Chapter 105: Into the Central Ruins
The forest had become a battlefield.
Fire tore through the trees.
Lightning cracked across the sky.
Noah and Jordan stood back-to-back as a dozen contestants surrounded them.
Jordan laughed.
"I’ve always wanted to do this."
Noah glanced at him.
"Do what?"
"Fight alongside you."
Noah raised an eyebrow.
"You hate me."
Jordan grinned.
"I still do."
A lightning bolt struck the ground beside them.
"Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this."
Noah smiled.
"Fair enough."
The first contestant charged.
Jordan vanished.
CRACK!
Lightning slammed into the ground.
Three opponents were thrown aside.
Noah moved immediately.
Fire wrapped around his legs.
He launched himself forward.
BOOM!
His fist struck a heavily armored contestant.
The armor cracked.
The fighter flew backward.
Another attacked Noah from the side.
Jordan intercepted him.
Lightning surged through his arm.
CRACK!
"Your left!"
Noah ducked.
Jordan’s lightning passed over his head and struck the attacker.
Noah looked at him.
"Nice."
Jordan smirked.
"Don’t get used to it."
The remaining contestants attacked together.
Noah’s flames expanded.
Jordan’s lightning followed.
For several seconds, the two powers intertwined.
Orange fire.
Blue-white lightning.
The combination tore through the battlefield.
One contestant attempted to escape.
Noah noticed.
"Jordan."
"I see him."
Jordan raised his hand.
A lightning sphere appeared.
Noah kicked a burning branch into the air.
Jordan’s lightning struck it.
BOOM!
The branch exploded into dozens of burning fragments.
The fleeing contestant stopped.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Noah landed beside him.
"Sorry."
One punch.
The contestant collapsed.
Jordan laughed.
"That was actually good."
Noah smiled.
"You’re not bad yourself."
Jordan’s expression changed.
"Don’t tell anyone."
The battlefield eventually became quiet.
The remaining contestants had either surrendered or fled.
Noah looked at his marker.
11 ELIMINATIONS
Jordan’s marker showed:
10 ELIMINATIONS
Jordan stared.
"You got one more."
Noah grinned.
"Looks like it."
Jordan’s eye twitched.
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
Then a voice echoed through the arena.
"WARNING."
Both looked up.
"A high-level contestant has entered the western sector."
A projection appeared.
JOSEPH YONDER
ASGARD ACADEMY
Jordan’s expression changed.
"Joseph?"
Noah stared at the projection.
Joseph’s marker had already accumulated several points.
But there was something strange.
The number kept changing.
Not from eliminations.
From something else.
Jordan frowned.
"Why is his score jumping?"
Noah didn’t answer.
In the western sector...
Joseph walked through the ruins.
His expression was calm.
A contestant attacked him from behind.
Joseph didn’t turn.
Black-orange energy appeared around his hand.
BOOM!
The attacker slammed into the wall.
Another appeared.
Joseph caught his weapon.
CRACK!
The weapon broke.
Joseph kicked him away.
Two more charged.
He disappeared.
A moment later, both collapsed.
Joseph looked at his marker.
17 ELIMINATIONS
But he wasn’t smiling.
He looked toward the deeper ruins.
A faint black-orange glow pulsed beneath the ground.
He whispered:
"You’re here."
The voice returned.
"Find him."
Joseph’s expression tightened.
"Where?"
"West."
Joseph immediately moved.
At the same time, Laura and Daniela reached the battlefield.
They saw the destruction.
Burned trees.
Cracked stone.
Faint traces of lightning.
Laura looked around.
"Where’s Noah?"
Daniela closed her eyes.
Her perception spread through the area.
"He’s nearby."
Laura looked at her.
"How nearby?"
Daniela opened her eyes.
"Very."
A burst of fire erupted in the distance.
Laura immediately ran.
Daniela followed.
Noah and Jordan were walking through the forest when they heard footsteps.
Jordan stopped.
"Someone’s coming."
Noah looked ahead.
Laura emerged first.
"Noah!"
She rushed toward him.
Noah smiled.
"Hey."
Laura looked him over.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
She checked his arms anyway.
Jordan watched.
Then laughed.
"You really do worry about him."
Laura turned.
"And you’re still here?"
Jordan smiled.
"Unfortunately."
Daniela stepped from behind her.
Her eyes immediately landed on Noah.
Then his flames.
Then Jordan.
"Interesting."
Jordan raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Daniela’s perception activated.
She saw Noah’s power.
Then...
Something moved beneath it.
Her eyes widened.
For a fraction of a second, she saw a maroon current.
Not fire.
Something else.
Daniela whispered:
"...What was that?"
Noah noticed.
"What?"
She immediately shut down her perception.
"Nothing."
Laura looked at her suspiciously.
Again.
The same answer.
Then the arena announcement returned.
"ATTENTION, CONTESTANTS."
Everyone stopped.
"The Survival Gauntlet has entered its final phase."
The battlefield barriers began shifting.
Several zones closed.
The remaining contestants were gradually being pushed toward the center.
"All surviving contestants will now converge in the Central Ruins."
Noah’s expression changed.
"The ruins?"
Jordan frowned.
"That’s where the relic chamber is."
Laura looked at Noah.
He felt it immediately.
Heat.
A pulse beneath his chest.
Then another.
Thump.
Thump.
His eyes widened.
The same sensation from the relic chamber.
Something was waking again.
And the system appeared.
[Ancient resonance detected.]
A second message followed.
