Chapter 105
His two opponents glared at him, bows drawn, arrows nocked, hands steady.
Kei Y simply held Hermes up in front of him, the limp, bloodied body swaying with every small shift, needles still sticking from his flesh in a grotesque manner.
Each time Apollo or Artemis raised their bows, Kei Y shifted Hermes into the firing line.
It placed them in a brutal bind.
If they wanted to kill Kei Y, they would have to shoot through their own teammate to do it. And Kei Y, with calm, unblinking efficiency, made it clear he would take full advantage of their hesitation.
Their eyes flickered, tension straining across their arms as they tried to find the perfect angle, the precise gap, to land a clean shot.
They couldn’t.
Meanwhile, Artemis’ wolf began circling Kei Y, its paws silent on the stone. Its cold silver gaze flickered toward him, but its nose twitched, nostrils flaring as it caught a scent in the air.
A hint of something hidden beneath the burnt smell of scorched blood.
Something intoxicating.
The wolf lowered its head, sniffing at the ground where Kei Y’s blood had once pooled before he burned it away. Its muscles tensed, the primal hunger buried deep within its bloodline clawing to the surface, stripping away the training and discipline Artemis had instilled in it.
The scent called to it.
Promising power, warmth, connection.
It nosed the ground, ignoring Artemis’ sharp whistle, ignoring the commands she barked, tail flicking as it hunted for the source of that hidden aroma.
And then a laugh cut through the rising tension like a blade.
“Hahaha! Look at that!” Kei Y’s laughter rang out, bright and mocking. “Even your wolf doesn’t want to listen to you.”
His voice dropped, warm with false pity.
“Guess he’s not a bad boy after all.”
Artemis’ eyes blazed with cold fury as she shouted commands at the wolf, but it barely flicked an ear, too caught up in the scent trail to care about the battle unfolding around it.
It was supposed to be a distraction. She had planned to have the wolf distract Kei Y, forcing him to shift, to create a small opening—a single moment where she and Apollo could release their arrows without risking Hermes’ life.
But the wolf was distracted.
And every second it remained so, Kei Y stood there, calmly channeling Healing Force, his wounds slowly knitting closed beneath the tattered fabric of his robes.
The cuts on his arms faded, the gashes across his chest sealed, and the bruises around his ribs lightened with every quiet breath.
Apollo’s fingers tightened around his bowstring, frustration tightening in his jaw.
They were running out of time.
And Kei Y knew it.
Behind the mask, his eyes glinted with cold amusement as he tilted Hermes slightly to the left, then to the right, making the needles embedded in him rattle.
“Take your time,” Kei Y said, his voice mild, unconcerned. “I’ve got all day.”
The wolf stopped, head lifting as it looked toward Kei Y, eyes glowing faintly, breath fogging the air.
Its lips curled, a low growl vibrating in its throat, torn between instinct and command.
The arena held its breath, the tension between the three of them coiling tighter, ready to snap.
And Kei Y simply stood there, holding Hermes like a grotesque shield, healing, waiting, knowing that with every heartbeat, the advantage shifted further in his favor.
Pulling out Gale Fang, Kei Y prepared to engage the two archers when he felt eyes on him—hungry, unblinking.
The wolf.
Its silver eyes locked on Kei Y’s blood-soaked robes, drool dripping from its jaws, each drip echoing in the tense silence. A low growl rumbled from its belly, so deep and resonant that the entire arena could feel it in their bones.
A chill skittered down Kei Y’s spine.
“Tch… that’s not good.”
He ignored the archers instantly, pivoting to face the wolf, muscles coiling in readiness.
Sensing their opening, Apollo and Artemis loosed their arrows.
But Kei Y was already in motion.
He swung Gale Fang downward, wind surging outward in a dense, spiraling curtain of Wind Force, forming a protective shield as the arrows slammed into it with muffled thuds, momentum drained as they pushed through the spiraling barrier.
The wolf lunged, primal hunger overriding command, its claws digging into the stone as it shot forward toward Kei Y, jaws splitting wide to snap down on his throat.
“Not today.”
