Chapter 194

Kana took her time returning to the stands, moving through the aisles with her usual cold and calm demeanor. She slid into her seat beside Rin just as the ambient noise of the coliseum shifted. The crowd’s restless murmur tightened, like breath being drawn before a shout.

She had made it just in time before the match started.

“Kana,” Yuri said, leaning over from the other side, her voice edged with concern. “You’re next, right? Why are you still here? Again.”

Kana kept her eyes on the arena as she answered. “The view is better from here.”

Rin snorted softly. Roy, sitting a row behind them, shook his head. “I wish we were as relaxed as you before we enter the arena.”

Kana didn’t respond. Relaxed wasn’t the word she would have chosen.

She had already accepted what was coming. As long as Shaun won, she would be alright.

Her next opponent’s class weighed heavily in her thoughts. [Swordmaster]. A single word. It sounded like an evolved class, yet something felt off. She thought the evolved class had two words. Was she wrong?

But the parchment that she saw had only one word. Perhaps a mistake, should be [Sword Master]. There was only one truth—[Swordmaster] class sounded powerful and dangerous.

The signal horn sounded this time, cutting through her thoughts.

Kana’s focus snapped back to the arena.

Below, Shaun Dawn lifted both hands, and the artificial red sand answered him. It rose in slow spirals, grains knitting together midair, compressing and sharpening until jagged constructs hovered around him like orbiting like pikes. 

Across from him, his opponent stepped forward.

Kana was somehow envious as she watched Shaun Dawn, looking powerful with all the things floating around him. It was her first time seeing such skill usage. Well., she saw Suri’s skill many times but still those were simply illusions and those floating things in the arena were not. 

Zarates.

It was the name of the woman with short black hair and a stillness that didn’t belong in an arena.

“She reminds me of you, Kana.” Suri muttered.

“I’m not—”

Then she transformed.

Kana had seen transformation skills before. Artin of the Royal Knights could transform specific and even his whole body with master-like precision to a beast or animals—or something she was familiar with at least.

This was nothing like that.

Zarates’ body ignited.

Her skin lost its definition, becoming molten and luminous, glowing red like flowing magma beneath a fractured crust. Heat shimmered in the air around her. Her hair burned away, dissolving into sparks. Her eyes glowed a deep, furious crimson, and her face no longer held fixed features. It flowed, constantly reforming, as if her very shape struggled to remain stable.

She wasn’t a human any longer. She wasn't a beast or animal. Kana could mistake her as a monster if she encountered her outside because she looked closer to a dungeon monster than any living thing.

The crowd gasped as one. Even Shaun froze for a heartbeat, his control faltering just enough for the sand pike to tremble in the air.

He recovered quickly as expected from someone who experienced many battles in the arena. Shaun hurled one of the sharpened constructs forward. It streaked toward Zarates in a blur.

A crimson net flared into existence in front of her, appearing for barely a moment before solidifying. Shaun’s pike made of sand struck it and vanished instantly, disintegrating into ash that scattered uselessly across the arena floor. Or did it become smoke? Kana wasn’t sure.

“What in the world is that?” Suri said, leaning forward, her eyes bright with interest. “That’s a very interesting skill.”

“So empire people can just turn into monsters now?” Boris muttered. “They really are living up to their reputation.”

Unlike the earlier duel, there was no patience here. No measured circling. This fight erupted into spectacle almost immediately.

Shaun unleashed everything. More sand rose, spinning faster, sharper, denser. He hurled fragments from every angle, testing, probing. Zarates answered with molten stone torn from the ground, launching it with brute force.

But Shaun’s [Esper] class proved its worth.

The flaming stone froze midair, shuddered, then reversed direction under his control. It streaked back toward Zarates, only to dissolve inches from her body, burned away by the heat radiating from her form.

Kana leaned forward slightly. This wasn’t just flashy. This was dangerous. Zarates could be a bad matchup to her.

…..

It was still winter.

Yet the arena no longer felt like it.

Heat rolled outward from Zarates in invisible waves, distorting the air above the red sand. What had once been a crisp winter afternoon now felt like standing too close to a forge. Even from the stands, Kana could feel it press against her skin, an oppressive warmth that did not belong beneath an open sky.

Zarates stood at the center of it all, her body still transformed. She was no longer merely glowing. She was burning herself or the burn itself? Magma flowed where skin should have been, light pulsing beneath a cracked surface like veins of fire. Each step she took left the sand beneath her darkened and glassed, fused by heat alone.

Shaun Dawn could have easily beaten her.

Kana knew it.

His control was precise. His timing was good. His class allowed him to dominate terrain, to turn the battlefield itself into a weapon. Under different circumstances, with moisture in the air, with water to draw from, with even a shallow reservoir nearby, this duel would have tilted in his favor.

But the arena offered him nothing.

