The arena groaned under the weight of destruction, a cathedral of blood and ruin. Crimson water writhed across the cracked ground like serpents, feeding off Koha’s unstable aura.
Draven staggered back into stance, blade trembling in his battered hands. His chest rose raggedly, every breath scraping against broken ribs. Still, his eyes never left Koha.
“You’ll… fall here,” Draven rasped. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Koha tilted his head, violet eyes glowing faintly through his curtain of blood-matted hair. A faint smile tugged at his lips — small, almost shy — but then it widened into something manic.
“Fall?” His voice cracked into laughter. “Draven, this is only the beginning.”
He moved. Faster than sight. His palm slammed into Draven’s chest, forcing the knight back with a crunch of bone. But instead of pressing for the kill, Koha pivoted into a blur of martial strikes — knees, elbows, kicks — enjoying the rhythm of combat as though dancing with a partner.
Draven parried desperately, sparks flying as sword met sword, but Koha’s laughter only grew louder, each strike more playful and cruel.
“Is this all? Show me more!” Koha jeered, his blade sweeping in a scarlet arc that carved across Draven’s arm. “Bleed with me, knight!”
Meanwhile, on the far edge of the battlefield, the surviving mages — Ignis and Zephyr — collapsed to their knees beside the half-conscious Azura. Their hands shook violently as they began inscribing a new circle, this one scrawled in their own blood.
Symbols hissed into existence, glowing faintly with unstable power. Mana bled from their bodies like steam, dripping from their eyes, their skin paling with every word.
“We… can’t stop… or he’ll kill us all…” Ignis wheezed, pressing his hands harder into the glyphs.
Zephyr bit down until his lips bled, forcing the chant through clenched teeth. “If we die… then we die with purpose.”
The circle pulsed with dangerous light — a fragile cage of hope born from agony.
Koha froze mid-strike, his eyes snapping toward them. His grin stretched unnaturally. “Another circle? After all that?” He shoved Draven aside with a savage kick and began walking toward the light. His footsteps echoed like a death knell, slow and deliberate.
The mages screamed as they funneled every last drop of life into their spell. Their veins blackened. Blood streamed down their cheeks. Still they chanted.
Koha lifted his bloodstained hand, fingers twitching with lazy contempt. “Pathetic…”
The air warped around him. A tidal surge of blackened water shot outward, crashing into the ritual.
The fragile circle shattered instantly — glyphs breaking like shards of glass, spraying sparks across the battlefield. The backlash hurled Ignis and Zephyr to the ground, blood exploding from their mouths. Their bodies convulsed violently as the unfinished spell tore at their organs.
Azura, still limp, rolled lifelessly into the dust beside them.
Koha laughed, the sound unholy, reverberating in the broken arena. “Did you really believe your whispers and blood could chain me?” He raised his arms wide, blood dripping freely. “Your circle is nothing. Your lives are nothing. This battlefield belongs to me alone.”
Draven forced himself upright again, blade dragging as he glared with one good eye.
Koha turned back toward him, smile softening almost shyly — then twisting cruel again. “Good,” he whispered, licking blood from his lips. “Then bleed with me a little longer.”
The two clashed once more, steel screaming, the ground trembling beneath their duel as the arena fell deeper into hell.
Far from the battlefield’s screams, the academy dormitory was silent. Moonlight filtered through broken windows, painting pale streaks across endless shelves of books. Dust drifted in the still air, disturbed only by the cautious footsteps of four intruders.
Rio pushed the heavy door open first, sword drawn. His amber eyes scanned the shadows, sparks of lightning twitching faintly at his fingertips. Behind him, Huo entered like a fortress of muscle and steel, every step deliberate, protective. Yin glided in next, his silver-blonde hair catching the faint glow of moonlight, calm yet sharp. Finally, Sky slipped past them, bow already half-drawn, eyes glittering with mischievous alertness.
“Keep your voices down,” Yin whispered, his tone soft but firm. “Koha might not be here, but his presence… lingers.”
Rio smirked, brushing dust from an old desk. “You sound like you’re afraid of the kid. He’s just one mage.”
