Pain woke him before consciousness did.
Shiro's eyes snapped open as violent energy ripped through his veins again, his entire body locking instantly. The ruined chamber around him trembled beneath expanding destruction pressure while shattered suppression chains still smoldered across the floor from the night before.
The Fifth Gate was still unstable.
Still evolving.
And Raiku—
Raiku was making sure he suffered through every second of it.
"You survived."
Raiku's voice echoed calmly through the darkness.
Shiro slowly lifted his head.
The chamber had changed.
No…
they had moved him.
Again.
Now he stood inside a massive underground arena carved directly into black stone, surrounded by towering walls covered in ancient combat runes. Entire sections of reality folded strangely around the edges of the arena, dimensions stitched together imperfectly like scars.
And waiting across from him—
were monsters.
Not metaphorical ones.
Actual monsters.
Dozens of them.
Creatures dragged from different dimensions and chained together through suppression magic. Some resembled dragons twisted inside out. Others looked humanoid until their bodies unfolded incorrectly. One creature had no face at all—only a massive vertical mouth splitting open across its chest.
Every single one radiated enough pressure to destroy kingdoms.
Shiro's breathing slowed automatically.
Raiku sat high above the arena watching lazily from a throne of black stone.
"The Fifth Gate responds to survival pressure," he explained casually. "So today…"
One of the monsters broke its restraints instantly.
"…survive."
The creature moved first.
Fast.
Far too fast.
Shiro barely blocked the attack before getting launched through three layers of dimensional stone. The impact shattered his ribs immediately.
Pain exploded through his body.
Good.
The Fifth Gate reacted.
Dark purple destruction energy surged violently beneath his skin while fractured scales spread across his arms instinctively.
The monster attacked again.
Shiro countered this time.
His body moved before thought.
Veil of the Guardian had evolved beyond technique now. Every motion flowed automatically into the next with terrifying precision. He twisted around the creature's claws and drove his elbow directly through its throat before severing its arm with a summoned dagger.
But the moment the creature died—
another attacked.
Then another.
Then five more.
Raiku watched silently while the arena drowned in violence.
This wasn't training.
This was controlled destruction.
And the horrifying part?
It was working.
---
Hours passed.
Or days.
Shiro couldn't tell anymore.
Time barely functioned correctly inside Raiku's domain.
His body was covered in blood again.
Some his.
Most not.
The Fifth Gate continued mutating his power constantly in response to stress and suffering. Every near-death experience refined the destruction energy further.
His Destruction Dragon Eyes adapted next.
At first he could only perceive attacks more clearly.
Now—
he could see intent itself.
Fear.
Hesitation.
Kill angles.
Weaknesses.
The moment an opponent decided to attack him, Shiro already knew where the strike would land.
And that terrified even him.
A massive beast crashed toward him from above.
Shiro didn't dodge.
He raised one hand.
The creature froze midair.
Not physically.
Existentially.
Then black destruction fractures spread across its body before it collapsed into ash without Shiro touching it once.
The arena fell silent briefly.
Raiku smiled faintly.
"There it is."
Shiro glared upward breathing heavily.
"I'll kill you."
Raiku rested his chin against one hand lazily.
"Not yet."
The restraints beneath the arena activated instantly.
Shiro's body slammed violently into the ground as suppression chains erupted upward around his limbs again. This time they burned directly into his flesh.
He screamed.
Couldn't help it.
The Fifth Gate surged violently against the restraints, destruction energy tearing through the arena while suppression runes fought desperately to contain it.
Raiku descended slowly into the arena afterward.
Calm.
Controlled.
Untouched.
Shiro hated him for that most.
Raiku crouched in front of him.
"You still don't understand your own power," he said quietly. "Destruction isn't rage."
One of the chains tightened harder around Shiro's throat.
"It's acceptance."
Shiro tried to move.
Couldn't.
Raiku placed a hand directly over the burning Fifth Gate inside his chest.
Instant agony.
Shiro's vision went white immediately.
The gate reacted violently beneath Raiku's touch as memories flooded through him uncontrollably.
Satre smiling beside him.
Amelia laughing during training.
Yura leaning quietly against his shoulder.
Then—
all of them disappearing.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Raiku's voice cut through the pain calmly.
"Attachments weaken resolve."
The pressure increased.
Shiro felt something inside himself cracking.
Not bones.
Something deeper.
The Fifth Gate fed on suffering.
And Raiku knew exactly how to cultivate it.
---
Far away—
inside the Tower of Myths—
Satre woke violently from another vision.
Blood spilled from her nose immediately.
Yura caught her before she collapsed completely.
"What did you see?!"
Satre trembled silently.
Future sight spiraled chaotically around her again.
Ten timelines.
Ten minutes.
In every single one—
Shiro was alone.
Amelia's blood aura erupted instinctively around the room.
"That bastard…"
Satre slowly clenched Gurter tighter.
Her voice barely came out above a whisper.
"He's trying to turn Shiro into a weapon."
---
Back inside the arena—
Raiku finally stepped away.
The suppression chains released.
Shiro collapsed onto his hands immediately coughing blood onto the stone beneath him.
The Fifth Gate still pulsed violently beneath his chest.
Still unstable.
Still growing.
Raiku turned toward the remaining sealed monsters surrounding the arena walls.
"There's one final lesson today."
The largest seal shattered.
The entire arena trembled.
Something ancient slowly stood from the darkness beyond the chains.
Even Shiro's evolved instincts screamed immediately.
Danger.
Real danger.
The creature stepped forward slowly.
Humanoid.
Massive.
Covered in black armor fused directly into flesh.
And behind it—
dragon wings unfolded.
Raiku smiled faintly.
"This one killed three previous candidates before you."
The monster lifted its head.
Its eyes glowed purple.
Just like Shiro's.
Then it charged.