The Enforcer tossed the apple core. It hit the pristine white marble with a wet smack, the only sound in the massive arena.
He stood up. He was a wall of muscle encased in black steel, holding a serrated dao that looked heavy enough to cleave a horse.
"Tick tock. The sun is setting."
The ice girl shifted her weight. She pointed the tip of her rapier at Yang Yi's chest. Her hand trembled, but her eyes were cold. Calculation replaced the fear. She was running the numbers. Yang Yi was injured, burnt, and exhausted. The Enforcer was fresh.
"Nothing personal."
Yang Yi didn't look at her weapon. He kept his eyes on the Enforcer.
"You think killing me gets you through the gate? Look at him. He's not a referee. He's a butcher. He'll kill the survivor just for sport."
The Enforcer laughed. A deep, chest-rattling rumble. "Smart rat. I do enjoy a warm-up before dinner."
The girl hesitated. The tip of her rapier wavered.
Yang Yi spat a glob of blood onto the marble. "We kill him. We both walk."
"He's Tier 3 Peak," the girl whispered, her voice tight. "Maybe Tier 4. We can't scratch him."
"Then we die trying. Better than dying on your knees."
Yang Yi moved.
He didn't feint. He didn't scream. He exploded forward, channeling every ounce of the residual heat from the tunnel into his legs. The marble cracked under his boots.
The Enforcer sneered. "Predictable."
He swung the serrated dao. A horizontal slash that covered the entire width of the arena.
Yang Yi slid. He dropped to his back, skidding across the slick stone, watching the massive blade scream inches above his nose.
He kicked up. His heel slammed into the Enforcer's wrist.
It felt like kicking a granite pillar.
The Enforcer didn't even flinch. He twisted his wrist, bringing the pommel of the dao down.
Yang Yi rolled. The steel pommel pulverized the stone where his head had been. Shards of marble peppered his cheek.
"Frost!" Yang Yi roared, scrambling to his feet.
The girl woke up. She saw the opening. The Enforcer was overextended, his weapon smashed into the ground.
She thrust her hands forward. "Glacial Bind!"
Ice erupted from the floor, encasing the Enforcer's boots. It crawled up his greaves, locking his legs in place.
The Enforcer grunted. He flexed his thighs. cracks appeared in the ice immediately.
" annoying gnat."
He ripped his left leg free, showering the arena with ice crystals. He backhanded the air, sending a wave of qi pressure toward the girl.
She flew backward, tumbling across the marble. Her rapier skittered away.
Yang Yi didn't check on her. He used the distraction.
He jumped onto the Enforcer's trapped right leg. He vaulted up, grabbing the pauldron of the black armor.
The Enforcer growled. He reached up with his free hand to crush Yang Yi like a bug.
Yang Yi didn't dodge the hand. He met it.
He drew the ruined, blackened sword from his back. He didn't aim for the armor. He aimed for the joint—the armpit, where the plates overlapped.
He drove the blade in.
The steel crunched. It bit into flesh.
The Enforcer roared. Not in anger, but in pain. He slammed his body against the arena wall to dislodge the pest.
Yang Yi held on. The impact rattled his brain in his skull. His vision blurred. He tasted copper.
"Let go!"
The Enforcer grabbed Yang Yi by the neck. The grip was like a hydraulic press. Windpipes compressed. Vision went black at the edges.
Yang Yi stared into the Enforcer's eyes. He saw the confidence flicker.
"Now!"
The girl was back on her feet. She didn't go for her sword. She ran. She sprinted at the Enforcer, her hands glowing with a pale, suicidal light. She was burning her life essence for power.
She placed both palms on the Enforcer's chest plate.
"Zero Point."
Flash freeze.
The cold was absolute. The moisture in the air turned to diamond dust. The black armor turned white. The Enforcer's breath froze in his throat.
His grip on Yang Yi's neck loosened for a fraction of a second.
Yang Yi didn't breathe. He acted.
He released the sword. He grabbed the Enforcer's helmet with both hands.
The metal was brittle now. Supercooled by the girl's desperate technique.
Yang Yi channeled the heat of the beast blood into his palms. Fire meets ice. Thermal shock.
"Shatter."
He slammed his forehead into the helmet's visor.
CRACK.
The metal exploded.
Yang Yi fell back, gasping, rubbing his bruised throat.
The Enforcer staggered. Half his helmet was gone. His face was a ruin of frozen flesh and shattered steel. He took one step toward them, raised his dao, and then froze.
He toppled forward.
The crash shook the arena. The massive body lay still, a pool of dark blood spreading slowly on the white marble.
The crowd in the stands went silent.
Yang Yi sat up. He checked his neck. Bruised, but functional.
The girl collapsed a few feet away. Her skin was translucent, her hair white as snow. The technique had drained her dry.
A slow clapping echoed from the gate.
The heavy doors creaked open.
Elder Qin, the white-haired man who had started the trial, stood in the doorway. He looked at the dead Enforcer, then at the two battered rats on the floor.
"Impressive," Qin said. "He was supposed to weed out the trash. Instead, the trash took out the gardener."
Yang Yi stood up. He swayed, but he kept his feet. He walked over to the girl and offered a hand.
She looked at him, surprised. She took it. He pulled her up.
"The rule," Yang Yi rasped, looking at the Elder. "Only one passes."
Elder Qin smiled. It wasn't a kind smile.
"Rules are for those who cannot break them. You killed the rule-keeper."
He stepped aside, gesturing to the darkness beyond the gate.
"Welcome to the Outer Sect. Try not to die in your sleep."
Yang Yi didn't celebrate. He limped toward the gate, dragging the girl with him.
"Let's go. Before he changes his mind."
They crossed the threshold. The darkness swallowed them, leaving the bloodstained arena and the silent crowd behind.
Yang Yi touched the pocket at his hip. The Dragon Transformation Token was cool now. Silent. But he knew it was watching. It had found a host who could bite back.
End of Part 1.