The morning sky over the Uonuma Coliseum was gold and blazing, but the crowd's energy was hotter.
The arena shifted again—this time the battlefield was a volcanic circle surrounded by molten cracks and shifting platforms. The heat shimmered in the air.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"The announcer rose from the ground, twirling like a cyclone."Welcome to the next match—where ash meets annihilation!"
The crowd roared.
"In this corner! Known for his fiery rampages in the southern provinces—Ragos Emberclaw! His flames have reduced whole guilds to glass!"
The crowd shouted Ragos's name.
He stepped forward, shirtless, magma-tattooed, fire already spiraling from his knuckles.
"And in the opposite corner…""The silent shadow… the silver echo… Jay Arkwright!"
Silence.
Jay walked into the arena with calm steps, white cloak rippling. Headphones in. Unarmed. Not even a stance.
Ragos spat. "They're putting me against some painter?"
Jay looked up, eyes hidden behind his bangs.
The Match Begins
"BEGIN!"
Ragos unleashed hell. A massive firestorm burst toward Jay in a wide arc, covering half the field. Lava cracked beneath the arena tiles.
The crowd screamed.
But Jay didn't move.
Not an inch.
The flames engulfed him whole.
"NO WAY!" someone screamed.
But then… the flames parted.
A faint pulse of silver aura rippled outward from Jay's body.
He stood untouched, eyes still closed.
The fire couldn't reach him.
Ragos blinked. "What the hell are you…?"
Jay raised one hand.
A pulse of soundless pressure rippled through the air.
Ragos staggered. Blood trickled from his ears.
"What did you—"
Jay opened his eyes. Calm. Cold. Beautiful.
Then—
Boom.
In a flash of movement, Jay appeared behind Ragos.
A slash of ink traced across the fire user's shoulder. Thin, clean, elegant.
"My brush is my blade," Jay finally said.
Ragos turned, throwing everything—a fire dragon-shaped blast—at Jay.
But it didn't reach.
It collapsed mid-air into glowing butterflies, evaporated by Jay's silent pressure.
Jay walked forward. Every step was louder than the last, even though he made no sound.
Aura piled around him like a monarch's throne.
"He's not a support," someone whispered. "He's a monster."
Jay's Voice
"I didn't come here to win," Jay said softly, standing over a barely-conscious Ragos."I came to erase something."
He lifted his hand.
A swirl of ice shards formed a sigil behind him—a massive brushstroke that hovered in the air.
Then he whispered a phrase that no one could hear—but everyone could feel.
"Silence."
The sigil exploded with soundless force. Ragos was blasted back—KO'd on the spot.
The match was basically over.
Jay stood in the center of the crumbling volcanic platform as the ground shattered beneath him…
But he didn't fall.
He hovered.
The crowd was stunned silent. And then—
ROARED.
"WHO IS HE!?""HE'S A DEMON!""NO—A GOD!"
Even I sat up in disbelief.
"What are you really, Jay…?"
Below the Arena…
Far below, where no cheers could reach… there was only the sound of feet slapping on cold stone.
A boy. Young. Probably 15.
He was panting, bleeding, and running down a winding corridor of chains and red moss.
"Please… please… I didn't mean to see it… I won't tell anyone—I swear…"
He turned a corner—then tripped.
His leg scraped against broken metal. He whimpered.
"I'll be quiet—I'll be—"
A shadow loomed over him.
A figure stepped from the red fog.
He wore a gold cloak, half-burned. His face was hidden behind a broken porcelain mask. But his mouth was visible.
Sharp. Inhumanly sharp.
Rows of jagged white teeth.
The boy cried out.
"NO! PLEA—"
Slash.
The slash was quiet.
Blood soaked the stone.
The figure held up a rune-covered talisman that began to glow, pulsing to an ancient rhythm.
He smiled with his serrated mouth.
"One more soul… just a few more…"
Then he raised his hands to the ceiling above—the arena—and whispered in a language forgotten by most men.
His voice echoed up the walls.
"Soon… the chains will break… and we will welcome the end."
His tongue flicked unnaturally long across his jaw.
Then, eyes gleaming gold, he whispered to himself:
"It's almost time… to sacrifice you all… to the DEMON KING!"
He let out a choked, twisted laugh that echoed like insects crawling through bone.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—"