Using what was in his hand, Kei Y swung Hermes’ limp, needle-studded body like a club, smashing the wolf in the jaw mid-lunge. Bones cracked audibly as the beast’s head snapped sideways, momentum redirected as it skidded across the arena floor.
Kei Y side-stepped, tracking the wolf, while the arrows, slowed by the wind barrier, punched through the weakened defense, whistling toward him at reduced speed.
“Good enough.”
Kei Y stored Gale Fang back into his inventory, exhaled, and extended a hand, snatching both arrows out of the air.
His fingers tightened, aether sparking around his knuckles as Celestial Infusion activated.
From deep within, Shima Edgecraft: Stormpiercer Ascendant surged, allowing Kei Y to channel layered elemental signatures into the projectiles.
Celestial Infusion:
An advanced force-channeling technique unlocked through Shima Edgecraft: Stormpiercer Ascendant and Advanced Projectile Mastery, allowing projectiles to carry layered elemental and force alignments with refined stability.
• Dual-Elemental Infusion:
Projectiles can now be infused with two or more elemental force signatures (e.g., Thunder + Wind, Light + Moon), creating powerful hybrid effects that synergize with your current force path.
• Expanded Infusion Capacity:
The amount of aether that can be channeled into a projectile is greatly increased, allowing fordenser, longer-lasting, and more potent infusions that can alter the projectile’s properties and trajectory mid-flight.
• Aether Efficiency Scaling:
Aether consumption scales with elemental complexity. Using single-element infusions consumes minimal aether, while hybrid infusions or advanced dual-element layers will require significant reserves to maintain stability.
Light Force Infusion
Purification Effect: Burns away hostile aether signatures on contact.
- Radiant Flare: Emits a blinding flash upon impact, disorienting targets and cleansing force interference.
- Piercing Enhancement: Increases projectile penetration, ignoring minor barriers and weak shields.
- Gravity Veil: Allows projectiles to subtly curve in-flight, shifting unpredictably to evade defenses.
- Chilling Numb: Inflicts cold, numbing damage on impact, slowing the target’s reactions and force control.
- Illusory Veil: Creates afterimages or light distortions around the projectile, making it harder to track and intercept.
“Catch.”
In a single, fluid spin, Kei Y hurled the first arrow at the wolf.
The Light Force-infused arrow screamed through the air, leaving behind a blazing trail of white-gold light. The wolf’s eyes widened, pupils narrowing in primal fear as the light seared against its senses, forcing it to recoil, hackles rising, unable to comprehend why the radiant force burned so fiercely against its very existence.
The arrow struck true, lodging into its shoulder in a burst of purifying light. The wolf howled, the Light Force burning away its layered beastial aether as it writhed, clawing at the stone, struggling to rip the arrow free.
Without pause, Kei Y whipped the second arrow toward Apollo.
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The Moon Force-infused arrow flew like a shadow, its trajectory twisting mid-flight in impossible curves, slipping between Apollo’s defensive barriers like a phantom. A cold, blue glow danced along the shaft as it spiraled in, moving just a fraction slower than light yet fast enough to force Apollo’s eyes to widen in shock.
“Shit!” Apollo cursed, leaping to the side, but the arrow’s Gravity Veil effect caught him mid-motion, pulling him a hair’s breadth off-balance. The arrow grazed his arm, leaving a line of frost that numbed his skin instantly, disrupting the Light Force concentration in his next arrow as his fingers twitched against the bowstring.
The arena fell silent for a moment as both arrows completed their purpose:
The wolf writhed under the searing Light Force, weakened and blinded, unable to advance.
Apollo staggered, clutching his numbed arm, the Moon Force disrupting his force alignment and stealing clarity from his focus.
And Kei Y stood there, a small satisfied sigh leaving his lips.
“Thanks for the ammo.”
Kei Y slotted Apollo’s first arrow—the one fired the moment they entered the arena—into his Atlatl with a smooth, precise motion.
He tilted his head, locking eyes with Artemis as he raised Hermes’ limp, bloodied body once more in front of him, the needles still rattling faintly with every small shift.
Artemis and Apollo stared, baffled, unable to hide the confusion flashing across their faces.
