It struck Adia down, her broken sword scattering into pieces, then grabbed Romal with its massive arm, crushing the spear beneath its claws, and lifted the man into the air like a doll.
Romal's scream pierced the place.Adam remained standing, his gaze cold, his hand trembling but he did not move."No one wants to reveal themselves… and I didn't either. But…"
The beast slammed Romal violently to the ground, then rushed toward Adam again, this time with a speed that left no room for thought.Adam slowly raised his eyes, and in a strange moment of silence amidst the chaos of explosions, he whispered:
— "Enough."
The ground around his feet blurred, and the shadows began to spread like black ink seeping from within him.The air turned suddenly cold, and the crystal light that illuminated the forest seemed to suffocate.Then suddenly… a wall of pure darkness rose before the beast, solid as stone yet pulsing like a living being, blocking the strike completely.
Romal gasped from where he stood, struggling to rise:— "…An element?!"
Adia stared wide-eyed, her trembling body reflecting her shock:— "A child… possessing this level of control?"
The beast retreated half a step, its roar echoing through the forest, then it lunged again with fiercer rage.But the darkness around Adam did not dissipate; instead, it moved as though it were another limb of his body. It burst from the ground like whips, coiling around the beast's limbs to restrain its movement, and in the next moment, a dark spear rose and pierced the side of its massive body.
Blood erupted from the wound.The beast roared, shaking violently, but it did not fall.
Adam, standing amidst the dancing shadows, his face expressionless, his eyes glinting with a dark gleam:"I don't want to reveal my power… but death is not an option."
The darkness suddenly receded as if it had never been, leaving the beast staggering, wounded but alive, while the battlefield bore the unmistakable traces of power.
Romal and Adia exchanged heavy looks… they did not ask, they did not comment, but in their hearts they realized that this child was no ordinary participant.The beast staggered after the blow of darkness, but it did not fall. On the contrary, its body ignited with even more feral energy, its flowing blood turning into red vapor that surrounded it like a living mist, its roar filling the forest as though signaling the start of a harsher round.
Romal rose, clutching his wounded shoulder, his grip tightening on the half-broken spear.Adia, despite her pain, lifted her other short sword hidden at her waist, her narrowed eyes glowing with determination.
For a moment, the three exchanged glances:No agreement, no words, only a silent understanding that this fight against such a creature could not be endured alone.
The beast charged again, four shadowed arms flailing in the air, and its main claws aiming to cleave them together.This time, no one fled.
Adam raised his hand, and dark chains surged from the ground, attempting to paralyze the beast's movements.Romal leapt forward, his broken spear shortened but still deadly, and he drove it into the beast's flank.At the same moment, Adia circled around its back with agility, her short sword piercing between its shoulder blades where a small weak point appeared amid the cracks.
The beast's scream shook the place, its body trembling violently, but it stomped the ground with its feet, releasing a shockwave that hurled the three backward.
Adam fell first, but his shadows coiled around him like a cushion to protect him.Romal rolled across the ground, then immediately rose, blood dripping from his forehead, his voice hoarse as he growled:— "We don't back down!"
Adia, despite her deep wound, raised her sword again:— "It's bleeding… let's hold on a little longer!"
The three charged together:
Adam's shadows bound the beast's arms.
Romal's spear attacked relentlessly at its weak spots.
And Adia's sword flashed like a swift gleam, striking at the openings created by the other two's attacks.
The forest trembled from the ferocity of the clash.The beast's blood drenched the ground, its breaths turning into ragged gasps. With each attack, it grew slower, heavier, until it seemed to be fighting on its last instinct.
In the end, Adam surged forward with a swift step, darkness gathering around his arm like a black sword, and struck the side of the beast's head with all his strength.The beast let out a final scream, then fell to its knees, its massive body collapsing slowly… until it struck the ground.
Silence followed.Only their breaths remained—ragged, exhausted.
They stood apart as they had begun, each trying to hide what the others had just done.No one thanked the other. No one admitted that without cooperation they would have been dead.
Adam wiped the blood from his face, speaking in a cold, low voice, barely audible:— "…" (A single sound escaped him, as if he wasn't speaking to them but rather to himself.)
Then he slowly turned, walking away into the shadows, leaving Romal and Adia to exchange a silent glance, knowing that what happened today… would not be forgotten easily.The forest still groaned with the beast's cries, the ground trembling with every step it took, countless wounds covering its body, yet it did not fall. Instead, it grew more frenzied, as though pain was its fuel. The darkness wrapped the scene, death's breath dancing between the branches, and yet the three—Adam, Romal, and Adia—stood as one line, though they barely knew each other, united by a harsh truth: survival belongs to the strongest.
