Page 1
The stands are filled to the last seat. The air is heavy with anticipation.
The announcer raises both hands toward the sky:
"People of the capital… the Bloody Wedding Festival begins!"
The roar shakes the walls. In the arena, eight fighters stand in complete silence. Each one holds their weapon in a way that says something about who they are. The referee walks slowly between them. No one moves.
Silence takes the arena whole.
Page 2
The referee raises his hand. Drops it.
"Begin."
Seven fighters move in the same instant.
The eighth does not.
The fighter in black armor stands exactly where he was — head bowed — as if the word never reached him.
Mabu grips the railing at the edge of the stands and leans forward:
"What is he waiting for?"
Page 3
The black knight raises his head. Slowly.
He draws his heavy sword — the iron scrapes across the ground as he drags it — and begins walking toward the nearest fighter.
That fighter has been moving in wide, theatrical arcs. Long hair, impressive mustache. He grins broadly:
"Welcome, knight. Did you enjoy my performance?"
The black knight keeps walking.
Page 4
A sword comes from an angle no one anticipated. A fast, treacherous strike.
The black knight catches the blade with his bare hand.
One second of absolute silence.
Then a head rolls across the dirt.
The announcer: "He didn't move — and caught a sword with his bare hand! Does this man not fear iron, or does he simply not feel it?!"
Mabu goes still. His eyes fixed on the hand that caught the blade without flinching.
Page 5
The black knight turns. He looks at the remaining seven.
He doesn't speak. He raises one finger.
"Come."
Mabu whispers: "Who is this man?"
The old man beside him says nothing. But his eyes follow the black knight with uncommon focus.
Page 6
Across the arena, the white knight speaks:
"You think you're strong because you finished that clown? Don't be arrogant — I'll show you your true place."
He slams both palms into the ground.
The earth trembles. Splits. Stone pillars erupt from beneath the black knight's feet. He sidesteps. Another pillar. Another.
The black knight moves between them as if walking a familiar road.
The announcer: "He dodges solid rock using only his body! No power! No weapon! Just legs and a mind that moves faster than stone!"
Mabu: "The white knight controls the earth itself… and that man avoids it with his feet alone?"
Page 7
In another corner, two fighters move in silence.
One raises his hand. A water vortex spirals around his opponent and compresses — enormous pressure — then he launches high-pressure water strikes one after another. The other fighter drops, body riddled and bleeding.
The announcer: "Water pressure! He turned his opponent into a piece of cheese!"
The crowd laughs despite the blood.
Page 8
Before the punctured fighter hits the ground, a shadow drops from above. A blade buries itself in his throat. Done.
The killer stands on the body and looks up at the water user.
The announcer: "The assassin drops from the ceiling like an owl — and now stands alone against the cheesemaker! What does he have waiting for us?!"
Page 9
The killer draws his sword. Stands before the water fighter.
The water fighter begins forming a vortex — ready.
Then the killer stops. He reaches under his armor and produces a small bottle.
Water fighter: "What are you doing?"
Killer: "Just one moment."
The announcer: "He pulls out a bottle in the middle of a fight! Is he hungry?! Does he want a drink?!"
The crowd erupts in laughter.
Page 10
Water fighter: "We are in a battle. Are you mocking me?"
The killer doesn't look up: "I'm aware. I'll be done quickly."
He pours the liquid slowly across his sword blade. Then draws a long line across the dirt in front of him. He pulls two stones from his pocket.
The water fighter watches him. Without realizing it, he takes one small step back.
Mabu watches in silence: "Why is he retreating? Can't he see the man is just wasting time?"
Page 11
The two stones strike each other. Once. Twice.
Killer: "I'm lighting a fire."
Water fighter laughs: "Fire? I have water! I'll put it out in seconds!"
The killer raises his eyes for the first time.
A look that carries no mockery. No anger. Only quiet certainty.
"Alright. Let's see."
The announcer: "The killer's confidence makes me question his sanity — or my own!"
Page 12
A spark.
The liquid on the ground ignites.
The fire spreads along the line drawn in the dirt, surrounding the water fighter from the front.
The killer lights his sword blade and takes his position.
