2687

As Baluka gripped her bow, her heart pounded in her chest. Yeagers surrounded her, their metallic forms shimmering in the dim light. Vela, standing at the center of the group, smirked, her fingers dancing over the control pad on her wrist. The ground trembled beneath them, and with a mechanical groan, a massive maze rose up from the earth, its walls jagged and towering. Shadows swallowed the battlefield as the lights suddenly cut off.

“Can you see in the dark with that mask of yours?” Vela’s voice echoed from the shadows, her words dripping with mockery.

Baluka activated her thermal vision, her eyes scanning the maze, which seemed endless. Every sound echoed unnaturally, the walls closing in, making it impossible to determine Vela’s location.

“You know,” Vela’s voice taunted, this time from above, “Luna told me about you. Said you used that sand to deceive her, made her afraid, even for a moment.” Vela’s figure barely registered in the thermal view, walking effortlessly along the top of the maze.

Baluka gritted her teeth, drawing an arrow and firing at Vela’s silhouette, but the shot went wide, embedding uselessly into the maze.

“Now I can see it in you too—fear,” Vela sneered. “You hide behind that mask, but I can feel it.”

Vela’s words struck deep, weaving doubt into Baluka’s mind. She struggled to shake off the growing unease as the maze seemed to stretch and twist around her. Suddenly, a Yeager lunged from a corner. Baluka barely dodged the attack, rolling to the side and driving an arrow into its neck, the metal crunching beneath her strike.

“So you can kill a Yeager after all,” Vela mused, her voice laced with amusement. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Baluka ducked behind a wall for cover. She saw something move—fast, almost too fast. Before she could react, something slammed into her leg, sending her crashing to the ground. The impact rang in her skull, but she scrambled to her feet, killing another Yeager with a swift shot from her bow. Then the fast-moving blur returned, hitting her side and launching her through the maze wall. She hit the ground hard as the lights flickered back on.

Baluka’s mask shattered. She lay on the cold rubble, her face exposed, staring up at Vela, who perched on the debris, her expression smug.

“Weakling,” Vela spat, her words seething with disdain.

Baluka’s body trembled. Fear clawed at her mind, convincing her she couldn’t win. She clenched her fists, trying to gather her resolve.

Suddenly, a voice crackled in her earpiece. “Baluka! What are you doing?!”

“Who is this?” Baluka stammered.

“It’s Emi! I’m monitoring your cybernetics, and you’re in serious trouble!” Emi’s voice was frantic.

“I can’t win,” Baluka whispered, the weight of her fear crushing her spirit. “I’m too scared.”

“You’re stronger than this!” Emi’s voice was sharp, cutting through the doubt. “Remember? High five the sky!”

Emi’s words hit something deep within. Baluka took a deep breath and rose to her feet, her legs shaky but firm. Vela looked mildly surprised.

“So, you’re not giving up?” Vela asked, her chain whip coiled in her hand.

Baluka’s gaze sharpened. “Sand Style: Sand Quake,” she murmured. She drew an arrow and fired it into the ground. The earth exploded beneath them, debris flying as the maze crumbled. Vela, caught off guard, stumbled.

Baluka charged forward, her bow raised. She brought it down hard on Vela, the impact sending Vela reeling. Vela’s wounds started to heal, but the process was slow, sluggish compared to the other Yeagers Baluka had faced.

“Her healing… it’s like the Yeager ranks, but slower,” Baluka thought, eyes narrowing.

“You’re dead!” Vela snarled, her expression darkening as she rushed at Baluka with blinding speed. Baluka barely activated her sand shield in time, but Vela’s blade still cut through, slicing off Baluka’s arm. Vela paused, momentarily taken aback.

“Yeager ability… inertia swoop,” Vela realized, her mind racing.

Baluka’s body flew out of the maze window, but with a burst of flux energy, she caught herself on the side of the building. “What just happened? My leg… moved on its own!” she thought, bewildered.

Vela lunged out of the window after her, but Baluka dodged just in time. “Inertia…” Vela thought, and Baluka was flung out of nowhere again. “This time it was my hip!” Baluka grimaced.

Vela’s Yeager ability allowed her to manipulate inertia, increasing her speed and force in any given direction. Baluka stood shakily, transforming her bow into a throwing knife, a mambele. She hurled it at Vela, who dodged with ease.

“Missed me?” Vela taunted, about to charge.

“Wait for it,” Baluka said calmly. The mambele circled back, striking Vela in the back. Seizing the moment, Baluka rushed forward, fist drawn.

As she prepared to strike, a memory flooded her mind—Rex, teaching her deep in the woods.

“Baluka, you fear fighting, but there’s a way to overcome that,” Rex had said. “It’s called the flux breaker. You gather all your flux energy into your fist, releasing it on impact. It’ll break something in you… but it’ll also awaken something new.”

The memory faded as Baluka’s fist connected with Vela’s gut. “Flux breaker!” she shouted. The explosion of flux energy was immense, sending shockwaves through the building. Vela coughed blood, staggering back, her face pale.

“She… stole some of my flux energy with that punch,” Vela thought in panic. “If she hits me like that again, I’m dead!”

Baluka smiled as her body began to heal. The new flux energy surging through her sharpened her focus and her confidence.

“Let’s keep going,” Baluka said with a grin, charging at Vela with another punch. Vela barely dodged, but Baluka’s throwing knife was still in the air, controlled by her flux energy.

“Sand Style: Sand Dust,” Baluka whispered, the knife spreading a cloud of sand across the battlefield. It sliced through Vela’s hand, severing it cleanly. Baluka didn’t hesitate—another flux breaker followed, then another. With a final strike, she grabbed her mambele and slashed, cutting off Vela’s head. Vela’s body tumbled from the building, crashing to the ground below in a bloody heap.

As the building began to collapse around her, Baluka looked up, seeing the teleporter destroyed. She fell with the building, resigned to her fate.

“I guess this is it,” she thought.

But as she plummeted, Amber appeared, catching her mid-fall. A portal opened, and they were safely back at the base where Leon awaited.

Meanwhile, Nur stood atop the collapsing building, eyeing the teleporter as it began to detonate.

“Nur, get out! It’s a nuke!” Amber’s voice screamed over the comms. Nur leaped from the building, using his flux energy to land safely on the street. But the explosion followed, forcing him to sprint away at the speed of light, racing back to the base just in time.

“I made it!” Nur panted, out of breath.

“Good,” Leon said, swiveling in his chair. “So, we’re done in Korea then.”

The three of them exchanged glances before nodding at Leon.

Elsewhere, Emi stood alone, facing Veer. She cracked her knuckles and grinned. “Let’s get to breaking!” she shouted, ready for the fight ahead.