Chapter 15
Special Tournament 3
The chains coiled tighter around Aurelia's body, squeezing her limbs with relentless pressure. Her legs began to swell under the strain, the metal constriction slowly creeping toward her chest.
She gasped for air. Her vision blurred. Tears welled in her eyes, not from fear, but from the pain, and the dizzying suffocation. The gray platform beneath her fractured and split apart, chunks of it scattering in the void like drifting islands.
Seth, caught off guard by the shifting terrain, quickly anchored himself by summoning chains from his feet, latching them to a stable fragment. Aurelia, still cocooned in her prison of chains, swung with the motion of the broken arena like a pendulum of metal and pain.
As her vision dimmed, a voice broke through the chaos."Remember, Aurelia… don't panic. Breathe. You can't use your strength when you're all over the place."
Her eyes widened. That voice—Her god.
The one who guided her.
Aurelia closed her eyes. She took a breath, steady and full. Her heartbeat slowed. The air around her tingled. Lightning sparked to life on her skin, coiling along her arms like electric vines. Her entire body ignited in golden arcs, and then, in a flash, the sphere of chains exploded outward in a burst of thunder and light.
A crack of lightning echoed through the arena as she shot through the air, landing on a nearby floating platform, her rapier in one hand, the other gripping the platform's jagged edge.
For a moment, the arena fell silent, then the crowd erupted into cheers.
Seth, watching from afar, paled. His breath caught. A tremor rattled through his limbs."F-Fuck..." he muttered, sweat pouring down his brow.
Desperate, he summoned more chains, wrapping them around his body like armor. The platform beneath him spun again, rotating with the arena's strange gravity. Aurelia faced him directly now, only twenty-five feet away.
He panicked. Opening his palms wide, dozens of chains launched from his back like a horde of metal serpents."I won!" he screamed inside his mind. "These chains... they never fail me!"
But Aurelia didn't flinch.
Electricity wrapped around her body, and in a heartbeat, she vanished.
A crack of lightning struck a platform closer to Seth. His heart stopped."She dodged them again?!"He tried the same move, whipping more chains toward her.
But again, Aurelia was gone, blinking forward in bolts of golden energy, darting from one platform to the next in a zigzag path. Seth's eyes failed to track her. His breathing turned frantic.
And then—She appeared beside him.
Just a glimmer in the corner of his eye.
Before he could even scream, her rapier pierced through his throat. The blade burst clean out the back of his neck, blood trailing down its shining edge.
They both went flying, crashing into a jagged piece of the platform. Aurelia landed on her feet, golden hair flowing like fire in the wind, her white eyes glowing like distant stars.
Seth lay crumpled beneath her. He crawled backward, gasping for air. Blood streamed from his forehead and the side of his neck. His once-pristine robes were soaked red.
Then, in a last desperate move, he opened his mouth wide. Aurelia blinked.
"What are you doing?" she asked flatly.
No reply.
His mouth overflowed with blood. A glint of deep red shimmered, then, from his throat, a crimson chain burst forth.
But Aurelia was faster.
She stepped aside with ease. The chain whipped past her harmlessly, clattering to the ground behind her.
She raised her rapier, its tip pointed at his face.
"Surrender."
Seth's eyes trembled. Tears spilled down his cheeks as the weight of his failure pressed down. He raised both hands.
"I SURRENDER!" he cried.
The crowd erupted, some in disbelief, others in wild celebration. Up in the executive boxes, government officials scribbled notes, their expressions sharp with interest. Leaders from every division were watching, some already smiling.
Aurelia opened her eyes again, this time, back in the void.
She yawned."Finally," she muttered, voice thick with fatigue.
From the stands, Shiro watched her match with fascination. His eyes shifted to the special seating section where his sister sat, scribbling something down.
Another match in Aurelia's group would begin in half an hour."Today's bracket is going to take forever…" he sighed.
Rising from his seat, Shiro made his way toward the food court. Aurelia, generous as ever, had given him 100,000 Won. He grinned to himself, slipping through the crowd in search of something tasty.
But halfway there, he froze.
A chill stabbed down his spine.
His hair stood on end.
Ahead, walking through the crowd, was a figure, one that didn't feel... human.
It was shaped like a man, but the illusion stopped there. Its skin drooped unnaturally, like rain running down a windowpane, and it was the color of damp ash. The thing was abnormally tall, at least seven feet, and wore a long, battered trench coat.
Something was wrong.
The air around the figure bent, stiff and dead. But no one else noticed. People passed it like it didn't exist, like Shiro was the only one who could see it.
The figure turned toward him.
Shiro tried to move, but his legs wouldn't budge. He looked down, thin, glowing red strings bound his feet like puppet threads, barely visible but tight and pulsating.
All sound vanished.
The world blurred.
The figure moved closer, slowly, methodically, each step heavier than the last. Shiro's heart pounded louder than the silence. He wanted to scream.
Then, the figure picked up speed.
Shiro panicked."G-G-GET AWAY!" he shouted.
The figure passed by without turning its head.
The stench was unbearable, like rotting blood and burnt chemicals, and it nearly made Shiro retch.
Then the world returned.
The voices, the laughter, the movement, all resumed instantly.
Gripping his chest, Shiro dropped to a bench, his heart slamming against his ribs. Sweat drenched his shirt."I-I can just ignore it, right? It's gone… so I don't have to worry…"A lie, but one he clung to.
He eventually found a ramen stand and sat with a bowl of spicy beef noodles. The aroma alone helped settle his nerves.
Reaching into his pocket for his phone, he instead pulled out…
A paper.
It hadn't been there before.
The slip was gray, damp in the lower right corner. A dark purple logo stained its surface, an ornate diamond shape. Inside the diamond, faintly drawn chains spiraled inward.
In the center was a smiling mask.
Behind it, two more masks drooped, their edges melting like wax.
Bold words were scrawled beneath them:
"Do you wish for power, Shiro? No... you will want power.We know your destiny."
A shiver crawled down his spine. The paper felt cold. Heavy. Like something alive.
And then, a familiar voice spoke from behind him.