The chains rattled against the stone floor as the guards dragged Kairo through the black corridors.
His head hung low, his body limp, blood dripping steadily from wounds that had never closed. His breath was shallow, broken, and his crimson eyes were dim embers — neither alive nor dead, caught in the hollow space between.
He did not walk to the arena. He was carried.
The faceless crowd howled the moment he appeared, their shrieks shaking the terraces, their hunger drowning the silence. Shadows clawed at the air, eager for the slaughter to begin.
The guards hurled Kairo into the pit like refuse. His body struck the sand hard, chains clattering as he struggled to lift himself even an inch. For a moment, he didn't move at all. He lay there, broken, as the crowd laughed.
Above, Hades leaned forward on his throne, his cold gaze locked on the husk below. His voice rolled out, steady and absolute:
"Round Five. Begin."
The gates tore open with a sound like grinding stone.
One by one, they emerged. Not shadows. Not illusions. Demons. Flesh and claw and teeth, each one larger than a man, their eyes burning with hatred older than fire. They snarled and screeched as they poured into the arena, filling the sand with a tide of black and crimson bodies.
Ten.
Twenty.
Fifty.
Ninety-nine.
The pit shook under their weight, their roars shaking the pillars to dust. Ninety-nine demons, circling like predators around a broken boy who could barely stand.
Kairo's body trembled. He pushed his palms against the sand, rising inch by inch, his chains dragging behind him. His breath was ragged, his eyes half-lidded — yet they burned, faintly, stubbornly, against the abyss.
The crowd shrieked with laughter.
From the balcony, Igron leaned forward, his voice low but sharp, cutting through the chaos as though meant only for Kairo.
"Remember the Dance."
Kairo's eyes flickered. His fists clenched weakly. The rhythm stirred in his mind, broken but not forgotten.
Step.
Pivot.
Strike.
Breath.
He rose to his feet, swaying like a man at death's door. Ninety-nine demons roared, surging forward to devour him whole.
And with a broken breath, Kairo moved.
The Judgement Dance began.