The figure standing over Captain Daichi released the crushing gravitational pressure. With a casual, almost bored flicker of movement, he vanished from the arena floor, reappearing instantly in the empty throne within the Sound Kingdom’s observation deck.
He sat down, crossing one leg over the other, looking bored as the other Rulers of the Six Kingdoms leaned in, whispering questions he ignored.
Below, amidst the shattered obsidian tiles, Captain Daichi gasped for air. His body trembled as he tried to push himself up, his staff clattering against the stone. He managed to get to one knee, his eyes locked on the Council platform, but the damage was internal and severe. The resonance had rattled his very equilibrium.
He clutched his chest, his vision blurring. "Not... yet..." he muttered, the words unintelligible to the crowd but clear to himself. "I have to..."
His strength gave out. Daichi collapsed face-first onto the cold stone.
The royal telegraphic guard stepped forward immediately, the crystal scanner humming. A beam of light washed over the fallen Captain.
"CAPTAIN DAICHI - ELIMINATED."
The results flashed on the massive screens. FIVE UNIVERSES: 0 FIGHTERS REMAINING. SIX KINGDOMS: VICTORIOUS.
Guards rushed in, lifting Daichi’s limp body onto a stretcher and carrying him toward the tunnels where the other defeated fighters had been taken.
High above, Elder Haldan Vross, Master of Law, stepped to the edge of the Council platform. His voice boomed, carrying the finality of a death sentence.
"THE TOURNAMENT IS CONCLUDED. THE FIVE UNIVERSES HAVE FAILED TO PROVE THEIR WORTH."
He paused, letting the silence stretch.
"BY THE DECREE OF THE COUNCIL AND THE WILL OF THE JUDGE, THE FIVE UNIVERSES ARE DEEMED TOO WEAK TO STAND AGAINST THE ECLIPSE SOVEREIGNTY. THEREFORE, THEY SHALL BE ANNIHILATED TO PREVENT THEM FROM BECOMING LIABILITIES."
Seraphina stood in the VIP box, her mind still reeling from the face she had just seen. But Vross’s words snapped her back to the horrific reality.
"No!" Seraphina shouted.
She didn't care about protocols anymore. She leapt from the VIP box, using a burst of Hellfire to propel herself across the gap, landing directly on the lower tier of the Council’s platform, just below the Elders and the Rulers.
"You cannot do this!" Seraphina pleaded, her voice cracking with desperation. She looked from Elder to Elder, then to the Rulers. "The Five Universes have power! You saw it! We fought your best to a standstill in so many matches. This tournament was supposed to find where our powers match up, not to decide our execution!"
She looked at The Judge, who sat motionless, his face impassive. "Please! We are strong enough!"
Elder Haldan Vross looked down at her with cold indifference. "The law is absolute. Weakness is a contagion. There will be no further debate on the matter."
Vross then shifted his gaze toward the Technology Kingdom’s deck. He made a subtle nod toward Queen Nogia.
Nogia’s cybernetic eye whirred as she stood up, a cruel, metallic laugh escaping her lips. "Finally," she said, her voice amplified by her tech. "My time to shine."
She slammed her hand onto a console on her platform. "Protocol: Resurrection."
The center of the Colosseum of Judgment began to rumble. The ground split open, not from damage, but from mechanization. A massive, glowing Power Stone—a synthetic gem pulsating with stolen mana—rose from the depths.
"Rise," Nogia commanded.
From the tunnels, from the infirmaries, and from the ground itself, figures began to emerge. They were the defeated.
Theron Ashwick. Mystic Dreamweave. Finn Wildhart. Kade Ironforge. Lyxa Morvain.
But their eyes were dull, glowing with a faint, artificial green light. They moved in perfect unison, stripped of their will.
"You asked for an army to fight the Sovereignty," Nogia sneered, looking down at Seraphina. "I built one. Using the data and essence harvested by the scanners, the Power Stone overrides their consciousness. They are mine now."
She pointed a metal finger at Seraphina. "And we will test them... starting with you."
Seraphina stepped back, horror washing over her as she saw her friends—her allies—taking combat stances against her. She began to summon her Hellfire, preparing to defend herself.
BOOM.
Without warning, a massive explosion erupted on Seraphina’s body.
There was no projectile. No spell chant. A magical Ember had simply appeared on her torso and detonated with the force of a bomb.
Seraphina was thrown backward, a gaping hole blown clean through her stomach. She coughed blood, her eyes widening in confusion.
Instantly.
"Demonic Phoenix Rebirth."
Her body dissolved into a swirl of dark flames. The hole in her torso filled with fire, regenerating flesh and bone in a split second. She reformed, her aura flaring stronger than before, her eyes burning with the instinct to survive.
Who did that? she thought frantically. I didn't sense anything!
She flew upward, trying to gain distance.
BOOM. BOOM.
Two more magical Embers materialized directly on her wings. They detonated simultaneously.
The blast tore her wings apart. Seraphina screamed as her body was blown into fragments of ash and fire. Again, the Demonic Phoenix shrieked, pulling her essence back together. She was reborn a second time, her power spiking even higher, but her confusion was turning into terror.
This wasn't Nogia. This was something else.
"Get her!" Nogia commanded.
The army of the defeated surged. Mira Stormcaller (puppet) launched lightning bolts. Raven Duskwalker (puppet) sent tendrils of shadow. Those with flight capabilities—Griffin Rider Valerius and Sting—shot into the air to intercept Seraphina.
Seraphina hovered, flames dancing in her hands. She looked at the blank faces of her former allies. "I... I can't..."
She hesitated. She couldn't incinerate them. They were victims.
That hesitation cost her. A barrage of attacks slammed into her, forcing her higher, toward the upper atmosphere of the Main District. She was trapped between a zombie army below and an invisible sniper above.
Fifteen seconds passed. She was breathing heavily, her regeneration taxing her stamina.
Then, she felt it. A pressure so immense it made the air around her vibrate.
Five glowing Sigils manifested in the air, forming a perfect pentagram around her.
What is this?
"Infernal Tribunal."
The sigils didn't just explode; they annihilated the space she occupied. A chain reaction of devastation rippled through the sky, a shockwave that shook the entire Colosseum.
The blast was too powerful. It forcibly stripped her of her transformation. Demonic Phoenix Rebirth was deactivated by sheer force.
Seraphina plummeted from the sky, her body broken, scorched, and bleeding. She crashed onto a high balcony of an abandoned spire overlooking the arena, barely clinging to life. Her vision was swimming. She was at death's door.
Who...? she thought, her mind racing as she coughed up blood. Who could hit me... without moving?
Her blurry gaze drifted toward the Council platform. The Judge sat motionless. His hands were resting on his knees, but she noticed the faintest wisp of smoke curling from his right index finger.
Him...
She tried to move, but her body screamed in agony. She was done.
Suddenly, the air beside her shimmered.
Captain Daichi appeared out of thin air, kneeling beside her. He wasn't on a stretcher. He was battered, clutching his chest, but he was awake.
"Daichi?" she wheezed.
"Save your breath," Daichi whispered, his voice urgent. He placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Command of the Cosmos: Vitality Share."
A golden aura flowed from Daichi into Seraphina. He wasn't a healer, but he was using his command ability to bolster her durability, sharing his own life force to pull her back from the brink of death.
"I figured a place we can run to," Daichi said, helping her stand as the sounds of Nogia's army searching for them grew louder. "Let's hurry, quickly."17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0ooFVTsY5
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