๐[Veylor Rift โ Recovery Hall, Midnight]
The victory over Chorale still hung heavy in the air. Phantom XI was bruised, silent.
Eren muttered, "I felt like I got outplayed by air."
Ash: "No. You got outplayed by eleven siblings who knew each other better than their own thoughts."
Lyra was quiet. Her fingertips still trembled from the psychic pressure.
Only Kaien sat still, eyes closed.
Inside, something stirred. Old emotions. Names. Tactics. Buried pain. Flashes of a girl with silver eyes. A golden stadium. And blood.
Then a knock at the dorm.
A voice behind the door.
"Kaien of Phantom XI. You've been selected for a challenge match."
๐[Unknown Location โ 3AM]
Kaien arrived alone. Just him, and a stone pitch lit by floating fire orbs.
No lines. No field tech. No referees.
Just a team in crimson armor waiting on the other side.
Ten players.
And in the centerโฆ
A man in a bone-white mask.
"Welcome to the Blood Match. No rules. No time. Win or don't leave."
Kaien blinked. "This isn't part of the Arcana Cup."
Masked man chuckled. "It's part of your history."
Then motioned behind him.
The ten players rushed Kaien at once.
๐[First Five Minutes โ Overwhelmed]
He dodged the first two.
Parried the third.
Fourth tackled him mid-air.
He crashed to the stone.
Coughed blood.
Masked man walked forward. "Your memories are leaking back, aren't they?"
Kaien's eyes widened.
"Who are you?"
The man tilted his head. "The one who ended youโฆ last time."
Lightning cracked the sky.
The other players summoned enchanted gear โ cleats that curved gravity, gloves that reversed spin, even blades disguised as shin guards.
Kaien stood slowly.
Alone.
But something inside him burned like a slow fuse.
๐[Flashback: The Night He Died]
He remembered now.
The final of the last Arcana Cup.
He was captain of the Auric Thirteen. Unbeaten. Untouchable.
Until betrayal.
One teammate โ his closest friend โ swapped sides mid-match.
Injected a memory poison into his Arcana stream.
Kaien collapsed before halftime.
And never woke up.
Until now.
๐[Present โ The Breaking Point]
He staggered as the crimson team charged again.
They kicked the ball โ not to score, but to crush him.
Kaien didn't flinch.
Instead, he whispered.
"I've played this game. I've bled on this pitch. And I remember who I was."
The air around him pulsed.
Light twisted.
Mana snapped inward.
Then exploded.
The sky turned silver.
๐[Kaien's Arcana Skill: Requiem Rhythm]
Time bent.
Not stopped. Not reversed.
Looped. In musical timing.
Kaien stood taller, calmer.
Each heartbeat syncing with invisible drums.
Masked man backed up. "No... not that. That'sโ!"
Kaien vanished.
Then reappeared behind him.
Snatched the ball.
Every movement perfect.
He didn't dodge attacks โ he preempted them in rhythm.
The crimson players moved in.
Kaien weaved through like a song. Each step a beat. Each pass a lyric.
He wasn't just playing football.
He was composing it.
He scored.
Then again.
Then once more โ in seconds.
The masked man shouted, "Enough! This was supposed to break you!"
Kaien walked past him.
"You should've killed the memory. Not let it sing."
As the flames dimmed and the field crackedโ
Kaien stood alone.
But not broken.
Awakened.
๐[Back at Phantom XI Dorm โ Dawn]
He returned, bloodied but standing.
Ash: "You went alone?!"
Eren: "We thought you were kidnapped!"
Kaien looked at them. No anger. Just clarity.
"They wanted to test if I was really back."
Lyra stepped forward. "Andโฆ are you?"
Kaien nodded.
Eyes glowing faintly with silver light.
"I'm back. But not as the player I was."
"This timeโI'm going to win."
๐[Veylor Rift โ The Day Before the Match]
Ash's mouth dropped as the bracket updated on the screen:
> "Quarterfinal: Phantom XI vs Empyreal Royals."
Lyra: "The elemental sovereigns. Fire. Ice. Storm. Stone."
Eren muttered, "So basically... the four horsemen of football."
Nico checked the profiles. "Their captain is Caldris of the Infernal Crown. He's got a 94% scoring rate. His cleats burn literal trails into the pitch."
Kaien didn't react.
He was staring at the screen... at the vice-captain's name.
