The domain collapsed without warning.
A deep resonance bell rang across the fractured sky, and every suspended platform froze mid-rotation. Light surged outward from the center of the Broken Sky City, tearing through towers and bridges alike. The void folded inward. The elemental districts dissolved in layers of fading color.
Then...
Silence.
Participants reappeared in flashes of white across the original training ground platform, one after another, some steady on their feet, others collapsing to one knee.
An imperial official stepped forward, voice amplified cleanly across the grounds.
"Round Three of the Tournament...The Fractured Domain Trial...has concluded."
A murmur spread immediately.
"Two thousand five hundred participants remain."
The number settled heavily across the field.
"Those who stand here have secured six seals and advanced to Round Four."
No cheers erupted immediately.
There was too much exhaustion for that.
