Veil of Aether

Staring at the two opponents across from him, Zeus couldn’t help but feel a rush of excitement. His eyes practically sparkled—lightning flickering across them—not from anger, but from pure enjoyment and anticipation.

“Hey, kid, you use Sound Force, right? I had a little brother who used that force too,” Zeus said with a grin, voice brimming with energy. “You might not be as talented as he was, but you’re still pretty strong for your level. Work with me and back me up against these two. I know how to fight alongside Sound Force. And don’t worry—you’ll be fine. Just leave these guys to me.”

Kei M, behind his mask, simply stared at his older brother for a moment.

“…How hard did I used to hit him in the head when we were younger?” Kei M wondered silently, a flicker of concern for his brother’s mental health crossing his mind.

He gave a small nod in response, not trusting himself to speak without giving something away. His attention shifted back to Ares.

“This guy’s going to be tricky,” Kei M thought, eyes narrowing. “Easily one of the worst people to fight—he only gets stronger the longer the battle drags on. Tsk… ruined a lot of my plans back then too.”

Despite the two brothers standing on stage, looking every bit ready for their match, their opponents couldn’t have been more different. Hercules and Ares carried none of that eager anticipation—only the weight of grief. Their expressions were somber, their hearts still heavy over the death of their Crown Princess.

They hadn’t even been able to properly mourn her, let alone give her the send-off she deserved. And now, as if fate itself wanted to twist the knife, they were standing against the very kingdom responsible for her death.

Worse still, one of their opponents was a masked figure who had already proven himself to be far from ordinary. His casual claim that facing a Soldier or Specialist made no difference to him wasn’t just arrogance—he had backed it up in every match so far, overwhelming his opponents without revealing even a hint of his true limits. No Recruit Class fighter had been able to make him break a sweat.

But none of that lessened the danger posed by his partner. Zeus of Amunar was no less infamous—a genius spoken of across kingdoms as one of the most dangerous talents of their generation. His reputation alone was enough to make Hercules tense.

Even with Ares at his side, Hercules couldn’t shake the gnawing unease in his chest. He knew exactly how strong the Amunar Crown Prince was.

And he knew… that might not even be the biggest problem standing across from them.

Ares, for his part, was war itself personified. On any battlefield, he reigned supreme—his mere presence a signal for enemies to retreat and send in only their most capable cultivators to hold him at bay. Those who failed to understand that warning rarely lived long enough to regret it.

It wasn’t just skill or experience that made him so dangerous; his very Force was War itself. He didn’t simply fight battles—he became them. Every strike, every movement, every surge of aether carried the inevitability of conflict, as if fate itself had placed him exactly where he belonged: in the heart of the battlefield.

And so, after sizing each other up, the match began. With a sudden flicker, Kei M was already midair, yo-yo in hand. He swung it downward, activating Bass Drop between the two opponents. The impact sent out a deep, resonating shockwave that rippled through the arena floor, disrupting their footing before they could even ready themselves.

Seeing the display, Zeus’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"That’s more like it—keep that up!" he called out to his teammate, grinning ear to ear. Then, almost without thinking, he added,

"Hey… are all you Sound Force users the same? That reminded me of my brother."

Ignoring his brother, Kei M moved without hesitation, hurling his weapon toward Ares’s axes to bind their movements. In the same breath, as the yo-yo’s cord wrapped around the twin blades, the discs detached—flying straight toward Hercules. They pulsed with concentrated vibrations, aimed directly at the giant’s head to rattle his senses.

But these two Greek participants hadn’t earned their reputations for nothing. Seeing a Recruit Class opponent challenge him so brazenly, Ares took it personally. The Amunar recruits—especially the masked ones—had proven themselves time and again, and his kingdom held a particular grudge against them.

With a brutal yank, Ares wrenched his axes free, dragging Kei M with them and flinging him off his feet. Kei twisted midair, discs snapping back into place on his yo-yo, but Ares was already closing in, his massive fist arcing toward Kei like a falling boulder.

Kei M didn’t flinch. Before he could even react, a bolt of lightning struck down, deflecting the blow. A foot materialized on Ares’s arm—Zeus, standing tall—before he drove a swift kick into the war god’s jaw, forcing him to stagger back.

“That’s a weird weapon you’ve got, but it works,” Zeus said, eyeing the yo-yo with genuine admiration. “Nice job with these two big guys.”

