***
The roar of the Colosseum was still shaking the sky when the floating platform began to descend.
Far below, thousands were still chanting the same word over and over again.
"STRANGER!"
"STRANGER!"
"STRANGER!"
Ignotus stood on the stone platform with his white hair fluttering in the wind, the red streaks on his face already fading. He looked calm now. Too calm for someone who had just stabbed his own sister in front of the entire Academy.
The healers had already carried Rosa away.
But the crowd didn't care.
To them, this had been the greatest match they had ever seen.
And the man who stood there now had just declared war on the world.
Far above the arena, hidden deep within the shadow of the Colosseum's arches…
Someone familiar watched.
It was Letum.
He leaned against a stone pillar, half his face swallowed by darkness.
His eyes were locked on Ignotus, his fingers digging so deeply into the stone railing that cracks had already begun to spread across it.
