THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIOLENCE THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SOME READERS.
The arena hummed with energy, vibrating with the roar of the crowd. Zaro Kindell strutted across the centre platform, swirling his cape dramatically as the lights followed him like he was the gravitational center of Woewyn itself.
"OOOHHH LET'S WARM THIS PLACE UPPP!" he roared, his voice bouncing off the dome.
Inside the contestants room, Cythera leaned toward Damon. "Nervous?"
"Yeah," Damon said, taking a calm breath.
"Good."
Zaro puffed his chest. "Our FIRST contestant, burning brighter than his attitude: KLAVEN VOREN!"
Klaven gave Damon... a stare. An exaggerated dislike in his eyes. He had red orange hair with little black though the orange was dominant.
Damon's head simply tilted. "Voren? Is he your brother?"
Cythera's face sank instantly. "No. My cousin." Silence . "And no, Damon. I don't like him."
Zaro continued, brimming with the urge to speak. "And next—cutting winds sharper than your social failures—RHYDEN DREY!"
Rhyden entered, spinning a gust around his hands, smirking like the whole match was already decided.
"And NOW—our earthbound genius, the girl with the nerves ANNND confidence of a leaf in a hurricane—MIREA THORNE!"
Mirea, the girl who was panicking about the change in formation, staggered out, hands trembling, eyes wide as the entire colosseum stared at her. Zaro leaned into the mic.
"Isn't she a brave one? Look at her trying not to faint!"
Mirea nearly did faint.
"And finally… Woewyn, rise to your feet— YOUR PRINCE. THE CHOSEN HEIR. SON OF THE MIGHTY KING THALOR, AND THE BEAUTIFUL YET FIERCE QUEEN THESSA, THE SERAPH OF TWILIGHT— DAAAMON VALE!!!"
The arena erupted.
"Huh? How did he know about the Seraph of Twilight thing?" Damon asked with honest confusion.
"Varnex got drunk and told a couple soldiers. You know how it goes from there." Cythera explained in a calm and dismissive tone.
"What?? But Varnex wasn't even there?" Damon questioned. But Cythera only pushed his back, nudging him out the room.
"Just go!" She said. Commanded.
Damon walked out with both hands in his pockets, his expression flat, his aura calm like a sleeping star.
He looked up at the royal stands. Nyra waved at him violently. Rika raised a hand shyly.
She looks happier, he thought.
Zaro raised a hand.
"NO KILLING. NO MAIMING. AND IF YOU BREAK THAT RULE, YOU WILL—YES I MEAN YOU—BE EXECUTED."
A pause.
"BEGIN!"
Klaven and Rhyden didn't wait a second.
Klaven made large spirals of compressed flame that exploded on impact. Rhyden created a lethal cone of wind-arrows.
Before they hit, Mirea slammed her palms into the ground. An earthen circle erupted around her and Damon, blocking the barrage entirely.
Zaro screamed, "SHE BUILT A MINI FORTRESS?! THIS GIRL IS A BRICK WALL WITH ANXIETY!"
Damon nodded calmly. "You've got this. I'll handle him."
"Wait—! I can't—I'm only good at defen—!"
Damon was already gone.
Panicking, Mirea wrapped herself inside a solid stone sphere.
Rhyden laughed. "Who says you can't play with your food?"
He wrapped wind around the sphere she was in and whipped it through the air like a toy.
Zaro clutched his chest. "OH NO—SHE'S LIKE A BOULDER PINBALL MACHINE!"
Inside, Mirea was bleeding, slamming against the walls of her sphere, her vision shaking.
"I can't… I can't… my family's watching. I can't be useless again—!"
Rhyden hurled the sphere up, higher than the colosseum's edge. Then—
SMAAACK—
He sent it crashing down. But just before impact, Mirea inhaled sharply.
"Disperse—!"
The sphere shattered into dust-sized fragments, swirling around her like a shimmering airbag as she crashed safely. She immediately recreated her sphere around the sand airbag.
