[16th June]
Rey collapsed in the hallway the moment the match ended.
After that, the world went dark.
While he slept, the tournament reached its conclusion.
Days of blood and scrutiny came to an end, sealing the list of those who would move forward.
Tomorrow, the Top 200 ranking matches will begin.
Those battles would decide the rewards granted directly by the Kingdom.
The capital buzzed with anticipation.
Speculation spread through streets and halls alike—matchups, prizes, rumours of favour and fortune.
Almost everyone was restless.
Almost everyone.
Those who truly understood what had happened today weren't celebrating at all.
Most winners sat in quiet tension, replaying their fights over and over in their heads.
Only a few allowed themselves to celebrate.
Outside the stadium, something else unfolded.
Fenlor and Hosric stood beside two parked cars.
They were waiting.
From the entrance, two butlers and a medical team approached with a stretcher.
Rey lay atop it, unconscious.
At first glance, he looked peaceful.
At second glance, not at all.
Protective braces wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles—reinforcements meant to stabilise joints that had been pushed beyond safe limits.
His own strength had betrayed him.
The medics' verdict had been blunt.
Any further strain could leave permanent damage.
Pale-faced, restrained at all four joints, Rey looked miserable.
And somehow ridiculous.
Fenlor almost laughed when he saw him for the first time in those restraints.
Two cars were prepared.
One to take Rey home and ensure he rested properly.
The other to return Fenlor immediately—his family head had summoned him with urgency.
Hosric had been called too.
He ignored it.
Rey was settled carefully into the back seat.
Hosric gave brief instructions to the staff, and the cars departed in opposite directions.
Inside the moving car, Rey sat slumped, still unconscious.
Hosric occupied the front passenger seat, phone in hand, responding to messages as the driver guided them through the capital.
They had been told Rey wouldn't wake until morning.
No one looked back.
But beneath closed lids, Rey stirred.
Two hours passed after his match.
Then three.
His body slept.
His mind did not.
Something felt wrong.
A constant pull.
A pressure that refused to fade.
He could sense motion.
Voices.
The hum of the road.
Yet responding was impossible.
It felt like being trapped inside his own body.
Then—
His eyelids twitched.
Slowly, painfully, Rey opened his eyes.
Hosric sat in front.
The driver focused on the road.
Fenlor was gone.
Just as he had sensed.
'It's done,' Rey thought.
'I finished it.'
A hollow ache followed.
'Aiden… Victor… Zero…Are you there now? Or do I still have to wait?'
Silence answered him.
No voices.
No mockery.
No presence.
The loneliness pressed harder than the pain.
'I didn't think it would feel like this.
This quiet…'
He turned his gaze toward the window.
And froze.
Someone stood outside.
Not walking alongside the car.
Not reflected.
Floating.
The figure slowly turned its head.
That grin—
The same one.
Rey's consciousness shattered.
When his eyes closed again, the window was empty.
Hosric noticed nothing.
He continued handling calls, occasionally glancing back to check Rey's condition—always missing the timing by seconds.
Not long after, the car stopped at Rey's home.
With the help of the driver and butler, Rey was carried inside and placed gently on his bed.
Hosric gave simple, precise instructions.
Then he left.
Night settled over the capital.
The city grew quiet, broken only by distant celebrations from a few surviving contestants.
Many had fallen.
The worthy had been separated from the rest.
…
Inside Rey's room, darkness ruled.
He slept.
Uneasily.
A faint tension lingered in his face.
The servants finished their work and withdrew, leaving the house still.
Then—
Rey's body twitched.
His hand trembled.
His head shifted restlessly.
Like something was squeezing him from the inside.
He jolted awake.
His breathing turned ragged and uneven.
Bloodshot eyes scanned the room as he tried to sit—
And failed.
Pain surged through him.
Every bone felt battered from within.
His chest felt heavy.
His throat burned with dryness.
His limbs were stiff, cold, barely responsive.
He stared at the ceiling.
It felt distant.
Empty.
He had expected them to return once he secured his place in the University.
They didn't.
A faint sound drew his attention.
The curtains fluttered.
The window stood half open.
Moonlight spilt across the floor.
Rey's tension spiked instantly.
'Someone's here.
Did they follow me all the way?
Should I call Uncle—'
His thoughts spiralled.
No one visited this late without a reason.
Enemy or not, intent could only be bad.
His ability stirred.
Tentacles slipped silently from beneath the sheets, spreading to sense the room.
He reached for his phone—
Pressure slammed down.
Instantly.
His body felt like it was being crushed into the bed.
Breathing became difficult.
The phone lifted off the table by itself.
Rey's blood turned cold.
Outside the Duke's family, Spirit Martial Masters were almost nonexistent in the Kingdom.
And he knew what he was.
A Fallen heir.
'So now…They're moving because I'm weak.'
His body refused to obey.
His ability strained uselessly.
Desperation crept in.
"Who are you…?" Rey forced out.
"Why are you here…?"
A single word answered.
"Still...."
That was enough.
All four tentacles erupted outward like living serpents, tearing through the air toward the source of the voice.
Furniture cracked.
The room trembled.
Then—
They stopped.
Frozen mid-air.
Held by something unseen.
Rey's heart sank.
'Acolyte… at least.'
He tried to escape, pulling himself toward the open window.
Useless.
His body lifted instead.
Suspended.
