Chapter 16: I See Everything
Abandon dragged the tip of his spear across the blood-slick ground of the arena floor, the weighted tip carving a long, bright trail of sparks that hissed and died in the heavy air. The grinding sound echoed through the silent plaza like a warning growl, sending a ripple of tension through the thousands watching from the stands. Every eye was locked on the stage, breath held, as the two remaining fighters circled each other like predators in a cage.
"Eye of Perception!"
Pinkish light exploded violently from Abandon's eyes, cutting through wind, killing intent, and illusion alike. The entire fighting ring unfolded before him in perfect, merciless clarity, every gust, every hidden blade current, every flicker of the girls aura laid bare like an open book.
"I see you," he laughed, low and savage, voice carrying across the stage like a death promise.
With an explosive twist of his wrist he flung the spear forward. The weapon screamed through the air like a comet, diving straight into the heart of the girls raging windstorm, aimed directly for her chest.
Yet she stayed perfectly calm.
She waved one fan in a graceful, unhurried arc. Blade-intent wind swirled around the incoming spear, slowing its deadly flight, twisting it, trying to deflect its path with layer after layer of slicing gale.
"You're such a fool," Abandon's voice suddenly spoke, right in front of her, close enough to feel his breath on her skin.
"How did he…?" she wondered, genuine shock flashing across her beautiful face. "How had he slipped through her storm of pure blade intent without a single cut?" Several spectators wondered
"This participants from this generation, they are truly demonic, each below the ranks of silver yet fight with the instinct that several gold ranks do not posses." one said making the others agree in unison.
Abadon's hand closed around the spear mid-flight and reversed its momentum in one brutal motion, aiming the point straight for her skull in a lethal downward thrust.
Her body screamed danger. Every instinct flared white-hot. She closed the fan slowly, deliberately.
"Gale Burst."
The trapped gale compressed in an instant and exploded outward radially, exactly like a microburst hitting the ground and bursting sideways. The fan's rigid "blade" edges turned the release into slicing wind currents that could flay flesh from bone in a single heartbeat.
Before the burst could tear him apart, Abandon clapped his hands once.
In that instant he swapped positions with one of the corpses still lying on the stage, dodging the lethal gale by a hair's breadth.
"Thunder Spear Piercing Wind!"
His dark short hair flared upward in electrifying currents, arcs of violet lightning dancing along his arms and weapon. The spear crackled with raw electrical power, the air around it hissing and popping.
"Did you think I would not see an opening?"
He flung the now-electrified spear straight at the girl with terrifying speed and precision.
The girl turned slowly, eyes widening as the raging, lightning-wreathed spear hurtled toward her heart.
"Is this where I die?" she questioned herself, eyelids drifting shut in quiet despair.
"Hold your hand."
The voice came from the exact center of the stage, deep, resonant, carrying the weight of countless devoured souls.
An eight-foot figure stood there.
Its body showed raw, glistening muscle and pulsing veins, completely skinless, as though the flesh had been flayed away long ago. The face was a reddish-white skull, eyes and nose covered by bone, only the lower jaw exposed to reveal rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Short, curved horns protruded from the temples. It was a mid-grade demon in its true, terrifying form.
"Lord Vabun… the one who houses an army of demons within a single blade," a lady in the crowd whispered in awe. "And from what I see… that is his first ever demon possession, gifted by the High King of Fortsterling himself."
The entire plaza stared in stunned amazement, wondering if they too could one day wield such monstrous strength.
The skinless demon casually caught Abandon's electrified spear in its open palm. Lightning crackled harmlessly around the bone-white fingers.
"Demon Celestial Academy also welcomes you," Vabun's voice boomed from within the demon's chest.
Immediately, Vice-Principal Alvin of the Royalist Academy interjected, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Vabun, I will not take your action lightly. Leave that one, I have my eyes on him already."
Vabun's skinless demon tilted its skull head.
"It is the child's choice to decide."
Vabun's offer drifted across the stage like velvet poison.
"Child, come serve Demon Command. We suit your battle style well. You can learn skills that allow you to merge with several demons… and with those eyes of yours, our arts will complete you."
Alvin countered smoothly.
"If what he says is true, and his art blends with the Demon Wheel Eyes… I believe I myself can become a living abomination, a true demon god."
Abandon stood frozen, weighing the offers. Vabun remained silent, offering nothing more.
Then the mid-grade demon bent down, scooped up the unconscious girl, and slung her over one massive shoulder like a sack of grain before leaping back to Vabun's side.
Abandon's shoulders sagged with clear dejection.
He did not waste another moment. Turning to Alvin, he bowed deeply.
Alvin smiled, satisfied.
"Good… good."
Abandon walked down the stage, I stepped forward for my turn.
The moment we passed each other, he felt it, a deep, violent wave of oppressive energy rolling off me like an invisible tide from the abyss itself. His eyes widened in shock. He froze in place, staring at my back.
"You… what are you?" he whispered, hand trembling. "You are not human."
His special eyes had never deceived him before. The flow of energy coming from me was bottomless, oppressive, ancient, hungry. An abyss that threatened to swallow him whole if he stared too long.
I turned my face slightly toward the probing gaze I felt on my back. The presence fled instantly. I ignored it and continued walking calmly toward the center of the stage, cane tapping softly against blood-stained marble.
Amidst the crowd Abandon stood, clutching his chest, breathing hard.
"I could feel it… the abyss… the darkness of his soul… that dizzy pull threatening to trap me there for eternity."
He collapsed backward onto the steps, holding his head, mind reeling from what he had just witnessed.