Huo shot him a glare. “That ‘kid’ is slaughtering professors as we speak. Respect the danger.”
Sky chuckled under his breath, running a hand along the spines of books. “Huo’s right. Besides… it’s not Koha I’m worried about. It’s what he’s hiding.”
The library stretched like a labyrinth. Ancient tomes lay scattered across tables, some burned, some torn apart as if ripped open in desperation. On one wall, a small section of scrolls was cordoned off with chains and wards. The faint shimmer of protective magic pulsed around it, fragile but still active.
“Over there,” Yin murmured, pointing. His eyes gleamed as he stepped forward, hands weaving a soft counter-sigil. The wards shivered, cracked, then dissipated like dust.
The four stepped closer. Inside the sealed alcove lay scraps of scrolls, brittle with age, each marked with crimson stains. The ink was warped, as though written in blood itself.
Huo bent to pick one up, brow furrowing. “This isn’t standard elemental theory. It’s… blood ritual.”
Yin’s expression darkened. “Water mixed with blood. Ancient forbidden craft. It shouldn’t exist anymore.”
Sky leaned casually against the wall, though his eyes were sharp. “So our shy little prodigy’s been studying the darkest magic in the academy, hmm? That explains a lot.”
Rio clenched a scrap of parchment tightly in his fist, his jaw rigid. “Koha… what the hell were you doing all this time?”
The parchment trembled in his grip — diagrams of circles drawn in scarlet, notes about mana conduits linked to veins, spells that required the user’s life force. And scrawled at the bottom, in shaky handwriting:
“If humanity chains me, I will break the world.”
A heavy silence fell over the group.
Huo finally spoke, voice low. “This isn’t just power-hunger. He was planning this. Preparing for it.”
Yin nodded grimly. “He knew he’d be betrayed someday. And this… was his answer.”
Sky exhaled slowly, his smirk fading. “Then stopping him won’t be easy. If we fail—”
The library shook violently. Dust rained from the ceiling. Distant laughter echoed from the arena — a sound so sharp, so cruel, it cut through the silence of the halls.
Koha’s laugh.
Rio slammed the parchment onto the desk, his amber eyes blazing. “Then we don’t fail.” He turned to the others, determination etched into every line of his face. “We end him. Whatever it takes.”
For the first time, even Sky didn’t joke. The four exchanged grim nods, their alliance sealed in that silent library.
And in the distance, Koha’s power only grew louder.
The arena was a graveyard of shattered stone and blood. Koha stood amidst it, his chest heaving, blood streaking across his pale skin like war paint. His blade dripped crimson, his violet eyes glowing faintly as if feeding on the slaughter.
Across from him, Draven dragged himself to his feet again, sword raised though his body trembled. His armor hung in scraps, his face swollen and bloodied. Still, his stance held firm.
Koha smirked, almost tender in its cruelty. “Still standing? Ah, Draven… I almost admire you.”
Their blades met with a shriek of steel. Sparks burst across the battlefield, each clash a thunderclap as Koha danced between strikes. He flowed from martial precision to swordplay seamlessly — fists, knees, and blade carving through Draven’s defense like waves against a sinking ship.
Draven spat blood, his breath ragged, but he refused to fall. Every strike he blocked, every slash he parried, was an act of defiance carved in pain.
Above them, the professors moved.
Dozens of robes flared in the night sky as the academy’s masters formed a circle, hovering high above the carnage. Their faces were pale, drenched in sweat, but their voices rang out in unison.
“天の裁きよ、我らに力を！45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYFpKSkqWT
(Heaven’s judgment, grant us strength!)”
A vast sigil spread across the heavens, its lines burning with white-gold light. The circle grew wider and wider until it spanned the arena itself, a dome of shimmering brilliance.
The professors chanted faster, their voices rising in desperate unison. Power gathered in the heavens, weaving into a colossal ritual designed not to kill, but to weaken. To strip Koha of the monstrous force he wielded.