A single shaky thumbs-up made of earth peeked out of the ground.
Zaro gasped dramatically. "She's ALIVE! Someone give that child a hug!"
Klaven wrapped fire around his fists, grinning with feral excitement.
Damon ignited his daggers, light flickering along his arms and chest, then launched.
Klaven struck first.
An explosive punch tore past Damon's cheek. Another burned the air by his ribs. A kick grazed his knee. Behind each strike Klaven sent an uncontrolled release of fire after his fists, aiming to not only strike but scar and potentially disintegrate the Chosen One.
Damon dodged each with hair-width precision.
Klaven snarled. "I see you also prefer hand to hand combat! Or is that only what you're good at? Is this the prince everyone's whispering about? YOU SHOULD'VE JUST STAYED A STORY!"
Colossal explosions burst from his fists as rapid-fire detonations.
Damon crossed his arms, Radiant Veil flaring—
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
Zaro: "SIKEEEEEEHHH—HE'S EATING THOSE HITS LIKE CANDY!"
Klaven appeared at Damon's flank while Damon was still sliding back—
THUD.
Fire-punch to the side.
Damon slid sideways, boots scraping the metal floor as he struggled to use his daggers to halt the motion. The heat on his ribs was intense, pain blooming under his skin.
He exhaled. "Okay. I understand."
Light flashed at his feet and he vanished. His arms blurred, carving light‑slices through the air. Klaven barely slipped past them, some clipped his sides deeply. He only groaned.
Then Damon snapped his fists shut and every slice converged at once, crashing into Klaven like several parts of a collapsing star becoming one.
The impact left the ground split into sharp, uneven plates, as if the arena floor had been struck by a hammer made of light. Thin cracks webbed outward in every direction, glowing faintly from the heat of the strike.
Damon waited to see Klaven breathe. He did.
Damon lazily shot a fast burst of light to his face. But Klaven struggled to raise his flaming fist, though blocking just in time. Suddenly, Damon appeared IN FRONT OF HIM. His entire vibe looked uninterested and dull.
A blade tore across Klaven's cheek and blood sprayed. A truly deep wound.
Klaven staggered. He looks bored... how insulting! A few more inches… and he could've sliced my neck…
Klaven grinned through the blood. "Not bad. If you had REAL fire, that might've hurt."
Damon didn't reply. Just launched again.
Klaven grew desperate and made thin, invisible threads of fire lashed out like tripwires.
One clipped Damon's neck. A burning sting.
Damon halted mid-strike. There. He saw them. The atmosphere was webbed with faint heat-lines only visible through distortions in light.
He simply covered his entire self in Radiant Veil and dashed with the ground cracking behind his feet. But Klaven smiled, thinking he'd gained the upper hand. He hadn't.
Rhyden got bored of Mirea. "Enough of this sickening play! Let's finish the other food!"
Wind spiralled violently around Damon mid-dash, forming a dome.
"CYCLONE CAGE!" Rhyden roared.
Arrows of wind fired inside randomly, fast and unpredictable. They were cutting through veil, slashing his back, tearing at his legs.
Hmm? Radiant Veil doesn't work on these? Is it because it doesn't have a direct force. Thinking about the force of it makes me happier than even fighting. Uh-oh... Damon thought.
Damon barely dodged the next rounds of strikes. They only grew faster, each breath he took was followed by a crushing attack of wind inside the dome. Smashing, slicing, slapping.
Mirea peeked out from her dust-cloud. Her heart dropped. "No… he's getting shredded… I have to… I have to help him—but—my body—!"
Then she clenched her fists. "Stop embarrassing them, Mirea." she said to herself.
Two earthen spikes shot upward, ripping into the cyclone at opposite angles. The airflow destabilized, shuddered and collapsed.
Light flickered inside and Damon FLASHED straight out.
