William jolted upright with a strangled gasp.

  “No! Stop!”

  His voice echoed through the empty supermarket, sharp and panicked.

  Dovak nearly choked on his dried meat, while Nigel’s hand instinctively went to his weapon.

  “The hell’s wrong with you?” Nigel muttered, scanning their surroundings in case the outburst had drawn attention.

  William’s chest rose and fell rapidly, sweat beading on his forehead. His fingers curled into his sleeves as if trying to ground himself. “I… I think it was just a nightmare.”

  Dovak reached into his inventory and tossed him a bottle of water. “You think?”

  William caught it and downed the entire thing in a single gulp.

  Dovak smirked. “Damn. Thirsty?”

  William wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’ve had nightmares since I was a kid.”

  Nigel didn’t look convinced, but he let it go.

  “Then let’s move,” he said. “We’ve been stuck here too long.”

  William got to his feet, but his legs wobbled beneath him. He caught himself against a nearby shelf, cursing under his breath.

  Dovak whistled. “Still shaky? Try some squats. Gets the blood flowing.”

  William gave him an incredulous look.

  “Trust me,” Dovak grinned. “If it works for him—” he jabbed a thumb at Nigel, “—it’ll work for you.”

  Nigel rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

  With a reluctant sigh, William crouched and pushed himself back up. Then again. And again. By the time he finished, his legs had steadied, and the trembling was gone.

  “See? Told ya,” Dovak said, stretching. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  The trio approached the supermarket’s ruined entrance, stopping in front of the massive wreckage blocking their path.

  The black tank was still wedged between collapsed chunks of concrete, its enormous frame sealing off the exit.

  Dovak scowled. “There were windows here, weren’t there?” He ran a hand along the solid wall, searching for an opening.

  “Only on the far side,” Nigel replied. “These walls are reinforced, protected by some kind of forcefield. Our best bet is to move enough debris to crawl through.”

  Dovak groaned. “So more heavy lifting. Fantastic.”

  With no better option, they got to work.

  For smaller chunks, one of them could handle it alone. But every now and then, they came across pieces of reinforced steel or concrete slabs that required all three of them to lift.

  “Might be a good time for some super strength,” Dovak muttered, exhaling sharply as he dropped a particularly heavy piece. “I know I’m quite strong, but this things are just heavy as heck.”

  “Not worth wasting a skill on this,” Nigel said. He adjusted his grip and shoved another block aside.

  Dovak snorted. “Oh, come on. What about Kalipto? The guy who could lift entire battleships with one hand?”

  Nigel shot him a flat look. “You’re seriously bringing up a legend right now?”

  “I believe it’s real,” Dovak grinned.

  “Well, good for you,” Nigel muttered, wiping dust off his hands.

  Before Dovak could continue the argument, William called out.

  “Got something!”

  They turned to see him clawing at a gap in the wreckage, his movements frantic.

  “Help me widen it! We can get through!”

  With renewed urgency, they tore at the remaining rubble. It took another few minutes, but finally—the hole was big enough to crawl through.

  The moment they stepped outside, the moonlight hit them like a slap to the face.

  William squinted, shielding his eyes. The sky was dark blue, streaked with thin wisps of clouds. A crisp night breeze carried the scent of dust and stone through the abandoned streets.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  For a moment, it almost looked normal.

  No bodies. No blood. No sounds of battle. Just empty roads and towering buildings stretching toward the sky.

  Dovak let out a low whistle. “Eerie as hell.”

  Nigel stayed silent. He didn’t trust the quiet.

  Then—

  A deep, guttural rumble shattered the stillness.

  The ground trembled. A dull crack echoed through the city.

  They turned—just in time to see two massive skyscrapers ripped from their foundations.

  The buildings wrenched free, concrete and steel groaning in protest.

  For one surreal moment, they hovered midair.

  Then—

  They slammed into each other.

  A deafening boom split the air. A shockwave burst outward, sending a dense cloud of dust and debris cascading through the streets.

  Nigel tensed.

  The Illusion Circus wasn’t over yet.

  “And now what?” William groaned, exasperation heavy in his voice.

  He didn’t get an answer.

  Because two hundred meters ahead, fresh screams tore through the air.

  Then—another impact.

  Two more skyscrapers collapsed into each other, their foundations grinding like broken bones. The explosion of dust and debris roared toward them, swallowing the streets in a choking cloud.

  The wind pressure alone felt like an invisible force, slamming into Nigel’s body.

  He shielded his face with one arm, the other reaching blindly into the swirling chaos.

  “Take my hand!” he shouted.

  No response.

  His stomach dropped.

  Shit.

  Then—a hand grabbed his wrist.

  Firm. Cold. Metal fingers pressing into his skin.

  Not William. Not Dovak.

  A woman's voice. Steady. Sharp.

  “Claire Miles.”

  Nigel barely registered the name before she tugged him forward. It was the woman from before. “No time. Move.”

  The grip was unshakable, her strength obvious even through the storm of dust.