“You should focus on the other one and take him out,” Kei M replied flatly, ignoring the praise. “The longer this fight drags, the bigger of a headache this one becomes.”

“Oh, so you know about that guy’s ability too? That makes things easier. I’ll handle muscle brain while—Woah, you big lagoon, I’m talking to my teammate—” Zeus’s words cut short as Hercules suddenly grabbed him and slammed him toward the ground.

But when his body hit, it exploded into crackling bolts of lightning. An instant later, Zeus reappeared above Hercules’s head. “Hehe, nice try, big guy,” he taunted, his fingers sparking before launching a barrage of lightning blasts.

The Greek warrior was ready. Lifting a massive stone slab from the arena floor, he used it as a shield, then hurled it like a missile straight at Zeus with bone-crushing force.

Seeing the projectile incoming, Zeus realized he couldn’t dodge in time. He braced for impact—only to be jolted sideways at the last second, narrowly avoiding the stone’s path.

Surprised, Zeus glanced toward his masked teammate, a strange sense of déjà vu washing over him. Just moments before the stone slab could crush him, Kei M had diverted his attention mid-fight, snapping out a Resonant Shield that pulsed with condensed Sound Force. The shield’s vibrations slammed into Zeus’s side, redirecting him out of the slab’s path without breaking Kei M’s stride against Ares.

Kei M didn’t waste a heartbeat. The moment Zeus was clear, his form blurred into motion. Using his mastery of martial arts—especially the intricate footwork and evasive movement drilled into him through hours of sparring with Oceanna—he became a streak of precision and speed.

Low hums and sharp cracks of sound rippled through the air as Kei M used pulses of Sound Force to propel himself in sharp, unpredictable bursts. He didn’t simply dodge—he ricocheted between positions, weaving in and out of Ares’s reach, forcing the warlord to constantly adjust his stance.

To the untrained eye, it was like watching a mosquito circle an elephant—yet this mosquito’s strikes carried bite. Kei M’s fists and feet darted in from impossible angles, landing rapid-fire jabs, palm strikes, and snapping kicks against pressure points and armor seams. Each impact carried a subtle, almost imperceptible vibration, burrowing beneath Ares’s skin to rattle bone, shake muscle fibers, and disrupt the flow of his force.

Ares, however, was no lumbering brute. Despite his size, his movements were sharp and honed by countless battlefields. His axes carved vicious arcs through the air, the weight behind them heavy enough to cleave through solid stone. He countered with frightening speed for someone of his build, forcing Kei M into a constant cycle of attack, slip, deflect, and reposition.

The crowd roared as the two clashed—each exchange a blur of ringing steel and muffled shockwaves. Kei M’s style wasn’t about overpowering his opponent; it was about dismantling them from the inside out. Every hit that landed sent a shudder through Ares’s body, building cumulative internal damage that no amount of brute strength could shrug off.

Ares grunted with each connection, the vibrations burrowing deeper into muscle and bone. He could feel his grip on his axes weakening from the constant tremors disrupting his fine motor control. Still, he pushed forward, swinging with brutal intent, his War Force flaring to match the rhythm of battle and keep him in the fight.

But Kei M thrived in this chaos. His movement was an unending rhythm—strike, vanish, reappear, disrupt—each beat punctuated by the sharp crack of compressed sound. The more Ares tried to predict him, the more Kei M’s patterns dissolved into unpredictable bursts, making him an ever-moving, ever-striking phantom in close quarters.

And in that split second of tunnel vision, Ares made a fatal mistake—he forgot Kei M’s weapon was more than just a distraction.

Mid-swing, as his massive axes cleaved through the air toward Kei M—who was currently airborne—Ares failed to notice the thin glint of the yo-yo’s cord cutting through his peripheral vision. With a sharp flick, Kei M sent the weapon whistling downward. The disc struck the arena floor at an angle, rebounding upward with a violent ricochet that caught Ares squarely under the chin.

The impact snapped Ares’s head back, forcing his gaze upward. His footing wavered, and in that instant of imbalance, Kei M’s eyes sharpened—opportunity seized.

Twisting midair, Kei M drove his leg upward in a fierce rising kick, the sole of his foot slamming into a pre-formed Resonant Shield suspended just above him. The shield detonated with a pulse of compressed sound, launching his leg back down with triple the force and speed.

