“No, no,” Sam grunted as he dodged a bolt of lightning. The arena shattered, stones scattering everywhere. The lightning woman spread the bolts from her outstretched hands, smirking at David as he fled from the thick strands of silver-blue death. David slid away from a web of lightning and rolled to avoid a shattered axe conjured from deadly sparks. A new attack stretched from the fading axe, turning into three wolf-like beasts made of lightning. They charged at him, and he swung his sword widely, tearing one of them apart. He caught the second with his gauntlet and dissolved the spell.

Chaos has been tamed!

He contemplated taking the spell, but Ignis warned him it would be too difficult. The last conjured beast snarled at him, popping loudly as it launched forward. David dodged the beast and ran toward the woman. He had to eliminate her quickly so he could help the others. She smiled, baring her teeth as he charged. A net of lightning barred his way, and when David reached out to tame the spell, a different strike shot from the net and slammed into him, tossing him back. His body spasmed, but he had to stand up and keep moving.

“How is she covering so much space?” David asked, but Ignis didn’t respond. He glanced over to where Chloe’s lute was climbing in tempo, her fingers blurring over the strings. Her sphere of protective essence was under a gush of flames.

“You will die if you keep looking over there,” the Arashin woman said as four more wolves joined the one David had ignored. Lightning danced all over her. On her bald head was a crown of shimmering blue-white light. It was duller than before, but her attacks were not slowing down. However, something disturbing was happening: World Tilter wasn’t appearing. He’d been trying to summon the armor since the Arashin started spamming lightning everywhere. That would have helped him push through the storm of electricity.

“How long are you going to run around?” the woman asked. David slid under one of the beasts as it lunged. The air vibrated as its body exploded and crashed down on him. But he stopped the spell with his gauntlet. He was beginning to lean heavily on it because it functioned without him using any essence to influence it. He hadn’t realized it before, but somewhere along the line, he’d lost his stable use of essence. He’d been so focused on surviving that he hadn’t noticed. He stood up, facing the four remaining wolves. They were not completely formed, but they looked just as terrifying with their large heads.

Spell: Requiem

David felt the sluggish movement of essence as the spell bloomed into being. He had forgotten this spell before, perhaps because of its completely destructive nature. The amethyst flame was beautiful to watch. It danced on the blade of David’s sword, fueling itself with even more essence. David called on the one armor he hadn’t thought to use since he was given it. It was much different from World Tilter, but it would protect him enough not to be destroyed. He glanced around the arena, tuning out the cheers from the screens surrounding the arena.

“If you stand like that, you make it easy to kill you, human,” the woman called, but David wasn’t focused on her anymore. He could see how the essence disturbance was affecting Zoey and Elisha. The man Elisha was trying to hold back was creating hundreds of light-forged swords. Elisha was doing his best to be elusive, but David could see the lack of quality in his shadows. They fractured easily, torn by the deluge of swords. And Zoey was running away from her enemy, dodging a whip of jagged ice that froze whatever it touched.

“Where is your fifth member?” David asked. Within the armor, he felt almost invincible. It clung to his skin, giving him long, mighty horns.

Item: Arathorn’s Scales

Time limit: Eight Minutes

Arathorn’s Scales have refined and forged into an armor of pure essence. It grants you the temporary speed of dragons and the toughness to walk the heavens.

David didn’t know what that last part meant, but he was about to find out. The fire on his sword flared, feeding on essence even faster. David sighed in relief. It seemed like the armor had severed or limited whatever effect their spell had on his essence control. He walked slowly toward the woman; her smile was gone.

“Where are they?” David asked. The arena was a large space, big enough for teams to fight. The audience was watching from a screen, removed from the arena itself, which meant they were alone here. David stretched his perception, searching. He would find them wherever they were hiding anyway.

“I guess I will have to kill you, then? You have been worthless from the start,” David said. The wolves charged at him just as he felt the prick of the fifth man’s presence. He lost it, distracted by the howl of the lightning wolves. He caught one of them by the throat and tamed the spell before it could shoot out another attack. His sword slashed through two more, and the last one ran into him and detonated.

The explosion rocked David back, but it did no damage. He grinned behind the dragon-headed helm. The Arashin woman was terrified. Her spell sputtered, and just before it fizzled out, she yelled and reinforced it, pushing past her fear.

Lightning shot at him, rushing like ragged snakes of doom. David stretched out his left hand to meet the spell. It all shattered like glass. He felt the fifth man again, his perception stretching farther across the arena, reaching the others.

David gasped, his eyes going wide as he felt Zoey’s presence disappear.

The crackle of lightning echoed beside him, pulling him back to his own battle. The woman’s skin shone silver. Lightning filled her from within, dancing all over and inside her. David frowned, torn with worry. Something had happened to Zoey. He couldn’t sense her. He glanced at where she’d been but saw nothing. A spark of danger lit in his gut, and he turned just in time to see a buzzing greatsword coming for him. It was as white as Eliaz’s, but it had a hilt, and when David touched it, the sword was shredded by the overwhelming force of Chaos.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The woman began to create another sword, but David was pressed for time. He rushed forward, walked through her shield of lightning, and grasped her throat. Her power struck him, but his armor held.

“What did you do?” David asked. “Where is she?” His voice was harsh, and his fingers tightened even harder. He saw the stress on her face, the fear and panic. He had killed quite a lot of people since he entered the tower, and sometimes he had nightmares of some of those faces. But this woman wouldn’t be one of them. He wanted to crush her so badly. Not because he hated her or the others, but because of how terrified he felt.