Draven’s blade clashed against Koha’s once more, the impact jolting through his entire body. He risked a glance upward, catching the glow of the professors’ work. For the first time that night, a flicker of hope crossed his face.
Koha noticed.
His violet eyes flicked skyward, then narrowed. Slowly, his grin returned, sharp and cruel.
“Ohhh,” he purred, forcing Draven back with a savage slash. “So the cowards finally act.”
The professors’ chant intensified, their bodies trembling as light spilled from their fingertips into the vast sigil. The air itself grew heavy, pressing against the arena like divine weight. Even Koha felt it — his movements tugged, his limbs straining as though invisible chains were weaving themselves from heaven.
Draven, sensing the shift, lunged with renewed fury, his blade driving toward Koha’s chest. Koha deflected with a laugh, blood spraying from his lips as he twisted aside.
“Good distraction,” Koha murmured, eyes fixed on the sky. “But do they really think they can outplay me with circles?”
His aura began to surge again, blood mist rising around his frame. Beneath the laughter, his thoughts churned, sharp and calculating.
Let them chant. Let them believe. And when their circle closes… I’ll tear it apart from within.
The battlefield trembled, caught between the professors’ divine ritual and Koha’s maniacal will.
And high above, the sigil blazed brighter, threatening to descend upon the demon below.
The heavens burned with light.
The professors’ colossal sigil expanded overhead, every glyph carved in fire, every syllable a weight pressing down on the battlefield. Their voices merged into one desperate hymn:
「聖域封絶！」 (Sei’iki Fūzetsu – Sanctuary Seal!)45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4d3sr0a50b
「永劫の鎖よ、堕落を縛れ！」 (Eikō no Kusari yo, Daraku o Shibare! – Eternal chains, bind the fallen!)
Threads of golden radiance descended, weaving around Koha like a prison of heaven itself.
For the first time, the air resisted him. His blade felt heavier, his limbs slowed, the crushing weight of the divine pressing against his bloodstained form.
Draven seized the chance, sword arcing in a desperate strike. Steel carved across Koha’s shoulder, spraying crimson. But instead of faltering, Koha staggered back with a low, broken laugh.
Blood dripped from his lips. His chest heaved. His violet eyes burned brighter than ever.
He tilted his head skyward, arms spreading wide as though to embrace the weight descending upon him. His voice rose in jagged, mocking reverence:
「絶対魔壊！」 (Zettai Makkai – Absolute Magic Destruction!)
The words shattered the night like thunder.
The arena’s air cracked. Glyphs in the professors’ circle trembled, flickered, then began to unravel as if being devoured. The ground beneath Koha split open, vomiting black water that hissed like acid against the divine light.
Koha’s chant grew louder, rolling like a storm:
「光を喰らい、闇を裂き、45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNQOcbnIQy
魔を砕け、血を啜れ！」45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ586KTh9f5P
(Consume the light, tear the dark,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKXI1k5Sto
Shatter the magic, drink the blood!)
The heavens screamed. The professors’ circle shook violently as if being eaten from its core. One of the weaker masters faltered mid-chant, clutching his throat as blood spilled from his mouth.
“No…! He’s unraveling it!” another professor cried. “Our seal—it’s collapsing!”
Draven swung again, desperate, blade aiming for Koha’s exposed neck.
But Koha caught the strike bare-handed. Blood gushed down his palm, yet his grin stretched wider. His voice lowered to a whisper, carrying like a curse across the battlefield:
「全ては虚無に還れ。」45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSwIKJgd3S
(All returns… to nothingness.)
The professors screamed as their luminous circle fractured, exploding in shards of golden light that dissolved into the night.
The backlash ripped through them like blades — bodies thrown back, blood spraying from eyes and mouths. Their chants turned to strangled cries, their robes burning as the ritual disintegrated.
And in the center of it all, Koha laughed. Arms spread, blood dripping from his wounds, his voice breaking into mania.
“Did you feel it? Your prayers… your circles… all of them belong to me.”
The battlefield trembled, caught between the wreckage of heaven and the storm of Koha’s madness.
The battlefield was fire and ruin, but still six warriors rose from the wreckage.