Zaro nearly threw his mic. "SHE BROKE A WIND PRISON AT BLAZE-TIER—?! MIREA THORNE, MARRY ME—!!!"
Damon landed beside her as he healed his wounds. "Thanks." Then he dashed back. She almost cried at that one word.
A shadow moved at the edge of her vision. Klaven. Spikes of fire from his palm curved and pierced all over her body, without letting her breathe a tornado of fire spun around his arm.
"No—!" Mirea gasped.
BOOOOM—
The fire struck her full-force. She slammed into the wall, dust exploded, and when it cleared... She was bleeding everywhere, skin burned, body drilled, breath shallow. Still bouncing on the ground.
Zaro's voice cracked. "OH—By the Eternal One—someone get the healers!"
Damon whispered, "…No."
He dashed and caught her before she fell again, Radiant Veil wrapped around BOTH of them.
She managed a tiny smile. "I… just wanted them… proud of me…"
"You did well," he said quietly. "Don't talk. You've lost too much blood."
A larger blast slammed into Damon's back. He grunted, shielding her with his body.
On the royal platform, Queen Thessa clenched her first. "Don't give up, Damon…"
Damon carried Mirea to the corner, running, and set her down gently. He turned back but the combined ultimate was already coming. A spiraling spear of white-gold fire wrapped in razor wind. A drill of red light and hot wind.
It smashed into him.
"SCCCRRREEEEEEE—" Zaro screamed.
Damon was hurled into the wall beside Mirea. Drilled into it. Blood flew from his mouth. His bones screamed.
The arena shook. When it ended, he fell forward, his head hitting the ground.
Daichi shifted to wolf form, snarling, but Queen Thessa held him back. "You can't."
Damon laid still and Klaven walked over slowly. Pressed his boot onto Damon's skull. Grinding his face into the metal floor.
Rika yelled, "Is that even allowed?!"
Zaro looked terrified of the Earth girl. "Technically… yes?"
Klaven smirked. "I don't care if you're a prince. You just got here, who do you think you are? I'll win this ridiculous festival and represent Woewyn. Not you, you throne born idiot. You think you can beat me just because you're the Chosen one and you get a few amps. No..."
Damon tried to raise his head but Klaven stomped harder.
Klaven's eyes drifted to Damon's wrist.
"Oh? Jewelry?" He crouched. "A gift from a girl? Cute. But what kinda idiot brings something so valuable to battle? I suppose you don't deem it valuable at all."
Damon's eyes widened.
"Shame it won't last the round."
Snap.
Fragile beads scattered across the ground. Something in Damon's chest... broke.
His breath shook.
He forced himself up, fighting the pressure of Klaven's foot. He reached desperately for the pieces, trying to fix them, but his fingers trembled, blood from his face dripping onto his wrists.
Zaro whispered, his voice hollow, "…oh no."
Ninety percent of the arena gasped but Rhyden laughed and shot a gust of wind. Scattering the beads across the floor.
"…oops."
He didn't finish the laugh.
Because the world blinked—And Damon was gone.
Only distant spectators saw it clearly: Two Damons. One standing and one afterimage.
Klaven didn't realize he'd missed. He fired, but at the afterimage. The ground exploded. Fire blasted everywhere.
Damon had appeared behind Rhyden. Hand around his throat. Holding him in place, making Rhyden take his teammate's fire attack full-body.
When the flames cleared, Damon threw him like trash into the far wall.
BOOOOOOM.
One would think a stampede of giants went through the wall. Rhyden with his scorched body and twisted arm didn't get up but Klaven stumbled back. Damon appeared in front of him. Grabbing his face with his left hand and holding him up, grabbing his skeleton and squeezing.
"How dare you."
He dropped Klaven, but before his body touched the arena's ground— Damon's fist had connected to his face. A punch that not only caused pain but forced every tissue to remember it. The wind cracked like a whip, a gun, and a scared whistle all erupting at once.