“Your…” she struggled to speak, but David sensed the coming whip and turned to place the woman in its path. The whip cracked against her back, and her eyes widened in shock. Her body went stiff and slowly paled as her blood froze. David tossed her dying body away, his grip tightening on his sword. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn’t look past the whip coming at him. A swing of his sword cut through the ice whip, melting it to nothing. David felt himself flow forward, covering the distance between them in a moment. The man with the whip tried to react, but he was too slow, and David was too angry.

“What did you do to her?” David asked, his heart hammering in his chest. He couldn’t find Zoey. A hollowness formed within him. If she was dead, it would be his fault. Elisha and Chloe were too busy defending themselves to see what had happened.

“I don’t—”

David’s hand moved in a swift strike, and the man’s right hand was severed. It took a moment for the pain to settle in. His howl was so loud it drowned out the audience’s cheer for a moment. David let the helm of his armor disappear. He needed the man to see how serious he was. He spun deftly, his left hand whipping out to catch what he thought was an attack. His gauntlet stopped the blade, and the invisible man staggered back. David ignored the whimpering Arashin and walked over to the fifth member of their team. His veil had been pulled off—David guessed it was because of the gauntlet.

The last man was holding what David could see as an orb with a burning light within. He didn’t have to ask to know that Zoey was in there. He could see how it had happened now. This bastard had snuck up on Zoey and sucked her into the orb.

“Bring her out,” David commanded, but the man was too frightened. “Bring her out, or I will cut you down right now.”

The man shook his head frantically. “I can’t… We can’t. It is impossible.”

David stared at the man but saw only darkness. No, this can’t be happening. Not when we are this close! He retrieved the orb and stared at Zoey’s soul within.

“Impossible for you,” David said and cut the man’s face in two. He turned to see Elisha and Chloe’s battle. They would win now that their essence control was back up, but he didn’t have time to wait. He moved so fast that the fire user didn’t even see the blade coming. David cut down the two Arashin fighters in a matter of minutes. When he was done, the arena was quiet, the echoes of the battle fading into the background. But despite the victory, the anger and guilt within him remained, festering like an open wound.

He had failed again.

David stared at the orb in his hand, his heart heavy. Zoey’s essence was trapped inside, her soul flickering like a small flame within the glass-like prison. He could feel the life force pulsing faintly, but it was fragile, as if it could be snuffed out at any moment. A sense of dread settled over him.

"Zoey..." he whispered, his voice breaking.

Elisha and Chloe approached, their faces pale and exhausted. They had finished off their opponents, but the toll of the battle was evident. Chloe’s lute was strapped across her back, and her usually vibrant eyes were clouded with worry. Elisha, his shadows still flickering around him, looked at David with a mixture of concern and fear.

“David, what happened?” Chloe asked, her voice trembling.

David couldn’t bring himself to explain. He just held out the orb, showing them Zoey’s trapped essence. Chloe gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Elisha’s eyes widened in shock.

“We have to get her out of there,” Elisha said urgently, his voice rising in panic.

David nodded, his mind racing. But how? The orb’s magic was foreign to him, layered with a complexity that made it nearly impossible to unravel. He had already killed the man responsible, but the spell remained intact, mocking him with its resilience.

“Ignis, can you help me?” David asked internally, desperate for guidance.

This is beyond my knowledge, David, Ignis replied, his voice tinged with regret. This is a type of soul-binding magic, ancient and dangerous. I’ve encountered it only a few times, and it requires a specific ritual to break. You need someone who understands this kind of magic deeply.

David clenched his teeth. They didn’t have time to find a specialist. Zoey’s life was hanging by a thread, and every second they wasted was a second closer to losing her forever.

“There has to be a way,” David muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

Chloe, tears welling in her eyes, stepped forward and placed her hand on the orb. She closed her eyes, concentrating. David watched as a soft light began to emanate from her palm, her essence merging with the orb’s surface. But after a few moments, she shook her head, defeated.

“I can’t do it,” Chloe whispered. “The magic is too strong. It’s resisting me.”

David’s frustration boiled over, but he forced himself to stay calm. Losing control now wouldn’t help anyone, least of all Zoey. He needed to think, to find a solution that didn’t involve risking everything in a futile attempt to break the spell.

“We need to find someone who can help us,” David said, his voice firm. “Someone who knows how to break this kind of magic.”

Elisha nodded, though his face was etched with doubt. “But where? We’re in the middle of a tournament, surrounded by enemies. Who can we trust?”

David didn’t have an answer to that. The tower was filled with dangers, and the few allies they had made were scattered, each pursuing their own survival. But he knew they couldn’t give up. Not now. Not when Zoey’s life was on the line.

“We don’t have a choice,” David said, gripping the orb tighter. “We’ll find someone, even if we have to tear this place apart.”

Chloe wiped away her tears and stood taller, her resolve hardening. “We will save her, David. We won’t let her die.”

Elisha placed a hand on David’s shoulder. “We’re with you, brother. Whatever it takes.”

David looked at them, his heart swelling with a mixture of gratitude and sorrow. They were in this together, no matter how bleak the situation seemed. And together, they would fight to save Zoey, even if it meant facing the darkest corners of the tower.

With renewed determination, David turned toward the exit of the arena. The fight wasn’t over, not by a long shot. They had survived this round, but the real battle was just beginning. And this time, failure was not an option.

“Let’s go,” David said, leading the way. “We have a sister to save.”

And with that, they marched forward, leaving the battlefield behind, their hearts set on the perilous journey ahead.