Sayo changed at night.
Lanterns dimmed, crowds thickened, and the air around the arena grew heavy, like the city itself was holding its breath. Kael felt it the moment he stepped inside the outer ring—a pressure far denser than the mountain's, layered with suppression runes and old authority. This place was designed to cage monsters without killing them. Loki floated low and close, voice unusually serious. "Multiple Awakened signatures. Suppression field at eighty percent. You'll feel slower. Everyone will." Kael cracked his neck. "Good. Makes things honest." Ylva walked half a step behind him, hood up, silver eyes scanning constantly, her reduced aura tightly controlled. She leaned closer and whispered, "Every fighter here is hungry." Kael smirked. "So am I."
The registration hall buzzed with restrained violence. Awakened from every path and power stood in clusters—beast-types, elemental wielders, weapon-bound maniacs, calm-eyed killers pretending not to size each other up. When Kael signed his name, the rune burned brighter than the rest. Murmurs spread instantly. Loki snorted. "Congratulations. You're already famous." Ylva crossed her arms. "They're watching you like prey." Kael glanced around, lightning flickering briefly in his eyes. "Let them."
A bell rang.
The arena gates opened.
The stadium was colossal, carved into the city itself, tiered stone soaked with centuries of controlled bloodshed. At the center lay a circular platform etched with runes meant to absorb excess power and redistribute it—painfully. The announcer's voice thundered across the arena, magically amplified. "Welcome, Awakened of Sayo! Today, strength is tested without death! Power will be claimed, but lives will be spared!" Loki muttered, "Mostly." Kael stepped forward as the crowd roared, feeling the suppression bite into his bones, his lightning compressed but not extinguished. He liked it. Pressure revealed weakness.
His first opponent entered from the opposite gate.
The air warped.
A tall man clad in layered red armor stepped onto the platform, a massive chained gauntlet dragging behind him, each link etched with devouring runes. His presence was wrong—too calm, too heavy. Loki froze mid-air. "Warning. High-tier Awakened detected. Power manifestation unknown. Power density exceeds previous opponents." Ylva inhaled sharply. "That's… him." Kael didn't look away. "You know him?" Her jaw tightened. "They call him Rath Veyron. He doesn't kill—but everyone he defeats never recovers." Rath's eyes locked onto Kael, and he smiled like a man who had already decided the ending.
The announcer raised his hand. "Match One—begin!"
Rath didn't rush.
He lifted a single finger, and the chains of his gauntlet came alive, slamming into the arena floor, runes igniting as they spread outward like veins. Kael felt it instantly—his movement dragged, lightning resisting his own body. Loki shouted, "Binding field! He's stealing momentum!" Kael laughed under his breath. "Clever." He vanished in a crack of thunder, reappearing behind Rath, fist already shifting, scales forming mid-strike—but the chain snapped back impossibly fast, wrapping around his arm and yanking him forward.
The crowd gasped.
Rath leaned in, voice low, amused. "Storm Dragon," he said. "Let's see how much of you the city allows to exist."
The chains tightened.
Lightning screamed.
And somewhere deep beneath the arena, ancient runes began to awaken.