Eighteen-year-old Cassian Vale was sitting in class, enjoying the March sunshine. But inside, anxiety gnawed at him — he had just returned from the future.
Suddenly, a female voice rang out.
[Congratulations! Your world has been selected as the arena for the battle royal between worlds. In the next few Earth minutes, guests from other worlds will begin to arrive here.]
The voice cut off abruptly, then continued:
[The last surviving representative of one of the participating races will earn the right to take part in the Supreme Tournament.]
Another pause.
[Attention! The human race of planet Earth has been added to the common language of Montana.]
Yet another pause.
[The new royal battle has begun. We wish all participants the most gruesome deaths possible.]
The voice was soft and even pleasant, like a young girl reading an advertisement. But the moment it fell silent, the entire class — except for Cassian — instinctively clutched their heads. A powerful ringing filled everyone's skulls. This wasn't some announcement over the intercom. The voice had sounded directly inside every person's mind.
A moment later came a sharp crack of thunder. This time it wasn't just in their heads. After that, everything went quiet for a couple of seconds.
"It's started," Cassian muttered, clenching his fists.
Lightning of different colors struck from the sky — white, red, blue, and even black. A sudden hurricane-force wind rose. The sky, clear just moments ago, began to fill with dark storm clouds.
While everyone stared out the windows, not understanding what was happening, Cassian quietly got up from his seat and headed for the exit without drawing attention.
In thirty seconds the view outside the window turned pitch-dark. The sunny day had somehow become gray and rainy.
Chaos swallowed everything.
First the electricity went out. In the same instant, the first explosions boomed beyond the windows. Cassian's school stood on a hill. From one side you could see another school building. From the other — the city in flames.
Suddenly screams erupted from the building directly opposite Cassian's classroom. Everyone froze.
Right before their eyes, a student flew out of a window in the neighboring building and crashed to the ground. Something fell with him and in seconds tore the already lifeless body to pieces. Then another window shattered. Another student fell out. Then another. And another. One after another, bodies of students came flying out of the windows.
Cassian's class was on the third floor. In an instant panic engulfed the entire floor. Screams erupted. Students burst out of classrooms and ran down the stairs.
At that moment an earthquake began, but it stopped no one. People fell, a stampede started. Some were simply shoved off the stairs. They plummeted straight to the first floor, smashing against the concrete edges of the landings.
The survival instinct took over. Panic turned into frenzy.
The walls and floors became covered in the blood of students crushed by the crowd. Lifeless bodies lay right on the staircases. Outside, explosions and human screams never stopped.
Despite all of it, Cassian made it outside unharmed — because he already knew what would happen. He had left the classroom earlier than the rest and reached the school courtyard without meeting any obstacles.
But now a new task stood before him. He had to reach the gymnasium building, which was directly opposite the one he had just left.
About twenty-five meters separated Cassian from his goal. It seemed like a small distance. But crossing it was far from simple, considering what was happening right in front of his eyes.
Unknown creatures resembling enormous rats, their bodies covered in long stone spikes, were slaughtering people indiscriminately. Severed limbs of students lay everywhere; the ground was soaked in blood.
Even though he had seen it all before, Cassian froze in place. Horror locked every millimeter of his body. His legs refused to move, his heart felt like it was trying to tear out of his chest. All he felt was cold sweat and animal terror.
"I've been through this already," he muttered and took a deep breath.
Suddenly he noticed one of those creatures charging straight at him and several guys standing nearby.
Dodge, but don't rush, he told himself. The thoughts flashed in an instant.
For a second he glanced at the guy standing next to him, who was also paralyzed with confusion.
That's him, Cassian thought.
Everyone froze. When the monster came close enough and lunged, Cassian shoved the guy beside him straight toward the creature, while he himself rolled to the side. In that same moment the monster's stone claws decapitated the boy he had pushed, and in the next instant tore the others apart.
Cassian looked back and ran toward the gymnasium. He was almost there when another monster pounced on him. Cassian managed to dodge — the creatures' agility was roughly on par with an ordinary human's.
He fell to the ground and immediately tried to get up, bracing himself with his hand, but…
His palm was gone.
The pain was intense, but it didn't stop him.
Must be the adrenaline surge, Cassian thought.
He dashed into the gymnasium building and ran toward the locker room, which was empty. He shut the door and hid inside one of the lockers.
Third from the end, I hope he didn't lie, Cassian thought. That guy I pushed toward the monster. It was him. He was supposed to hide in this locker and then receive the power that could have eventually led him to victory. But he couldn't unlock its potential, couldn't protect either me or himself. And in my previous life I only befriended him so he would protect me. But most likely we both died… and somehow I came back in time.
Doubts tormented Cassian. Would everything go according to plan? Had he done the right thing? Had his friend from the previous life lied to him?
After a few minutes Cassian began to calm down a little. The screams inside the school started to fade, though the overall noise and chaos could still be felt. The severed hand reminded him of itself more and more insistently; the pain grew stronger, but Cassian tried not to make a sound.
He sat and sat. The bleeding didn't stop, his condition worsened. Thinking rationally became harder and harder; he barely had any strength left to move.
The stream of thoughts didn't stop.
Should I give up? Would it be reasonable to go outside now? What if I just stay here? Both options lead to death. I mustn't close my eyes. I mustn't give up. I mustn't…
The thoughts broke off. He closed his eyes.
But suddenly the darkness parted.
Cassian snapped awake. It felt as if someone had violently yanked him out of the deepest sleep. He was still sitting in the tiny cramped locker, but now the door stood open.
In front of him stood a tall man in a robe and hood. His face couldn't be seen, but in his hands Cassian clearly saw a long black sword.
The man raised the sword, swung, and drove it straight into Cassian's head.
But Cassian didn't die.
He felt everything. It wasn't pain. It was the sensation of power—as if life itself had been poured into him. The black blade became half-dyed in fiery color and began to glow faintly with the same shade.
The only thought that arose in Cassian's mind at that moment:
I desperately want to take this sword for myself.
An unimaginable power radiated from the blade. It didn't take life — it filled with it. Filled Cassian from within.
That was the last thing Cassian saw before he lost consciousness.