His limbs dispersed, strength torn away.
He hung there, helpless.
He couldn't feel a presence behind him.
But instinct screamed.
'Overwhelming.
What now…?
I have nothing left.'
He tried to move.
His body refused.
The aftermath had finally claimed its price.
The silence behind him deepened.
And it drew closer.
Rey's body moved before his mind caught up.
Muscles twisted. Spine turned.
He faced the space behind him on pure instinct.
His heartbeat thundered.
Tense. Alert. Ready.
Darkness stirred at his command, coiling like living shadows around his arms, ready to strike and bind the moment his enemy revealed himself.
'Just show yourself…
I'll pierce your chest myself.'
Irritation burned through him.
He turned fully—
And froze.
There was no one.
Nothing stood behind him.
Yet a suffocating presence pressed against his senses, heavy and ominous, coming from the shadows in front of him.
But his eyes saw nothing.
The darkness in the room was thin. Almost nonexistent.
And yet… something was there.
'Is this being done from outside?
Then why watch me struggle instead of killing me outright?'
His gaze flicked to the window.
Empty.
"Come out already," Rey growled.
"Why hide now?"
Silence answered him.
Then—
"Why should I come out…"
The voice came from the front.
"…when my host is already eager to stab a blade through my chest?"
Rey's breath hitched.
"I'm honestly hurt," the voice continued lightly.
"No joy. No greeting. Just creepy tentacles aimed at my head."
Rey's eyes widened.
That voice.
He knew it.
The shadows parted.
A figure floated before him.
His vision swam.
"You…" Rey whispered.
"How could you do this to me…"
"Aiden…"
The strength vanished from his body.
He collapsed.
"Oh? I thought surprising you when you woke up would be fun," Aiden said, a faint smirk on his face as he stepped fully into view.
"But instead, you tried to murder me. You've grown up, kid."
"Are you insane?" Rey hissed, half-lying on the floor.
"You appear like that and expect me not to panic? I thought spies broke in."
Aiden laughed softly.
"Still a scaredy cat."
Another presence surfaced.
Victor appeared beside them, as if he had always been there.
Rey barely flinched.
If Aiden were here, Victor being present would be only natural.
"So…" Rey said, exhaling slowly.
"That means I passed your trial."
Aiden tilted his head.
"No."
The word dropped quietly.
Heavy.
"…You failed."
Rey stared.
"What?"
"I won without your help. I survived everything. How did I fail?"
Aiden's gaze slid toward Victor.
"Someone," he said calmly,
"Got emotional watching you struggle."
Victor looked away.
"They helped you," Aiden continued.
"Behind my back."
Rey clenched his fists.
"But I didn't feel anything. Nothing strange happened."
"Of course you didn't," Aiden replied.
"It was done while you slept."
Rey stiffened.
"After that first battle in Round One," Aiden went on,
"you healed overnight. Strange, wasn't it?"
Rey remembered.
"When you trained that art," Aiden said,
"Your body should have broken down. Instead, the damage vanished by morning."
Rey swallowed.
"It wasn't miracles," Aiden said flatly.
"It was unnecessary help."
Understanding slowly settled in.
"…The poison," Rey said quietly.
"Was that you, too? Along with my uncle?"
"No," Aiden answered.
"Someone intended to help you."
Aiden's eyes sharpened as he looked at Victor.
"But your blood reacted first.
It dispelled the poison on its own."
Rey's breath caught.
"That's when I noticed," Aiden added.
"That something was interfering."
Rey went silent.
Then frowned.
"…Why am I floating?"
Only then did he realise his body wasn't touching the floor.
Aiden sighed.
"I can put you down," he said.
"But you won't enjoy it."
Rey stiffened.
"Your body is a disaster," Aiden continued calmly.
"Bones near collapse. Organs are barely holding. You're alive only because your stats are carrying you."
Rey opened his mouth—
"Don't argue," Aiden cut in.
"Lie down."
He lifted Rey effortlessly and placed him on the bed.
"If not for the poison," Aiden said, pulling a blanket over him,
"Your trial would've lasted until the final day."
His voice cooled.
"But this body of yours couldn't even handle a low-grade lethal poison."
Aiden began chanting.
"Sleep," he said softly.
"You'll wake up new."
A faint circle bloomed in the air.
Runes twisted.
Then shattered.
Power surged.
Rey's mana exploded outward, tripling in volume as dormant relic effects roared back to life.
Regeneration activated.
Notifications burst forth—
But Rey never saw them.
Exhaustion crushed his consciousness.
He sank into deep sleep.
Minutes passed.
Aiden stepped back, expression tightening.
Victor stood by the window.
"Is he stable?" Victor asked quietly.
"Yes," Aiden replied.
"Half an hour and his body will be fine."
His gaze sharpened.
"Mind's another story. He'll sleep six or seven hours."
Victor's eyes glowed faintly.
"…I wanted to see him fight properly," he muttered."But those fools outside are getting bold."
Killing intent flickered through the night.
"Maybe it's time I stretch," Victor said.
Aiden shrugged.
"I was going to deal with them," he said casually.
"But go ahead. I'm feeling peaceful today."
He vanished.
Victor smiled.
Red light ignited in his eyes.
"…The moon will turn red tonight," he murmured.
"Let the world remember the might of Tyrant Blood again after so long."
And he disappeared into the night with a crazy smile.