Veil of Aether

The day before they were set to return to the tournament, the kids spent every waking hour refining their Flow Pulse Tapping technique. Each of them worked to attune the rhythm of the method to their own Force, shaping it into something personal — something that belonged to them alone.

By nightfall, the results spoke for themselves.

Their levels reached Level 10.

And with that milestone came what every Recruit dreamed of:

Class selection.

Before anyone could browse their options in peace, Auserre betrayed her excitement completely.

She didn’t even last five seconds.

“Show me,” she demanded, eyes gleaming. “Now. All of you.”

The kids reluctantly opened their interfaces.

And just like that, Auserre, Oceanna, and the Vendor froze in place — staring wide-eyed at the sheer magnitude of what unfolded in front of them.

The list of available classes was… obscene.

Just the number of options below Ascendant rank bordered on the infinite. The selection scrolled endlessly.

And then there were the Ancient-ranked classes.

Even a glimpse at that section made the air feel heavier.

But the real shock came after.

The God Sparks.

All four of them possessed dozens of Exalted-rank class options.

Not one or two.

Dozens.

Enough to make established experts weep.

And then there was Inpu.

He stared quietly at his own list — and then froze.

Because among his options…

Was an Exalted-rank class.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

Then slowly, his hands clenched at his sides.

It didn’t matter that his list was shorter than theirs.

It didn’t matter that he wasn’t a God Spark.

What mattered was this:

His effort had been real.

His path was valid.

His strength was acknowledged by the world itself.

He swallowed hard, emotion flickering across his face.

All of those sleepless nights.

All that pain.

All that doubt.

It wasn’t for nothing.

Oceanna opened her mouth.

Her lips slowly parted.

Then:

“These kids really don’t disappoint,” she muttered.

And then, without missing a beat:

“Compared to them, you two were completely useless.”

Auserre and the Vendor flinched.

“That’s not fair!” the Vendor protested immediately. “They’re God Sparks! Even Inpu uses Balance Force!”

Oceanna didn’t even blink.

“And you’re Creation Force,” she shot back.

The Vendor recoiled.

“But Creation is harder to use! Even a God Spark struggles with it!” He jabbed a finger toward Kei Y. “Look at him!”

Kei Y didn’t even glance up from his interface.

“Don’t drag me into this,” he said lazily. “I have too many class options to scroll through to be involved in your inferiority.”

Then, just to be unbearable about it—

He stuck out his tongue.

Auserre laughed.

Inpu tried very hard not to smile.

The Vendor absolutely suffered.

And Oceanna?

She smiled.

Without much fanfare or surprise, the kids each selected a class from the Exalted options, setting the foundation for their futures to be as strong as possible. The three who chose Exalted-ranked classes were visibly excited, eager to explore their new skills and abilities.

The other two, however, made different choices. Although they both selected classes of the same rank, their reasons for doing so weren’t quite the same—even if Auserre believed otherwise.

"Oddly enough, for you two, choosing Common-rank classes will actually make you stronger," Auserre noted, a touch of amusement in her voice. "You’re probably the only two in existence where that would be the case. Funnily enough, most people would kill for an Exalted class—just getting one would be the dream for us ordinary folk. I know I went through hell to get mine, back when my kingdom was still above water."

She crossed her arms, gaze firm. "The rank of your class helps determine the quality of your core once you’re ready to advance into the Soldier Class. That, in turn, makes all the difference when it comes to breaking out of the Mortal Realm into the Ascended Realm."

It was a rare moment of serious instruction, and Auserre made sure her students understood the weight of this decision. This was a critical juncture in their training—and perhaps, their futures.

As she continued instructing them, both Oceanna and the Vendor couldn’t help but grow puzzled.

“Master, why is it better for him to choose a Common class?” the Vendor asked, frowning deeply. “Did you not see the classes that were available to him? Not only did he pick a Common rank, but the one he chose was one of the most mundane ones.”

Before anyone could answer, a rune-inscribed Shima Enaga swooped down and pecked the Vendor sharply on the head.

“Hey—!”

The bird immediately flapped off, and the Vendor yelped as he sprinted around the room trying to avoid it, the tiny menace chirping triumphantly as it gave chase.

“Mind your business,” Kei Y snapped at him, sticking out his tongue in mockery.

Oceanna hummed thoughtfully.

“Hm… it’s a fair question,” she said gently. “I can understand why Mia chose a Common rank… but why did you, my sweet little boy?”

