The desert swallowed sound as the shadow drew closer. Its cloak fluttered without wind, and from beneath its hood glimmered two hollow eyes — pits of black fire that pierced through the haze of blood and sand. The arena's ruin became a stage once more, not for glory, but for judgment.
The figure halted a few paces from Kairo. From its sleeves, chains slithered to the ground, dragging with them the weight of a thousand screams. Each link was engraved with faces twisted in eternal agony — souls captured, bound, and repurposed. The chains themselves groaned, as though they longed to coil around new prey.
Hades' voice cut through the silence, measured yet grave.
"The Tormentor. Hell's executioner. They send him only when the pit has chosen its next obsession."
Veyrith's eyes narrowed. "Then Kairo is no longer a prisoner… he is a threat."
Kairo's crimson gaze locked on the chains. His own rattled violently at his side, hungry, alive. For the first time, he felt them resisting his will — as though another master beckoned them. He flexed his grip, forcing his chains to coil tighter around his arm.
The Tormentor tilted its head, voice like metal scraping stone.
"Those chains… they belong to me. Return them, and I will end your torment swiftly."
Kairo smirked, though his eyes were cold.
"Try and take them."
The clash was instant.
Chains cracked like thunder, striking against one another in blinding sparks. Each collision tore fissures into the sand, ripping open shallow graves of bone and skull. Kairo's body moved with ruthless precision, his Judgement Dance adapting to the weight of his new weapons. Yet every strike came with a cost.
When the Tormentor's chains grazed his skin, pain surged deeper than flesh — visions flashing through his mind. He saw the days of his imprisonment: the blades, the fire, the endless screaming silence when his voice could no longer break. His chest heaved, sweat slick on his pale face. For a heartbeat, his knees almost buckled.
But then… he laughed. Low, broken, and sharp.
The Tormentor froze, its chains mid-swing.
Kairo raised his head, crimson eyes burning brighter. "You think pain breaks me?" His voice trembled with something unholy. "I live in pain. I breathe it. And I'll make it choke you."
He surged forward, his chains twisting around the Tormentor's, binding them midair. Sparks lit the battlefield as Kairo pulled with raw, merciless strength. The Judgement Dance flowed through him — every step a spiral, every motion precise, unrelenting. He reversed the torment, forcing the executioner to taste the weight of its own cursed links.
The Tormentor screeched, a sound like rusted iron tearing. Its own chains constricted around its body, carving into its fleshless form, dragging its essence inward. The faces engraved on its chains wailed louder, their suffering turning against their wielder.
Kairo tightened his grip.
"Devour yourself."
With a final, violent pull, the chains snapped. The Tormentor's body imploded into black dust, consumed by the very torment it once commanded. Silence fell again.
The chains Kairo held pulsed, their glow shifting faintly to bone-white. They no longer resisted — they obeyed.
From the shadows above, Veyrith whispered, "He does not escape pain… he devours it."
Hades' expression darkened. "And the pit will not let such defiance go unanswered. This was only the first test."
Kairo stood alone once more, his chest heaving, his aura heavier than before. The battlefield stank of burned iron and cursed ash. His crimson eyes lifted toward the endless horizon of Hell.
"Send more," he muttered, voice flat, cold, unyielding. "I'll chain them all."