CHAPTER 91 — WHEN ZERO MEANS EVERYTHING
The arena gates opened slowly.
One by one.
Heavy slabs of reinforced stone slid aside with a low, grinding sound that echoed through the Grand Arena of Vermillion Phoenix Academy. Each opening revealed a single figure stepping forward, walking toward the battlefield not as part of a team, but as an individual.
Twenty figures.
Twenty futures.
Twenty different reasons to fight.
The battlefield itself waited in silence, its terrain already active. Mist curled lazily over shallow water zones. Stone pillars rose and sank in slow, irregular rhythms. Forest projections whispered with artificial wind. High above, floating platforms drifted unpredictably, casting moving shadows across the ground.
At the center of the arena floor, the announcer stood tall, robes billowing slightly as the amplification formations around him hummed to life.
His voice boomed.
"Ladies and gentlemen…"
The sound hit like a wave.