Her tone was so warm and affectionate that Kei Y visibly melted on the spot, drawing in a breath, clearly ready to spill every secret he had.

Auserre acted instantly.

She clamped a hand over Kei Y’s mouth before he could say a word, muffling whatever confession he had been seconds away from blurting out.

“Is it his secret you’re so hesitant to talk about?” Oceanna asked as Auserre calmly ignored the boy latched onto her hand, biting and licking desperately in his attempt to get free.

Annoyed, Auserre manipulated the saliva on her skin, condensing it into a compact droplet of liquid before flicking it straight down Kei Y’s throat.

He immediately doubled over, coughing violently, eyes wide in panicked shock.

“Master,” Auserre said without even glancing at him, turning instead to Oceanna, “him having a Common-rank class truly is for the best. It suits him perfectly.”

“If you say so,” Oceanna replied coolly. “Aside from helping you shield this one from Supreme Gods, I promised not to interfere with your students. You know the risk. Those trained under powerful figures are destined to gamble with their lives during training. It was no different for you and your generation when you trained under me.”

“And you witnessed how that ended firsthand.”

Her voice softened, just slightly.

“So if this is the path you believe is right for him… I won’t interfere.”

“Thank you,” Auserre said quietly, genuinely grateful for her master’s decision.

But worry immediately returned, settling deep into her expression.

She alone had survived among her fellow disciples who trained under Oceanna. And as though fate itself had followed her, many of the students she later took on shared that same grim destiny. Very few were left alive today who could still call her Master.

The faces of the dead surfaced unbidden in her mind—

Until a certain idiot shattered the moment.

“Grandmaster, don’t listen to that old hag!” Kei Y blurted out loudly, derailing her thoughts completely. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about! I can pick an Exalted class if I want to! Whatever stupid reason she’s thinking of won’t stop me from doing what I want!”

As if offended by the declaration, the title [He Who Denies Fate] flickered in his interface — pulsing furiously, as though screaming:

"Who are you calling stupid?"

Kei Y didn’t even flinch.

“You,” he snapped at the air. “You imbecile.”

To everyone else, it looked like he had finally snapped and started yelling at himself.

Auserre couldn't help but feel flabbergasted. She knew what he snapped at.

She watched him continue cursing at the title.

Arguing with it.

Mocking it.

Flipping it off.

And strangely…

That eased her heart just a little.

Because fear ruled consciouness.

And Kei Y?

He wasn’t afraid at all.

“Brat…” Auserre muttered, her jaw tightening as she stepped forward.

“You better not drag me down with you.”

She punched him square in the head.

“Hm… what a shame,” Oceanna said lightly. “You clearly enjoy manifesting creatures through rune strokes. You even seem to care about them. You avoid killing them unless you have to, and even then you close your eyes and clasp your hands as though you are wishing them well. Because of that, I thought you would be drawn to the Beast Master class. You could control beasts, and with it being Exalted, you would even be able to command creatures stronger than yourself. Yet you chose this class of all things. With your current mastery as a combat runesmith, it is rather redundant.”

She ignored her usual questionable tendencies while speaking, surprisingly sincere.

“When the mastery of that class is pushed to the extreme, you can even inherit the traits of the creatures you control. Considering your talents, you are more than capable of reaching such levels.”

Rubbing the back of his head, Kei Y shrugged. “That’s even more redundant than me being a combat runesmith and having the class I chose.”

“Even that’s redundant for you?” Oceanna asked, genuinely shocked.

Auserre quickly looked away from her master, averting her gaze as she began melting into a shallow puddle of water to escape her attention.

“Child, I taught you how to do that,” Oceanna said calmly.

“And I mastered it to a higher level than you. What’s your point?” Auserre replied, already little more than a puddle ready to slide away.

Unfortunately, even if Auserre had refined the technique further than her teacher, Oceanna was still more than capable of forcing her back into human form.

Ignoring her insolent student, Oceanna could not help but wonder why Kei Y would choose a Common class when he had no restriction against selecting an Exalted one.

Auserre, reflecting on his words, could not help but wonder the same.

“That’s true,” Auserre added eventually, pulling herself back together. “If you are not restricted from taking an Exalted class, why choose this one? You were even offered the Exalted version of the very path you selected. Not even Aterix had that option available to him. And honestly, I would still drown that painful-to-look bastard even if he did have that Exalted class.”

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Everyone looked at him with varying levels of confusion.

Mia, at least, made sense.

For her, choosing an Exalted class would only make her weaker. She was a walking cheat code. Choosing the weakest and most basic path only made her stronger by comparison.