> "Ren Halbrecht."
Ash noticed. "You know him?"
Kaien: "...He's the one who betrayed me."
---
๐[Nightfall โ Kaien's Memory Returns]
Back in his room, Kaien opened a sealed datapad.
A snapshot flickered: his old team, Auric Thirteen, celebrating under golden light. Caldris in red, arms raised.
Beside himโRen, smiling.
But in the next memoryโฆ Kaien was coughing blood on the pitch.
And Ren walked away.
> "You should've stayed dead, Kaien," Ren's voice echoed in his mind.
Kaien stared at the silver thread of light around his fingers.
> "I didn't come back to forget."
---
๐[Empyreal Stadium โ Match Day]
The Arcana Cup quarterfinal venue wasn't a field.
It was a temple.
Massive obsidian arches circled a floating pitch of fractured glass and magma veins. Above, storm clouds spiraled, holding back rainfall with sheer willpower.
The Empyreal Royals descended from the sky on elemental platforms.
Caldris stepped forward, flame swirling at his boots. A cloak of scorched velvet trailed behind.
"Phantom XI," he called. "Are you ready to kneel?"
Kaien stepped up, face unreadable.
> "No. But I'm ready to burn."
---
๐[Kickoff โ Fire vs Rhythm]
Referee drone: "Quarterfinal match initiated. Arcana-class field effects: active."
The moment the whistle blewโ
Caldris exploded forward.
Literally.
A trail of flames spiraled behind him as he shot up the right wing.
Ash tried to interceptโgot flung back by a blast wave.
Eren shouted, "We're not playing football! We're dodging spells!"
Kaien activated Requiem Rhythm.
His eyes narrowed.
Caldris wasn't just fast. He burned frames from the timeline.
Moved between the beats.
Kaien whispered, "So that's how you cheat the rhythmโฆ"
---
๐[Midgame โ Royals Take Control]
The Royals pressed hard.
Their Stone Guardian played goalie โ blocking shots with moving walls of granite.
The Storm Warden launched high crosses that bent wind mid-air.
The Ice siblings froze patches of field, disrupting Phantom XI's footing.
They weren't just playing a team.
They were facing a regime.
0 โ 2.
Halftime.
Kaien leaned on the tunnel wall, catching his breath.
Ash: "We can't outrun fire, dodge ice, tank stone, or fly through wind."
Kaien looked up.
> "We don't. We outplay them where their powers can't reach."
Lyra blinked. "Where?"
Kaien turned to them, voice calm.
> "Inside the rhythm."
---
๐[Second Half โ The Comeback Begins]
Kaien stepped into the center.
Mana pulsed around him.
He lifted his foot, tapped the groundโonce.
A beat echoed.
Then again.
Then twice.
His team felt it.
Lyra darted forward.
Ash fell into a syncopated pass loop.
Eren shot without aiming โ but Kaien's rhythm led the ball to curve perfectly off a deflection and into the goal.
1 โ 2.
The Royals blinked.
Their powers didn't matter when they couldn't read the timing.
Kaien was composing a match they'd never rehearsed.
---
๐[Final Play โ Kaien vs Ren]
With minutes left, the match reached its peak.
Ren Halbrecht stepped up midfield. Cloaked in cold wind.
Kaien locked eyes with him.
> "You remember what you did."
Ren smirked. "I do. And I'd do it again. You were too bright. I just... turned the lights off."
Kaien's hand clenched.
But he didn't lash out.
He danced forward.
Twisted past one defender. Flicked it to Nico. Got it back.
Ren moved to intercept.
Kaien whispered, "I don't need revenge. I just need victory."
Then tapped the ball with a phantom step.
Wind wrapped around him.
But Kaien vanishedโ
Reappeared behind Renโ
And struck.
Goal.
2 โ 2.
---
๐[Tiebreaker โ Final Shot]
Penalty shootout.
Eren, Nico, Lyra โ all scored.
So did the Royals.
Final shot.
Kaien stepped up.
Wind howled.
The ground cracked.
Flames licked his cleats.
But he wasn't afraid.
He didn't shoot with power.
He tapped it with rhythm.
One beat.
Two.
Goal.
---
> "Victory: Phantom XI. Advance to Semifinals."
The crowd roared.
Ren stood frozen, watching Kaien walk away.
Kaien didn't look back.
But said softly,
> "I forgive you. But you'll never outrun what you did."