Awakening, Ren felt an immense pressure, an ominous anticipation of something significant about to unfold. The weight in his stomach, he couldn't tell if it stemmed from the final day of the competition, the aftermath of the explosion and the ensuing chaos, or perhaps the presence of the Hearteater.

"Get a hold of yourself," he muttered repeatedly, his mantra to bolster his resolve. "Push through today, and then you'll have what you've wanted so badly – a new, better life."

With that resolve, he rose from his bed and headed to the bathroom, seeking to wash away the sluggishness that clung to him. The cold shower proved to be invigorating, helping him shake off the lingering drowsiness. Upon his return, there was a knock on his door, and a guard entered, carrying a tray of food, accompanied by Hiroshi and Satoru.

"How are you feeling today?" the doctor inquired.

"Better," Ren replied, mustering a forced smile.

"That's good," Hiroshi said, while the old man observed silently.

„Where were you?” Ren asked. „You didn’t sleep here.”

„We were in the park outside with others through the whole night. We didn’t want to disturb your rest,” said the old man urging his son with a gesture to start eating.

After breakfast, they left the quarters. Ren let Hiroshi and Satoru exit first, giving himself a moment to retrieve the mysterious card hidden beneath his mattress before rejoining them. They joined the procession of other participants making their way toward the stairs that led to the main hall, and further to the arena. Kazuki was there as well.

As they reached the designated area, a woman in a pink kimono awaited them.

"Good morning," she greeted. "I hope you all slept well. I've come to wish you luck in your upcoming matches and to inform you that we've thoroughly searched the entire stadium, finding nothing unusual. We can assure your safety. However, as a precaution, we won't allow the audience to enter the stadium."

Ren couldn't help but think of the woman's words as a bunch of lies. As she finished her announcement, she headed out of the stands. The spectators exchanged looks and whispers but eventually settled into their seats. Ren chose a spot near Kazuki, while Hiroshi and Satoru sat in the same place as yesterday. Despite the distance, they kept a vigilant eye on him.

"Good morning!" They all were startled by the loud, cheerful voice of the announcer echoing from the speakers. "Today, we have the final matches of the candidate tournament! Today, we will find the five candidates! I wish you all the best of luck! Let's begin! The first match will be between Sakura Kamishima and Kira Hayashi!"

The two contestants stood from their seats. Ren was already familiar with Sakura, so his attention shifted to the slender young man in a long lab coat with jet-black hair. He had characteristic long rubber gloves but opted to remove them as he stood, leaving them with a few members of the Hayashi clan. This revealed that he was wearing a ring on each finger, including his thumbs.

‘I missed his match yesterday,’ Ren noted to himself as he observed the two leaving the stands. ‘But it doesn't matter. He is not going to win with her... She is a monster... Or rather, this creature she tamed is incredibly powerful.’

Soon, the two reappeared in the arena amid the usual ruckus and the fight commenced, signaled by the gong's resonating sound. Since Ren was unaware of Kira’s fighting style, his curiosity led him to focus on the young man rather than the girl.

Kira opened his coat, revealing skeins of thread and hundreds of needles. He grabbed five exceptionally sharp ones and hurled them toward the girl, simultaneously leaping backward. She blocked the attack as the eyes of her tiger cub flashed, conjuring a wall of thorned vines from the ground that intercepted the needles. Kira, seemingly unfazed, produced more needles and dashed to the side to circle around her. Again, he unleashed them, but the thorn vines whipped through the air, intercepting and blocking each needle before reaching out to strike at the agile warrior. Kira dodged with a graceful backflip, displaying his agility. He landed on his feet and launched another volley of needles.

‘He's rather pathetic,’ Ren noted to himself, watching the exchange.

However, as soon as he uttered this judgment, a bundle of threads erupted from the sand at Kira's command. He manipulated them into a constantly shifting web, which wrapped around the thorned vines before slicing through them with a swift motion.

"He fights like you," Ren observed, briefly glancing at Kazuki.

"No," his friend shook his head. "We are entirely different... He is more skilled with threads than I am with my strings," he confessed.

Ren was taken aback by this admission, turning his attention back to the arena where Sakura summoned more thorned vines, which now pursued Kira relentlessly. He continued to dodge, evade, and throw more needles. The web of threads he controlled became so powerful that it transformed into a living entity, effortlessly slicing through any vines that dared to approach its master.

Simultaneously, Ren noticed the needles stuck in the sand. They acted as anchors, somehow adhering to the sand due to their faint Shinryoku glow.

‘He must be using Shinryoku to keep them in place, allowing him to manipulate those threads like this,’ Ren noted. ‘I misjudged him; he is strong!’

The grimace on Sakura's face confirmed what was evident in the arena. She was in trouble, and the peril only escalated with every new needle thrown and each additional thread woven into the ever-expanding web.

"He is trying to ensnare her in his web and then devour her," Kazuki observed.

"You think the fight is over?" Ren asked, unable to hide his surprise. He had never even considered the possibility that Sakura could lose. She had appeared as one of the strongest participants in the tournament, if not the strongest. Yet now, her summoned vines seemed utterly powerless, swiftly cut down by Kira's threads.

