Chapter 74 – Pairings and coincidences
The obsidian platform dimmed as the remnants of the previous battles vanished into faint motes of light, dissolving into the ether. Silence reigned in the Grand Ascension Tower, but it was the heavy, taut silence that preceded a storm.
Only four cultivators remained.
Jin stood tall at the edge of the cracked arena, his breathing steady. Beside him, Gorr emerged in a flicker of silver flame, crouching loyally by his side. Across the battlefield, Thorne sat cross-legged on a stone slab, eyes shut, calm as the void. Ignis paced slowly, arms crossed, his crimson robes stained and tattered, but his expression remained one of focused arrogance.
And then there was Lyra.
She stood quietly near the edge of the rest platform, her robes tattered but her expression… hopeful. Her violet eyes shimmered with understanding—and relief. Her match had been brutal, but she survived. And now, it seemed, she had drawn a breath of luck unlike any other.
The massive black throne shimmered as the Will of the Tower reappeared, its voice as thunderous as ever.
"You have reached the final round before the summit. Only four remain. Rest. One hour is granted to each of you to recover, reflect, and prepare."
A silver hourglass materialized above the center of the platform, its grains beginning to fall.
Jin exhaled and turned to Gorr. "She's your opponent this time," he said, nodding toward Lyra.
Gorr tilted his head. "She's your friend. You sure about this?"
Jin gave a faint smile. "I trust her not to take it personally. We fight, but we don't kill. Besides… I need time to work."
He lowered himself onto one knee and began to draw faint golden runes on the floor with a thread of fire-infused spiritual essence.
Gorr stared at the lines. "You're building counter-arrays already?"
"If I face Thorne, I'll need to disrupt his storm fields. If it's Ignis..." Jin paused, his fingers halting mid-draw. "...I'll need something a lot more complicated."
Meanwhile, Lyra had wandered closer to the center of the platform, staring up at the hourglass. She barely noticed the slight crack in her lips from her last fight or the bruises across her side. All she could think about was the announcement she'd just heard a minute earlier.
The pairings.
When the Will of the Tower had displayed the names in golden light, her breath had caught in her throat.
Match One: Jin vs. Lyra.Match Two: Thorne vs. Ignis.
Lyra almost jumped in place, only just containing the joy bubbling up in her chest.
"Third place," she whispered to herself.
There was a chance for here to reach it now.
Everyone else in the final four knew it too. Lyra had already taken too much damage, her elemental reserves weren't enough to stand against any of the others. But now? With Jin as her opponent? She wasn't going to die. She would fight him properly, make a decent showing, and stall the match.
As long as Thorne and Ignis went all out, the loser of their fight would drop to fourth place.
Lyra would rise to third.
She smiled knowingly, rubbing her temples. "Sorry, Ignis. I know you wanted to destroy me. But I got paired with the only person here who doesn't want me dead."
On the other side of the platform, Ignis had gone still.
He'd seen the matchups. And he understood what was about to happen.
His crimson gaze narrowed.
He hadn't forgotten Lyra.
He'd nearly made her his cultivation furnace once, long ago. She escaped—barely—and he had never forgiven her. He wanted to see her burn, reduced to ash, consumed by the same flames she once defied.
And now she had slipped through his fingers again.
If he lost to Thorne—he would fall beneath her.
He clenched his fists, his aura flickering with dark flame.
Thorne, meanwhile, had opened his eyes at last.
He studied the names calmly, then closed his eyes once more.
Indifference.That was Thorne's answer to everything.
He had no desire to kill Lyra. No need to prove anything to Jin. No hatred toward Ignis.
He was here to ascend.
Jin continued his work, sweat beading at his brow as he overlaid a third sigil over his array.
His thoughts were sharp.
If he beat Lyra, he'd enter the finals.
And then?
It would be either Thorne… or Ignis.
He couldn't underestimate either one.
His fingers paused. He glanced up as Lyra approached.
She sat beside him, giving Gorr a soft smile before speaking. "I'm not going easy on you, you know."
Jin chuckled. "Good. Wouldn't want you to make it obvious."
She glanced at the fading hourglass. "You know what this means, right?"
"Yeah. A shot at third place for you."
She didn't deny it. Her smile grew a little more amused. "I never thought I'll have reached 3rd place" she said, "if you ask me it almost looks like too many coincidences"
"Don't worry, just thank your luck probably" Jin added, his eyes glinting. "I'll make it look like a real fight."
"You'd better," she said.
High above them, the Will of the Tower stirred again, its voice echoing through the chamber.
"The hour wanes. Prepare yourselves. The next matches shall decide who ascends to the summit."
The golden hourglass shrank into a mote of light.
The stage began to reshape itself.
At last, the final round before the summit had arrived.
Four cultivators.
Three matches to go.
And only one would stand at the peak.