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The arena was a graveyard.
The explosion had reduced most of Cerberus' forces to charred corpses strewn across the scorched stone. Red lava carved through the battlefield like rivers of hell, and the roar of the volcanoes echoed like drums of war. Among them loomed the Dragon Volcano, the oldest, the strongest, the one said to house a primeval darkness.
Fernando was crucified against the jagged obsidian, his broken body chained, blood dripping from his missing arm and ruined eye. His chest rose and fell shallowly, each breath a war of its own.
Before him stood Zeldaris, cloak cast aside, chest tattooed and smeared with blood, his monstrous grin glowing in the volcanic fire. Kur stood silently at his side, calm as a shadow, while the earth trembled with the weight of the moment.
Zeldaris spoke with venomous charisma, his words dripping like poison.
"Look around you, Dark King. The corpses of your enemies litter this island, yet soon it will be your corpse feeding the fire. Vulcanus will belong to me. Your sacrifice, your suffering, will be remembered only as a broken king's last breath."
Fernando only smiled, blood on his lips. "You speak as though despair has already taken me. You're wrong, Zeldaris. You can chain my body, but my will—you'll never crucify that."
Zeldaris' eyes gleamed, savoring his defiance. "You laugh at death. You do live up to your reputation. But look at you… one-armed, bleeding, a shell of what you once were. Perhaps if you still had the strength of your prime, you might have defeated me. But fatherhood…" he smirked cruelly, "…fatherhood has made you weak."
Fernando's head rose, his voice firm despite the pain. "No… fatherhood hasn't made me weak. It's made me better."
He closed his remaining eye, and a smile softened his face as memories surged: Marlene's laughter, the day Yaman was born, the warmth of a family he once thought he'd never deserve. His voice cracked but shone with light.
"The presence of my son Yaman… it made me a better man. A better king. A better person."
Hidden behind a volcanic rock, Yaman's small frame trembled. His heart shattered at the sight of his crucified father, bloodied and broken. Tears poured from his eyes. He whispered through clenched teeth, "I'm weak… I'm a damned coward. I can't even save him…" His fists shook violently as he wept.
Back at the cross, Zeldaris laughed. "You mean that brat? Hmph. I'll admit it… he has courage. To cause this much damage to Cerberus requires a spark of greatness." He licked blood from his lips, grinning wider. "But courage always has a price. Once I finish you, I'll hunt him down myself. Out of respect for you, Dark King, I'll kill him quickly."
Yaman froze, horror gripping his chest. His body shook, his breath ragged.
But Fernando only smiled through the chains, his voice proud, almost playful. "Kill Yaman? You won't be able to. He's a naughty little demon—always causing trouble, obeying no one, fearing no one. He reminds me of myself. He's my son, after all." His head fell back, his voice softening, aching with love. "I only wished to see him grow into the man I know he'll become… one of the most powerful in the world. And remember this, Zeldaris: even if you kill me, your end will be at his hands."
From the shadows, Yaman broke down, choking on sobs as his father's words burned into him.
Zeldaris roared with laughter, the sound splitting the ash-thick sky. "My end… at the hands of that brat? Hahaha! You've gone senile in your agony, Dark King. But worry not—I'll grant you an ending worthy of your legend."
He wrenched a sword from a corpse and pressed its edge to Fernando's throat. The volcanoes raged, the Dragon Volcano roaring louder than the rest. Heat warped the air, and the island quaked as if protesting what was to come.
"Goodbye, Dark King," Zeldaris said, raising the blade.
Fernando closed his eye, a soft smile on his lips. "Then this is my end… I lived a beautiful life. Thank you, Marlene. Thank you, Yaman. I wished only to see you grow…"
The blade began to fall—
—when the earth convulsed.
The ground split. The Dragon Volcano erupted, vomiting fire and smoke into the heavens. The entire island shook as if a god had struck it with his fist. Zeldaris, Kur, even Fernando flinched, sweat breaking across their foreheads.
And then, from the shattered rock, a pillar of crimson-black magic erupted, piercing the sky like a spear of hellfire. Red lightning crackled, black bolts tearing open the clouds. The aura shook the battlefield with a force greater than the eruption itself.
The rock exploded.
From within, a boy stepped out—his eyes aflame, his body glowing with raw magic.
Yaman.
His tears had dried, replaced by fury. His voice, harsh and trembling with rage, echoed over the battlefield:
"STAY AWAY FROM MY FATHER!!"
The ground shuddered with each step he took. Red and black lightning coiled around him, splitting stone and scorching the air. His aura was a storm, wild and unrestrained.
Zeldaris' grin faltered, just for a second. Kur's eyes widened. Fernando's remaining eye went wide with shock and pride.