“How did he use our forces?” Artemis whispered, her voice sharp, eyes narrowing. “He didn’t just access the Light and Moon Force still flowing through our arrows… he made it stronger.”
Apollo’s jaw tightened, eyes flicking to the Atlatl now armed and ready, Kei Y’s stance low and balanced as the charged arrow hummed faintly with radiant force.
“And he’s already loaded the next shot… this is going to be troublesome,” Artemis muttered, glancing at her wolf. The beast staggered slightly, still disoriented from the purifying strike it had suffered, eyes unfocused as it struggled to regain its senses.
“How strong is he, really?” Artemis thought, observing Kei Y carefully. “Hermes may look small, but his body is dense, muscles layered for speed and force. Yet this healer is swinging him around like a feather without any strain, enough to stagger my beast…”
Her eyes flickered, remembering the Lotus Bloom field earlier.
“And those throwing skills… that blossom field wasn’t bad,” Artemis analyzed quietly, eyes never leaving Kei Y. “But if Apollo and I step inside it, we’re at risk, and distance doesn’t help either. He can use our arrows, amplify our forces, and with that Atlatl… his throwing force is monstrous.”
Her mind replayed the rune strokes from before—fire blooming across the arena floor in an instant, blood turned to smoke.
“And on top of that, he’s even a capable runesmith… Just who or what is this guy?”
Before stepping forward into the arena, she let her gaze drift toward Kei Y’s teammates. The Amunar recruits, hidden behind masks and robes, stood calmly at the arena’s edge. Despite watching him bleed under Hades’ and Hermes’ attacks, they displayed no concern. Their posture was relaxed, arms loosely crossed, weight balanced—a quiet, collective confidence in Kei Y that made her jaw tighten.
“They aren’t worried at all…”
Her cold, precise mind weighed every detail.
“And Hermes… Once again, he’s becoming a liability, dangling in front of us, forcing hesitation.”
A sharp, practical thought cut through her hesitation.
“I should just shoot through him.”
Her fingers brushed the fletching of an arrow, tension crackling in her arms as she narrowed her eyes, calculating angles.
Kei Y’s mask tilted, as if sensing her intent. Blood dripped from Hermes’ limp body, the droplets tapping against the stone like a ticking clock.
Artemis glanced at her wolf, readying to issue a silent command.
“Watch out!” Apollo’s voice snapped across the arena.
She whipped her head back to Kei Y—
And he was gone.
Her breath caught. Apollo’s gaze shot upward, bow already drawn, Light Force swirling around the arrow he loosed. It burst mid-flight, fragmenting into a volley of radiant shards that streaked toward Kei Y, illuminating the arena with blinding light.
“How did he get up there so fast? I barely looked away…” Artemis’ heart thudded, shock flickering across her cold composure.
No time to hesitate.
“Go!” she snapped.
Her wolf lunged, leaping high into the air, tail curving like a half-moon as Moon Force flared along its fur. Artemis followed, her bow drawing three arrows at once, Moon Force swirling along the shafts as she loosed them in a sharp exhale.
The arrows curved upward, each shot arcing in a graceful crescent that glowed with cold blue light, forming the top half of a rising moon.
Below, the wolf’s tail hung down, its crescent shape mirroring the arrows above.
Two half-moons—one rising, one falling—aligned in the air, forming the image of a full moon just as the wolf’s body glowed, ready to slam its crescent tail down upon Kei Y.
Trapped mid-air, Kei Y seemed pinned.
The wolf above him.
The Moon Force arrows encircling him.
And beyond them, Apollo’s volley of Light Force arrows reached their apex, beginning their deadly descent like shooting stars.
All of it—every breath of killing intent, every shimmering blade of force—focused on Kei Y alone.
He could feel it, pressure folding around him in the split-second before impact.
And the arena held its breath.
And in that same moment, Hermes stirred.
A ragged, groggy breath slipped from his lips, eyelids fluttering open. His vision was a blur of lights and shadows, the world spinning, nausea rolling in his gut.
