The arena was thick with the stench of blood, iron, and death. The chains around Michi rattled as his body shook, dark energy bursting violently from his frame. His hair clung to his sweat and blood-soaked face, forehead mark glowing with a sinister, pulsating rhythm. The crowd, once roaring for blood, now stood frozen in a silence of fear.
Michi suddenly straightened, his bloodied chest rising and falling as if possessed by something no longer human. His white, empty eyes pierced the air with a glare that held nothing but madness. From his right hand, shadows began to coil, twisting violently until they shaped themselves into a jagged, monstrous spear made of pure black energy. Its edges burned with a sinister light, humming with the sound of tortured whispers.
Kaeru, who had been grinning smugly behind the flames of his relic, suddenly froze. His eyes widened. He took a step back, the fire dimming slightly in his palm. "W–what is this…?" he muttered, voice trembling.
Michi did not answer. He raised the spear, his mouth curling into a wide, broken smile.
With a guttural cry, Michi hurled the spear across the arena. It tore through the air like lightning, screaming as if the weapon itself longed for blood. Before Kaeru could react, the spear slammed directly into his face.
A sickening CRACK exploded through the arena. The spear punctured through Kaeru's skull, ripping apart flesh and bone with unstoppable force. His head burst open, fragments of bone scattering like glass shards. His body convulsed violently before collapsing into the dirt, twitching as brain matter leaked onto the sand.
The crowd screamed in horror. Panic erupted instantly. Men, women, and children trampled over each other to escape the arena stands. "A monster! Run!" they shouted, their cheers of bloodlust now transformed into cries of despair.
The soldiers surrounding the stage tightened their formation. Fear was etched across their faces, but Khalab's thunderous voice cut through the chaos.
"Kill him now! End this cursed boy before he consumes everything!"
Dozens of soldiers rushed in, weapons raised, their armor clanging as they charged Michi from all directions. Swords swung and spears pierced, slashing into Michi's already bloodied flesh. His body was torn open again and again, blood spraying across the dirt.
But Michi did not flinch. He stood completely still.
A chilling sound echoed across the arena — a laugh. Low at first, then growing louder. Michi's mouth stretched into a grotesque smile, white eyes glowing like hollow moons. The soldiers slashed again, cutting deeper, but Michi only laughed harder, the sound turning into a high-pitched, broken cackle that froze their very souls.
Then, with a sudden surge of power, Michi's arms snapped upward. His fingers tore at the flaming collar around his neck. With a single brutal pull, he ripped it apart as if it were paper. The relic shattered into sparks.
Instantly, Michi's body glowed with an eerie black and crimson aura. His wounds — deep gashes, broken bones, bleeding cuts — began to close in front of the soldiers' eyes. His flesh stitched itself back together, bones straightened, bruises vanished. Within seconds, the battered, near-dead boy stood fully healed, stronger than ever, his body radiating raw, unholy energy.
Michi tilted his head, his broken grin widening as his hollow eyes stared directly at the soldiers. His laugh rang out again, sharp and cruel.
Then he moved.
In a blur, Michi lunged at the nearest soldier and tore through his armor with bare hands. The man screamed before his body was split in half, entrails spilling onto the sand. Michi kicked another soldier into the air, leaping after him like a beast, tearing off his head with his teeth before landing back down with a sickening crunch.
The massacre began.
Michi charged through the crowd of armored men like a shadow-born predator. Blades slashed into his skin, but his body healed faster than they could damage it. His spear of shadows reformed in his hands, stabbing through multiple soldiers at once, impaling them like meat skewers before tossing them aside.
One soldier tried to flee, but Michi caught him by the legs and smashed him into the ground repeatedly until his body was nothing but pulp. Another screamed in terror as Michi gripped his skull and crushed it slowly, enjoying the sound of bones snapping like twigs.
Blood painted the sand. The soldiers' shouts turned into cries of despair, their formation broken. Michi moved through them with no mercy, laughing madly as his shadow spear ripped through flesh, bones, and armor.
Every slash of his weapon sent waves of black energy ripping through the arena, cutting down men in groups. Limbs flew, torsos split, heads rolled. The ground was soaked red, bodies piled high around him.
And yet Michi only grew more terrifying. His grin stretched unnaturally wide, his eyes glowing brighter. His laugh echoed across the arena, unrelenting, inhuman.
By the time he paused, nearly a hundred soldiers lay dead, their remains scattered in grotesque displays across the battlefield. The once-cheering crowd was gone, replaced only by the smell of burning flesh and rivers of blood.
Khalab stood from his throne above the arena, gripping the railing tightly, his face pale but still twisted with rage. His voice thundered. "This cursed boy… this demon! He must not leave alive!"
From the shadows above, Jaxor stepped forward, his voice calm, sharp, and filled with amusement. His dark cloak swayed as his glowing eyes scanned the carnage below.
He turned to Khalab, his lips curling into a smirk. "Now you see his true nature… the beast that even your chains cannot hold."
Khalab snarled. "Jaxor! This—"
But Jaxor raised a hand, cutting him off. His voice was cold, final.
"My time here is finished. I have confirmed what needed to be seen. Now… I have to go."
Khalab's eyes widened as Jaxor began to vanish into a swirling black portal. The last echo of his voice lingered in the air.
"Prepare well, Khalab. For what comes next will decide more than just Zephyrelle."
And then Jaxor was gone, leaving Khalab staring down at the arena, where Michi stood in the center of carnage — laughing, smiling, drenched in blood, with the aura of a monster that no human could withstand.