A roaring wind tears across the floating city of Aerolis.
The sky is divided right down the center.
Left half — a soft rose glow, calm and divine.
Right half — a violent gray spiral, rumbling like something alive.
The crowd notices immediately.
The entire arena buzzes with unease.
Commentator #1 (cracking voice):
Is… is the sky supposed to do that?
Commentator #2:
Not unless the Rings are waking up.
And I don't wanna be awake for that.
Commentator #3 (low):
Ladies and gentlemen…
The Gathering Storm has begun.
The room is dim. Quiet. Tension coiled like a spring.
Ren sits cross-legged on the stone floor, quarterstaff resting across his lap.
Tiny threads of aura pulse at his fingertips, weaving and retreating subconsciously.
He's calmer than he should be.
Rina sits with her eyes closed. Petals orbit her gently — until they twitch like tiny blades hungry for release.
Kai braces his hands against the wall. Chains hum around his wrists, vibrating like caged lightning.
Kai:
We stay together this time. No splitting up.
Not with the sky looking like it wants to eat somebody.
Rina (smiles without looking):
Aww. Cute.
But storms taste wonderful.
Ren (deadpan):
…She's not joking. She's just like that.
Sudden arena roar.
A horn blasts.
The match is about to begin.
The arena gates slam open.
Eight figures step forward in perfect formation — fast, silent, coordinated killers.
All masked.
All cloaked in wind-carved armor.
All radiating lethal calm.
Commentator #1:
The Northern Wreath?!
Those assassins take contracts from royalty.
Commentator #2:
Who the hell paid for THIS?
Commentator #3:
Whoever it was… they want the trio erased.
The assassins draw their weapons in unison.
The air goes cold.
Ren steps forward first.
Ren:
Rina. Kai.
Do not hold back.
Rina (soft laugh):
I never do.
The assassins disappear.
They move faster than wind — vanishing, reappearing, closing in from all angles.
Ren's eyes sharpen.
Threads snap awake like reflexes.
He pivots — gliding, reading rhythm, disrupting timing.
Kai bursts forward.
Chains lash, clash, redirect.
Rina rises off the ground.
Petals swirl like a blooming cyclone.
The fight is pure chaos.
One assassin darts at her throat—
Rina's head tilts, smile widening.
Rina:
They get hungry sometimes.
The petals around her ignite.
A storm of razor-sharp blossoms erupts, shredding the attacker mid-air.
Petals cut through his armor like wet paper.
He slams into the ground, convulsing.
The crowd recoils.
Commentator #1:
She… smiled while cutting him apart!!
Commentator #3:
That wasn't a smile.
That was a warning.
Rina floats down, petals orbiting her like a halo of knives.
Two assassins overwhelm Kai.
They grab him. Twist his arm behind his back.
Kai's teeth grit. He's strong — but they've pinned him in a lock meant to break bone.
Kai tries to flare his chains —
Too late.
Ren freezes.
He turns his head slowly.
Calm evaporates.
A single thread angles at his side. Tense. Glowing. Vibrating like a scalpel hungry to cut.
Ren (quiet, cold):
Line.
A blinding streak.
Three assassins — the two holding Kai and one behind them —
fall at the same time.
No blood yet.
Then thin red lines appear across each throat.
They collapse.
The arena goes dead silent.
Even Rina stops smiling.
Kai (shaken):
…Ren?
Ren doesn't answer.
A massive shadow lands behind Ren.
The leader.
The Captain of the Northern Wreath.
His aura is crushing.
His mask carved with a single vertical slash.
He raises his hand—
Captain:
Cute toy.
He grabs one of Kai's chains mid-swing and yanks.
Kai flies like a ragdoll.
Ren turns — too slow —
Kai slams into the Captain's knee and collapses, gasping.
Rina's eyes dilate.
Petals spike.
Rina:
You touched him.
The Captain doesn't flinch.
Captain:
And I'll do it again.
Ren rushes forward.
Threads lashing.
Quarterstaff snapping.
Movements too clean to be human.
Kai holds his ribs and launches chains to intercept.
Trying to protect Ren.
Trying to protect Rina.
Rina ascends higher.
Petals vibrating so fast they hum like blades.
They struggle.
The Captain is stronger than all eight combined.
Every move he makes puts someone in mortal danger.
He sends Kai skidding across the arena.
Rina's petals shatter against his aura.
Ren's threads burn from the friction of his movements.
The arena gasps.
Commentator #1:
They're losing—
The trio is actually LOSING—
Commentator #3:
This is the Gathering Storm.
Every storm tries to break something first.
Kai tries to stand —
The Captain's boot slams onto his back.
He screams.
Rina snaps.
Rina:
REN!!
Her voice shakes the sky.
Ren's eyes flash.
Threads erupt.
His quarterstaff glows.
And Ren's aura — normally calm silver — twists into a sharpened, angled storm.
He moves too fast for the naked eye.
Ren:
You think this is what you want me to become…
but it ISN'T.
A hundred micro-threads form from his fingers.
Some weave into a blade.
Some form a lethal finger-twist wire technique.
He lunges.
Captain (genuinely startled):
—What?!
Ren appears behind him.
The Captain freezes.
Then a thin line of blood slides across his throat.
He falls.
Silence.
The crowd stares.
Rina covers her mouth.
Kai looks at Ren like he's seeing a stranger.
Ren stands, breathing hard.
Threads retreat.
His expression blank.
Terrifying.
The sky RIPS open above the arena.
A beam of ancient aura spirals upward.
The third ring cracks in the distance.
The fourth pulls tight.
A pulse of silver light washes through the crowd.
Marks appear on a few chosen fighters.
Some glow bright.
Some flicker inconsistently.
Some jerk in fear.
Rina stares upward.
Rina (whisper):
It's waking…
Kai shudders.
Kai:
Ren… what did you just feed?
Ren doesn't answer.
His threads quietly dissolve into the wind.
The storm overhead grows heavier.
The Rings thrum.
The Captain's body fades into ash.
Ren walks past the remains without looking back.
Commentator #3 (whisper):
Dutorum has changed.
And so has he.