[Ragnarok response increasing.]
Noah clenched his fist.
"Not again."
Laura stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Noah looked toward the center of the battlefield.
"I think we’re being called."
Daniela heard him.
Her expression became serious.
"Called by what?"
Noah didn’t answer.
Because beneath the Central Ruins...
A faint maroon light had begun shining through the cracks.
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Noah stared toward the Central Ruins.
A faint maroon glow pulsed beneath the cracked stone.
Thump.
His chest responded.
Thump.
Again.
Laura immediately noticed his expression.
"Noah."
"I’m fine."
She sighed.
"You really need a new answer."
Jordan looked between them.
"What exactly is happening?"
Noah didn’t respond.
Daniela was already staring toward the ruins.
Her perception had activated.
She could see the energy beneath the battlefield.
But something was wrong.
It wasn’t flowing naturally.
It was moving toward Noah.
Daniela’s eyes narrowed.
"Everyone’s being drawn there."
Damien, who had just arrived from another section of the battlefield, looked at her.
"Drawn?"
She nodded.
"The energy underground is spreading."
Jordan frowned.
"So we’re walking into a trap."
Daniela looked toward the ruins.
"Probably."
Jordan smiled.
"Good."
Laura stared at him.
"You’re enjoying this."
"It’s a tournament."
"We’re not supposed to die."
Jordan shrugged.
"That’s why we win."
Noah shook his head.
"You’re insane."
"Royal blood."
"That’s not an excuse."
A massive bell suddenly rang.
BOOOOOONG!
The surviving contestants began rushing toward the Central Ruins.
The Survival Gauntlet had entered its final stage.
No more hiding.
No more isolated battles.
Everyone wanted the remaining points.
Noah looked at his group.
"Stay together."
Laura nodded.
Luna quietly moved to Noah’s left.
Damien took the rear.
Daniela remained a few steps away.
Jordan and Christina moved in from another direction.
For the first time, contestants from different academies were approaching the same destination.
And everyone knew what that meant.
Chaos.
The first attack came from the trees.
A spear flew toward Noah.
CLANG!
Laura knocked it aside.
Three contestants rushed out.
One from Jotun.
One from Kingsguard.
One from Freya.
"We’ll take the points!"
Jordan stepped forward.
Lightning exploded.
CRACK!
The Jotun contestant was thrown backward.
Laura intercepted the Kingsguard fighter.
Luna vanished.
The Freya contestant looked around nervously.
"Where did she go?"
A shadow appeared behind him.
WHAM!
He hit the ground.
Damien stared at the battlefield.
"That’s enough."
He raised his hand.
A barrier expanded.
The remaining contestants were pushed away.
Noah nodded.
"Let’s keep moving."
They didn’t stop.
The Central Ruins grew larger.
Ancient towers surrounded the battlefield.
Cracks spread through the ground.
The three moon symbols were carved into every structure.
Dragon.
Serpent.
Bear.
Noah felt the heat growing stronger.
Then...
A strange sound reached him.
Not a heartbeat.
A whisper.
"Come."
Noah stopped.
Laura grabbed his wrist.
"What?"
He looked at her.
"Someone called me."
Daniela turned sharply.
"You heard it too?"
Noah stared.
"You heard it?"
"No."
Daniela looked toward the ruins.
"I saw the energy react."
That answer unsettled him.
Then Joseph appeared.
He stood on top of a broken tower.
Everyone looked up.
Jordan frowned.
"Joseph."
Joseph’s eyes were fixed on Noah.
His black-orange aura slowly appeared.
Laura stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
Joseph didn’t answer.
Noah looked at him.
"Are you going to attack?"
Joseph’s gaze remained cold.
"I was ordered to."
Jordan’s expression changed.
"Ordered?"
Joseph’s hand tightened.
"But..."
The black-orange aura flickered.
"...I don’t know anymore."
Silence.
Joseph looked almost confused.
Then his eyes shifted toward the ruins.
Something inside him had changed.
A voice whispered in his mind.
"Kill him."
Joseph’s body tensed.
Noah noticed.
"Joseph?"
Joseph suddenly grabbed his head.
"Shut up."
Everyone froze.
Jordan looked at Christina.
"What the hell?"
Joseph’s aura surged violently.
Black.
Orange.
Almost red at its center.
His eyes lifted.
For one terrifying second, the expression on his face wasn’t his own.
Then it disappeared.
Joseph breathed heavily.
"Get away from the ruins."
Noah stared.
"Why?"
Joseph looked directly at him.
"Because something is waiting for you."
Before Noah could answer...
BOOOOOOM!
The entire Central Ruins erupted.
Stone towers shattered.
The ground split open.
The three moons above Hildgard suddenly brightened.
Crimson.
Blue.
Scarlet-violet.
And beneath the ruins...
Three enormous beams of light shot into the sky.
The crowd went silent.
Every headmaster stood.
The Hildgard representative stared in horror.
"No..."
The beams connected with the three moons.
A massive symbol appeared above the city.
A dragon.
A serpent.
A bear.
Then a fourth symbol appeared between them.
A burning eye.
Noah’s eyes widened.
His system appeared.
[CRITICAL WARNING.]
[Ragnarok resonance has exceeded safe parameters.]
[Dead Zone resonance detected.]
Noah staggered.
Laura caught him.
"Noah!"
His flames erupted.
Orange.
Maroon.
Pink.
All three colors twisted together.
Noah’s eyes slowly changed.
And somewhere inside his mind...
something smiled.
"Finally."