[Stadium, Royal Viewing Box]
"Why did you stop me?" I asked, eyes narrowed at the king, who lounged comfortably, gazing at the chaos in the arena below, his face unreadable.
"We can't kill a noble angel without a proper reason."
"...It's a tournament," I said flatly. "They signed waivers. They knew the risks; hell, they bragged about them."
"Yes, but—"
"They're the ones who broke the barrier, not us. That was on them."
"You already took his wings. That's enough."
"Pfft. They can grow back."
"With effort."
"Not really. Rachel could heal that easily. Don't ask how I know. You don't need to."
"It is necessary to know."
"It isn't." I crossed my arms. "It doesn't change the plan. In the end, she's just another angel. Especially now that noble angels are crawling out of the woodwork."
The king sighed, folding his hands. "Rachel is more than that. She's a saintess; she holds weight in every realm."
"Ah. Well... still not saying anything. Just know she won't be showing up. If she does…" I let my voice trail off with a smile. "I'd already be dead."
"What?" Kayda asked, tilting her head at me.
"My new skill," I muttered, watching her eyes widen.
"You can use that on people too?!"
"Hey, you two," another voice cut in. "We're still here."
"It's fine," I waved them off. "We'll stick to your plan. What I did won't screw it up; it just gives us an edge. You all do know what I really am, right?"
The king exhaled slowly. "Fine. Just keep casualties to a minimum."
"Be careful, all of you," I said, nodding once before my form scattered into snowflakes.
[Elsewhere, Dimensional Pocket]
'So that's their plan,' I thought, materializing in a quiet void of shifting gray. 'They really think I'm just a piece on their board… Cute.'
"Oh? Is the grand finals today?" rumbled a deep, sleepy voice.
"Yeah, Granny," I replied, turning toward the massive cat lounging behind me, eyes still closed. "There should be three of his clones down there, right?"
"Correct. You'll face one alone. Be prepared."
"Most likely. But not for long."
"Don't bet everything on that new skill," she warned.
I gave her a lopsided grin. "I won't. Besides, it can't kill me anymore, thanks to you."
"Pfft. It can still hurt."
"Pain's just pain. Nothing more, nothing less."
[Arena, Now Hidden Behind a Black Barrier]
The audience roared with anticipation until the arena shimmered and snapped shut behind a veil of obsidian mist.
"What the—!?"
"Is that supposed to happen!?"
Outside, soldiers rushed the edges. Several lesser angels and guards began sparring violently in the outer sections of the stadium. The crowd couldn't see what was happening inside the dome, but they could hear the muffled explosions and faint shockwaves rattling the stadium seats.
Panic? Maybe. Excitement? Definitely.
[Inside the Arena]
"Yo, yo, yo, ladies, and—wait, what the hell?!" The announcer's voice cut off the moment the dome fell.
"Tch. Dramatic much?" I muttered, stepping onto the arena floor and facing Logan.
The air shimmered as the black dome sealed overhead, cutting us off from the outside world. No audience. No referees. Just me, Logan, and whatever tricks he'd brought.
'Alright, showtime,' I thought, stepping onto the arena floor with my usual swagger.
Logan waited, blade drawn, armor glowing faintly with blessings. "Are you ready?" he asked, faking confidence.
"Always." I formed a black katana in my right hand, letting the edge hum with subtle, dark energy. "Let's see if you've stopped being a punching bag."
Logan snarled. "I've trained every day for this. You won't humiliate me again!"
With a shout, he leapt forward, holy light wrapping around his sword. "Radiant Slash!"
I met him halfway, clang! Our blades locked, sparks flying. He pushed with everything he had.
'He's stronger… not strong enough though.'
I twisted under his guard and drove my knee into his ribs, sending him flying back.
While airborne, he shouted, "Holy Lances!"
Dozens of spears of light materialized midair, aimed straight at me.
Bang. Bang.
I drew my M9 in a fluid motion, blasting the nearest spears out of the air. The rest rained down; I flash-stepped left, then right, weaving through them with only a few scorch marks on my coat.
"Are you still using that outdated magic?" I scoffed. "Gotta do better."
Logan clenched his teeth. "Blinding Halo!"
A circle of blinding white light erupted under my feet.
"Tch,"
I jumped, but the flash still seared my eyes for half a second. I landed in a crouch, blinking spots away.
'Annoying trick, but still weak.'
Ratatatat!
I swapped to my AR-56 and sprayed fire at him; he dodged, zigzagging behind a barrier of conjured shields.
"Sanctuary Field!" he called, forming a dome of light around himself.
'Not letting you get comfy.'
I switched mags to explosive rounds.
Bang, BOOM!
The dome cracked with the first shot and collapsed by the third.
