CHAPTER 45: INTERESTING
Different holographic screens were suspended in the air, each showing a different bracket. Everyone in the room watched intently. Some leaned forward. Others stood perfectly still. But all of them had one thing in common—they were nervous.
Except for a select few in one part of the room.
These were different from those standing below. They sat in elevated chairs arranged in a semicircle behind the Supreme One—fifteen of the most powerful branch leaders across the three continents. Their faces were calm. Their postures relaxed. Some sipped wine. Others whispered to each other behind cupped hands. Lord Roan was one of them.
Aside from them, the Supreme One was also following the progress of each fight.
And he had one expression on his face: bored.
He lifted his glass, took a slow sip of the dark wine, and let out a long breath.
"Huh." He set the glass down. "This is not how I expected it to go."
He gestured lazily at the screens.
"Where's the tension? The desperation? "He leaned back. "This... this feels more like a kids fight and less a battle to the death."
Lady Venus, Branch Leader of the Fifth Branch, tilted her head.
She was breathtaking. Her skin was pale as moonlight, her lips dark as dried blood. Horns curled from her temples like a crown—smooth, black, elegant. But it was her eyes that held you. Pitch-black eyes that pulled you in and made you forget where you were.
She was the kind of woman who could drive both men and women mad with lust.
"Indeed," she said, her voice smooth as silk, "it lacks something."
The Supreme One glanced at her. "Rare to see you agree with anyone on anything."
"If it's you, my lord," she said, her voice dropping to a purr, "I would agree on anything."
The Third Branch Leader finally spoke.
"A dirty whore like you," he said, his voice smooth as honey, "shouldn't even dream of coming close to the Supreme One."
Venus's head snapped toward him.
Her black eyes narrowed. Her smile no longer plastered on her face.
She gave him a death stare that would have made lesser men shrivel.
He just smiled.
He was handsome—rakishly so. Dark hair slicked back, a perfectly groomed mustache curling at the ends. Rings glittered on his fingers. A gold chain hung from his vest pocket. His hat was tilted slightly to the right, casting a shadow over one eye.
He looked like a gambler. A rogue you'd find in shady places.
Lord Ruben.
Venus's voice was ice. "Careful, Ruben. You're crossing a line."
Ruben adjusted his hat. "Just stating facts, darling."
The Supreme One watched the exchange with mild amusement—
Suddenly, one of the screens emitted a bright glow.
Everyone's attention snapped to it.
The Supreme One turned his head. An intrigued smile spread across his face.
"Interesting."
***
"Ah," Nico said quietly. "That's... not good."
John couldn't make sense of what just happened. One moment, everything was fine; the next—
A spear was sticking out of Nico's chest. A spear that was meant for him.
No.
Nico's knees buckled as he started to collapse.
John moved before he could think.
Flash Step.
He caught Nico before he hit the ground and quickly erected a barrier of lightning around them using Storm Wall. He lowered him gently. His hands were shaking as he tried to think of what to do.
"Hey. Hey, stay with me."
Nico's chest heaved. Each breath was harder than the last.
"Hey," Nico whispered. "John."
"I'm here."
"Tell the others..." A wet cough. Blood on his lips. "I took fifty bastards before I fell."
John tried to laugh. Instead, he cried. "Don't say that. Everything's going to be okay."
Nico's eyes found his. They were fading.
"I should have... listened to Grandpa."
"What?"
But Nico wasn't looking at him anymore. He was looking at something John couldn't see.
The light in his eyes went out.
"No."
John shook Nico's shoulder. "No. No, no, no—"
Nico's body started to turn to ash. It scattered everywhere.
John grabbed at it. Tried to hold it together.
[John.]
Echo. Yes. You can help me, right? You have a way to help.
[I can't. He's already gone. I... I'm sorry.]
John knelt there, staring at his hands—covered in blood that wasn't his.
Fool.
The word echoed in his mind.
What a fool I've been.
He thought of his past life. All the things he'd believed were right or wrong. Moral or immoral. He'd held onto them in this world like a lifeline.
Why did it take me so long to understand?
His tears fell onto the ash.
I'm not on Earth anymore. There are no rules here.
He looked at his hands.
Nico is dead because I hesitated. Because I held back. Because I—
His fists clenched.
What if I had gone all out from the start? What if I hadn't run? What if I had just—
[John. It's not your fault.]
Damn it.
[John, listen to me—]
DAMN IT!
A dark crimson aura began to seep from his body.
Like dried blood.
***
Inside his domain, the sky cracked.
The abyss, once still and patient, began to churn like an ocean in a storm. Waves of darkness crashed against the void. Lightning roared across the expanse—its usual purple hue now red, matching the glow of the core above.
And through it all, the pathways he had built when he advanced to Stage Two began to flood with violent energy.
John raised his head.
His eyes were no longer purple.
They had turned blood red.
The Storm Wall shattered. Crimson lightning exploded outward, throwing fighters off their feet. The ground cracked. The entire bracket was bathed in red light.
The remaining fighters backed away, apprehension flickering across their faces.
John stood slowly.
His hands were steady now. His mind was not.
A quiet voice whispered: kill them all.