The Dark Server shook with wild cheers that night.
Dark Tooth's secret arena—The Maw—was finally open.
Holographic stands overflowed with thousands of avatars: bounty hunters, underground gangs, and shadowy spectators who came only to watch data-blood spill.
The arena walls were shaped like massive glitching fangs, glowing crimson, as if everyone stood inside the jaws of a beast.
A gate of darkness opened.
Yuto'o stepped out slowly, his glitch-ridden body glowing with blue-red cracks. Behind him, Orbis walked stiffly, violet barriers flickering around him. Yuuki followed last, her violet-pink aura radiating cold menace.
The crowd erupted.
"There he is! The Circuit Ghost!"
"Twenty million data credits!"
"Tonight he dies!"
Grim stood on the central platform, his skull helm glowing red, serrated blade in hand.
He raised one hand, his voice booming across the arena.
"Tonight, ghost blood will spill. The newborn Circuit Ghost will be tested. If he survives, maybe… he'll earn the right to stand in the underworld. If he fades…"
His laughter cracked through the air.
"…then Dark Tooth will feast on his soul."
From the opposite gate, a towering figure emerged.
A humanoid avatar, his body inked with green glitch tattoos. His eyes glowed hollow neon. In his hands—an enormous data axe pulsing with digital venom.
The crowd roared.
"GERM! GERM THE FIRST!"
"THE ARENA EXECUTIONER!"
Orbis swallowed hard. "That's… Dark Tooth's strongest gladiator. Germ the First. He's erased over a hundred avatars here."
Yuto'o tightened his grip on his blade. "Good. If I want to prove I deserve to live, I'll fight him."
Yuuki stopped at the arena's edge, arms crossed, crimson eyes piercing into Yuto'o.
"Circuit Ghost… show them you're not a ghost waiting to die. If you fall, I'll erase you myself right here."
[ROUND ONE – INITIATED]
The arena floor rumbled. Glitch pillars erupted from the ground, twisting the field into a warped battlefield.
Germ bellowed, raising his massive axe. "CIRCUIT GHOST… DIE IN MY JAWS!"
He charged, every step cracking the neon floor beneath him.
Yuto'o warped aside, reappearing behind him, blade slashing.
KRANNNGG!
Germ's green glitch armor only cracked faintly. He spun, his axe slamming into Yuto'o.
BOOOOM!
Yuto'o's body flew, data-blood splattering onto the floor—absorbed instantly by the arena.
The stands thundered.
"HE DOESN'T STAND A CHANCE!"
"FINISH HIM, GERM!"
Orbis shouted from the platform. "Yuji! Don't brute force him! Find his weak code!"
Yuto'o staggered up, his red-blue eyes blazing.
"…I won't die here."
He summoned a glitch spear.
[GLITCH SPEAR – DEPLOY]
He hurled it—the spear tore through the air, nearly striking Germ. But the gladiator batted it aside with his bare hand, sparks bursting.
"WEAK!" Germ roared.
Yuuki's voice cut cold across the arena.
"Boy… you fight like an insect. If you want to be a real Ghost—STOP BEING AN INSECT."
Yuto'o roared, his body trembling.
[POSSESSION LEVEL 2 – ACTIVATED]
Three nearby glitch pillars shuddered, transforming into small Guardian AIs under his control. They swarmed Germ from all sides.
The gladiator's axe cleaved through two in a single swing, but the third held him back for an instant.
Yuto'o warped behind him, his blade blazing wild.
"I'M NOT AN INSECT! I'M THE CIRCUIT GHOST!"
His strike crashed down with all his force.
KRANNNGGG!
Germ's green armor shattered at last, spraying neon-green data-blood into the air.
The arena erupted in chaos.
The ghost draws first blood—and the jaws of The Maw are only just closing.
The Maw shook under the roar of thousands of avatars, their voices like a digital storm.
Yuto'o stood tall, his glitch-ridden body riddled with cracks. His blade burned blue and red, his breath heavy, but his eyes blazed with unyielding resolve.
Before him, Germ the First howled. His tattooed green body pulsed with venomous light, his massive axe now split into twin blades, throbbing with toxic aura.
[OVERCLOCK TOXIC MODE – ACTIVE]
ROUND TWO
Germ charged. Each step shattered the neon floor. His twin axes swept down in a storm of steel.
KRANG! KRANG!