  “Where are my teammates?” Nigel coughed.

  “No idea,” Claire said. “They’re not near us. And whatever’s causing this?” She gestured vaguely at the swirling destruction around them. “It’s tearing the city apart. Fast.”

  Nigel gritted his teeth. “So what’s the plan?”

  “If you want to get out of here in one piece, follow me.” Claire’s voice was even, but something in the way her metal fingers twitched made Nigel pause.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  Claire hesitated. Then—“The buildings ahead? They’re gone.”

  Something in her tone made the air feel colder.

  Nigel frowned. “What do you mean ‘gone’?”

  “I mean they were just there, and now they’re not.”

  A deep vibration ran through the ground. Like something massive shifting beneath them.

  For the first time, her fingers trembled.

  Something was messing with her exoskeleton.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Claire said quickly, keeping her voice steady. “We need to move. Now.”

  Nigel hesitated only for a second.

  Then—he nodded.

  “Lead the way.”

  He had no other choice but to follow her and try to find his teammates. She did not show hostility before, so there was no reason not to.

  They ran through the shifting maze of dust and debris, Claire guiding him forward with unwavering certainty.

  For minutes, they pushed through the blinding chaos, the world around them a formless blur of swirling ash and crackling static in the air.

  Then—they emerged.

  And what they saw stole the breath from their lungs.

  The entire city had changed.

  Buildings no longer stood in place.

  They floated.

  Dozens—no, hundreds—of skyscrapers hovered above them, spiraling in a slow, impossible dance. Some were tilted at unnatural angles, others rotating lazily, untethered from gravity itself.

  The ground beneath them had fractured, torn apart by unseen forces.

  Lightning slashed across the sky, jagged veins of blue and violet energy crackling through the storm clouds.

  The Illusion Circus was ending.

  And it wasn’t going quietly.

  “So that’s what’s messing with me,” Claire muttered, flexing her fingers. “It’s not just a storm. I think it’s—”

  “Move!” William’s voice cut through the air.

  Before she could finish, he shoved both her and Nigel aside.

  A bolt of lightning tore through the sky.

  It slammed into the ground, scorching the earth, leaving a smoking crater just inches from where they had been standing.

  The impact rumbled through their bones.

  Claire exhaled slowly, then glanced at her metallic limbs.

  "Maybe I’m acting like a giant lightning rod."

  William let out a breath of his own, still shaken. “Yeah, and those things are coming down everywhere.” He gestured toward the crackling veins of electricity now dancing through the clouds.

  From behind them, a familiar voice called out.

  "So, have you decided to team up with us after all?"

  Claire turned as Dovak emerged from the haze.

  “For now,” she said simply.

  Nigel frowned. “Where the hell were you two?”

  “The dust storm threw us apart,” Dovak said with a shrug. “William found you with his ability. I tried using mine, but it was chaos out here.”

  Nigel gave a small nod, then glanced at William.

  “Thanks.”

  William grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “No problem.”

  Then Claire spoke up, louder this time.

  “The First Stage ends in a few hours. And from the looks of things, whatever’s coming next isn’t going to be easy. We should officially form a team.”

  The three men exchanged glances.

  They hadn’t expected Claire to come around so quickly. But given the situation, it made sense.

  “We need to count our Diamantines,” she continued. “As a team, we only need fifty. I have fifteen.”

  Nigel rolled his shoulders. “I took down five people. That’s twenty.”

  “I have twelve,” Dovak added. “That brings us to thirty-two.”

  Everyone turned to William.

  He fidgeted under their stares. “…I, uh. I don’t have any.”

  A beat of silence.

  Claire exhaled. “Then we still need eighteen more.”

  Before anyone could answer—

  A deep, earth-shaking boom split the air.

  They all turned just in time to see an explosion rock the heart of the city.

  Buildings were dragged toward its center.

  The air distorted, twisting as though space itself was collapsing inward.

  Then—

  A message flickered to life on their wristbands.

  [The Illusion Circus bids farewell with one final show.]

  [The last challenge begins soon.]

  [FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL FINAL EVENT.]

  Nigel let out a long sigh.

  “…Great.”

  Dovak crossed his arms. “Is it just me, or have these events been kinda… tame? I thought the Chaos Tournament was supposed to be brutal.”

  Nigel’s gaze darkened. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

  Dovak scoffed. “I’m serious. Feels like they’re trying to psych us out—make us paranoid so we’re easy prey when the real thing starts.”

  Nigel shook his head. "Look around."

  Everyone did.

  And that’s when they realized—they were moving.

  Not walking.

  Not running.

  The entire city was shifting beneath them.

  Buildings that once stood anchored in place now glided forward as though on invisible tracks.

  The streets liquefied, their surfaces no longer solid asphalt but something that flowed like sand.

  The air grew colder.

  Storm clouds thickened above them, swallowing what little light remained.

  The city itself was being pulled toward the final stage.

  And there was nothing they could do to stop it.

  Dovak let out an exaggerated sigh.

  “I don’t think these are just mere illusions.”