Mark Angelo sat alone on his throne made of skulls.
The Ability Tournament roared beneath him, but he barely reacted to any of it. The chaos, the fights, the rising stars—it all felt repetitive now. Predictable.
Boring.
With a slow motion of his hand, he reached toward the side platform where the rescued slaves from earlier were being kept under observation.
One of them tried to move back.
Too late.
Mark Angelo grabbed him by the neck without even standing.
The man struggled, kicking weakly, but Mark's grip didn't change. No emotion crossed his face—not anger, not satisfaction. Just absence.
The struggling stopped.
The body went limp.
Mark released him.
The corpse dropped.
And before it even hit the ground fully—
it turned to dust.
Mark leaned back slightly on his throne.
Still bored.
"Is this all they are capable of?" he muttered.
---
Far below, the next match had already begun.
Leerooey stepped into the arena.
Daggers drawn.
Eyes focused.
Across from him stood Shane—the Reincarnation of Lust.
The moment the fight started, Leerooey moved.
Fast.
Clean.
Deadly.
He charged in with pure speed, daggers cutting through the air as he closed distance instantly.
But then—
Shane touched him.
Just a single finger.
And everything stopped.
Leerooey froze mid-motion.
Not physically restrained.
But mentally interrupted.
His intent to attack… reversed.
His desire to strike… twisted.
His body refused to obey his own decision.
His eyes widened slightly.
"What—?"
Shane tilted her head.
"Go back," she said softly.
And Leerooey's movement reversed, his body pulling away against his own will as if his mind had been rewritten in real time.
---
He staggered backward.
Then slammed his dagger into the ground.
A totem beneath the arena activated.
Hidden seals shattered.
His suppressed power returned all at once.
The pressure changed instantly.
The arena trembled.
Leerooey's eyes darkened.
His mana ignited into a deep, unstable blue.
Not normal speed anymore.
Something beyond acceleration.
Something closer to distortion.
The air cracked around him.
He stood still for a moment.
Then spoke.
"Aura Skill… Blue Thunder."
The world around him blurred.
Then he moved.
Faster than sight.
Faster than reaction.
Faster than thought.
He pierced through Shane in a single strike.
The impact didn't explode her into a star.
It erased her cohesion.
Her body broke into particles—but not fully gone.
She reformed outside the arena boundary, gasping as the system forcibly reconstructed her.
Shane looked shocked for the first time.
"…That shouldn't be possible," she whispered.
---
Leerooey stood in the center of the arena, breathing heavily.
Not exhausted.
But unsettled.
Because she hadn't died properly.
She had returned.
And that meant something worse than defeat.
It meant rules were breaking.
---
In the observation space, Sophia narrowed her eyes.
"…She survived," she said quietly.
Jhonathan looked down at the arena, expression unreadable.
The tournament was no longer just about winning matches.
Something was evolving inside it.
And at the top of it all—
Mark Angelo was still watching.
Still bored.
Still waiting for something worth his attention.