Yuto'o blocked one strike with his glitch blade, but the second cleaved into his shoulder. His body flew across the arena, cracks tearing wider, blue-red data-blood spraying.
The crowd went feral.
"HE'S FINISHED!"
"GERM! RIP HIM APART!"
On the outer platform, Orbis shouted in panic.
"Yuji! Stop brute forcing—he's in Toxic Mode!"
Yuto'o staggered to his feet, a faint grin curling his lips.
"If he can enter a mode… so can I."
He called on the wild glitch within.
[OVERCLOCK BURST – UNLEASH]
His body flared red-blue, glitch shards orbiting him like burning stars. His blade expanded, glowing ferociously.
He lunged, unleashing a torrent of slashes.
BOOOOM!
The arena shook with glitch explosions, data dust choking the air.
From the smoke, Germ emerged—still standing, barely cracked. He laughed, voice guttural.
"Good… but you're still nothing!"
His axes scraped the ground, unleashing a sweeping wave of green toxin. The floor turned poisonous, every step searing Yuto'o's legs.
"Aghhh!" His body crumbled further, shards of himself breaking away.
At the arena's edge, Yuuki's crimson eyes glowed cold. Her voice cut through the chaos.
"Circuit Ghost… you want to prove yourself? Show them you can master the monster inside you. Or die now."
Yuto'o roared, blood-data pouring.
[POSSESSION LEVEL 2 – ACTIVATED]
Five glitch pillars warped into Guardians under his control. They swarmed Germ from all sides.
Two were crushed instantly, but three locked his axes for a heartbeat.
Yuto'o warped sideways, summoning a glitch spear.
[GLITCH SPEAR + WARP COMBO]
He hurled the spear—warped to it mid-flight—and struck from behind.
KRANNNGG!
Germ's green armor shattered wider, toxic data spraying high into the air.
The crowd erupted.
"CIRCUIT GHOST! HE'S FIGHTING BACK!"
Germ bellowed, his eyes burning red-green. He slammed his axes into the ground.
[TOXIC CORRUPTION FIELD – DEPLOYED]
A storm of venomous glitch engulfed the entire arena. The crowd screamed in bloodlust.
Yuto'o coughed, body splintering, data-blood streaming. He nearly collapsed—
Until a violet-pink light cut through the haze.
Yuuki's neon hand carved the air.
"Phantom Override."
The toxic storm faltered, slowed.
Yuuki's voice rang sharp.
"I can hold it for a moment. The rest… is yours."
Yuto'o's body shook violently. His eyes shut tight.
"…I will not fade here."
He unleashed everything at once.
[GLITCH SPEAR + DATA SHIELD + POSSESSION 2 + WARP BURST]
His body blazed red-blue, his blade quaked, a glitch shield shimmered on his arm. The Guardians swarmed again, locking Germ's axes for seconds.
Yuto'o warped in, his blade screaming with power—
KRRAAANNNGGG!!
The sword pierced Germ's chest, green data bursting like poison fire.
The arena fell silent.
Germ staggered, neon-blood flowing. But then… he laughed.
"Heh… good. You managed to touch me."
His body cracked further—but his toxic aura exploded outward, devouring the arena.
[FINAL MODE – CORRUPTED OVERDRIVE]
Germ's body warped into a hulking toxic glitch monster, his axe tripling in size, glowing with death.
The stands erupted in frenzy.
"ERASE HIM, GERM!"
"CIRCUIT GHOST IS FINISHED!"
Yuto'o stood trembling, his body 70% fractured, blood-data pouring like rain.
Orbis screamed from the sidelines. "YUJI! STOP! YOU'LL ERASE YOURSELF!"
But Yuto'o only gripped his sword tighter.
"I can't stop. If I fade here… I'll never live again."
He took another step, every crack threatening to shatter him.
Yuuki watched him long, then smirked faintly.
"…Maybe you really are an idiot. But if you survive… maybe you'll be a real Ghost."
The monstrous Germ roared, raising his colossal toxic axe that glowed blinding green.
Yuto'o charged, his blade blazing red-blue, his body nearly broken.
Two forces—newborn ghost and first gladiator—clashed at the heart of The Maw.
BOOOOOMMM!!!
The arena erupted in a storm of green and blue glitch.
And the entire Dark Server held its breath, waiting to see who would still stand when the dust cleared.