrown back, crashing into the ground hard enough to crack the earth beneath him. The air left his lungs in a single, broken breath.
Subastian followed.
His stance broke instantly, his body dropping to one knee before the impact sent him sliding across the field, leaving a trail through the grass.
The wind returned.
Soft.
Unbothered.
Ishimo stood where he had been.
Untouched.
"you didn't even last a minute"
Cuppy stirred slightly.
"pryy"
Ishimo glanced up.
"I just fed you," he muttered, tapping the small dragon lightly.
Then his attention returned forward.
Subastian hadn't fully fallen.
One knee pressed into the ground, one hand steadying himself as he rose slowly. Blood traced faint lines along his arm, but his posture didn't break.
Thomas lay nearby, struggling to breathe, his body refusing to respond the way he wanted.
Ishimo stepped closer, unhurried.
"So Subastian… what do you say"
The breeze passed between them, quieter now.
Subastian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he straightened.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Like the outcome of the fight hadn't surprised him—only confirmed something.
The field remained still.
But something had shifted.
Not in strength.
Not in control.
In understanding.
And in that quiet space between them—
A decision waited.