Ignis’s molten veins glowed like embers under torn skin. Zephyr’s chaotic aura flickered between light and shadow. Azura staggered forward, her arcane seals trembling but unbroken. Beside them, Thorne gripped his twin vine-forged blades, roots curling around his feet like anchors. Sylph nocked her bow of windsteel, invisible currents swirling. Raven’s shadow bow stretched, his arrows splitting into a dozen phantoms.
They circled Koha like wolves, battered but unyielding.
Koha only smiled, blood dripping from his chin. His chest heaved, but his chant never broke — the guttural syllables of 絶対魔壊 (Zettai Makkai – Absolute Magic Destruction) grinding through the air like knives.
Draven, half-slumped against the rubble, rasped in warning:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJHHD2ynrT
“Don’t… let him… finish it…”
“Together!” Ignis roared, slamming his palms into the earth.
熔獄崩壊 (Yōgoku Hōkai – Infernal Collapse)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUd3b2UKvp
The ground split, rivers of molten lava spewing upward, ash and flame choking the arena.
Zephyr raised both hands, his voice like a storm:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYid7X27BW
混沌嵐舞 (Konton Ranbu – Chaotic Tempest Dance)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUKpupypcx
Black and white lightning spiraled down, ripping apart the sky itself.
Azura’s seals blazed, circles of violet light spinning around her:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5EtMzxpbw
蒼秘方陣 (Sōhi Hōjin – Azure Secret Formation)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmm8uYSBgc9
Hundreds of arcane lances streaked toward Koha like a rain of comets.
Thorne charged through it all, vines bursting from his arms, his blades shining with natural steel.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiHcVD2Pfm
森羅双牙 (Shinra Sōga – Twin Fangs of the Forest)!
From above, Sylph whispered as her bowstring sang:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTKmRF898R
疾風穿影 (Shippū Sen’ei – Gale-Piercing Shadows)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaiRcImAcU
Arrows of compressed air screamed through the battlefield, faster than the eye.
And with a hiss, Raven’s voice joined hers, low and venomous:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ih8fZABe6
影裂雨矢 (Eiretsu Uya – Rain of Shadow-Splitting Arrows)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVG67YZVdmu
Dozens of black arrows multiplied midair, blotting out the light.
The storm of elements converged — fire, chaos, arcane, steel, wind, shadow — collapsing on the lone figure at the center.
For a heartbeat, Koha’s silhouette was drowned in apocalypse.
Then came the laugh.
It split the inferno in half like a crack in the world. Koha stepped forward through fire and lightning, half his body burned, blood streaming from holes punched into his flesh — but his grin was wider than ever.
“You dare?” His voice was broken ecstasy. “This… is what I wanted!”
He spread his hands. Crimson energy bled from his wounds, shaping into writhing serpents of blood.
血炎衝波 (Ketsuen Shōha – Blood-Flame Shockwave)!
The serpents lashed outward, devouring fire, scattering arrows, snapping vines like brittle twigs. The wave of blood and flame erupted outward, shaking the arena again, forcing the six back with screams of pain.
Ignis’s flames guttered. Zephyr’s chaotic light flickered. Azura’s seals shattered like glass. Sylph stumbled midair, her bow shaking. Raven’s shadows frayed. Thorne’s roots cracked and bled sap.
And still Koha laughed, his chant for Absolute Magic Destruction growing louder, each syllable vibrating in their skulls like a curse.
“Bleed more!” he howled, arms raised to the sky. “You’ll die before I even finish my song!”
The air was iron and ash. Koha’s body swayed, crimson pouring from his side in steady rivulets. Every drop that struck the shattered ground hissed and curled into steam.
Yet instead of weakening him, the blood seemed to sing.
The chant of 絶対魔壊 (Zettai Makkai – Absolute Magic Destruction) had grown deeper, louder, layered with whispers that didn’t belong to human tongues. His aura twisted—part light, part void, part pure agony.
Ignis staggered forward, spitting blood.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBn7L66Vyt
“Damn you… you’re breaking yourself apart!”