Water fighter forms a massive vortex: "Your fire won't—"
The killer raises his other hand.
Wind launches from his palm. Collides with the fire.
Page 13
The flames don't go out.
They grow. They transform into a tremendous firestorm. The heat devours the air itself — drying the water vortex before it can arrive.
When the smoke clears, nothing remains of the water fighter.
The announcer, voice shaking: "He combined fire and wind and created something water cannot extinguish! My God… I will never forget this as long as I live!"
Mabu sits back slowly: "He merged two powers… and made a third thing that didn't exist before."
Page 14
Elsewhere in the arena — dirty leather armor. A man built like a wall.
He lifts an axe that looks heavier than an ordinary man. He focuses. His right hand grows. And grows.
He grips the axe and swings. A section of the arena wall crumbles.
The announcer: "Size manipulation! His hand is now the size of my head — and frankly, my head is not small!"
Page 15
The blue knight sidesteps with a light, effortless leap. Lands. Removes his helmet.
A striking face. Long hair. He examines his fingers as if checking they're clean.
"How does something that looks like that dare to stand in front of me. This is an insult."
The announcer: "He removes his helmet mid-battle to show his face! And honestly — the face is worth it. Can I marry him too?"
In the stands, the minister cheers for the Viking fighter. His daughter cheers quietly for the blue knight — until her father turns and looks at her with a gaze that cuts the sound from her throat entirely.
Page 16
The Viking charges. A second strike — faster.
The blue knight raises his left hand with deliberate laziness. An iron shield materializes from nothing.
Boom. The axe connects. The blue knight doesn't move an inch.
He sighs and lets the shield drop.
The announcer: "He creates the shield then discards it like a piece of cloth! A fortune in iron with every single blow!"
Page 17
The blue knight focuses. His right hand — and something begins to form.
A spear assembles itself from the air, solidifying into gleaming metal.
He takes aim and throws. It pierces the Viking's foot. A scream.
Then another spear. Then another. Unhurried. He throws them the way a man plants seeds.
The announcer: "One spear! Two! Three! He conjures them from nothing and throws them like he's sowing a field!"
Page 18
The Viking falls between the spears. Doesn't move.
The blue knight examines his hands again and walks away without interest.
Mabu looks at the old man: "All these powers — are they from the same origin you explained to me?"
The old man: "Some of them. Some are not. Watch closely who remains."
Page 19
Back to the black knight.
The white knight sends a pillar from the arena wall. It connects — knocks the black knight down.
A moment of silence.
The black knight looks at the dirt in front of him.
"Enough."
He drives his fist into the ground. Rises.
Page 20
Another pillar comes — one punch shatters it to pieces.
The white knight steps back: "What? How did he do that with just his hands?"
He sends two pillars at once. The black knight sidesteps the first and breaks the second.
Mabu stands up from his seat: "No power. No ability. Just a body trained until it became equal to stone."
The old man watches in silence.
Page 21
The black knight jumps.
He catches his sword mid-air. Hurls it with force that shouldn't be possible.
The sword punches through the white knight's stomach and buries itself in the ground behind him.
The white knight turns slowly to look at the blade coming out of his own body.
He falls.
The announcer — voice raw: "He threw the sword… and threw the white knight along with it."
This time, no one laughs.
Page 22
The cheering fills the arena.
But Mabu doesn't cheer. He sits down and places his hand on his knee.
He thinks about the black knight. About his hands. About a body trained until it could break stone.
Then he looks at his own hands. He remembers the forest. He remembers Thian.
He whispers to himself:
"He reached this… through training alone."
Page 23
Three fighters remain in the arena.
The black knight. The killer. The blue knight.
The killer pours his liquid again — calm, methodical. Draws his line across the dirt. No hurry.
The blue knight measures the distances with his eyes.
The black knight looks at neither of them.
Page 24
He turns to the blue knight. Raises one finger:
"You. Stay there. I'll come back."
Then he turns and begins walking — slowly — toward the killer.
The announcer swallows: "The black knight… walks toward death on his own two feet."
The crowd goes silent this time.
And Mabu stares at him. At his steady footsteps. At his straight back.
Thinking something he's not ready to say out loud yet.
Continued in Chapter Nine