The axe kick came crashing onto the crown of Ares’s head like a thunderbolt. The vibrations amplified the blow, reverberating through Ares’s skull and rattling his senses. The embodiment of war himself was driven to the ground, the impact cracking the arena floor beneath him as dust and stone fragments shot outward from the point of collision.

The crowd erupted—half in shock, half in disbelief—at seeing Ares floored so decisively.

But Kei M didn’t have that luxury—Ares didn’t stay down for long. A dangerous crimson aura began to radiate off him, heat and hostility pouring from his frame. The moment he lifted his head to glare at Kei M, the sound-bound kid was already gone, vanishing from the spot just as an axe cleaved through it, splitting the ground in two.

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It was close—too close. A hair’s breadth slower, and the strike would have cut him clean in half.

But there was no time to dwell. Ares’s axes came for his head again and again, faster and faster, forcing Kei M onto the defensive. Each swing was relentless, pushing him back without pause, the weight and speed behind them leaving no room for rest. Kei M tried slipping in a few counterattacks, but every opening was swallowed by the next frenzied blow.

He knew the longer Ares kept up this frenzy, the more dangerous and unpredictable he’d become. Kei M needed to break his rhythm.

Layering bursts of sound pulses through the ground, Kei M began weaving them into the battlefield’s echoes. He combined them with Bass Drop, shaping it to work like Echo Rebound, the skill he had earned in the fractured zone. The soundwaves bounced and folded through the arena space, creating invisible pockets of disruption.

Ares roared and charged, his movement almost teleporting from the sheer speed. The moment he stepped into one of those pockets—Bass Drop detonated beneath him. The ground shook, the pulse destabilizing his footing just enough to make him falter.

That was all Kei M needed.

A flash of steel—

The yo-yo slammed into Ares’s face with a sharp crack. The runes carved into its discs lit up, flaring bright as they unleashed a concentrated blast of sound straight into his skull.

The impact rattled his brain like a bell.

"Focus on your own guy, I’m fine here," Kei M said to Zeus, who had been struggling to disengage from Hercules after catching sight of Ares’s current state.

Despite having the most confidence in handling Hercules—having beaten the muscle-brained brute many times before—Zeus knew this was no easy opponent. Hercules was practically the embodiment of Strength Force itself. His fists could flatten battlefields, and his sheer might could tear through gold-grade equipment like it was tissue paper. Simply breaking away from him mid-combat was no simple matter.

Dodging an incoming punch that cratered the arena floor, Zeus kept his eyes on his masked teammate. "Are you sure?" he asked, his tone cautious.

Kei M simply gave a small nod, his attention never leaving his opponent. His yo-yo ricocheted from one Resonant Shield to the next, each rebound amplifying its speed and impact. Every strike slammed into Ares with bone-rattling force, knocking the warlord off balance again and again.

Then, with a sharp flick of his wrist, Kei M angled the cord so the weapon shot upward, rebounding off a shield positioned directly above Ares’s head. The next instant, the yo-yo came crashing down like a meteor, smashing into his skull and driving him into the arena floor with a thunderous crack.

Lightning flared around his palms, sparking violently as he leapt forward, seizing Hercules by the face. In one swift motion, Zeus drove him down into the ground, electricity surging from his grip in a blinding flash as he pinned the warrior’s head into the cracked stone. In the same moment, Zeus swung his foot downward with such force that the air burned and crackled with lightning—despite him not channeling any aether to activate his force.

But his leg was caught. Hercules’ massive hand locked around his ankle, and with a single heave, the Greek warrior swung Zeus away. Strength Force rippled outward, altering the gravity around Zeus’s body to make his fall more dangerous. Zeus’ descent would have shattered most fighters, but instead, he ricocheted off Resonant Shields, bouncing from one to the next in a descending pattern. Vibrations in the air below him condensed into a cushioned layer, absorbing the rest of the impact.

"Woah, that was fun—thanks," Zeus said laughing like a child filled with joy, brushing dust from his shoulders. "Hey, if you need any tips on force manipulation, I can help. If your aether ever runs low, it’s useful to still use your force without technically spending it."

"I don’t have to worry about aether," Kei M replied, disengaging from Ares and landing beside him.

"Are you sure?" Zeus cocked his head. "See, the better you understand the core structure of your force, the stronger you can make it while using less effort. Take lightning, for example—most people think it’s just raw energy, but it’s not. It’s three parts: charge potential, the path it takes, and the medium it travels through. If I compress the charge, it hits harder. If I change the path mid-flight, I can catch someone off-guard. And if I mess with the medium—say, fill the air with vapor—I can make the lightning stick, burn, or even chain to others.

