The sound of marching boots echoed from the floors above as Captain Daichi and Seraphina sprinted down the spiral stairs of the abandoned spire. Seraphina clutched her side, the phantom pain of her multiple deaths still lingering, while Daichi breathed heavily, his chest heaving from the resonance damage inflicted by the new Sound King.
"They know our location," Daichi rasped, glancing upward as the ceiling shook from the movement of Queen Nogia's resurrection army. "If we stay in the structure, we're trapped."
They reached a landing where the stairs ended, blocked by debris. Daichi didn't hesitate. He slammed his hand against the wall, channeling the remaining mana he had gathered from the ley lines.
"Resilience of the Earth: Special Technique — Tectonic Permeation."
His body and Seraphina’s glowed with a dull, ochre light. They didn't break through the floor; they sank through it. The stone became as intangible as mist to them, allowing them to phase through the foundation of the spire, through the bedrock of the arena, and into the deep, suffocating darkness of the underground.
They dropped into a damp, silent tunnel, the sounds of the chaotic surface world instantly muted.
"Here," Daichi whispered, pointing down the long, cylindrical passage that seemed to run directly beneath the arena floor.
They ran, their footsteps echoing softly. As they moved toward the location that aligned with the center of the Colosseum of Judgment, the air grew heavy. It wasn't the pressure of gravity, but the pressure of pure, condensed mana.
They rounded a corner and stopped dead.
Before them stood a massive door, easily fifty feet tall, glowing with a rhythmic, pulsating light. It had no handle, no hinges—just a sheer slab of ancient material that hummed with a vibration Seraphina felt in her teeth.
"What is this?" Seraphina asked, her voice hushed.
"When I activated my Strategic Convergence Field during the fight with Cygnus and Elara," Daichi explained, scanning the door with his tactical eyes, "I mapped the entire arena to predict their movements. But right here... beneath the center... there was a void. A black spot my field couldn't penetrate. I knew they were hiding something."
Seraphina frowned, reaching out but not touching the door. "It's weird. I never sensed anything below us during the tournament. It's like this place doesn't exist."
Daichi let out a dry laugh. "I think whatever is behind this door... they kept it a secret even from themselves." He looked at the barrier. "I don't know how to open it. And we don't have time to solve a puzzle."
"Don't worry," Seraphina said. Her eyes flashed. "True Illusion Genesis."
A ripple of magic flowed from her, and suddenly, two perfect duplicates of Seraphina and Daichi appeared. "Run north," she commanded. The illusions sprinted away back up the tunnel, their footsteps loud and deliberate, designed to lure Nogia’s sensors away from their location.
Seraphina then turned back to the door. She wrapped her hand in swirling, dark flames.
"Infernal Devastation."
She didn't cast a spell; she simply pressed her hand against the ancient barrier. The Hellfire, capable of burning through dimensions, hissed as it made contact. The ancient energy shielding the door flared, fighting back, but Seraphina pushed harder. The barrier screamed, melting like wax under a blowtorch.
She carved a hole just big enough for them to step through.
They stepped inside and froze.
It was a vast, circular chamber, completely empty save for the center. On the floor lay a massive Heptagram, its seven points etched deep into the stone, currently unlit and dormant. And hovering directly above the center of the star was a jagged, crystallized mass of energy. It didn't look like a weapon or a tool. It looked like a frozen piece of the cosmos, pulsating with a heartbeat that was slow, rhythmic, and terrifyingly powerful.
"What is this?" Daichi whispered, the dull golden light of the crystal reflecting in his eyes.
Seraphina stared at it, a memory suddenly unlocking in her mind.
Flashback: Seraphina and Saber in The Underground Transit System
Seraphina and Saber walked through the damp, dimly lit tunnels beneath the Main District, avoiding the Council’s surveillance after she had broken him out of judgment.
The silence stretched between them until Saber stopped, looking at a sealed blast door they were passing. He seemed to hesitate, wrestling with a lifetime of secrecy.
"My father..." Saber began, his voice echoing in the tunnel. "He guards something down here. Something that doesn't belong to the Six Kingdoms."
Seraphina looked at him. "A weapon?"
