The crowd was already on its feet before Aara stepped into the ring.
Not cheering.
Just watching.
Like they were waiting to witness a prophecy fulfill itself — whether it ended in a resurrection…or a funeral.
Screens glowed red with the name:ASH
And across from it, in black:
SORI (GEN II)
Sori stood like she was carved from stone.Taller. Sharper. Eyes empty.
Her movements were unnatural — too smooth, too mechanical.And when she smiled, it didn't reach her eyes.
"Didn't think you'd come back to die in public," she said as Aara entered the cage.
"I came back to remind them who died last time," Aara replied.
Sori chuckled.
"You're still talking like pain is poetry."
"No," Aara said, taking her corner."I talk like someone who's learned to survive her own ending."
Bell.
Round 1.
The first hit landed hard.
Sori was fast.Too fast.
Aara took a blow to the ribs that nearly knocked the wind out of her.
The crowd leaned forward — like sharks scenting blood.
But Aara didn't stumble.
She absorbed it.
Rolled with it.
And struck back — elbow to the collarbone, followed by a hook to the jaw.
It connected — not enough to drop her, but enough to remind everyone:
Ash still burns.
In the second round, it got worse.
Sori's enhanced stamina kicked in.
Every punch was faster.Every move more calculated.
She wasn't fighting to hurt.
She was fighting to dismantle.
Haru watched from the edge of the barricade, fists clenched so hard his nails dug into his palms.
Jin stood beside him, silent — but her mouth was bloodless, her breathing shallow.
"She's going to get torn apart," Haru said.
"No," Jin whispered."She's going to make them watch."
Halfway through Round 2, Aara's lip split.Her eye swelled.Her breathing hitched.
But she kept moving.
Not pretty. Not perfect.Just forward.
Like she was dancing with her ghosts.
And refusing to let them lead.
Sori laughed mid-round.
"You're tired. Old. Slower than you used to be."
Aara wiped blood from her mouth and grinned.
"Still standing."
Then she cracked Sori across the jaw.
And for the first time —Sori stumbled.
The crowd roared.
Not for Sori.
Not for Aara.
But for the war.
Round 3.
Sori came in like a weapon.
No more showboating.
Just violence.
She cornered Aara.Hammered her.Clinched.Elbowed.Tried to drop her fast.
But Aara... changed.
She didn't block.Didn't dodge.
She absorbed.
Like she'd stopped trying to win.
And started making sure every single person watching knew she could bleed and still keep coming.
One rib cracked.She felt it.
Didn't show it.
Blood in her mouth.
Didn't spit it.
And then—with the crowd chanting SORI's name in a wave of corporate conditioning—
Aara turned her head, looked straight into the camera, and whispered:
"Watch me burn."
She slammed her head into Sori's nose.
Cracked it.
Sori reeled back.
Aara followed.
Hook.Elbow.Knee.Spin.
Every hit was earned.
Every hit was hers.
And the final blow?
Wasn't pretty.
It was a left hook born from every apology she never got,every bruise no one acknowledged,every night she wondered if surviving was even worth it.
Sori dropped.
Hard.
Bell.
The crowd didn't cheer.
Not right away.
They were stunned.
Like someone had shattered the script.
Aara didn't raise her arms.
She stood over Sori's body, shoulders shaking, blood dripping from her jaw.
Eyes wild.
Not victorious.
Just... free.
The announcer didn't speak at first.
Then:
"And the winner, by knockout—ASH."
Jin broke first.She ran to the cage.
Haru followed.
They reached her as she dropped to her knees.
No speech. No roar.
Just Aara, staring at her blood-covered hands.
"I didn't come here to win," she said quietly.
"You didn't," Haru replied.
"Then what did I do?"
"You ended it."
Backstage, the sponsors were in chaos.
Daehyun watched the replay in silence.
His assistant asked:
"Should we respond?"
He didn't answer.
He was already picking a new target.
Because the monster he built had just chosen to burn his empire — live.