Plumes of thick dust covered the middle part of the arena. The air felt suffocating and heavy. Everyone froze in silence in their respective seats while watching the large rock strike and crush the body of a helpless tournament participant just like that.
No one made a sound. The sight was too brutal and horrifying.
While many pairs of eyes stared in horror at the pile of rocks, and while everyone thought that Allen Vedegra had been crushed and died, a contrasting sight was actually seen in the special participant stands.
Arvin and Alrain were still sitting with very calm postures in their respective chairs, as if the tragedy before their eyes was merely an ordinary show.
"H-Has participant Allen Vedegra died under that large rock?" exclaimed the female host from the podium with a violently trembling voice, her face deathly pale holding the voice amplifier artifact. "This year's tournament is truly crazy! Is a dark history being recreated and two people have died in one day of this match?!"
But, a sound breaking the silence of the audience was heard from the middle of the arena.
Crack!
A small crack emitting a blinding white light suddenly appeared on the surface of the giant rock.
Crash!
The large rock exploded from the inside and shattered into pieces. The rock debris was thrown in all directions, sweeping away the remaining dust in the air.
Everyone instantly widened their eyes until they almost popped out of their sockets upon seeing the shocking event.
The tournament participant whom they thought had been crushed to death, had now destroyed the rock pinning him down.
[A few moments earlier, under the pressure of the giant rock]
Under the crush of the extraordinarily heavy rock and pitch darkness, Allen had almost reached his limit. His breath was cut off. His bones felt like they were crushed, and his lungs could no longer draw in air.
Right at the second when he started to resign himself to accepting the suffocating death, a fragment of a memory that felt very foreign yet so real suddenly exploded and flowed heavily in his mind. A memory from the past that felt like his other life.
In that flash of memory, Allen saw himself standing nervously in front of classroom 2-A. His heart was beating fast while looking at the blue-haired youth standing in front of him.
"Arvin, I... I like you." said Allen in that memory, lowering his head with flushed cheeks, mustering the courage to confess his feelings. "Are you willing to marry me?"
Arvin who stood before him, who had just realized that he had been unilaterally proposed to by Allen in an open space, instantly showed a shocked facial expression.
"What did you say?" exclaimed the blue-haired youth with a condescending tone of shock. "You want to marry me?"
Allen nodded slowly, confirming his words hopefully.
"Are you completely oblivious to yourself, Allen?!" snapped Arvin harshly, his voice echoing in the hallway until it attracted the attention of other students. "You, who are this weak, dare to dream of becoming my spouse? Stop joking! I will never be willing to marry a weak person like you!"
Hearing the harsh snap, Allen's chest felt tight. "B-But, don't you like me too?"
"Like you?" repeated Arvin with a rising voice, his gaze glaring very sharply and coldly like an ice sword. "I might like you, but for what? In this world, power is everything. You are useless and completely unworthy to stand by my side!"
Those words slid mercilessly from his mouth.
"Listen to this carefully! I will never be willing to marry a helpless and weak person like you!" asserted Arvin with a loud, heart-wrenching voice. "Your behavior makes me sick! You are too spoiled and always hide behind other people! To me, you are disgusting!"
Like being struck by lightning in broad daylight, the barrage of insulting words that came out of the mouth of the man he loved had destroyed the pink-haired youth's feelings leaving nothing behind. His world seemed to collapse.
Without being able to say another word, he turned his body around. With tears starting to stream down heavily, he ran away leaving Arvin without caring about the pitying and mocking stares from all the students who witnessed the tragic rejection.
While running down the academy hallway, his tears wet his cheeks unstoppably. Allen never believed that the figure he considered his hero, the man he had always admired, had carved such a deep wound and broken his heart with highly degrading insults.
He ran towards the academy dormitory with a shattered feeling. Upon arriving at his room, he immediately packed his belongings with trembling hands and left the academy that very day, without saying goodbye to anyone.
His dragging and aimless footsteps continued to take him far away, entering the dense forest without knowing where he was actually walking. His mind was blank, yet his mind kept replaying the humiliating incident he experienced in front of classroom 2-A.
Arvin, I hate you so much! I never expected that you could reject me in such a cruel way to the point of humiliating me and trampling on my pride in public like that!
Allen panted heavily, tripping over a tree root, but he got back up.
I had considered you as my hero, Arvin. But you broke my feelings into pieces instead. I hate you! I swear on my life, one day I will avenge all these insults on you!
He pledged the oath of hatred for vindication in his heart and in the middle of the silent forest.
And then, everything went pitch black.
[Back to the present]
From behind the mist of rock dust that had shattered and scattered in the middle of the arena, Allen's figure stood tall.
However, the youth stood in a completely different appearance and exuded a very dense holy aura. In the grip of his right hand, there was a long sword made purely of solid light element magic.
And the thing that made everyone hold their breath was the sight on his back. A pair of bright white wings made purely of light magic spread wide, creating a blinding glow.
In the stands, seeing his spouse's form change, Arvin let out a long sigh. He felt very relieved because his plan to trigger Allen's awakening succeeded, yet at the same time, his facial expression tensed with worry.
"Alrain, prepare yourself now!" said Arvin warningly, his voice quiet yet carrying an absolute commanding tone. "Get ready to jump down and attack Allen with your full power if his condition starts to worsen out of control!"
Hearing the unexpected command, the green-haired youth furrowed his brow.
"Why should I attack him?" asked Alrain in wonder, not understanding his husband's reason. "Didn't he just manage to survive and awaken?"
"Right now, Allen's power has indeed fully awakened due to the pressure Raven put on him." answered Arvin with a very measured calm tone, yet his eyes stared sharply and cautiously at Allen's glowing figure in the middle of the arena. "But the problem is, right now he has lost consciousness over his own body and is moving based solely on his instincts. If you don't act to stop him immediately later, Raven will definitely die by his hands."
Hearing that conversation, Alvein joined in their talk.
"I know that his power has awakened and his form looks extraordinary." chimed in Alvein suddenly, looking at his husband in confusion. "But Honey, didn't you see it yourself earlier? Allen's magic attacks had no effect at all and only passed through Raven's body. How could he possibly kill him?"
"That was before he awakened, Alvein." answered Arvin starting to explain the situation rationally. "The light wing form is the highest evolutionary form of his element. Allen's light power is now many times stronger, denser, and more absolute than Raven's dark manipulation."
Arvin leaned his body forward, staring sharply toward the arena.
"Now, the situation has reversed. Raven's darkness will no longer be able to devour Allen's light. And now, that darkness will be instantly devoured entirely by the light until it vanishes completely leaving nothing behind."