But even through the haze, he could see it:
A volley of arrows above, countless shafts descending like a rain of death, their tips gleaming with Light Force, aimed squarely at Kei Y—and him.
“Ah…?” Hermes croaked, confusion blinking across his bloodied face.
Below them, the Moon Force arrows had already found him.
They glowed with a cold, spectral blue, each arrow encased in thin streams of moonlight that coiled and twisted around their shafts, pulling at the air itself with invisible threads. The closer they came, the more the space around Kei Y seemed to bend, as if the arrows were dragging the world with them, shifting the air currents, twisting gravity itself.
Kei Y could feel it—the pull of the Moon Force orbit tightening around him, the cold weight in the air thickening, becoming heavy on his skin.
His breath fogged in the cold, turning white, each exhale visible as it curled around the edges of his mask. The moisture in the air crystallized in tiny flecks, drifting like frost motes across his vision.
Shhk… Shhk… Shhk…
The arrows shrieked softly as they carved through the air, dragging icy wind behind them, creating tiny slipstreams that Kei Y felt tugging at his robes, making it harder to shift, harder to breathe, the air itself vibrating with the unnatural chill.
Hermes, barely conscious, felt the cold sinking into him, the frost clinging to his blood-soaked robes, the needles embedded in him chilling to the touch.
“Oh, you’re awake?” Kei Y’s voice cut through, cool and unhurried. “Guess I didn’t slam you hard enough.”
Hermes felt a cold spike of dread pierce through the fog in his mind as Kei Y’s masked face tilted down toward him, eyes hidden yet somehow watching him with quiet, clinical disinterest.
“Be useful,” Kei Y said, shifting Hermes’ limp body in his grip, needles rattling softly. “And hold those arrows below you for me.”
“B-Below…? What arrows…?” Hermes tried to rasp out, trying to lift his head, confusion battling rising panic.
Kei Y’s grip tightened.
But the only answer he got was Kei Y shifting—
—and then slamming his foot down on Hermes’ chest with brutal force.
The air ripped from Hermes’ lungs in a wheeze, bones creaking, as Kei Y used Hermes’ body like a launchpad, leaping high into the air. The sudden momentum kicked Hermes’ limp body downward—
—directly into the path of Artemis’ moonlit arrows.
The arrows pierced through him with cold, merciless precision.
Schlick—Schlick—Schlick.
One arrow punched through his spine, severing it instantly. A numb shock cascaded through Hermes as his limbs went dead, the world tilting as blood burst from his mouth in a wet gasp.
His scream—
A raw, soul-shaking shriek of agony—
—echoed across the arena, cutting through the roars of the cheering crowd.
The spectators had been screaming for Kei Y’s performance, for the brutal, savage efficiency he displayed against Greece’s strongest recruits, pulling himself from every peril with cold precision.
But for Hermes, none of it mattered.
His world was pain.
His world was darkness.
His world was the cold realization that he would never walk again.
High above, Kei Y twisted in the air, dodging the wolf’s lunging cold-moon filed tail by a hair’s breadth, the crescent swipe of Moon Force passing just beneath him, the air vibrating with the force of its miss.
The Light Force arrows slammed cleanly into Hermes’ falling body, embedding themselves in the ground in a line of searing, radiant light. Each impact scorched the stone, leaving glowing cracks that pulsed with residual brilliance, heat rippling through the air. The wolf landed with a heavy thud, claws skidding across the warm stone, eyes narrowing as it turned, momentarily blinded by the lingering glare as it tried to reacquire its target.
Kei Y exhaled as he landed lightly, drawing his Atlatl in a single, smooth motion.
“Let’s see how you like this annoying thing,” Kei Y muttered, fitting Apollo’s Light Force arrow onto the Atlatl.
He flicked his wrist.
THOOM.
The arrow launched with a deafening crack, a streak of white-gold light tearing across the arena like a comet.
Apollo’s eyes widened, he didn't have the time to register his volley of arrows striking Hermes. The Light Force flaring around him as he desperately tried to dodge, stepping sideways with speed only Light Force could grant.
“Fast…!” Apollo thought, the world slowing under Light Force’s lens.