Koha’s pale violet eyes glowed white, lips curling.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIs8H5TEGWg
“Then watch me burn brighter.”
He snapped his fingers, and his own blood surged upward into spears.
血晶穿矢 (Kesshō Senshi – Blood-Crystal Piercing Arrows)!
The spears howled through the air, shattering Sylph’s wind shields, tearing through her thigh. She screamed, spiraling out of the sky.
“SYLPH!” Thorne roared, leaping forward, vines exploding from his back in a shield wall.
But Koha was already there. His form blurred—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPifiHT4ZzV
時空断絶 (Jikū Danzetsu – Severance of Space-Time)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdR5Fs0OH8E
—he stepped through reality itself, appearing behind Thorne.
A whisper in his ear.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlPojtMm2R
“Roots are meant to be cut.”
His blood-forged blade slashed once.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsObpC9pbG
The vines fell dead, severed at their source. Thorne dropped to his knees, clutching the stumps of his blades, coughing sap and blood.
Azura’s panic broke. She raised her hands, arcane circles spinning desperately.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFSTOwX2iQ
蒼滅星雨 (Sōmetsu Seiu – Azure Starfall Rain)!
Dozens of astral bolts crashed down in desperation—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdECd4gzObf
But Koha spread his arms wide, blood and light wrapping his body like armor.
永遠の抱擁 (Eien no Hōyō – Embrace of Eternity)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2yb2W1SiE
The meteors struck him—yet instead of breaking him, the blood burned brighter, flames wrapping around his frame like wings.
Zephyr’s laughter cut through the chaos.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZjBpf0m17
“Yes… YES! That’s it! Break yourself, tear it all apart!”
His chaotic energy surged.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8pLv7dvA0
混沌螺旋 (Konton Rasen – Spiral of Chaos)!45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbFMEEfCe3
Black-white spirals ripped through the field, aiming to consume Koha and ally alike.
But Koha only tilted his head back and howled. His blood pulsed, rising in a shockwave that met the chaos spiral head-on.
血影爆 (Ketsuei Baku – Blood-Shadow Explosion)!
The collision tore the earth open, a canyon splitting beneath them.
When the dust cleared—Sylph was unconscious, Thorne lay broken, Azura trembled and bleeding, Zephyr’s laughter cracked into coughs of blood. Raven and Ignis barely stood, panting, arrows and flames flickering weakly.
Koha… was still chanting.
Half his face was gone, burned to the bone, yet his smile never faltered. The Chorus of his blood still sang, each heartbeat a drumbeat of annihilation.
“Soon…” he whispered, his voice layered with something not of this world.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkROPTESSTP
“Soon the hymn will end. And with it… all of you.”
The battlefield was trembling with the echo of Koha’s breath.
Sylph writhed on the ground, one leg useless from the blood-crystal arrow. She crawled, wings broken, bow clattering beside her. Her eyes burned with fury—yet behind that, naked fear.
Koha walked toward her, barefoot, bleeding. Each step left behind not a footprint, but a glowing seal, inscribed with runes no one alive remembered.
His lips moved again, but this time… it was no human tongue.
“――終古禁律 (Shūko Kinritsu).”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4amBdcU4dg
Primordial Prohibition.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfNXXPeyRw
The oldest chant, a hymn whispered at the dawn of existence and sealed before history.
The air grew heavy. Azura gasped, her circles breaking. Ignis fell to one knee. Raven’s bow snapped under its own weight. Even Zephyr’s chaotic laughter stopped, choked into silence.
The seals lit beneath Koha’s feet, one by one.
古の絶滅詩 (Inishie no Zetsumetsu-shi – Ancient Extinction Psalm).
Sylph’s scream tore the air. She tried to rise, to conjure one last desperate gust—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqL56os6H8
But Koha was already kneeling beside her, pale violet eyes glowing white, tears of blood streaking his face.
“Do you hear it, Sylph?” His voice cracked, layered by a hundred echoes.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbASJ6xKLV
“My blood sings your requiem.”
The final rune blazed. Koha placed his palm on her chest.
