Kuro walked back to his seat without a word.
Before sitting, he turned his head slightly and looked straight at me.
He smirked.
Not wide. Not arrogant.
Just… knowingly.
Behind my mask, my brows furrowed. What's with this guy? I thought. Why's he so fixated on me? It was kind of creepy. Like he knew something I didn't.
I looked away, trying to shake the tension off—but my heart stayed tight in my chest.
The announcer's voice echoed through the sky again, this time sounding both hyped and slightly nervous.
"Alright, folks! It just keeps getting crazier! Next match is one you don't want to miss."
From the south gate, a massive, hulking man walked into the stadium. Muscles like boulders, covered in jagged armor. He carried a warhammer the size of a grown man on one shoulder like it was made of foam. The ground cracked beneath his feet.
"Entering the field—Gorak the Earthsplitter! A B-rank veteran with 126 wins under his belt!"
Cheers erupted.
Gorak raised his hammer in response, letting out a guttural roar that shook the arena.
But the crowd wasn't ready for what came next.
The announcer turned toward the opposite gate and hesitated, his voice trembling just a bit as he read the next name.
"And his opponent... entering from the North Gate… we have... Jay. No title. No history."
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"Jay?"
"Who?"
"Why does he get a match against Gorak?"
Then—he stepped out.
No grand entrance. No theatrics.
Just silence.
Jay walked forward with hands in his pockets, head down slightly. Black, ragged hair fell over his eyes. He wore a simple long black coat with silver stitching along the cuffs. He looked like my age, His presence was so quiet, it almost felt like he wasn't there at all—
Until he looked up.
That's when everything changed.
The air turned cold.
Not like wind, but like existence itself had chilled. Mana rippled from him in waves—heavy, slow, suffocating. Like the ocean pressing against your chest. Every step he took toward the arena, the light seemed to dim just a little more.
I felt it instantly.
That aura…
My breath caught in my throat.
It was too familiar.
Demonic, yet controlled. Crimson, yet silent.
It felt just like mine—but colder.
It didn't scream. It whispered.
And somehow, that was worse.
Kuro raised a brow too, watching Jay with mild curiosity. Even he leaned forward in his seat.
Jay stepped into the ring and stopped ten meters from Gorak.
Didn't draw a weapon.
Didn't raise a stance.
Just looked up.
Dead eyes. Void of emotion.
The announcer barely got the word out.
"B—Begin!"
Then—
BOOM.
Gorak flew across the arena, his massive frame crashing into the stone wall like a ragdoll. The impact shattered the entire section of the barrier, and his hammer spun off into the sky, landing yards away with a clang.
The audience was silent.
Frozen.
No one had seen what happened.
Not even me.
Jay hadn't moved. Not visibly.
But Gorak was done.
Smoke curled from his body as he twitched against the wall.
The healers hesitated—too stunned to even approach.
Jay turned slowly. Calm. Unbothered.
His eyes scanned the stands, and then—briefly—landed on me.
Not for long.
Just long enough to say, without speaking:
"You feel it too, don't you?"
Then he walked off.
No cheers. No applause.
Just the silence of an entire arena unable to process what they'd just seen.
The announcer gulped audibly.
"V-Victory… goes to… Jay."
No title.
No background.
No mercy.
I clenched my fists beneath my cloak. My aura—it reacted to his. Like it recognized it. Or feared it.
"Could he be the one?" I whispered under my breath. "The demonic human…?"
Kuro leaned in beside me, speaking just loud enough for only me to hear.
"Looks like you're not the only monster in this place, mask boy."
I stayed silent, staring at Jay's back as he returned to his seat in the far corner of the stands. The air around him still felt wrong. Like a void. Like he was too heavy for the world to carry.
And yet, something in me stirred.
Not fear.
Not hate.
Something deeper.
Rivalry.
This tournament wasn't just a battleground anymore.
It was a warning.
And I had no choice but to answer it.