Chapter 113 — The Eye of Ruin
The arena had barely finished rebuilding itself when Kael realized something.
He was tired.
Not badly injured. Not close to collapsing.
Just tired.
The kind of tiredness that settled into the muscles after too many fights and refused to leave.
He had fought the dwarf.
Then Zion.
Both had forced him to use more of himself than he wanted.
Six times gravity still pressed down on his body, and although he had adapted to it long ago, fighting two consecutive opponents under that pressure was beginning to catch up with him.
Kael rolled his shoulder and looked across the arena.
Aurella stood there.
Her silver hair moved slightly in the artificial wind of the simulation.
Her scythe rested in one hand.
Her expression remained calm.
There was no excitement in her face.
No hesitation.
Only those strange eyes.
The Eye of Ruin.
Kael had seen those eyes during the tournament.
He remembered how they had picked apart his movements.
How they had found openings he didn’t even know he was leaving behind.
And now he had to fight her after everything that had already happened.
Kael sighed.
"Of course."
The simulation gave no response.
Aurella simply raised her scythe.
Kael’s hand tightened around his sword.
The system sounded.
『Rank One Simulation: Aurella Voss.』
『Begin.』
She moved.
Kael barely had time to react.
The scythe swept toward his neck.
He ducked.
The blade passed over his head.
Kael immediately retaliated.
"First Form: Guiding Light."
His sword flashed toward her torso.
Aurella’s body shifted before the blade reached her.
She didn’t block.
She didn’t parry.
She simply moved into the exact space where the sword wasn’t.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
He turned his wrist and followed.
Aurella moved again.
Another miss.
Kael stepped backward.
"...You’re reading me already?"
Aurella’s eyes glowed faintly.
The Eye of Ruin had begun observing him.
Kael attacked again.
"Second Form: Falling Comet."
His sword descended.
Aurella twisted around it.
The scythe immediately came back around.
Kael blocked.
CLANG!
The impact forced his arm downward.
Aurella followed with a kick.
Kael jumped backward.
The heel barely missed his stomach.
He landed and immediately changed his stance.
That was the problem.
She wasn’t simply reacting to his attacks.
She was learning them.
Every time Kael used a form, the Eye of Ruin seemed to memorize the movement.
By the time he tried it again, she was already prepared.
Kael clicked his tongue.
"So that’s how we’re doing this."
Aurella advanced.
Her scythe came from the left.
Kael blocked.
She reversed the grip.
The blade changed direction.
Kael twisted his body.
The scythe passed across his chest, cutting through his uniform.
A shallow wound appeared.
Kael jumped away.
He looked down.
Blood.
"That was close."
Aurella continued walking toward him.
No wasted movement.
No unnecessary attacks.
The same calm precision she had displayed during the tournament.
Kael attacked again.
Third Form.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Aurella avoided them all.
The more he showed her, the harder it became to land anything.
Outside the simulation, Lyra leaned forward.
"She’s doing it again."
Raphael nodded.
"The Eye of Ruin is mapping his movements."
The real Zion watched silently.
He knew exactly what that meant.
Kael couldn’t simply keep throwing techniques at her.
Every repeated movement would become another weakness.
Inside the arena, Kael came to the same conclusion.
He changed his approach.
Instead of using another form, he stepped forward and swung his sword normally.
Aurella blocked.
Kael rotated his wrist.
She moved.
He followed with his elbow.
She ducked.
He kicked.
She avoided it.
Kael continued.
Sword.
Elbow.
Knee.
Shoulder.
He stopped relying on the Celestial Star Art.
For several seconds, the fight became nothing more than close-quarters combat.
Aurella’s scythe gave her tremendous reach, but Kael constantly stepped inside it.
He caught the shaft with his left hand.
Pulled.
Aurella released it.
Kael’s eyes widened.
She kicked the bottom of the weapon.
The scythe spun through the air.
Aurella caught it behind her back.
Kael stared.
"...That’s annoying."
She attacked.
Kael blocked.
The impact forced him backward.
One step.
Two.
Three.
His shoes scraped against the arena floor.
Aurella suddenly stopped.
Her eyes brightened.
Kael felt something change.
The air around him became heavy.
A purple glow spread beneath Aurella’s feet.
A circular pattern appeared across the arena.
Kael’s expression changed.
"Your domain."
The purple circle expanded.
The moment his foot entered its range—
A cut appeared across his cheek.
Kael jumped backward.
Another cut appeared on his arm.
Then another.
He immediately left the area.
The wounds stopped appearing.
Kael stared at the purple field.
"...So that’s your mini-domain."
Aurella remained inside it.
The Eye of Ruin stared directly at him.
Kael understood immediately.
If he entered that field carelessly, he would be attacked from every direction.
There was no visible projectile.
No obvious source.
The domain simply recognized him as something that could be destroyed.
Kael slowly exhaled.
"Great."
He glanced at his sword.
Then at Aurella.
"Guess I have to finish this before you get too comfortable."
He rushed forward.