血風葬 (Ketsufū Sō – Blood-Wind Burial)!
Her body arched—then exploded into a cyclone of red and white feathers, disintegrating midair into dust and crystalized blood. Not even ashes remained. Her bow fell to the ground, shattering into fragments.
Silence.
Then… Koha began again.
His voice cracked the sky, weaving a chant older than light:
“虚無より生まれし、永劫より囁かれし、45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskKhfc2WyL
我は始源、我は終焉。45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQOIlPmWXI
絶滅を以て命を祝す――。”
“Born of nothing, whispered since eternity.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoNXzwRCIq
I am the Origin. I am the End.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WX7QQDy1X
With extinction, I bless life.”
The earth itself seemed to recoil, pulling back like a frightened animal. Even Zephyr stumbled backward, eyes wide for the first time.
“Impossible… he’s invoking that hymn…”
Koha raised his blood-stained hand. A spiral of seals wrapped his arm, tightening like shackles. His smile was cracked, feral, his body trembling with too much power for flesh to contain.
最古の禁呪 (Saiko no Kinjū – Oldest Forbidden Curse).45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Zk8Nsycwa
A spell never recorded, only whispered in fragments by dead gods.
And he was still chanting.
The battlefield was dead quiet.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWqV7ZByOG
Sylph’s dust still hung in the air like glowing ash, dissolving into nothing.
Koha stood in the center, trembling, seals still burning along his arms and chest. His pale violet eyes were now entirely white, glowing like twin suns. Blood streamed freely down his chin, yet he looked… serene.
Azura staggered forward, her arcane staff raised.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6RFORSd3g
Her voice was sharp, trembling between rage and disbelief:
“No. You—You cannot wield that. That hymn was sealed before even the birth of arcana! That is not yours!”
Koha tilted his head, eyes empty. His voice was a whisper, layered with echoes of countless dead:
“I do not wield it. I am it.”
The ground cracked beneath him. Another seal ignited.
Azura roared, throwing her staff forward:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04UKxjd4o4
“Infinitas Circulum!” (Infinite Circle)45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4V71rpQbCb
A storm of sigils spiraled around her, hundreds of interlocking circles glowing. Blades of pure calculation, equations rewritten into burning reality, tore through the air toward Koha.
The earth bent, space rippled, air screamed—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiSDz5tdHp
But when the storm hit Koha… it shattered.
Every glyph collapsed, every circle unmade. His mere presence unwrote her spellwork.
最古の拒絶 (Saiko no Kyozetsu – Primeval Rejection).45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JHZImVaKj
“All systems collapse before origin.”
Azura’s eyes widened in horror as her staff cracked down the middle.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9mcnkQyZE
“No…! My arcane is infinite! You’re nothing but—”
Koha stepped forward, cutting her off. The seals spread beneath her feet now, glowing upward like chains.
He whispered the next verse of the hymn, his voice breaking the night:
“Arcana is a child.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeM2RdjlhT
Primeval is the parent.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSc1PKKnf98
And children cannot defy the blood that bore them.”
The seals climbed her legs, binding her. Her arcane power fizzled, her staff crumbled to dust.
Koha raised his hand, palm glowing with violent white fire:
古星葬 (Kosei Sō – Funeral of Ancient Stars).
Azura screamed as her body burst into a thousand motes of blue light. Each mote resembled a star for a moment… then fizzled into black nothingness, like candles extinguished by a cruel hand.
There was no body left. No soul. No magic. Only a silence that seemed eternal.
Koha lowered his arm.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfM8CPUTiZB
His lips still moved, still chanting. Each word bled from his throat, each syllable summoning a vibration that twisted the world itself.
Even Zephyr, the Chaos Mage, was frozen now, staring at him with something like awe.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOZuqXyYib
“...he’s not mortal anymore.”
Rio, Yin, and Huo stood together, blades and shields raised—not against the enemies anymore, but almost in reflex against Koha himself.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzM8v93cTf
The hymn was too ancient. Too absolute. Too terrifying.
