The air inside the barrier crackled with static as Kaelen launched himself across the arena.
He was fast—unnaturally fast. To the naked eye, he was a blur of green light and black steel, closing the fifty-meter gap in the blink of an eye. His corrupted sword screamed as it sliced through the air, aiming directly for my neck.
The crowd gasped, expecting blood.
I didn't block. I didn't summon Nero.
I simply took a half-step to the left.
Whoosh.
The black blade carved through the empty space where my jugular had been a microsecond before. Kaelen stumbled, his momentum carrying him forward.
I checked the time on my obsidian watch.
"Too slow," I murmured.
Kaelen roared and spun around, unleashing a flurry of strikes—overhead, horizontal, thrust. Each one was lethal. Each one missed by exactly one inch.
My shoes, the [Boots of Hermes (Legendary)], glowed with a faint, winged sigil. They cost twelve million credits at the auction house last week. They increased agility by 300% and practically moved my feet for me.
"Is this the power you sold your soul for?" I taunted, dodging a decapitating strike with a bored yawn. "Did you get a discount? Because the quality is lacking."
Kaelen stopped. He stood panting in the sand, his eyes wild and bloodshot.
"Stop... mocking... ME!"
SNAP.
Something inside Kaelen broke.
The Cursed Ring on his finger pulsed with a violent, sickening light. It didn't just glow anymore; it fed.
Kaelen screamed—a sound that started human and ended as a guttural, distorted shriek from the depths of the Abyss.
Black sludge erupted from the ring, engulfing his arm, then his chest, then his face. It wasn't mana; it was organic, living darkness. It formed a carapace of twisted, obsidian armor over his skin. His sword fused with his hand. His eyes dissolved into pools of solid, toxic green.
He was no longer a student. He was a Void Monster.
[Warning: High-Level Void Entity Detected.]
[Target: Kaelen (Corrupted)] [Level: ???]
Kaelen threw his head back and unleashed a [Void Scream].
SCREEEEEEEEE!
The sound wave hit the military-grade magical barrier surrounding the arena.
CRACK.
The barrier, designed to withstand siege magic, shattered like cheap glass.
"The barrier is down!" a Royal Guard screamed. "Evacuate the front rows! He's going to kill everyone!"
Panic erupted in the stands. Nobles trampled each other to get to the exits. The Headmaster and the Royal Guards rushed toward the arena, but the sheer pressure of the Void mana pushed them back like a physical wall.
Inside the storm, I stood calm, my tie fluttering in the gale force winds.
I sighed, adjusting my cufflink.
"I wanted to save this for the war," I said, my voice cutting through the chaos. "But you leave me no choice."
I tapped the face of my watch twice.
"Protocol: Silver King."
[Vayne Corp Prototype: Nano-Suit Active.]
Liquid silver metal poured out of the watch. It flowed over my hand, up my arm, and across my chest in a seamless ripple of technology and magic.
Within seconds, the black funeral suit was gone. In its place, I wore a sleek, high-tech exoskeleton that shimmered like mercury. Blue mana lines pulsed along the plating, and a V-shaped visor slid over my eyes, bathing my vision in tactical data.
This was the pinnacle of magi-tech engineering. A suit that cost more than the GDP of a small country.
Kaelen, now a mindless beast, turned his green gaze toward me. He sensed the threat.
He charged. This time, the ground exploded behind him.
He swung his mutated sword arm, a strike heavy enough to cleave a tank in half.
I didn't dodge.
I raised my left hand.
CLANG.
The sound of the impact was deafening. A shockwave blasted the sand outwards, knocking the approaching Royal Guards off their feet.
When the dust settled, the crowd—those who hadn't fled—stared in disbelief.
I had caught the Void Sword. With one hand.
The liquid metal of my palm gripped the corrupted blade, the servos in the suit whining with immense power.
"You traded your soul for power, Kaelen," I said, my voice amplified by the suit's speakers.
I squeezed. The corrupted blade began to crack.
"I just traded money."
CRUNCH.
I shattered his sword.
"Mine is better."
Kaelen screeched, swiping at me with his other claw. I ducked under the blow and drove a mana-enhanced fist into his stomach.
BOOM.
The impact lifted him off his feet. The void armor on his chest cracked, leaking black ichor.
He crashed into the arena wall, crumbling the stone. Before he could recover, I was there. I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the rubble.
He thrashed, the Ring trying to consume him completely to survive. The black sludge began to creep over his face, aiming to suffocate the last of the human boy underneath.
[Alert: Target Critical. The Host is being consumed.]
I drew a simple, mithril dagger from my hip.
"I could kill you," I whispered to the struggling monster. "I could end your misery right now."
Kaelen's human eye emerged from the sludge for a second, filled with tears and terror.
"But," I continued. "Dead martyrs are annoying. I prefer broken side characters."
I didn't aim for his heart.
I aimed for his hand.
SHING.
With a single, surgical movement, I sliced off Kaelen's left ring finger.
The severed digit, still wearing the Cursed Ring, fell into the sand.
HISSSSSS!
The corruption shrieked. Separated from its host, the black armor instantly turned to ash and crumbled away.
Kaelen gasped, the green light fading from his eyes. He collapsed forward, falling into my arms not as a monster, but as a unconscious, bleeding boy.
The arena went silent.
The wind died down. The pressure vanished.
I stood in the center of the ruin, the silver nano-suit retracting back into my watch. I held the unconscious former Hero by the collar of his ruined uniform.
I looked up.
The magical projection of the Emperor zoomed in on me. The old ruler wasn't horrified. He was smiling. A wolfish, approving smile.
I let Kaelen drop into the dirt. He looked small. Defeated. Irrelevant.
A golden light filled my vision, sweeter than any applause.
[ Main Quest Complete: The Academy Arc. ]
[ Antagonist Defeated: Kaelen (The Fallen Hero). ]
[ Outcome: Total Victory. ]
[ Reward: +5,000 Destiny Points. ]
[ Item Received: The Dragon's Tear (Legendary Catalyst). ]
I adjusted my tie, smoothed my hair, and looked at the stunned Headmaster.
"Clean this up," I ordered. "I have a victory speech to write."