But Kei Y was not like her.

If the same logic did not apply to him, then why refuse an Exalted version of the very class he picked?

“Meh,” Kei Y shrugged. “Why make my life harder just for the sake of more power? I like this class. And I get to use a brush.”

He smiled.

“You’re giving up an Exalted class because you can’t be bothered?” the Vendor snapped. “Ow, my eye, you stupid bird.”

“And I get a brush too,” Kei Y added with a grin. “Hehehe. Oi.”

Looking at her strangely cheerful student, and ignoring what felt like a subtle but sudden shift in his attitude, Auserre sighed and let it go. The boy was already abnormal. Having a Common class was not going to make him any weaker.

“Do whatever you want,” Auserre muttered. “Now, since you finally have a class, I managed to get my hands on a profession scroll. And since an Exalted profession won’t interfere with you, you’re taking this one.”

There was no tone of negotiation in her voice.

“Only one?” Kei Y asked, surprised.

The Vendor scoffed. “Do you have any idea how rare profession scrolls are? Classes are something the system gives you. Profession scrolls are not. Quality ones are even worse. These aren’t toys.”

He crossed his arms.

“A profession scroll lets your aether sink into your work differently. It changes how you interact with your craft. Instead of forcing your aether into an object, professions integrate it. Your aether stops being something applied… and starts becoming something blended.”

He gestured vaguely in Kei Y’s direction.

“For example, if a professional blacksmith and a normal blacksmith use the same ore, the results are completely different. With a profession, the aether doesn’t coat the material. It transforms alongside it. Your output is no longer just better crafted. It is fundamentally different.”

Mia’s eyes widened slightly.

“The material itself changes?” she asked.

The Vendor nodded. “Profession paths don’t just improve quality. They redefine it.”

Kei Y looked down at the scroll in his hands, then slowly smiled.

Between a brush in one hand… and transformation in the other…

His future did not look weaker at all.

Silvie heard the explanation and her eyes glittered.

She stared at the profession scroll in Kei Y’s s hand like a starved beast eyeing a feast.

Before Kei Y could even open his mouth to discuss his choice, a thick vine erupted from the floor beneath him.

It launched upward and slammed his head into the ground with terrifying force.

“Oi—!”

Silvie was already moving.

She scooped him up in one arm, snatched the profession scroll, and bolted.

The motion was so fast that nobody processed what had happened until—

“Hey!” the Vendor suddenly yelled. “She took the scroll! We were supposed to decide what profession Khneu should take!”

When his words registered, everyone rushed after her.

But they didn’t get far.

Heavy, rhythmic thudding echoed down the hall.

Followed by Kei Y’s furious shouting.

Then pleading.

Then desperate denial.

Then…

Crying.

And finally, pitiful whimpering.

Eventually, Silvie returned.

Kei Y followed behind her, battered and red-eyed, trembling slightly as he walked.

The profession scroll was nowhere in sight.

“Now go to the kitchen and be a good boy for momma,” Silvie cooed, patting him on the back. “Momma’s hungry.”

Her eyes were glazed.

There was drool on her chin.

It was not difficult to guess what had happened.

Or which profession he had been forced to choose.

Everyone knew Kei Y was absurdly talented across multiple fields. That was why Auserre had gone to such lengths to secure an Exalted profession scroll for him.

Originally, she had followed the Vendor’s advice.

After seeing the elixir Kei Y had created, she had intended to suggest Alchemy. With his Healing Force unable to handle everything, powerful potions would be essential. And with his talent, it could have made him dangerously wealthy.

But from what had just transpired…

That food-obsessed menace had clearly forced him into a different path.

Cooking.

She had chosen his profession based solely on the future meals she expected him to create.

“To think your greatest weakness would be your stomach,” Auserre sighed. “Child… you truly are a disaster of a foodie.”

Silvie huffed.

“Master, you’re no better than I am,” she said casually as she wiped her mouth. “You’re drooling too.”

Eventually, a feast was laid out before everyone. And to be on the safe side, Kei Y had prepared enough food to satisfy even Silvie.

When he worked with the ingredients, he felt the difference immediately.

The moment his aether touched them, something changed.

To his eyes, the ingredients did not merely absorb his power. They responded to it. Transformed through it.

It left him awed.

So much so that he went a step further and used his Pristine Aether.

The result was something he could never have imagined.

He had not expected that level of… refinement.

Only then did he truly understand what the Vendor had meant earlier.