Klaven's body arced through the air, then stopped cold as a hand clamped the back of his neck. Damon stood there, perfectly positioned, as if he'd read Klaven's landing before the punch even landed.
Damon smashed Klaven into the contestant hall, cracking the stone. He didn't stop. He dragged him inside and punched his face into the floor again. And again. While the other contestants watched him, thanking The Eternal One they didn't fight Damon.
Each word a blow: "Why." "Why." "Why."
Each blow sounded like explosions detonating inside a body.
Cythera didn't flinch.
Damon dragged Klaven back out. Threw him upward. Jumped after him and kicked him DOWN— then blasted him with a column of hot light, accelerating his fall and depending his pain.
Klaven's crash made the ground look like a massive internal combustion had just let go. He almost looked dead. But Damon didn't care, he descended like judgment.
His Tutors whispered:
Bravira: "He's brushing light's movements."
Queen Thessa: "He's awakening."
Varnex: "He might surpass Aegis soon."
Klaven struggled up. Damon stood over him, light bending around his body and glowing in his eyes.
"You shouldn't have touched it."
He blurred—dragged Klaven around the arena while scraping his face along the wall so fast the stone sparked. All while injecting small pulses of light, healing him just enough so the pain could continue. After that he swung Klaven around then flung him higher than the edges of the arena.
Thorpax: "Do you see that? He's healing him whilst ripping him."
Varnex: "He's gone devil-mode."
Draven: "He wants Klaven to feel this."
Rika whispered, confused, "But… getting angry doesn't make you stronger. That's not how it works…"
The Queen and Bravira answered in unison, "That's exactly how it works."
Nyra's voice, more admiration than shock, "He's not even gone into The Zone State, like before."
Queen Thessa in agreement, "He's controlling it for now... hopefully."
Rhyden revived but barely, and fired dozens of wind arrows. They all missed. Or rather Damon dodged, then caught one arrow in his hand.
"Don't interfere."
He threw it back before the other arrows hit the floor. It pierced Rhyden's body, dropping him again.
He tried to stand but Damon turned slightly, eyes illuminating blue.
"Sit down."
Rhyden's knees buckled instantly. Fear gripped his joints.
Klaven dropped from the sky and roared one last time. "DAMN YOU!! I'll destroy you and that whore of a lover!"
He gathered all his fire into one arm and shot downward, descending like a meteor with crimson light.
Before impact,
Time slowed— for Damon's eyes at least. Damon grabbed Klaven's forearm of fire and slammed him on both sides. Skin tearing, joints ripping, Klaven screaming. Then Damon stopped.
"Threaten me or Natsuki again... and I'll kill you."
Then Damon launched one final kick, straight into his gut, driving him through the metal floor. The crater kept widening, as if the arena itself was recoiling from the impact. Dust rose.
Silence.
Klaven was barely conscious.
Damon jumped out and walked away. Empty. Hollow. Wrist bare. He snapped his fingers. The circle of light he secretly created earlier reformed, it contained the entire arena excluding seats. It sudden collapsed inward—
BOOM.
The final implosion crushed Klaven into the ground whilst tearing him all over, the entire battleground was wrecked. The arena fell silent.
Damon crouched beside Mirea's collapsed form. Blood still dripped from his chin, but his hands were steady when he slid one arm under her knees, the other behind her burned back.
Mirea's eyes fluttered. "I… can walk…"
"You can't," he said, his voice raw. "And I'm not leaving you on the floor."
He stood. The colosseum went quieter than it had all match. It felt like the whole crowd forgot how to breathe. Some stared in fear, some in awe, and some stared simply because their eyes ceased to look away.
Zaro's voice cracked over the speakers, almost reverent. "Folks… your prince is carrying his teammate out. That's how you end a war."
Damon reached the doorway, and saw Cythera standing there.
He remembered she was Klaven's cousin. He didn't apologize.
His eyes seemed unreadable.
But Cythera read his eyes and shrugged softly. "I told you," she said. "I don't like him."