Pain became time.
Time became suffering.
And suffering became all Shiro knew.
The crimson arena stretched endlessly beneath a black sky while broken chains dragged behind him with every step. Blood soaked the stone beneath his feet. His breathing was ragged now, uneven, his body trembling from exhaustion that no amount of healing could fully erase.
Raiku stood above the arena silently.
Watching.
Always watching.
Days had passed.
Or months.
Inside Raiku's realm, time no longer held meaning.
Only torment did.
"You're slowing down," Raiku said calmly.
Shiro's fingers tightened weakly around Edith and Zenith.
The blades trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
Fatigue.
Across the arena, the gates opened again.
More creatures emerged.
Massive beasts stitched together from failed Dependents and corrupted dimensional monsters. Their bodies pulsed with unstable magic while black restraints carved directly into their flesh forced obedience.
Raiku folded his arms.
"Kill them."
Shiro moved instantly despite the pain.
Because if he hesitated—
Raiku made it worse.
The first creature lunged.
Shiro slid beneath it automatically, Veil of the Guardian flowing through his body like instinct itself. One blade pierced upward beneath the jaw while the second severed tendons along its leg.
Precise.
Efficient.
Deadly.
But the next creature was already there.
Then another.
Then ten more.
The arena erupted into violence.
Shiro's body moved on pure reflex now.
Shadowfang Ascendant adapted continuously through combat as Edith and Zenith shifted forms between blades, short spears, hooked daggers, and compact firearms mid-motion. Every transition flowed seamlessly into the next strike.
A gunshot echoed.
A creature's skull exploded.
Another swung downward.
Shiro pivoted.
Countered.
Cut through its arm.
Then drove a blade through its throat.
Blood covered him completely now.
But the monsters never stopped coming.
Raiku designed it that way.
No rest.
No recovery.
Only continuous battle until Shiro either evolved—
or collapsed.
Hours later—
Shiro finally dropped to one knee.
His arms shook violently.
His breathing burned.
The arena floor beneath him had become a mountain of corpses.
Raiku descended slowly into the arena.
Expression unreadable.
"You're adapting too slowly."
Shiro glared upward through strands of blood-soaked hair.
"…Try fighting them yourself."
For the first time—
Raiku smiled slightly.
Then kicked Shiro hard enough to launch him across the arena wall.
Stone exploded on impact.
Several ribs shattered instantly.
Shiro coughed blood violently.
Raiku approached slowly.
"You still don't understand."
The pressure in the arena changed.
Dark energy flooded outward from Raiku's body.
Not explosive.
Controlled.
Absolute.
"You rely too heavily on power." Raiku crouched beside him. "So every time your power grows… your suffering grows with it."
Shiro tried forcing himself upright.
Raiku grabbed him by the throat first.
Then activated the restraints again.
Black chains erupted around Shiro's body instantly.
This time—
they dug directly into his soul.
Shiro screamed.
Not from physical pain.
Something deeper.
It felt like his existence itself was being torn apart and rebuilt incorrectly over and over again.
The Fifth Gate inside him reacted violently.
Power surged uncontrollably beneath his skin while destructive magic tore through his body from the inside.
Raiku watched calmly.
"Good."
The chains tightened further.
"Again."
Shiro's Destruction Dragon Eyes activated instinctively.
For a split second—
he saw fragments.
Other versions of himself.
Different timelines.
Different worlds.
One wielded twin pistols forged from dragonfire.
Another stood inside a ruined battlefield surrounded by shattered dimensions.
Another sat silently upon a throne in endless darkness.
Countless reflections.
Countless selves.
All suffering.
All fighting.
All surviving.
The visions vanished instantly as another pulse of agony ripped through him.
Raiku released him carelessly.
Shiro collapsed forward onto the blood-covered floor.
"You know why the gods fear your bloodline?" Raiku asked quietly.
Shiro barely managed to lift his head.
Raiku's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Because destruction adapts faster than creation."
The arena trembled.
"The more pain you endure… the more absolute you become."
Shiro's body shook violently now.
The Fifth Gate continued destabilizing.
Magic overflowed uncontrollably around him while fragments of countless combat instincts flooded through his nervous system.
He could feel it.
Something was changing again.
Raiku noticed immediately.
"…Interesting."
The black chains surrounding Shiro suddenly cracked.
Then shattered completely.
A massive pulse of dark-purple energy exploded outward across the arena.
The corpses nearby disintegrated instantly.
Raiku stepped backward slightly for the first time in weeks.
Not from fear.
Observation.
Shiro slowly stood.
His body looked different now.
Dark-purple scales spread partially across his arms and neck while destruction magic flowed through his veins like burning stars beneath his skin. His eyes glowed brighter than before, no longer merely reacting to combat—
analyzing it.
Adapting to it.
Fragments of countless battle instincts merged continuously inside him now.
Not full memories.
Echoes.
Pieces.
Enough to evolve him further.
Edith and Zenith hovered slightly beside him, vibrating with unstable energy.
Raiku studied him silently.
Then—
without warning—
he attacked personally.
Shiro barely reacted in time.
Raiku's fist crashed into his guard hard enough to split the arena floor for miles.
Shiro was launched backward violently.
But this time—
he recovered mid-flight.
Shadowfang Ascendant shifted instinctively.
Zenith transformed into a long black spear while Edith compressed into a firearm.
Shiro fired.
Dragonfire rounds screamed across the battlefield.
Raiku dodged effortlessly.
But one shot clipped his shoulder.
A tiny cut appeared.
Silence.
Shiro froze slightly.
So did Raiku.
Because that was the first time Shiro had ever injured him.
Even slightly.
Raiku slowly touched the blood running down his shoulder.
Then smiled again.
A real smile this time.
"There you are."
The pressure flooding the arena intensified instantly.
And Shiro realized immediately—
Raiku had not been trying to break him.
He had been forcing him to awaken.
Which somehow felt even worse.
Far away across fractured dimensions—
Satre suddenly stopped walking.
Her future sight activated violently.
And for the first time—
one future appeared where Shiro was no longer kneeling.
He was standing.