Koha’s voice whispered again, with an almost childlike softness:
“One by one, you will all vanish.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3SSAUwcAU
Until silence is the only song left.”
The seals spread outward again, searching for their next victim.
The arena darkened.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xnwjssm18
Not from clouds, not from smoke—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3zmV0Wq8x
But from Raven.
The Shadow Archer drew his black longbow, his eyes glowing violet as he merged with the gloom. His body dissolved into dozens of flickering silhouettes, darting along the fractured walls of the arena.
His voice hissed across the battlefield, splitting into a hundred echoes:
“You cannot strike what you cannot see.”
Arrows of living shadow rained from every direction, black streaks splitting stone and slicing into the ground around Koha. The world itself seemed to pulse with Raven’s presence—darkness became his battlefield, his home.
But Koha only stood still, eyes closed, lips moving.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYsVIydxau
His voice was hoarse, layered with echoes older than time.
最初の闇拒絶 (Saisho no Yami Kyozetsu – Rejection of the First Darkness).45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSC98JFwfWU
“Even shadow was born from light. And I erase both.”
The forbidden chant deepened. His seals bled outward into the air, and the shadows themselves froze.
Raven’s movements halted mid-step, his silhouettes locked in place like trapped insects in glass. The hundreds of false bodies convulsed, splitting apart into ribbons of black mist as Koha’s aura swallowed them whole.
The real Raven emerged, gasping, bow in hand. “W-what…? My shadows—my realm—!”
Koha opened his eyes. They glowed pure white, a light so unnatural it bent the shadows backward, turning the darkness into searing radiance.
He lifted his blood-soaked hand, and the hymn grew louder, shaking the broken sky:
古蝕日 (Koshoku Jitsu – Ancient Solar Devour).
A false sun blazed into being above him—no warmth, no life, only the merciless truth of primeval destruction. The “sun” expanded, swallowing the battlefield, and with it every shadow Raven could call.
Raven screamed as the light pierced through him. His body convulsed, the shadows leaking from his veins as if torn from his very soul. He tried to raise his bow one last time—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHnfqkwMQN
But his arms burned away, dissolved into motes of black light.
His scream cut short.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemyYbuBonF
Where he once stood, nothing remained. Not a body. Not even ash.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLlwQY0O8k
Just silence, and the fading echo of his name on the lips of his allies.
Koha lowered his hand. Blood streamed from his eyes and ears, yet his grin remained fixed, his teeth flashing crimson.
He whispered, voice soft but cutting through the battlefield like a knife:
“Shadows. Light. Arcana. All the same.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFZzfuGctP
Children. Pretending at godhood.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSZ6xufpjs
But I… I am the hymn of endings.”
Zephyr, the Chaos Mage, trembled visibly for the first time. Even his chaotic aura recoiled from Koha’s presence, as though reality itself did not want to stand near him.
Draven spat blood, clutching his ruined bow. His voice cracked with fury:
“We cannot stop him. He’s already… beyond mortal law.”
The professors above looked pale, their Heavenly Seal trembling as their chants faltered. Fear poisoned their prayers.
And still—Koha’s hymn grew louder.
The arena reeked of ash, blood, and broken stone. Survivors staggered back, their bodies trembling from the aftershock of Koha’s last rampage. Yet in the ruined corner of the battlefield, three figures rose again.
Ignis burned, his hair wild, his hands trembling as fire dripped from his palms like liquid magma.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyrBwEj9sC
Thorne leaned heavily on his blade, bark and thorn-like armor sprouting painfully across his skin as if the forest itself had grafted into his flesh.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OP5bkA193
Zephyr laughed between ragged coughs, his eyes bloodshot, veins glowing with unstable chaos.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, defiance burning through their exhaustion.
Thorne: “If we fall here, it will be as one.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjJb60SRTk
Ignis: “Then let our lives burn the circle into eternity.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYduXmyvQBO
Zephyr (grinning): “And let HIM choke on it!”
Together, they slammed their hands and blades into the ground.