"Yes... A spider can't trap a tiger in its webs," Kazuki pointed out, redirecting Ren's gaze back to the arena.

At that very moment, Sakura screamed, and the entire arena erupted with swirling vines. The epicenter was the worst, where a blooming red flower emerged from beneath the sand. Suddenly, there were too many plants for Kira's threads to control. Some were still sliced apart, but they began to escape his grasp, tearing his trap apart. The resounding snaps of the breaking threads filled the stadium.

Kira found himself cornered in the blink of an eye. Terrified, he screamed, "I-I give up! I give up! I GIVE UP!" just before a powerful wave of plants was about to engulf him with the simple intent of tearing him to shreds.

The plants stopped just in front of his face, leaving Kira shivering and ultimately collapsing.

Further away, Sakura panted heavily, exhausted from the fight, while her beast, the plump tiger cub, seemed entirely unharmed.

‘That's strange,’ Ren noted, puzzled by the incongruity of what he saw.

Then the medical team arrived, but neither Kira nor Sakura were injured, so there was no one to heal. They shifted their focus to clearing the arena, while some escorted the participants out of the sand pit.

"What a fight!" the announcer's voice crackled over the speakers. "Sakura-chan is amazing, isn't she? She has become our first new candidate! Congratulations!"

"He is so annoying," Ren muttered in response.

"Do you think he likes her?" Kazuki asked, picking up on the remark.

"Obviously," Ren replied matter-of-factly, causing Kazuki to fall silent as he pondered this new realization. But there was little time for contemplation as the announcer's voice returned.

"Participants Kazuki Isogai and Yumi Tachibana, please prepare for your fight."

"Good luck," Ren immediately wished his friend as he got up.

Kazuki nodded and even offered a smile before heading toward the exit. Ren scanned the arena for his friend's opponent and soon noticed the girl with the thick braid of black hair. She held a bow in her hands and had a quiver full of arrows strapped to her leg. She seemed familiar.

‘She was glaring at Sakura before...’ Ren noted to himself.

Yumi passed by, heading toward the exit as well, but at some point, she stopped to cast one last glance over her shoulder. Her eyes locked onto Ryoma, who paid no attention to her.

Ren noticed a slight change in her expression. Her muscles tensed, and she pressed her lips into a thin line before finally departing.

Both Yumi and Kazuki reappeared in the arena moments later. As the gong announced the beginning of their fight, Yumi drew an arrow, preparing to shoot it at him. He barely avoided the shot and swiftly pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a small can with a button on top, which he pressed before immediately throwing it in front of himself. The can produced a dull explosion with no fire but rather a burst of smoke.

Simultaneously, Yumi shot another arrow at him. The projectile vanished inside the grey cloud, only to hit something and bounce out.

As the smoke cleared, a human-sized puppet made out of metal with strings attached to Kazuki's fingers stood in the arena. It had a wig of black hair, similar to its owner, an old brown cloak, and even clothes.

Yumi was clearly surprised by this turn of events but didn't waste more than a single second before she began running to the side, reaching for more arrows, which she immediately shot. One, two, three flew at Kazuki, only to be blocked by the puppet, which came in the way, covering itself with a forearm.

Initially, it appeared to be a futile and strange attempt, but then a shimmering barrier emerged from the limb, blocking all the arrows. The puppet then rushed forward, straight at the girl, who responded with more shooting. This time, however, the arrows were shining with shinryoku, and they flew much faster, with Kazuki as the intended target.

The puppet blocked access once more, producing the shimmering barrier, which withstood each hit, although the energy behind those projectiles appeared to be significantly higher, pushing back the heavy mechanical human.

Yumi's face twisted with anger, and her response appeared to be quite simple – use more force. She reached for new arrows and continued to shoot at the puppet, shoving it further and further away. Cracks appeared in the barrier, and it broke after a few more shots. She immediately rushed forward, seizing the moment, and jumped to shoot from above at Kazuki.

He barely dodged by leaping forward and landing on his belly, with the arrowhead tearing a part of his cloak near his neck.

As Yumi landed, she received quite a surprise. The strings popped out of the sand, wrapping tightly around her legs, and dragging her off balance. She landed on her rear, as the threads continued to pull her toward the puppet, which was already charging.

The puppet swung its metal fist at her, but she blocked it with her bow. However, the lower jaw of the puppet dropped open, and it puked a sticky black substance at her. Yumi retaliated by smacking it with the bow, then grabbed one of her arrows, imbued it with shinryoku, and cut the strings, freeing her legs.

She rolled to the side, quickly trying to get on her feet, but instead, she fell face-first after only a few steps. She rolled again, ending up on her back, revealing the reason for her troubles. The sticky substance was hardening fast, to the point that she could barely move now. She still struggled hard but ultimately found herself immobilized as the puppet reached her in no time. A sword extended from its arm, and the mechanical man placed it against her neck.

"ARGH!" She let out a noise through clenched teeth, showcasing her fury. "I give up!" She growled.

The announcer's voice filled the arena again, "Yumi Tachibana surrenders! Kazuki Isogai is our second candidate!"

Ren couldn't help but chuckle, muttering, "He's always got something up his sleeve."