"You bitch!" Logan shouted, his body glowing now as he drew deep from his mana pool. "I'm not done!"
"Then stop playing defense and fight me!"
"Purifying Wrath!" he roared, launching a torrent of searing white fire from his palm.
I dove to the side, flames licking the edge of my coat.
"Shit, that one was new," I muttered, rolling and firing back.
He charged through the smoke, slashing wildly. "Light Edge, Double Split!"
Two blades of compressed light carved toward me; I ducked, sliding across the ground as they passed overhead.
Clack. Click. Bang.
I fired three rounds upward, catching him in the shoulder and hip.
"Grah!!" He staggered back, barely staying upright.
"Come on," I said, rising slowly. "Where is the holy might that I was warned about?"
Logan snarled, and then his aura changed.
The air around him began to warp. A pale vortex opened behind him, spinning clockwise like a vacuum in reality itself.
'Shit. Now he pulls it out.'
He raised one hand, letting the vortex feed off his mana. "You think you're clever with your bullets and toys? Let's see how clever you are when your magic gets eaten alive."
"Ah, Gluttony, huh?" I muttered, watching the vortex pulse with growing hunger. 'Damn. Gran warned me about this.'
I fired a mana bolt directly at the vortex; it evaporated instantly.
Bang. Bang.
I aimed at Logan instead, but the bullets lost velocity the moment they passed into the vortex's range. The pull was subtle, like gravity pressing sideways.
'It's feeding. Shit, it's pulling from me now.'
My mana started to drain, not heavily, but like a leak I couldn't plug.
"Lightstorm Barrage!" Logan shouted, sending bolts of raw divine power at me, guided ones.
"Try it!" I hissed and flash-stepped again, bullets spraying from the AR-56. I aimed for the air around the vortex, trying to keep space between us.
'I need to distance myself. Can't get caught in the range of that skill… It's not just eating mana; it's learning from it.'
My breathing tightened as I felt the familiar tug on my reserves.
'Not yet. I can't let this thing copy me.'
I summoned another gun mid-air, this time a heavier model, plasma-based. I didn't fire yet.
"Still got a new toy? It won't help." Logan shouted, eyes wide and almost crazed from the mana burn. His skin had started to crack along the edges; he was burning his life for this.
The vortex pulsed. Everything within ten meters was being sucked in.
'It's too unstable,' I thought. 'He doesn't even realize it'll collapse if he pushes more.'
He launched himself toward me again.
"Divine Spike!" he cried, casting a narrow, high-velocity lance of energy straight from the vortex's core.
I side-stepped, but the edge nicked my side. A deep burn cut through my ribs.
"Fuck!"
"You bleed after all!" Logan grinned, charging again.
Bang bang, click!
I emptied the mag point-blank into his chest, cracking his armor. He reeled back, coughing blood.
I didn't stop. I switched to explosive rounds again and sent him crashing into the ground with three detonating shots. The vortex flickered.
'I can't get close, or it'll rip my mana apart,' I thought, holding my side. But if I let him go on, that thing will start copying my energy signature too. I have to end it now.'
He groaned on the ground, but the vortex still spun.
"Give up, Logan," I said, voice low, breathing ragged.
"Never… I was chosen. I'll be stronger than anyone, stronger than even you!"
He reached toward the vortex.
"Oh, for fuck's sake."
I appeared behind him and aimed at his neck.
Just as I pulled the trigger,
Click.
My gun dissolved. The vortex had reached out invisibly, pulling apart the structure of my weapon at the molecular level.
"You son of a—!"
I kicked his leg out, caught him by the back of the neck, and slammed him into the arena floor hard enough to crack the stone beneath us.
He didn't get up.
The vortex still spun.
"Yeah. "This might present a challenge."
A voice chuckled softly from behind the vortex.
"Heh." "Like I thought," came a velvet-slick voice. "He didn't stand a chance."
I turned, eyes narrowing. A figure stepped out, refined, smug, and glowing faintly with divine gold.
"Huh. When did you get here?" I asked, stepping back.
I glanced up; the dome was no longer the same. Blackened, warped. The mana signature was wrong.
'We're not in the arena anymore… This is his realm.'
The God of Light smiled. "Not part of the original plan, but I figured, why not? Let's talk."
"Try again, fatty," I replied, smirking.
He appeared in front of me in a blink, his hand gripping my throat.
"Kkh,"
"Calm down," he muttered to himself.
"Yeah, you do that," I said, and exploded into white crystal, coating his body in jagged ice.
He shattered it with a pulse of light. "Cheap trick."
"You haven't seen anything yet," I said calmly.
Three blue portals shimmered open in the air above us, each one humming with power.
And I stepped through all of them at once.
"Oh? Three of you now?" he said, raising an eyebrow.