The full moon hung high over the Houlhart Kingdom, casting a silver glow over the blood-stained sands of the arena. Inside the dark pits, Rei stood up, his sightless eyes fixed on the ceiling. The air around him began to hum with a terrifying, jagged energy—a cocktail of fury, resentment, and a year's worth of suppressed pain.
"Break."
The word wasn't a shout; it was a command to reality itself. With a deafening crack, the Qi-absorbing chains binding Dell opened. The iron bars of the cages twisted and snapped like dry twigs.
Guards rushed into the corridor, torches flickering. "What's happening?! Get back in your cells!" one roared, lunging at Rei with a spear.
Rei didn't even turn his head. He simply extended a hand. Miniature tornadoes spiraled from his fingertips, slamming into the guards with the force of galloping horses, throwing them against the stone walls and shattering the remaining cell doors.
"That... was not the plan," Dell stammered, rubbing his wrists. "But damn, you're cool. This chaos is perfect. Let's move!"
"You go," Rei said, his voice flat and cold as he began to walk toward the main administrative building. "I have unfinished business."
"Wait!" Dell started to follow, but suddenly his movements turned mechanical. His eyes glazed over as Mephisto's voice echoed from the depths of Hell. "You have other work to do, my friend." Under the demon's influence, Dell turned away, walking toward the storage vaults where Peir's original gear was hidden.
As Rei stepped out of the prison and into the courtyard, an entire platoon of guards surrounded him. "Kill the blind brat!"
"Wind Lance."
Without moving a muscle, a dozen translucent spears of compressed air materialized in the air around Rei. They whistled through the night, impaling the front line of guards through their shoulders and legs. Rei walked past the screaming men. "I won't kill you," he muttered, "but the prisoners behind me might not be so merciful."
True to his word, the freed convicts surged out of the pits, picking up dropped weapons and turning on their former captors.
More guards closed in, their swords clashing against a rotating barrier of wind that encased Rei like a diamond shell. "How?!" a guard gasped. "He's a swordsman, not a High Mage!"
"You've pushed me long enough," Rei said. He raised his hand toward them. "All-Encompassing Inferno."
Fire erupted from the cobblestones, swirling into a massive vortex that swallowed the charging guards. The heat was so intense that the stone began to crack. Guards watching from the battlements lowered their bows, trembling. "Don't move," one whispered. "If we stay quiet, maybe he won't notice us."
Rei reached the top floor, kicking open the double doors to the lavish viewing room. Two men—Bash and Hay—sat there, calmly watching the fight below.
"Looks like someone managed to break out," Bash said, standing up and stretching.
"Don't forget, Bash," Hay chuckled, "we broke out of a much worse place years ago. We're the reason this Colosseum stays standing."
"I came to impale you," Rei said, his Qi flared. "Wind Javelins."
The air turned into a barrage of green streaks. Bash and Hay drew their swords in a blur, parrying the wind magic with sheer physical speed. They charged. Rei dodged, weaving between their blades while firing off wind blasts, but these men were experts. They cut through his spells and closed the distance.
Hay slipped behind Rei, his blade whistling toward Rei's neck. An Earth Wall erupted from the floor just in time to stop the strike. Simultaneously, Bash unleashed a flurry of piercing thrusts. Rei created a Rotating Wind Wall to deflect them, then countered: "All-Encompassing Flame!"
Bash spun his sword like a propeller, dispersing the fire into harmless sparks before launching a wave of slashes that forced Rei to leap back.
I'm running low on Qi, Rei realized, his breath coming in ragged gasps. They're too experienced in direct combat.
Hay landed a heavy punch to Rei's gut, sending him crashing to the floor. "You're a thousand years too early to face us, kid," Hay mocked, standing over him.
Rei looked up, a bloody smirk on his face. "Maybe in combat. But in IQ? Earth Manipulation."
Rei didn't attack them. He attacked the building. The floor beneath Bash and Hay turned to brittle sand and shattered. The two experts plummeted toward the arena floor below. As they fell, Rei didn't give them a chance to recover.
From the ground where they were meant to land, Earth Javelins shot up like a forest of needles. From above, Wind Javelins rained down. From the sides, Fire Lances closed in. Bash and Hay tried to cut through the onslaught, but the attack was too relentless. They were skewered mid-air and slammed into the spikes below, impaled and defeated.
Rei walked onto the balcony, his body bruised and exhausted. Within the midgard where Lyla and Tenko were suddenly the chaos scepter shined and floated mid air, they looked at the scene with disbelief and the Chaos Scepter started flying towards Rei. Suddenly, a violet light streaked across the sky from the direction of the Midgard cart. The Chaos Scepter whistled through the air, returning to its master's hand with a hum of recognition.
Rei felt the scepter's power surge through him, replenishing his qi. He began to float, rising high above the Colosseum. The thousands of spectators in the stands looked up in terror.
"For those who enjoy the suffering of others," Rei's voice boomed, amplified by his sound spell. "I will let you know pain."
The moon was swallowed by black clouds. Lightning began to coil within the sky like a living creature. "Grand Spell: The Great Storm Dragon's Rage!"
The clouds liquefied into a torrential downpour, but the water was infused with thousands of volts of electricity. A massive dragon made of thunderous water descended, crashing into the arena. The Colosseum's foundations groaned and collapsed. Anyone caught in the flood was paralyzed and swept away as the entire structure was reduced to rubble.
From a safe distance, Dell—now holding Rei's gear—watched the destruction. Behind him, the shadowy silhouette of Mephisto smiled. "Great power... but he still refuses to kill. He will never be a true monster."
Rei landed softly on the grass outside the smoking ruins. He gripped the Chaos Scepter tight, feeling the cool night breeze on his face.
"Finally," he whispered. "I am free."