That kick I threw? No aether. I just pushed the charge through my muscles and skin, forcing the air to ionize. That’s why it sparked. Once you get that kind of control, you can turn a basic attack into something people think needs a full force activation."

"I know a bit about Sound Force," Zeus said with a casual grin. "My little brother—when he was still around—was an insane genius with it. And I don’t mean just good… I mean really insane. He could alter vibrations to manipulate particles, reshape them to match the structure of any matter he wanted. Compact particles into earth and stone. Keep them loose so they flowed like water. Excite them enough to whip up tornadoes. Push them further until they burned like a blazing inferno… and so much more. Honestly, he was supposed to be Crown Prince instead of me, and it would’ve been deserved. Too bad I don’t know where he is now…"

Behind his mask, Kei M’s expression didn’t change, but his mind spun. What is he talking about?

Before he could dwell on it, both brothers were forced to refocus.

The air grew heavier—oppressive—like the sound of distant war drums echoing through the arena. A phantom scent of smoke and iron bled into the air. Ares was rising again, his War Force surging stronger than before, an almost tangible weight pressing against their chests.

Hercules clenched his massive fists. The sound cracked through the field, reverberating so loudly it made the stone beneath their feet tremble.

"You think we pissed them off?" Zeus asked, half-grinning, half-serious.

Up in the stands, the crowd roared at the escalating match.

Kei Y had returned next to his friends some time ago, Auserre had gone to meet with The Vendor during Mia’s match, catching the moment she won. Now Kei Y had changed—his outfit modeled after the gear he’d worn into the Exalted Dungeon.

He leaned forward, watching the fight unfold, unable to keep the question in.

"Why does Kei hate Zeus so much? From what I’m seeing, he’s not really a bad guy."

Emory chimed in unprompted. "He’s just an idiot most of the time—and too arrogant if you leave him alone for too long. That idiot’s been giving me headaches since the day I met him."

Silvie glanced at him. "Do you know what happened between those two?"

Emory didn’t answer. His gaze drifted toward his King. Pharaoh was watching the match with a small, almost nostalgic smile. Two sons, once again fighting side-by-side.

But next to him, the Queen’s face was twisted in fury. Even with the mask, she knew—that was Kei M. She didn’t understand how he’d returned… and even stronger than before.

Pharaoh’s voice was calm when he finally spoke. "I still have no proof you killed his mother. But I do know you used Zeus to ruin Kei. Touch him again… and it won’t be me you’ll have to worry about."

The Queen went rigid. A cold sweat broke down her back. She thought he meant Emory—but she was wrong. The danger Pharaoh spoke of was far worse.

Auserre had not been there the first time to stop the Queen. But ever since she had taken Kei M as her student, her eyes had never left the woman. She would not allow a second attempt.

The Queen, blissfully ignorant of that fact, sat in silence—unknowing just how close she was to courting disaster.

The Greek side didn’t have the luxury of viewing the fight the same way Pharaoh did. Their Queen sat despondent, the light gone from her eyes. King Cronos could only sigh heavily as he glanced at her, his own heart weighed down by grief. The loss of their daughter had hollowed him as well, but there was little that could be done in this moment.

And through it all, Mia had been jumping and cheering profusely from the sidelines. Every time Kei M had a brief second to glance her way, he would wave for as long as he could before turning back to the fight.

But now, as the pressure from Ares and Hercules began to climax, he no longer had such leisure.

“They’re about to get dangerous,” Zeus commented, his tone carrying a mix of excitement and warning.

“I’ve actually been waiting for this moment,” Kei M replied evenly.

“Oh, cool. If you can buy me a few seconds to prepare, I can get ready to handle these two. Think you can manage it?” Zeus asked, lightning already starting to spark faintly across his body.

“I just said I was waiting for this. Take your time—they might not even be here by the time you’re ready,” Kei M answered without missing a beat.

“Hehe, I like you,” Zeus laughed, his body pulsing with electricity, the very nature of the lightning beginning to shift and take on a sharper, more refined edge.

While Zeus focused on preparing himself, Kei M’s mind briefly wandered back to sparring sessions with Kei Y. A particular moment stood out—Kei M had been using his spark, Resonant Shield, to displace Kei Y’s movement, forcing him to bounce around unpredictably.

