The gates groaned open.
Chains rattled as Kairo's body was dragged across the sand. His breath was shallow, his skin pale beneath the streaks of blood and dirt. The guards laughed, tossing him into the pit like a corpse.
The crowd roared.
Seventy pairs of eyes glowed in the shadows — the remaining demons of the trial. Their growls rolled like thunder, their claws carving grooves in the stone as they waited for the command.
"On your feet, worm!" one of the guards barked from above.
Kairo staggered, half-dead, his body trembling. His crimson eyes dimmed and flared again, fighting against the weight of exhaustion.
The horn sounded.
The demons surged.
Kairo raised his fists, but his body felt like lead. His chains swung sluggishly, his knees buckling as he threw a weak strike at the first beast. The impact broke its jaw — but the force nearly shattered his own arm.
Another lunged. He twisted — too slow. Claws raked his chest, blood spraying as he stumbled back. His vision blurred. His breath faltered.
"I'm… at my limit."
The crowd screamed for blood, the faceless shadows clawing at the air.
Another demon leapt, jaws wide. Kairo barely dodged, his chain snapping across its skull. He fell to one knee, panting, his vision tunneling to black.
And then—
Flames.
Not from the arena. From memory.
He saw it again — the sky torn apart, the golden gates of Heaven collapsing, his body cast down through fire and ash. The endless fall, the screams of angels, the light of paradise burning into nothing.
His crimson eyes widened. His body trembled — not with weakness, but with memory. With rage. With purpose.
He remembered his goal.
The crowd blurred. The demons blurred. The pain vanished.
Kairo flash-stepped.
The nearest demon's head burst under his fist, blood spraying across the sand. He pivoted, chains whistling, his Judgement Dance snapping back into rhythm.
One.
Two.
Three.
Nine fell in the span of heartbeats, their bodies torn apart, their roars silenced.
The arena shook. The crowd shrieked.
Kairo stood taller now, blood dripping, his crimson eyes glowing brighter than the torches above.
The Judgement Dance had returned.
And the remaining sixty demons closed in.