Rita walked with urgency while her group followed closely behind. The dry lands of Nozras, usually brownish-red, were now gray-blue. The sharp rocks were slippery, and the rain formed streams that spread across terrain that was normally barren. In the distance, a mountain rose. It was a well-known one, as warriors often passed by it on their way to the arena. It had been named "Krounia," meaning the reference. Usually, if you could see the mountain, it was a good sign… or not. Because the arena was no playground—beyond that point, only death awaited.
However, Rita was not going there to die. She was going there to bring back her husband. Reno had almost vanished. It wasn't that worrying when you knew who he was, but it was still strange. Especially with the presence of a mysterious magician who seemed to toy with weather itself.
After some time, she arrived at the capital with her group. It should have felt like a normal return, without resistance, but even at the entrance, something was wrong.
All around the walls, the battlefield had almost disappeared. The rain drowned out the warriors' cries and the clashing of weapons. The warriors themselves seemed exhausted, fighting weakly, sometimes not even lifting their arms high enough to reach their opponent.
Rita was in shock. What had once been a glorious battlefield had turned into a pitiful display where no fighter resembled what they should be.
Dark clouds loomed over the arena, and violent winds crashed down upon the ancient city. Rita could feel them. Gusts of wind burst out from the capital and slammed into the group with fury. The rain joined in, forming miniature waves that struck everything in their path.
"What is happening here…?"
Rita and her group crossed the battlefield without difficulty. The weakened warriors were no longer intimidating—one strike was enough to send them flying.
As she walked, Rita tried to pick up any trace, any clue that could help her. The behavior of the warriors, the sudden weather changes, the anomalies… but the situation was so chaotic that all she could see was more chaos.
The arena welcomed them even worse than the first time.
Rita tightened her belt and, with her arm shielding her face from the wind, moved forward, trying to find the breach they had made before. But as she approached the walls, the winds grew even stronger.
The Valon clan used to rebuild the wall regularly, but every time Rita and Reno returned, they created a new breach—and they had been proud of it.
But this time, the wall was wide open. The Valon clan hadn't even bothered to repair it…
"The clan didn't pass through…?"
Rita entered through the last breach. A gaping hole, much larger than the first one they had made. This one looked more like a sword slash than a punch. Reno had cut through the wall with Man-Eater for the first time.
She stepped over the debris on the ground, and the moment her foot touched the arena, Armes suddenly appeared before her, as if summoned out of nowhere.
Her group stepped back and raised their guard, but Rita didn't seem surprised.
"Armes?"
"Black Viper."
Armes looked almost exactly the same as before. However, he was paler. His gaze seemed emptier, and he looked unwell. The strange events had clearly affected the calculating and composed leader of the Valon clan.
"Why show yourself after all this time?"
Armes took a moment before answering. Then he spoke loudly, his voice cutting through the wind and rain.
"The times are about to change, Black Viper. Something terrible is coming."
Rita looked at him, maintaining her composure despite his words.
"Do you have seers now? Oracles? Why should I listen to you?"
Armes paused again.
"I am asking you to turn back, Black Viper."
Rita didn't understand why the leader of the Valon clan was standing between her and Reno, but she wasn't going to listen. He was acting strange, and she didn't have time to figure out why.
"Move, Armes."
She gripped the hilts of her daggers, her gaze dark and unwavering. Armes slowly closed his eyes. He seemed to think for a moment, then sighed.
"As you wish… the last of the Obu."
The title echoed through the storm.
Rita felt something strike her heart, but she remained still, like an unshakable statue. Armes disappeared into the rain, as if he had dissolved into droplets. His expression had been faintly dark… and regretful.
Rita didn't dwell on it. There was no way Reno could die—so why would he be worried?
"Let's move."
She advanced into the capital, though a slight doubt crept into her mind.
If she had come because she was worried about Reno… why was she ignoring Armes' warning?
—
Later, she reached near the center of the capital, before the elevated ground where the throne stood.
And what she saw there froze her blood.
The three men who had accompanied Reno lay on the ground, motionless.
Motionless… but far from intact.
Their bodies were swollen with water, as if they had been deliberately inflated. Vein-like shapes bulged beneath their skin, stretching as though they were about to burst. Tears flowed endlessly from their eyes. Water seeped from every possible opening in their bodies, sometimes piercing through the skin in small jets. Their faces were swollen to the brink of rupture, their size tripled.