The Trinity Circle Awakens
The earth shuddered as roots burst upward, glowing green with Thorne’s lifeforce. They twisted and locked into an intricate lattice, anchoring the first layer of the ritual. Ignis poured fire into those roots, searing them until they glowed red-hot, veins of molten lava weaving the sigils into existence. Zephyr, bleeding freely from his chest, scrawled the final runes across the glowing earth with his very blood.
The arena lit with a blinding crimson-gold light.
A sigil spanning the entire battlefield rose around them, vast and ancient, its geometry more perfect than mortal hands should ever carve. The sound of the chant rattled the bones of everyone watching — professors, students, even the dying warriors.
命縛終焉陣 (Meibaku Shūen Jin – Life-Binding End Circle).
The heavens quaked. From the burning lattice, chains of fire and iron roots shot upward, reaching for Koha. Every syllable the mages spoke ripped more blood from their lungs, their bodies convulsing as their souls poured directly into the circle.
The professors above gasped.
“This… this is suicide magic!”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyerA1TKJKE
“No mortal body can withstand this chant!”
Yet the three did not falter.
Koha tilted his head back, letting the fiery chains coil toward him. His chest rose and fell in ragged rhythm, blood pouring down his sides. He should not have been standing — yet his smile widened, dark eyes gleaming with terrible joy.
“You cling to circles… because you think they make you more.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Gnt0NvbPW
But circles are cages.”
The fire-root chains struck, spearing through his shoulders, chest, and legs, nailing him to the ground like a crucified demon. Blood gushed down his torso, sizzling against molten steel. The circle groaned, glowing brighter as it tried to seal him fully.
Ignis roared, his voice breaking, “NOW! Bind him!”
Zephyr coughed blood, screaming, “Die with us, monster!”
Thorne slammed both hands on his blade, forcing his lifeforce into the roots. “END IT!”
For a heartbeat, it looked as though they had succeeded. The sigil flared, swallowing Koha in light so bright that even the professors shielded their eyes.
Silence.
Then came… the whisper.
Low. Ancient. A hymn that did not belong to man, god, or demon.
古円壊唱 (Koen Kaishō – Hymn of the Primordial Circle-Breaker).
The Circle Breaks
The light around Koha cracked.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUk0ygdy6H
Not shattered — cracked, like glass under impossible pressure.
The chains vibrated, then splintered, bursting apart with sickening pops. Fire coiled backward, consuming Ignis’s arms up to the shoulder. The roots twisted violently, reversing into Thorne’s own chest, stabbing through him as blood gushed from his mouth. Zephyr screamed as his chaos glyphs warped, melting into his skin, boiling his very veins alive.
The entire Trinity Circle folded in on itself, imploding in silence before detonating with a sound like shattering heaven.
The three mages were hurled like rag dolls across the field, smashing into broken stone. They convulsed, coughing blood, their eyes rolling back.
The circle was gone.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtP1NuWIYX
All that remained was Koha — body pierced and bleeding, yet standing tall, the hymn still vibrating from his lips.
He dragged his hand across the cracked earth, leaving a smear of crimson, and whispered almost lovingly:
“Your circles… are beautiful cages.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRpyYsDTZC
But I am the hymn that was born to break them.”
Aftermath
Ignis twitched, one arm charred down to blackened bone.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUhXKp5UvZ
Thorne lay impaled on his own thorns, gasping for breath.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ689vdg93ZM
Zephyr convulsed, laughter spilling from his broken lungs.
Zephyr (weak, delirious): “We gave… everything… and he… he’s still…”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6wp2k1NQm
Ignis (screaming): “NOT ENOUGH!”
Draven, staggering with his lightning bow, watched the devastation unfold. His body shook, but his eyes burned.
“Circles fail. Spells fail.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXvBEk8icW
Then only steel… and will… remain.”
Koha turned toward him, blood dripping from his jaw, his smile stretching ear to ear.
“Then come, Archer.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoI6UNRI7v
Let us write a hymn in blood.”
The battlefield quaked with the echo of his forbidden chant, each word unraveling the remnants of magic in the air.
And still… Koha laughed.
ns216.73.216.33da2
and then Add to home screen.