The wind strengthened slightly across the open sky.
Not enough to destabilize
But enough to complicate footing.
Time remaining: 6:58.
The triangle formation tightened.
Han Qian moved first this time.
Not toward Arin.
Toward Zhao Ren.
A deliberate change.
If two pressured one
Balance would break faster.
Zhao Ren saw it coming.
Threat Detection flared not with hostility
But with convergence.
Han Qian advanced with precise steps.
Arin adjusted immediately.
Momentum Shift pulsed subtly.
The air resistance around Zhao Ren shifted sideways.
Not enough to knock him back
But enough to alter weight distribution.
He compensated instantly.
Lower stance.
Micro-adjustment.
Titan Regeneration absorbed strain.
Han Qian accelerated.
Adaptive Growth had sharpened his transitions.
His third step was faster than the first.
Zhao Ren pivoted instead of resisting directly.
He allowed Han Qian's forward drive to extend.
Then rotated his own position off-line.
Arin saw the angle and attempted to redirect both.
Momentum Shift activated more intensely.
For half a second
All three were aligned in unstable footing.
That was the moment.
Zhao Ren activated Stat Compression fully.
Agility surged.
Not explosive
Just decisive.
He stepped between both of them.
Not striking.
Repositioning.
Forcing separation.
Han Qian corrected quickly.
Arin adjusted.
But that single movement disrupted their temporary alignment.
Time remaining: 5:12.
Now Zhao Ren shifted pressure toward Arin.
Not aggressively.
Just enough to test Momentum Shift's limit.
Arin redirected.
But redirection required stable anchor points.
The circular platform's curvature limited leverage.
Zhao Ren stepped forward again
Breaking the redirection line twice in succession.
Arin's balance tightened.
Not lost.
But narrower.
Han Qian saw opportunity.
He changed vector toward Arin's exposed side.
Adaptive Growth triggered again
His footwork smoother than before.
Arin compensated
But now he was managing two pressures.
Three minutes remaining.
Momentum Shift pulsed harder.
The air distortion widened.
Han Qian slid half a step outward.
Zhao Ren held center line.
Arin's heel reached the faint platform edge marking.
Not off.
But close.
Time: 2:47.
Han Qian increased forward pressure again.
Zhao Ren mirrored it.
Arin attempted a final full-force Momentum Shift
But shifting two apex forces simultaneously required more commitment.
For the first time
His stance widened too far.
Zhao Ren saw the fraction of imbalance.
He didn't push violently.
He stepped inside Arin's stance and redirected weight inward.
Han Qian's pressure compounded the angle.
Arin's center of gravity crossed the boundary line.
One controlled slide.
One missed correction.
And his foot left the platform.
Not thrown.
Not struck.
Just displaced.
The system responded instantly.
Arin did not fall into emptiness.
He vanished in a soft flash of light.
Relocated elsewhere.
Han Qian and Zhao Ren remained.
Two platforms separated again.
Distance restored.
Time remaining: 1:58.
The objective shifted.
Two survivors now.
Han Qian's breathing was steady.
Eyes sharper than before.
Adaptive Growth had refined his rhythm.
Zhao Ren's Stat Compression cooldown initiated.
He had used his advantage once.
Now positioning mattered again.
One minute.
Han Qian moved first.
Direct.
Controlled.
Zhao Ren responded in kind.
No wasted motion.
No emotional surge.
Thirty seconds.
Han Qian attempted a feint.
Zhao Ren didn't commit.
Ten seconds.
Both stabilized near the center.
Neither allowing edge exposure.
The timer reached zero.
A subtle pulse passed through him.
Not overwhelming.
Just reinforcement.
Han Qian nodded once.
"Efficient," he said calmly.
"Adaptive," Zhao Ren replied.
No hostility.
No rivalry declared.
Just acknowledgment.
The platforms dissolved.
The sky fractured again.
The city returned beneath them.
Markers remained.
But now
The west held a slight structural edge.
And Phase 2 had officially begun.