No river.

No damp soil.

Only dry, artificial sand and a living furnace walking toward him.

Kana looked up at the clear blue sky. Even the snow was not falling today… this day might not be simply not Shaun’s day.

The battle continued but the result was becoming more obvious.

Shaun’s breathing grew ragged. Each skill tore more mana from him than the last. Sweat soaked through his uniform, clinging to him as the heat worsened. His shoulders sagged, his movements slowing just enough to be noticeable to someone who knew what to look for.

Kana watched his chest rise and fall, shallow and uneven. If Shaun wouldn’t win the match then she must..

Shaun raised his hand one final time.

The sand responded, rising in sharp, violent spikes. These were different from before. Denser. Tighter. Compressed until their edges gleamed like polished blades. They launched toward Zarates in a desperate volley, carrying everything Shaun had left.

For a heartbeat, Kana dared to hope.

Then the spikes disintegrated.

They never reached her.

The moment they crossed into Zarates’ burning like aura, they disintegrated away, collapsing into drifting ash that scattered uselessly across the arena floor. Shaun swayed, the light in his eyes dimming, and then his knees gave out beneath him.

He fell.

Silence hung for half a second.

“Our winner,” the announcer declared, voice booming across the coliseum, “Zarates of the House of Flamenal, representing the Empire!”

The crowd erupted.

They roared not with anger, but with exhilaration. Flashy skills. Overwhelming power. A spectacle worthy of the final day. The kingdom’s loss mattered little in the face of such a display.

Zarates staggered slightly as she reverted to her human form, the magma receding, heat fading, black hair reforming where fire had been moments before. She looked almost startled by the applause, blinking as though waking from a dream.

Kana didn’t clap.

Her jaw tightened, teeth grinding together.

She had expected Shaun to win. Or at least to push the fight further, to force something from Zarates beyond raw dominance. Instead, the result had been swift, decisive, and unforgiving.

Her turn was coming.

And for the first time since the tournament began, Kana felt the weight of doubt settle fully in her chest.

She would have to go all out.

And even that… might not be enough. The empire students were more capable than she had thought.

…..

There would be a break before the final fight.

Not a long one. Just enough time for breath to return to lungs, for blood to stop roaring in the ears. Enough time, Kana thought, to relax her body, to remember every [Swordsman] she fought, to condition her body and mind that she could defeat the one who had proclaimed had a [Swordmaster] class.

She stood from her seat, rolling her shoulders, already turning inward to prepare—

Rin’s hand closed around hers.

Firmed and sudden.

It stopped her from walking.

Kana glanced back. She did not need [High Awareness] to know what was happening, but the skill flared anyway, lighting every thread of tension like taut wire. All eyes were on her. Every breath, every heartbeat behind her was tuned to the same fragile frequency. She felt her chest warm for a heartbeat.

“Are you guys worried?” Kana asked lightly, though she already knew the answer.

Boris stepped forward first. He clapped a heavy hand on her shoulder, the weight of it grounding. His grin was crooked, forced. “If you win,” he said, “I might finally be able to buy a decent spear.”

Kana blinked. “What?”

Rin looked up at her, eyes far too earnest for comfort. “I got my allowance in advance,” she said quickly. “Two months’ worth. My mother said I could have it early.” She swallowed. “So… my future is kind of in your hands now.”

Kana stared.

Yuri raised her hand, as if answering a question in class. “I told my parents,” she said. “I don’t know the exact amount, but…” She hesitated, then smiled weakly. “Let’s just say they trust you more than anyone else.”

Kana’s gaze slid to Leo and Andel.

They both looked away.

Her stomach dropped. “No,” Kana said slowly. “Even you two? Nobles shouldn’t—”

She cut herself off, suddenly aware of just how many people filled the arena. How many ears. How many eyes. If word spread that nobles had visited a gambling house…

Trouble wouldn’t begin. It would explode. Well, at least to them.

Kana exhaled hard, rubbing her temples.

Then Toby marched forward with exaggerated steps, spun dramatically, and bowed so low his head nearly touched the floor. “My father’s life,” he announced, “is in your hands.”

“My mother,” Toby continued cheerfully, “will probably—no. She will definitely kill him if you lose.”

Kana slowly tilted her head back and stared at the blue clear sky, as if searching for mercy somewhere in the stone above. Then she looked back at them, face grave, voice utterly sincere.

“I feel like I’m going to lose today.”

“Hey!” They shouted it together, voices colliding, outrage and panic and belief tangled into one sound.

Kana smirked to them then she vanished down the stairway into the basement, the echoes of their voices following her like they were going to kill her.. She could tell their heartbeat quickened. She could hear their voices echoing in the basement but the guard probably stopped them. After all, no one was allowed to enter in the participant’s room beside her and her opponent.

When did they visit the gambling house?

Post note:
Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