Romal Anderson, with his rugged features and sharp eyes, clenched his fist and released a booming roar before charging at the beast with steps that shook the earth. He raised his hands, forming a strange crimson-tinged circle of light, then struck the beast's chest with a violent surge of energy. The air ruptured for a moment, the ground cracked beneath his feet, and the beast staggered back two meters, but its fangs remained bared, blood pouring heavily.
Adia Finger, with long violet hair and eyes filled with determination, did not hesitate. She leapt forward with uncanny agility, her body glowing with threads of energy, each of her movements sharp as a blade. She struck from the side, driving her attack into the beast's massive leg in an attempt to unbalance it, but she felt a harsh recoil forcing her back a meter, and yet her resolve did not break.
Adam, who had remained silent since the start of the battle, watched with cold eyes. When he finally raised his hand, dense strands of darkness surged from his body, intertwining like serpents, enveloping the place. For the first time, the beast seemed hesitant as it faced that mysterious energy. Its eyes darted wildly left and right, trapped in the vortex of darkness Adam had created.
Still, the beast was no easy foe. It roared with a voice that pierced the forest and hurled its massive body forward, attempting to crush the three at once. Romal gathered the last of his strength, focusing his energy into his fist, then shouted:— "Now… the end!"
He leapt high, charging toward the beast's head with a finishing strike, power concentrated in a single blow. The sky exploded with a dark light, his strike colliding with the beast's skull, thunder echoing, waves of energy tearing the trees around them apart.
For a moment, all thought the beast was finished… but a strange silence followed. From within the smoke and dust, the massive body still moved, slowly but savagely, its eyes blazing red, its muscles trembling with doubled force.
Only then, from behind them, an old man advanced with slow yet steady steps. His long white beard swayed with the wind, his straight back bearing the weight of countless experiences. He was Dan Linker, seventy-one years old, one of the sixteen participants, yet he looked as if he had emerged from another era.
He drew an ancient sword from its sheath, the blade glowing with a deadly gleam as if it did not belong to this world. He raised it with utter calm, without any show of force, then spoke quiet words, barely heard:— "One sword is enough."
He stepped forward once, but that single step was faster than the eye could follow. In an instant, he stood directly before the beast, his sword flashing in a straight line.
Only one sound was heard… the sound of wind being split.
Time froze for a second. Then suddenly, the beast's body split into two equal halves, from the top of its head to the bottom of its torso. Blood rained down, and the earth swallowed its final roar.
The forest drowned in heavy silence.
Romal, Adia, and even Adam—with his usual coldness—could not hide the shock that painted their eyes. It was not merely a victory… it was a terrifying display of unbelievable power.
Dan calmly returned the sword to its sheath, then turned his back without another word, as though what he had done was not worth mentioning. He left the three behind to face the truth: that among them was a man capable of ending the mightiest beast with a single strike.
The forest filled with a new spirit… but it was not the spirit of victory. Rather, it was a frozen sense of danger.After Dan split the beast in half and left without a glance, the air remained heavy with silence, as though the forest itself trembled at what it had witnessed. The strike was not merely the end of a battle… but a clear declaration: within the group, there was someone whose power surpassed all imagination.
Romal Anderson was the first to break the silence, clenching his trembling fist. He had poured all his strength into his final strike, and yet he had only managed to wound the beast. While that old man, with a single step and a single strike, had ended the battle entirely. Within him, a feeling of humiliation and envy burned, but he could not hide his admiration:"If this old man is this strong… what awaits us in the tournament?"He began to wonder if it was wise to reveal all his cards so early.
Adia Finger, unlike Romal, felt a strange chill in her body. The scene was not just a show of power, but a harsh reminder that despite her years and experience, she was still fragile before such a monster. Her gaze at Dan was not only admiration, but deep unease:"Is this man an enemy or an ally? And if he is an enemy, how could we possibly face him?"She began to realize that the tournament was not merely a clash among the young, but a trial that weighed even the old upon its scales.
Adam, as always, remained silent. His eyes followed Dan as he vanished into the shadows. Inside him was a tide of contradiction: part of him saw Dan as a direct threat, another part felt a strange pull, as though he wanted to unravel the riddle of this man."One strike… without exaggeration, without noise…"Something in that moment awakened the memory of Neil's old lessons about calmness at the heart of power. Adam did not feel envy like Romal, nor dread like Adia, but something colder: a desire to understand, a desire to know "how."
But deep within, one idea took root:— "This old man… will be more dangerous than the beast itself in the tournament."
All of them left that night with a different resolve:
Romal would double his training to prove himself.
Adia would watch carefully and recalculate.
Adam would sink further into his darkness, seeking the "essence of the single strike."
And from that moment on, the beast was no longer the true danger… but the sixteen themselves.