But even with all that speed—
The arrowgrazed past him—
—and detonated against the ground behind him.
BOOOOOM.
The impact cratered the arena floor, stone and dust erupting skyward in a thunderous explosion, shockwaves rippling out in a violent circle. The ground beneath Apollo crumbled, and his legs buckled as he felt the earth vanish beneath him, a barrier made from the light force in his arrow, trapping him in the crater.
For a single, horrifying moment, Apollo felt weightless as he fell into the crater, Light Force flickering uncertainly around him.
The entire arena stilled, the crowd’s roar caught in their throats as dust billowed outward.
Kei Y stood there, breathing calmly, Atlatl still smoking from the launch.
Blood still dripped from his robes.
Behind the mask, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the crater where Apollo had fallen, the wolf stumbling back, and Artemis frozen mid-step, bow trembling in her hands.
“Next,” Kei Y said, shifting his gaze to Hermes’ body. It was completely trashed, pierced cleanly through, his spine severed so thoroughly that dangling nerves could be seen through the ragged hole.
“I guess you’re no use now,” Kei Y remarked, voice calm as he tilted his head at the sorry scene. He adjusted his sleeve and flicked out a cluster of needles—these ones laced with paralytic and anesthetic compounds. They pierced Hermes’ neck and chest, ensuring he would no longer feel pain.
Some would call it mercy.
But what Kei Y did next erased any illusion of that.
“In games, your feet are usually treasured items. Wonder if it’s the same in real life,” Kei Y mused aloud, his voice casual, almost bored.
He resummoned Gale Fang, the blade whispering through the air, and in a swift, fluid motion, severed both of Hermes’ winged feet at the ankles, catching them before they hit the ground and storing them in his inventory with a soft chime.
And the arena held its breath.
Silence thundered across the stands, eyes wide, mouths agape. The hush was so deep that even the flickering of force barriers could be heard crackling softly.
Queen Thalia shot to her feet, her face twisted in unbridled rage, her aura flaring as she pointed down toward Kei Y.
“WHAT KIND OF DEMON IS HE, PHARAOH!!!” she screamed, her voice cracking with fury.
King Cronus moved to restrain her, his hand on her shoulder, but her aura still seethed, whipping around them in waves.
King Pharaoh of Amunar barely turned his head. “Don’t shout for me. What’s wrong with what he did, exactly?”
“What’s wrong?!” Thalia screeched, her voice shrill, tears of fury pricking at the corners of her eyes. “Not only did he use my participant as a shield, he severed his spine, and now he’s cut off his feet! How do you plan to answer for that?!”
King Pharaoh exhaled softly, looking out at the arena, unbothered. “Is it not a death match? His feet should be the least of your worries. Also, where was this rage when that same kid tried to assassinate my participant—twice—before it was even a death match? You signed that kid up for this, Thalia. Don’t be mad that my participant is the stronger one.”
He paused, glancing down. “Though… I’d agree taking his feet is a bit weird.”
Queen Thalia’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Surrounded by other rulers and powers, she realized she would gain nothing by continuing, and slowly, trembling with barely contained rage, she sat down, her eyes locked on Kei Y with hatred sharp enough to cut stone.
Artemis watched from her place on the arena’s edge, her cold moonlit eyes fixed on Hermes’ mutilated body, her breath steady, her aura quiet.
She felt nothing.
No pity. No grief. Only a distant, clinical recognition that Hermes was no longer a factor on this battlefield.
But within her, the Moon Force stirred, a cold wind whispering through her veins as the wolf beside her shifted, mirroring her rising focus.
The wolf’s ears flicked forward, eyes sharpening, breath steaming in the cool air.
Without a sound, the wolf vanished.
At that same moment, the moon that had manifested earlier in the sky above shimmered, its pale light intensifying until it bathed the entire arena, and the gravity in the space twisted, bending, warping.
Kei Y’s eyes flicked upward, calmly assessing the sudden shift.
The air pressed down on him, the ground beneath him buckling, while across the arena, Apollo was still trapped in the crater, pinned by the lingering light barrier that Kei Y’s returned arrow had created.
And Artemis, along with the wolf, was gone.