"A battery," Saber corrected. "Growing up, I heard whispers. The Elders call it the Power of Xero. They say it's the heartbeat of a dead god, stolen centuries ago. My father believes it is the key to maintaining the order of the Land of Spade forever."
Saber looked at her, his eyes serious. "He keeps the location in his own mind. Not even the Elders know exactly where it is. But if anyone ever found it... it would shatter their control."
"That's it," Seraphina whispered, the realization hitting her like a physical blow. "It's the Power of Xero."
She quickly explained what Saber had told her—the stolen essence, the source of the Council's longevity, the "heartbeat" they had been hiding.
"If we take this," Seraphina said, her eyes lighting up with strategic fervor, "we don't just escape. We cripple them. We take away the very thing they're protecting. We have to get this back to Fort Vigilance."
Daichi let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. He reached into his belt and pulled out a small, metallic cube. "You know, I used to think Solari was paranoid."
He tossed the cube in his hand. It unraveled mechanically, expanding into a complex framework of hard-light and metal.
"She always packs the Captains with these 'Supply Cubes'," Daichi said, grinning. "It uses dimensional compression to store heavy equipment. Or, in this case, a giant battery of cosmic power."
Seraphina nodded, formulating a plan. "Okay. I'll use my Hellfire to sever the magical tethers holding it. You catch it in the cube. Then we—"
Suddenly, the air in the chamber changed.
It didn't get hot or cold. It simply became heavy. An enormous, infinite aura materialized in the room, filling every corner of the void. It was so potent that the unlit Heptagram on the floor began to glow in response, and the Power of Xero lit up, pulsating violently as if it recognized its master.
"Daichi!" Seraphina screamed. "Use Cosmic Bastion! NOW!"
Daichi didn't ask questions. He slammed his staff down. "Cosmic Bastion!" A golden dome of impenetrable energy erupted around him and the Power of Xero.
But it was too late for Seraphina.
WHAM.
There was no projectile. No spell. Seraphina was simply punched—struck by a force so overwhelming it felt like a planet had collided with her ribs. She was launched across the chamber, smashing into the stone wall with enough force to crater it.
She slid to the ground, coughing blood, her vision swimming. She looked up, trying to find the attacker. There was no one there. The aura was everywhere, but the source was invisible.
Then, she realized. It wasn't invisibility. It was speed. Or perhaps... omnipresence within his own domain.
Him, she thought. It has to be.
She saw the air shimmering near Daichi’s barrier. The entity was preparing to strike again, to shatter Daichi’s defense before he could secure the crystal.
Seraphina’s eyes flared crimson. She couldn't beat this entity. Not here. Not now. But she could change the rules.
"Reality Shatter."
She focused her ultimate power on the ten-meter radius around the center of the room.
CRACK.
The air shattered like glass. Time and space fractured and reassembled in an instant.
The room reset.
The "infinite aura" vanished. The Heptagram went dark. The Power of Xero stopped pulsating violently. They were back to the moment before the entity arrived.
"HURRY!" Seraphina screamed, scrambling to her feet. "HE'S COMING BACK! GET IT AND GO!"
Daichi didn't hesitate. He activated the device Captain Solari created. The cube emitted a tractor beam, sucking the Power of Xero into its dimensional pocket in a blink. He grabbed the cube, which snapped shut.
"Sera, let's—"
"NO!" Seraphina shouted, her eyes locked on the empty space in the center of the room where she knew the aura would reappear in seconds. "You can't fight him! Take the Power! Go to Fort Vigilance! I'll hold him off!"
Daichi looked at her, then at the cube in his hand. He gritted his teeth, knowing the tactical play was the only play.
"Resilience of the Earth: Tectonic Permeation."
Daichi sank into the floor, phasing through the earth, escaping with the prize just as the air began to thicken again.
Seraphina stood alone in the vast, empty chamber. She wiped the blood from her lip, her Hellfire flaring to life around her shoulders like a mantle of war. She looked at the center of the room, waiting for the inevitable arrival of the strongest being in the Land of Spade.
"COME OUT," Seraphina roared, her voice shaking the foundations of the Colosseum above. "JUDGE!"18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHd6nWxZAp1
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