They looked like grotesque, human-shaped balloons—distorted, horrifying creations meant to terrify anyone who saw them.
Rita could have stared at them for hours… if not for the battle unfolding right before her eyes.
Reno was there.
His massive sword in hand, he blocked enormous jets of water, like crashing waves. The entire hill was surrounded by a flowing mass of water that twisted through the air like a serpent coiling around its prey. The raindrops themselves were no longer droplets, but tiny blades shooting toward him every second.
Yet his body seemed too tough to care.
Above the serpent-like current floated a man.
His eyes resembled the ocean.
He wore the attire of a warrior, but every time he extended his hand, a wave surged toward Reno. He looked young, with short black hair. Beside him floated a book, its pages turning at an absurd speed—sometimes even reversing direction without reason.
Rita stared at the scene, completely unable to think.
Her words failed her.
Armes' warning echoed endlessly in her mind.
Reno had been fighting him for… maybe three months.
She didn't know how the battle had unfolded. But one thing was certain—
This didn't even resemble a fight.
She, who had been reprimanded countless times for breaking the rules of Nozras, now faced something so unique she didn't even know if those rules still applied.
Rita couldn't move. Paralyzed by the sheer scale of what she was witnessing.
No… "extraordinary" wasn't enough. This was beyond the world. Beyond reality.
Beyond everything.
However, she saw Reno.
He was fighting as if nothing was wrong. Fighting like he always did—cutting through the waves with absurd speed for the weight of his sword. He dodged, he endured. He wasn't leading the dance, but he too seemed to be watching the spectacle, clearly surprised that something like this was happening to him.
He didn't even notice Rita's arrival.
He didn't have the time to.
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind crashed down on him. The small group of warriors behind her lost several members, swept away by the force. Rita drove her daggers into the ground at the last second to keep from being blown away.
Worried about her husband, she lifted her head with difficulty to see if Reno had been carried off by the blast.
But she had nothing to worry about…
Reno was walking calmly against the wind, like a moving wall of concrete.
Rita almost forgot about the water floating around her as she focused entirely on him.
His back was proud and broad, as if it could shield against anything. That back had fought against land and sea, father and mother, warriors and warlords, chiefs and conquerors…
Before her stood someone with the back of a king. A back that only a few could ever possess.
Blade in hand, head held high, Reno looked like he could carry anything.
She realized then, he probably didn't care who stood in front of him.
The only thing that mattered…
was that he could cut them down.
And that was exactly what he was going to do.
Reno suddenly landed on a shattered pillar.
The former palace of Nozras no longer resembled anything. In fact, the hill itself was the old palace. Rising more than fifty meters high, it had once been the tallest structure in all of Nozras. Four pillars used to support it. Two stood at its base, where the famous steps once led up to the throne. They were spaced wide enough for an entire clan to march between them.
On the other side, the hill took on a different shape—almost completely vertical. The two remaining pillars had once carried most of the weight from top to bottom.
But that was long gone.
All four pillars had been destroyed over time, and no one could say what the palace originally looked like anymore. Each pillar had lost three-quarters of its height, and the surface was no longer flat, but jagged and uneven.
And it was on the front-left pillar that Reno bent his legs and launched himself toward the strange warrior.
The fight had indeed lasted a long time. But they hadn't fought nonstop for months. In truth, for the first time, Reno had learned to properly read his opponent, which led him to retreat more often, to observe.
In the end, he had drawn several conclusions.
Firstly, this man's power wasn't infinite.
It was terrifying to see him unleash torrents of water and massive waves at such speed, but it turned out he couldn't sustain high intensity for long. His energy had limits. That gave Reno breathing room… and moments to push his offense.
Secondly, he only controlled water and wind.
A power clearly tied to storms. Every time he launched water, he combined it with violent gusts of wind to accelerate the attack. Reno sometimes struggled to withstand that pressure and had to dodge as best he could. Even if it didn't seriously injure him, it wore him down.
Thirdly, for some unknown reason, he could fly.
He rarely touched the ground, fully aware that Reno was far too dangerous to face up close.
Reno was fighting what could only be described as an overwhelmingly powerful mage.
And that was completely abnormal.
Mages didn't exist. Or at least… they weren't supposed to be this powerful.
So what was he doing here? Who had given him that power? What did he want?
Reno didn't care.
There was only one thing on his mind and the greedy smile on his face could bear witness to it...
"I'm going to kill you."