BAAAAM—
A deafening blast tore through the arena, the sound cracking like thunder against stone walls.
The ground beneath my feet shuddered violently, sand erupting upward in a hot, stinging spray that scraped across my skin.
Energy detonated from my body.
The fragment in my hand liquefied—
It shifted against my palm, warm and unstable, like holding something alive. It slid and twisted, reforming into…
a dagger. It pulsed—soft, rhythmic vibrations traveling from the hilt into my fingers, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me.
[Near—death Awakening performed successfully]
Carlos was blasted backward, his boots dragging harshly through the sand with a rough scraping sound, grains scattering and ticking against stone.
[Mana capacity has been increased tenfold.]
Energy flooded in—too much. My chest locked.
"Why is the system being so generous all of a sudden?!" I coughed, sound died in my throat.
Carlos staggered. Sand crunching under his weight. Then laughed.
"It seems," he said, wiping blood from his lip with a wet smear, "the gods have chosen another tool."
"What is your problem?" I muttered, air coming out in short bursts.
My left arm—it moved.
A faint tingling spread through it, like pins and needles waking from death. Muscles twitched, nerves sparking back to life.
Mana forced it back together—fast, unnatural.
I just need to touch his forehead.
"You just need to touch my forehead!" Carlos shouted, his voice booming across the arena, arms spreading wide.
"I believe in you!"
His laugh echoed—too loud, too sharp.
"You can do it."
He wasn't reacting the way he should. The wind shifted, carrying the dry scent of sand and iron.
He wasn't afraid. He was rooting for me.
A chill crawled down my spine, cold and slow, like something breathing against my neck.
I don't want to see it. The memories.
They'll flood me again—but I have to.
My boots slammed against the sand, each step sending vibrations up my legs. Air rushed past my ears in a sharp whistle.
Fire roared around the dagger, heat licking up my arm, the crackle loud and violent as I infused it with mana—and hurled it.
It cut through the air with a shrill whistle. Carlos caught it. His fingers closed around the blade with a dull crunch.
The dagger shattered.
Fragments fell like glass, tinkling faintly as they hit the ground.
"Seriously?" he sighed. Before I could react—he was in front of me.
His hand clamped around my left arm.
CRACK
A sickening snap rang out.
Pain exploded through my body, white-hot and blinding. My breath hitched into a broken gasp as warmth sprayed across my chest.
My arm—was gone... He held it.
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
Blood hit the sand.
"You call that an awakening?" he murmured, voice low, almost bored.
My vision blurred, edges darkening.
TAP
My remaining hand pressed against his forehead.
For the first time—his smile faltered.
"You…" I coughed, the taste of iron flooding my mouth.
"You talk too much." He looked down slowly.
His fingers still wrapped around my severed arm.
Blood slid between them, thick and dark.
[Judgment Denied.]
The words echoed coldly, cutting through everything.
[You can only judge three candidates per twenty-four hours.]
My heartbeat stopped.
Or maybe it just felt like it.
"No—this…" I gasped, stumbling back, boots dragging harshly through sand.
"Can't judge, huh?" he laughed, tossing my arm aside with a wet thud.
"Looks like you forgot some rules."
"You can only judge three candidates per day."
I knew this… didn't I?
Then why does it feel like I'm remembering it now?
No—the system didn't tell me in the first place...
Or... did it?
I knew I had heard it before but something slipped—like a thought I couldn't grab.
I can't keep up this fight any longer.
Even though I've awakened…
I could still die.
He is stronger than me.
His footsteps crunched closer.
"Unlike you… I don't need to judge."
A heavy thud echoed as something massive settled onto his shoulder.
"I can crush you with my own hands."
"You're not trying to win... are you?"
Sand kicked up behind me, grains stinging my legs as I pushed forward.
"Oh, is that so?" he laughed, the sound chasing me.
"I'm done playing."
A deep metallic hum filled the air as he withdrew it—a massive mace.
It cut through the air with a low, heavy whoooom, the pressure alone making my ears ring.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"A masterpiece indeed," I muttered, leaping back.
I forced mana into my body..Warmth spread, sealing wounds, stopping the bleeding—slow, painful, like flesh stitching itself together under invisible hands.
The rest—speed.
"Faster!" he bellowed.
The mace swung—
WHOOOSH—
I barely dodged, the air pressure slamming into my side.
Finally—
My left arm twitched. The mana didn't just 'heal' me.
I could hear the wet, grinding sound of bone knitting into bone—a noise that vibrated inside my skull as the System forced my flesh to reinvent itself."
I created daggers. One after another—the faint hum of energy forming sharp edges in my hands.
"Come at me!" Carlos laughed.
I charged. Daggers flew, slicing through the air in rapid succession—sharp whistles filling the space.
He deflected them all. Effortlessly. Except one. A faint slice across his face. A thin line of red.
I closed in.
BAAAM
The mace hit. A deep, crushing impact. My body folded around it.
For a second—there was no pain. Just pressure.
After a few seconds, I felt everything—all at once. Something inside me ruptured. My legs gave out.
Warmth spread too fast. I looked down.
"…Ah." A wet sound escaped my throat.
My insides—no…
The scream ripped out of me, raw and broken.
"You were…" My voice failed. Blood spilled from my lips, thick and choking.
"W-weaker than I expected…"
"What the hell are you talking abo—"
Carlos took a step, his heavy boots ready to crush what was left of me, but then he faltered.
A single black vein branched out from the scratch on his cheek, crawling toward his eye like a shadow.
His eyes widened, the arrogance draining away to reveal a flicker of something human
Fear.
"You..." he wheezed, the mace slipping from his numb fingers.
He stopped.
Silence stretched as his body twitched—just once.
A soft thud. He dropped.
The faint smell of something bitter lingered in the air.
The dagger it was coated with poison magic. The one that grazed him.
Just a scratch. That's all it took.
It worked.
"Someone… help…" My voice came out as a whisper.
The world dimmed.
After a while—I saw nothing...