This was not enhancement.

This was transmutation.

Without relying on his profession at all, he knew he would never be able to replicate such effects.

“If Master needed me to learn this profession through a scroll,” Kei Y murmured to himself, “then I guess there really is no other way to learn professions naturally.”

He pulled something from his inventory.

The profession scroll.

It was still there.

Unused.

The Vendor turned toward him, intending to compliment the food and instead froze.

“I thought you already used that?” he asked, mouth filled with food.

He stared at the scroll in Kei Y’s hand weirdly.

And Auserre…

Auserre understood immediately.

“If I had that title…” she murmured under her breath. “What could I do with it?”

She had already guessed the truth.

Kei Y had never used the scroll.

There was no way he would give up his preferred profession just because a hungry, dangerous girl decided it for him.

The title [He Who Denies Fate] had granted him the Cooking profession directly.

Silvie believed she had forced his destiny.

In reality, he had overwritten it.

The moment she looked away, he had slipped the scroll into his inventory, masking its presence with Whispering Breeze so completely that even her instincts failed to perceive it.

To her…

It looked as though the scroll had been consumed.

After stuffing their bellies full to the point of nearly bursting, the kids quickly got to work, training with their new classes.

Inpu pulled out the scale he had acquired from the Fractured Zone and felt like he finally had a real use for it. Strapping it to his back, he began running through his new skills, testing their effects and getting a feel for how his Force now moved through his body.

Kei M did the same.

The moment he activated his new skills, their value became obvious. Exalted was not just a title. Every movement he made caused the world itself to seem to respond. It was as though the air carried music only he could hear, guiding his steps. His body followed its rhythm without hesitation.

It was like a dance between him and the world.

Unfortunately for Kei Y, he was the first one to experience it firsthand.

He lost.

Bluntly.

Painfully.

Still, watching Kei M move, Kei Y could not help but think his friend’s class was terrifying. The way the world itself seemed to answer Kei M’s movements felt unfair in a way only an Exalted class could be.

Kei Y couldn't help but feel that it was a shame that this class made its presence in this era. If it had been back in his own time, Kei Y had no hopes of being a challenge to Kei M. Only by having an exalted class of his own would Kei Y be able to challenge Kei M in modern day, with him having that class.

And yet…

Strangely enough, Kei M was shaken.

He had won.

But it had not felt like a victory.

He had gone into the spar worried that Kei Y had crippled himself by choosing a Common class.

By the end of it…

He was the one unsettled.

“This freak…” Kei M muttered under his breath.

It had been meant to be a friendly spar.

He had fought like it was a real duel.

Kei Y had pushed him.

Hard.

The adults noticed too.

“Maybe it really is a good thing he chose a Common class,” one of them said quietly while eating.

Their eyes stayed on Kei Y as he caught his breath.

He had lost.

But the fact that he had lasted at all, let alone forced an Exalted-class user to fight seriously…

That was the frightening part.

“This food is incredible,” Oceanna said calmly between bites. “Even though it won’t affect me due to my cultivation level, it should work wonders on those still in the Mortal Realm.”

Auserre scoffed around her food.

“Forget beneficial. It just tastes absurdly good.”

The kids continued their training, receiving guidance from the adults when needed. By the time night fell, every single one of them collapsed from exhaustion.

The adults, however…

Were left staring in stunned silence.

“Worthless,” Oceanna said flatly to Auserre and the Vendor. “Truly worthless. Both of you.”

For once, neither could argue.

They just kept eating.

It got bad enough that when Silvie eventually returned, clearly hunting for another meal…

There was nothing left.

Auserre and the Vendor slowly realised what they had done.

And felt their souls leave their bodies.

They turned toward Silvie, who was scanning the room with growing intensity.

The Vendor bolted.

He ran straight to Kei Y and slapped him awake.

The boy groaned and cracked one eye open.

“Can’t you just use your Creation Force to remake it?”

“You little jackass,” the Vendor hissed, gripping his shirt. “I was too busy eating to analyze anything! Hurry up and make more before that girl kills me!”

He was very close to tears.

The next day, the tournament resumed.

The rules for this stage of the tournament changed overnight.

It was no longer kingdom versus kingdom, team versus team.

After several rounds, the structure collapsed into something far more chaotic.

It felt sudden.

Too sudden.

Like the organizers had planned one path for the tournament… and then discarded it without warning.

Weird.

The participants felt it too.

When they arrived at the arena, confusion rippled through the competitors.

Questions went unanswered.