The island itself groaned. Deep inside the Dragon Volcano, magma boiled louder, darker. And in the abyssal shadows beneath it, something stirred. A colossal eye cracked open after millennia of slumber, glowing with hunger and rage.
The earth shook as if the volcano itself had awoken.
And with the cries of demons echoing from the pit, the scene was sealed in mystery and
---
The air thickened as Yaman stepped forward from the shattered rock. His small body trembled—not with fear, but with uncontainable energy. The volcanic ash around him twisted, pulled by his presence, sucked into the vortex of his rising aura
Then—
⚡ CRACK!
A flash of red lightning burst from his skin, tearing across the sky. The stone beneath his feet splintered, glowing with crimson cracks. At the same time, coils of black lightning erupted, slashing outward like whips, sizzling as they cut through the air.
His eyes were no longer just human. They glowed a burning scarlet, pupils narrowed like blades of fire. Tears still streamed down his cheeks, but they mixed with the terrifying aura, giving him the look of a boy caught between sorrow and wrath.
Every breath Yaman exhaled came out as steam, as if his blood itself was boiling. His voice was low but carried across the hellish arena like thunder:
"Stay away from my father."
The aura around him pulsed—red and black waves colliding violently, spiraling upward into a cyclone that struck the clouds. It wasn't controlled; it was raw, primal. But its sheer force shook the ground harder than any eruption.
Volcanoes around the battlefield spat lava in rhythm with his heartbeat, as if the land itself responded to his will. The crucified Fernando, bleeding and broken, stared in shock. His son—his Yaman—glowed with the power of a demon yet stood with the heart of a hero.
Even Zeldaris, still grinning, licked the blood from his lips uneasily. His grin widened again, but now it was sharpened with hunger, not mockery. "What a fascinating brat… this magic is pure, unrefined, destructive. A light born from darkness. Hahaha! Yes, Dark King… your boy is no ordinary child."
Kur's calm demeanor cracked. He whispered under his breath, "That aura… this isn't normal human magic. It's like a storm devouring itself."
Yaman took another step forward, the ground trembling as volcanic rock shattered under his feet. The girl's words echoed in his head: "If you go back, you will die." But he smiled through his tears, whispering back, "I laugh in the face of death."
And still—
From deep within the Dragon Volcano, a massive eye continued to stir, unseen by most. Its slitted pupil opened further, the glow of its ancient gaze reflecting off the magma. It was as if the sleeping monster recognized the boy's awakening power.
The aura around Yaman surged higher, red and black lightning tearing apart the heavens.
A boy had entered the battlefield—
But what stood there was something far greatest
---
First Surge – The Awakening
The crucified Fernando felt his heartbeat falter when the earth split and the boy he once shielded stepped out. Yaman's aura flared violently, crimson and obsidian colliding like warring storms.
⚡ BOOM!
Red lightning surged upward, painting the blackened sky. Black lightning wrapped around his arms, snapping like chains trying to bind him, yet breaking apart with every heartbeat. His eyes blazed scarlet, tears streaming down his cheeks as he screamed:
"STAY AWAY FROM MY FATHER!"
The words shook the arena like a war cry. Corpses on the ground twitched under the pulse of his magic. Volcanoes rumbled in response, vomiting fire into the night. Even Fernando, broken and bloodied, whispered in awe:
"…Yaman…"
Zeldaris grinned, fangs bared. "So this is your light, Dark King? A boy who cries and bleeds power? Hah! No wonder the guilds fear your line."
Kur's eyes narrowed, sweat dripping. "That's not just power. That's chaos."
---
Second Surge – The Clash Approaches
Yaman's aura didn't calm—it roared higher. The sky cracked as his energy spiraled upward, red lightning tearing clouds apart, black bolts drilling into the volcano's flanks. Lava gushed as though the mountain itself was bowing to him.
Fernando closed his one eye, tears welling despite his pain. He's grown into a storm… my storm. Forgive me, son, for doubting you.
Yaman stepped closer, his aura gouging trenches in the ground with every stride. "Zeldaris… if you want my father, you'll have to go through me."
The dark commander laughed, his voice echoing like a hymn of madness. He lifted his bloodstained club, the bone-chain on his neck rattling.
"Then let us see if the brat can roar like a beast, or if he'll be crushed like a worm."
⚔️ The air shattered—Fernando's sword shook in its bindings as Zeldaris' aura surged to meet the boy's.
Red and black lightning slammed into Zeldaris' shadowy miasma, the two forces colliding in midair. Sparks rained across the corpses of the arena, igniting them into grotesque torches.
Kur stepped back, wide-eyed.
The battlefield had become the stage of gods.
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