In the middle of it, Kei M noticed something strange: Kei Y was laughing cheerfully, as if the chaotic motion was fun for him.

“It’s like a…” Kei Y started with a wide grin,.

Kei Y’s comment drew Silvie’s attention, and before long, she was joining in—jumping up and down on the shields like it was some kind of game.

“A what? What’s that supposed to mean?” Kei M pressed, still confused.

The reaction he got was not what he expected. Both Kei Y and Silvie froze for a moment, exchanging a quick look. They’d just realized they’d let something slip—something they shouldn’t have revealed.

Because whatever they were talking about… didn’t even exist yet in this time period.

The way Kei Y had been bouncing around was like watching someone ricochet off bouncy walls—walls positioned in a way that resembled a deliberate structure. Kei Y had been quick to explain it as such, careful not to reveal that he and Silvie weren’t from this time period.

That explanation planted a seed in Kei M’s mind. He could see the potential—not just for mobility, but for disruption. The sudden, unpredictable angles, the way the movement could disorient an opponent… it was perfect for creating an opening. And so, the idea for a new attack began to take shape.

“Khenu, focus on using your healing runes for a moment,” Kei M said without warning.

Kei Y blinked in confusion at the request, but quickly learned why—and was grateful for the warning. He poured power into his Healing rune strokes, relying on them heavily to keep himself intact as Kei M began testing.

“Not a bad skill there, kid,” The Vendor remarked with a hint of amusement, as Kei Y was finally released from the trial, doubled over and vomiting profusely.

Over time, Kei M refined the technique with relentless focus, his natural genius sharpening it into something far more dangerous than its original concept. And now… Ares and Hercules were about to experience it firsthand.

And now, Kei M stood opposite two incredibly powerful opponents, his brother preparing himself beside him.

Ares and Hercules could feel it—the fight had been slipping through their fingers from the very start. Every exchange, every clash had tilted in favor of their enemies, and the casual, almost mocking nonchalance of those enemies only made it worse. The humiliation simmered in their gazes, heavy and sharp, and Kei M could read it as clearly as if they’d shouted it aloud.

“If you’re this upset,” Kei M said suddenly, voice dripping with theatrical grandeur, “you’re really not going to like what comes next.”

He spoke like an entertainer about to unveil his masterpiece, his arms spreading wide as though inviting the crowd into the act. And then it began.

Resonant Shields erupted into existence—not in random bursts, but in a deliberate, calculated pattern that wrapped around the two Greeks like a cage. It wasn’t just a barrier—it was a structure, a three-dimensional trap with precise angles and spacing that turned the air itself into a cruel playground.

The first pulse came from beneath their feet. A Resonant Shield on the ground detonated with focused force, launching Ares and Hercules upward in perfect sync.

Before they could even process the movement, their ears popped with a sharp snap of pressure change. Then another shield materialized directly above, catching them like a solid wall and flinging them sideways.

The world became a blur of flashing light and jarring impacts. The arena floor and ceiling switched places in their vision, each rebound snapping their heads hard enough to blur the edges of reality.

Another shield caught them mid-spin. WHUMPH! The reverberation punched through flesh and armor, rattling their bones like struck gongs. Their inner ears screamed, balance shattering—up felt sideways, sideways felt like drowning.

Every collision came with a muffled boom, as though the world had been wrapped in thick cotton. Hercules felt bile rise in his throat; Ares’s vision smeared into streaks, shapes warping and swimming at the corners of his eyes.

It wasn’t just pain. It was wrongness. Every nerve screamed that they were moving in impossible directions, yet their bodies had no time to react before the next brutal ricochet tore them away again.

The audience saw only a vicious spectacle—two warriors bouncing violently between walls of light in an impossible pinball pattern, their movements too fast to follow. But inside the trap, it was chaos: the air stank faintly of ozone and iron, stomachs lurched, skulls thrummed like drums about to crack.

Kei Y, watching from the sidelines, shuddered. He remembered exactly what it felt like to be inside—and even the memory was enough to make his stomach churn.

Kei M stood poised, playing the role of an entertainer unveiling his greatest act. Straightening with theatrical precision, he swept an arm across the air and declared in a voice that rang through the arena:

“Welcome… to the Bouncy House.”

The crowd roared, half in awe, half in disbelief at the sheer cruelty and creativity of the attack.