And then the truth hit all at once.

There would be no more structured matches.

No brackets.

No pairings.

No order.

Every remaining participant from every kingdom would enter the arena together.

It was no longer one versus one.

No longer two versus two.

It was a free-for-all.

While the participants scrambled to make sense of the sudden rule change, the match began without warning.

There was no countdown.

No announcement.

No signal horn.

The decision had been made for them.

Sharp grunts echoed across the battlefield as several participants were thrown backward by sudden bursts of wind.

All attention snapped toward the same direction.

Kei Y.

He stood completely relaxed at the center of the arena, arms moving in calm, rhythmic arcs as he punched forward again and again.

Each motion released compressed pulses of air.

His new class was already in effect.

And it was terrifying.

Class Name (Common Rank): Calligrapher

Description

The Calligrapher class converts written form into manifested aether effects through calligraphy and brushwork rather than traditional casting.

The class looked unimpressive on paper.

To anyone else, it was.

To Kei Y, it was perfect.

Using his will as a calligraphy brush, and his aether as the ink.

This class made converting aether into strokes easier.

To most people, that meant nothing.

To him, it meant everything.

Because Kei Y understood something deeper.

The class did not give power.

It gave freedom.

Freedom to create.

Freedom to design.

Freedom to build.

While others selected skills from the system…

Kei Y made his own.

Rune strokes were not spells to him.

They were functions.

The more deeply he understood their structure and the patterns within runes, the more efficient his techniques became.

And there was one concept he had suffered endlessly to master before this class.

One function he both needed and wanted more than anything.

[Macro]

Effect: Automates foundational rune structures.

Runesmithing required every stroke to be manually constructed before manifestation.

Each line had to be shaped.

Each curve fed.

Each joint stabilized.

Before this class, even Kei Y needed time to build runes from raw intention.

Now…

Macro automated the framework.

The skeleton of the rune assembled itself.

Kei Y no longer had to write each structural layer from scratch.

He only had to define the result.

Where once he interrupted himself to arrange logic…

Now the logic formed beneath his will.

His greatest weakness had been removed.

And it happened in the worst possible place for his opponents.

A battlefield.

Kei Y unleashed another pulse of wind.

Then another.

Then five more in rapid succession.

Each blow landed with surgical force.

The arena descended into chaos.

Kei Y was no longer fighting.

He was executing.

He was not a mage.

He was not a warrior.

He was not a caster.

He was a programmer armed with reality.

Like a programmer, Kei Y used Macro to assign global variables to every Force he had access to.

The first wave of Wind Force had already stunned the battlefield.

What came next left everyone speechless.

Macro surged.

Rune strokes formed everywhere.

Ember-ash.

Frostbane.

Earth.

Verdant Volt.

Tideborne Eclipse.

They appeared so suddenly that it felt as if the air had blinked and the writing had already been there.

A deep shudder ran through the participants.

Not through their bodies.

Through their souls.

Kei Y was not the only one to strike.

Without hesitation, Inpu launched forward.

He appeared directly in front of Veylor, blade already thrusting.

Veylor reacted on instinct, clamping his teeth around the blade and stopping it a breath away from his face.

“Today is the day I kill you,” Inpu growled.

“Tch,” Veylor spat, releasing the blade. “Keep dreaming. I should have killed you a long time ago. You were always useless.”

He struck out, forcing Inpu to flip backward.

“That stupid name you gave me after you picked me up is no longer my name,” Inpu snarled.

“Hmph. And what are you calling yourself now?” Veylor sneered as he equipped his gauntlets. “Might as well be called useless.”

Inpu slammed his scale into the ground.

The metal rattled violently as Scale Force surged through it.

A suffocating pressure spread outward, forcing nearby fighters to stiffen.

“When you cross into the afterlife,” he said coldly, “remember this.”

“The one who killed you is named Anubis.”

While Anubis settled his grudge, the battlefield exploded into motion everywhere else.

Kei M joined his brother, immediately engaging the Greek participants.

Mia, meanwhile, was struggling to roll Silvie out of danger.

The problem was simple.

Silvie could not move.

Apparently, she had eaten like a starving beast.

She was swollen to the point of looking like a giant balloon.

And even now, in the middle of battle, she lay on the ground with her absurdly inflated stomach, lazily chewing on a massive roasted Rocke Hen leg.

It was… oddly comical.

And entirely terrifying.

She was not defenseless.

With one hand devoted to eating, her other hand twitched open.

Around her rose dozens of floral wooden bees.

