The cheers from the crowd grew louder, most now chanting only for Taurus the Raging Bull. With his body fully consumed by berserker mode, the outcome seemed certain in their eyes. Taurus roared in answer, the sound rattling through the arena as he lowered himself to lunge.
Across from him, Ren thrust his hand forward, two fingers extended. The droplets suspended in the air around Taurus shivered, then merged into a stream that snaked toward him like a serpent. The water coiled, seeking to clamp over his face and form a prison.
But Taurus moved faster than his bulk suggested. He lunged aside, breaking free just before the water could close around him. In the same instant he closed the gap, his massive axe arcing down toward Ren.
Ren leapt upward, the blade smashing into the floor where he had stood. While still in the air, he shifted the weight of his legs, pouring everything into them until they felt like anchors. He spun and drove his left leg into Taurus's face. The impact cracked across the arena.
Before Taurus could recover, Ren twisted again and struck with his right leg, heavier than the first blow. The giant staggered back a step, blood flecking his lips.
Ren landed lightly and pushed off, leaping back to create distance. His chest rose and fell, eyes narrowing as he studied Taurus.
'I get it now. His body takes in damage and turns it into defense. Every strike I land is only making him stronger…'
Just then, Taurus hurled his axe at Ren.
'Woah…'
Ren flipped sideways, narrowly dodging the spinning weapon as it tore past him. He landed on his feet, only to realize that Taurus was already upon him. The throw had been nothing but a diversion.
'Shit!'
Ren's eyes widened as Taurus's massive foot slammed into his chest. The blow sent him flying across the arena, his body crashing against the wall with a thunderous crack. Spiderwebs of stone spread behind him.
He gritted his teeth, both arms raised from the desperate block he had managed at the last second. By shifting his weight and spreading the force, he avoided being crushed outright, but pain rippled through every muscle. His body screamed in protest as he dropped to one knee, breaths harsh.
Across the arena, Taurus caught his returning axe with one hand. He pointed it at Ren, his voice booming like a war drum.
"I want you to beg for your life, just like the countless others before you."
He advanced, each step sending tremors through the floor.
"I know you are out of tricks. You must have realized it by now. Strength will not save you. Neither will strategy."
He paused, tilting his head, red eyes gleaming.
"You are no match for me, Trial Shadow. You are weak. No different from the initiates that came before you. I expected something more… something different. Instead, I am greatly disappointed."
His voice grew louder. "And so… I will crush you like the bug you are. You will regret ever stepping into this ring to challenge the king of brawls, and I will add that white mask to my collection."
The ground split beneath his feet as he prepared to lunge.
Across from him, Ren remained on one knee, breath unsteady, and when he saw the attack coming, he tapped his fingers against the floor, and just as he did, a ripple spread outward and water began seeping across the ground to form a shallow pool around him.
Just as Taurus hurled himself forward, Ren whispered, "Depth."
The pool turned blue, and Ren sank into it as if the floor had swallowed him whole. By the time Taurus's axe came crashing down, the boy was gone.
Stone shattered under the weight of the strike. Taurus froze, staring at the empty spot. "What?"
Ren had vanished.
Taurus's head turned left, then right, his teeth gritting. His gaze dropped again to the floor. The pool of water that had been no more than a puddle was now stretching wider. Slowly, inexorably, it crept across the stone floor until it spanned half the arena. It did not stop. The flood spread further until the entire battleground lay beneath a clear sheet of water.
'What is this?' Taurus thought, lifting his foot from the ankle-deep flood. His face twisted, frustration growing with every second.
"What is this trick?" he roared, voice echoing. "Where are you, Trial Shadow? Are you hiding from me? Is that it? Are you afraid?" His eyes burned red as he spun, searching the arena. "Come out and face me. Stop these petty games! What could you possibly do with water?!"
But there was no reply. The only answer was the soft ripple of crystal clear water, stretching endlessly across the floor.
Meanwhile, Ren drifted quietly below, while above him Taurus raged, his voice shaking the arena with noise and bravado. From within the abyss, the entire arena floor stretched overhead like a translucent screen and through the water, Ren could see everything above.
His thoughts churned as fast as his quickening pulse. He searched for a way to win, but he knew that strategy, strength, and wit would no longer help him. Taurus was right, and Ren understood then that tricks and brute force alone would never be enough to bring him down. The problem, however, was that he was not in his true element, since all the water around him was his own creation, and expanding it any further would only drain more of his Vira.
That left him with only one option: absolute power, something beyond brute force, wit, or strategy, but that demanded he empty his vessel completely. That brought another problem. To unleash all his power here would not only be reckless but also foolish, because draining himself when he still had no idea where he was, or whether another threat might appear once Taurus was gone, would be the worst choice he could make.
But above him, Taurus kept shouting about his weakness, demanding he come out and face him and the more that beast raged, the more Ren's irritation grew. From the moment he had stepped into VHQ he had been dismissed and belittled, first by Eclipse, then by the Judicium, and now by Taurus roaring overhead. He was sick of it, exhausted by being measured as someone weak and condemned with nothing more than a glance.
Ren sighed, weary of it all, and made his decision. He would burn through his vessel to the very last drop, until the beast above him was erased and until no one could ever look down on him again.
He gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand wide in the abyss, his voice barely a whisper as he spoke only for himself.
"All of it. The laws of Drowning, of Dread, and of Depth."