The ashes of the Tormentor had not yet settled when the desert began to tremble. The sand shifted in ripples, as if some vast body moved beneath its surface. The air thickened, heavy with the stench of brimstone and rot.
Kairo's chains rattled against his arms, their links vibrating with unease. They felt heavier now — not resisting, but warning. His crimson eyes narrowed. He already knew. Hell was not done with him.
From the cliffs above, Veyrith's gaze sharpened.
"They are coming."
Hades remained silent, though his hands clenched at the railing before him. His voice was low, grave.
"The pit is angry. The boy has not simply survived — he has stolen from it. And Hell does not forgive theft."
The ground split.
From the fissures rose clawed hands, skeletal and charred, dragging bodies of fire-wreathed demons into the open. One after another, they crawled from the cracks — not mindless beasts, but warriors clad in jagged bone-armor, their mouths filled with molten fangs.
A dozen. Two dozen. Fifty.
The arena floor was soon swarming, the ruins now a battlefield drowned in shadows and fire. Their snarls shook the air, each step sinking the sand into molten glass.
Kairo's breath came slow, steady. He rolled his shoulders, chains unraveling from his arms like serpents ready to strike.
"Good," he muttered. "I was starting to wonder if this place had more to offer."
The first wave lunged.
Kairo moved like a storm unchained. His Judgement Dance flowed into carnage — chains cracking skulls, shattering limbs, piercing through chestplates with bone-splitting precision. Each kill tightened the aura around him, heavy, suffocating, his presence blooming like a black star devouring light.
But for every demon he felled, more clawed their way from the fissures. Their coordination sharpened, their movements unnervingly precise. This was no simple swarm. Hell itself was orchestrating their steps, binding them to a single will.
One demon caught his arm, its claws sinking deep. Another followed, lashing his back with molten whips. Pain tore through him — but Kairo didn't flinch. His chains tightened, dragging both demons toward him. He slammed their skulls together with bone-cracking force, the impact painting the sand with fire and ash.
Still they kept coming.
Above, Veyrith's expression shifted, almost… curious.
"Do you see it, Hades? He fights as though the pit itself cannot touch him. Every strike pulls him deeper into its rhythm — and yet he bends it to his will."
Hades' eyes never left Kairo. His jaw tightened.
"Yes. That is what makes him dangerous. He does not resist Hell. He consumes it."
The ground shook harder, cracks spreading outward like veins of fire. From the largest fissure rose something vast — a towering demon clad in blackened steel, its body a fusion of flesh, bone, and molten stone. Its horned head scraped the sky, eyes burning with furnace light.
The swarm fell silent, bowing.
The giant's voice was a roar that shook the desert.
"CHAINBREAKER. YOU DEFY THE PIT. YOU SHALL BE UNMADE."
Kairo's lips curled into the faintest smirk, his crimson gaze blazing. His chains rattled, eager, alive.
"Unmake me?" he said, stepping forward. His voice was low, almost a whisper — but it carried like thunder.
"Try."
The arena once again became a crucible.