They buzzed violently through the air, stinging and chasing anyone unlucky enough to target her.

Participants fled in panic as the things pursued them with relentless accuracy.

Mia watched Silvie eat while surrounded by chaos and sighed.

“I swear… you only chose that class so you could fight and eat at the same time.”

Silvie nodded happily and took another bite.

Izanami scanned the battlefield, but it was Kei Y who shattered her composure.

“So amazing…” she whispered under her breath.

Then she moved.

She dashed toward Kei Y without hesitation, eyes glittering with excitement.

But another figure intercepted her.

“You stupid monkey. He’s mine.”

She froze.

“Listen here, you blind priestess,” Wukong snapped, baring his teeth, “whatever you want to do with him romantically is none of my business. I want to fight him.”

“That is NOT what I want to do, you idiot!”

Izanami’s face went crimson as she screamed.

Wukong paid no attention.

His staff extended suddenly.

Kei Y felt it coming.

He leapt.

Landing on the staff mid-extension.

Wukong roared with laughter and swung his weapon violently.

The sheer power behind the motion hurled Kei Y into the sky.

The arena gasped.

Watching Kei Y juggle multiple Forces at near-instant speed left many shaken.

“I thought he was Healing Force!”

“Even those fire rune strokes were impressive earlier, but this… what kind of monster is this kid?”

Voices overlapped in disbelief.

Kei Y twisted midair, channeling Breeze Force to soften the impact of his ascent.

Then he grinned.

Hand seals flashed.

Macro triggered.

Verdant Volt rune strokes erupted across his arms, green lightning crackling violently.

At the same time, Stormwind runes ignited around him.

The air twisted.

The clouds screamed.

A rising storm swallowed his silhouette.

Below him, Izanami and Wukong both locked onto him with savage excitement.

Their interfaces blinked.

Kingdom Duel Requests.

Both were issued at the same time.

Kei Y accepted.

Both of them.

Macro surged.

Creation Force flared.

Pre-programmed rune arrays ignited.

Frostbane.

Glacial.

Ember-Ash.

Wind.

In the blink of an eye, three rune-born creatures tore themselves into existence.

Tideborne Eclipse also made its presence, as if not wanting to be left out.

All these forces bloomed to life in competition with each other.

The system boomed across the arena:

[Amunar vs Japan vs China]

At that same moment, as if they had always been there, two massive viper heads emerged from the storm.

A Shima Enaga flitted through the maelstrom.

They hovered on either side of Kei Y, rune-forged scales shimmering as each head locked onto one opponent.

Kei Y smiled.

His display had finally drawn the notice of the Crown Prince of Jerusalem.

His gaze shifted.

There was another Recruit-Class participant worth acknowledging.

Another existence capable of challenging him.

Unfortunately, he had no time to pursue that curiosity.

His two Specialist-Class subordinates were too busy trying to kill each other like idiots.

Once again, the crowd was stunned into silence.

Their eyes were glued to the terrifying storm above the arena, to the twin viper shapes coiling inside it, to the impossible density of rune strokes layering the sky.

So no one noticed it at first.

The soft, broken chuckle.

“…Dione never stood a chance against that kid…”

Queen Thalia laughed through tears as a veil was slowly being peeled off her.

Everyone ignored her final moments.

None would come to witness her false appearance unravel.

All those comments and insults Kei Y had made about her appearance. The words he said left many confused.

Now, her real appearance was unravelling, but no one paid her any mind.

The crowd was still trying to process the three-kingdom announcement when scattered whispers spread through the stands.

“Isn’t this strange?”

“What was the point of calling it a free-for-all if people can just issue personal kingdom challenges?”

“Feels like the tournament was supposed to go a different way… and something changed suddenly.”

Weird.

Too weird.

"Kind of feels like this tournament is being rushed."

Kei Y, preparing to face two Crown Princes alone, felt rather than saw Thalia's action.

His head turned.

Toward the stands.

Toward Queen Thalia.

In time to see her form unravel.

Her disguise dispersed.

Layer by layer, a mist peeled away from her body.

Until only the truth remained.

A shadowed, broken, obese woman at the center of a collapsing illusion.

“A shame,” he said softly. “When I said I would borrow a hand to kill you… I hoped to have my Master make you suffer.”

He sighed.

“But this will do too.”

And then Queen Thalia stabbed herself in her chest with her golden-scaled hand.

She killed herself.

Her presence vanished.

And with it…

The three-way kingdom battle truly began.