Aurella waited.
Kael stopped just outside the domain.
His sword moved.
"Sixth Form: Falling Starfall."
The slash crossed the distance.
Aurella’s scythe intercepted it.
The impact pushed her backward.
Kael followed.
Another strike.
Another.
Aurella’s feet moved closer to the edge of her domain.
Kael saw the opening.
He stepped in.
The domain activated.
Cuts appeared across his body.
One across his cheek.
Two across his shoulder.
Another along his side.
Kael gritted his teeth but kept moving.
His sword struck Aurella’s scythe.
She blocked.
Kael pushed harder.
For once, she was forced to give ground.
Kael’s eyes sharpened.
"Got you."
He rotated his sword and attacked her exposed side.
Aurella’s Eye of Ruin flashed.
She saw it.
She moved.
Kael’s blade missed by inches.
The scythe came around.
Kael barely blocked.
The force sent him flying backward.
He crashed onto the ground.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
His breathing became heavier.
He pushed himself up.
Blood dripped from his chin.
Aurella stood at the center of her domain.
Untouched.
Kael looked at her.
Then laughed quietly.
"You’re really making me work for this."
He stood.
His sword shook slightly in his hand.
His body was beginning to feel the accumulated damage from the previous fights.
He couldn’t keep this up.
Not like this.
He needed something more.
Kael looked at his right arm.
The memory of the tournament came back to him.
The darkness.
The loss of control.
The terrifying power that had nearly consumed everything around him.
He wasn’t going to repeat that.
Not here.
Not now.
Kael slowly raised his right arm.
Darkness mana gathered around it.
Unlike during the tournament, it didn’t flood the arena.
It didn’t consume his body.
It remained compressed.
Controlled.
A thin layer of darkness wrapped around his forearm.
Then moved down his wrist.
Finally—
It covered his sword.
Kael’s eyes sharpened.
"Mana emphasization."
The blade became darker.
Not completely black.
Almost.
A faint pressure radiated from it.
The simulation reacted immediately.
Aurella’s Eye of Ruin widened.
For the first time...
She took a step backward.
Kael noticed.
His mouth curved into a small smile.
"Yeah."
"That’s what I wanted to see."
He moved.
The difference was immediate.
Not an explosion of overwhelming strength.
Not the monstrous power from the tournament.
Just efficiency.
His right arm became stronger.
His blade became heavier.
His movements became sharper.
Kael entered the domain again.
Cuts appeared across his body.
But he didn’t stop.
He swung.
Aurella blocked.
The impact drove her backward.
Kael swung again.
She blocked.
Again.
Again.
The scythe began to tremble in her hands.
Aurella’s Eye of Ruin desperately searched for an opening.
Kael wasn’t giving her one.
His attacks were no longer large techniques she could memorize.
They were simple movements.
A slash.
A thrust.
A turn.
A step.
Every attack was adjusted at the last possible moment.
The Eye of Ruin could see the attack.
But Kael kept changing what came after it.
Aurella’s domain flickered.
Kael noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
"You’re running out."
He stepped forward.
Aurella swung her scythe.
Kael caught the shaft with his left hand.
The blade stopped inches from his throat.
His right arm tightened.
Mana emphasization surged through his sword.
He pushed the scythe away.
Then raised his blade.
Aurella’s eyes widened.
Kael stopped the sword a fraction away from her neck.
The simulation froze.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then—
『Rank One Simulation Defeated.』
The purple domain disappeared.
The scythe vanished.
Aurella dissolved into particles of light.
Kael lowered his sword.
His right arm was trembling.
He released the mana immediately.
The darkness disappeared.
Kael looked at his arm.
"...That was close."
Outside the arena, nobody spoke for several seconds.
Raphael finally exhaled.
"He controlled it."
Lyra nodded.
"Completely different from the tournament."
The real Zion stared at the screen.
Kael had defeated every opponent.
Rank Four.
Rank Two.
Rank One.
But something about the final exchange bothered him.
Kael hadn’t won through overwhelming power.
He had won because, for the first time, he had fought cautiously.
He had recognized his mistakes.
He had adapted.
And he had stopped himself before the power consumed him.
Inside the simulation, Kael looked toward the ranking board.
The names of the students disappeared one after another.
Until only one remained.
Rank 1 — Aurella Voss.
Then the screen changed.
『All Current Student Simulations Complete.』
Kael stared at the message.
He smiled.
"Finally."
But the system didn’t shut down.
Instead—
The arena went completely dark.
Kael’s smile disappeared.
A new message appeared.
『Preparing Special Simulation.』
Kael slowly raised his sword.
"...What?"
A figure began forming at the opposite end of the arena.
The silhouette was familiar.
Far too familiar.
Same height.
Same sword.
Same stance.
Same crimson eyes.
Kael stared at himself.
The figure lifted its head.
And for the first time since entering the simulation room...
Kael felt something far worse than pressure.
He felt fear.
『Special Opponent: Kael Draven.』
The simulation began.