I stared hard at the older man standing above the tiers.
Whatever this was—
It existed in an entirely different realm from anything I knew.
Different from the pits, different from Skorrag, different from every story I had ever heard growing up on Skorrag
This was power on a level that didn't feel human anymore.
It felt...Godlike.
The pressure still held everyone in place, invisible and absolute. Around me, people remained frozen where they sat or stood, expressions twisted between confusion, fear, and outright panic. Some had collapsed completely under the force, bodies pressed awkwardly against the metal seating, while others struggled just to breathe.
I could barely move my fingers.
The older man simply stood there.
Calm.
Like none of this required effort.
Angel's voice came through again, quieter now but noticeably sharper.
"This individual is extremely high-level."
I tried identifying him instinctively.
The system flickered.
Then failed.
TARGET
STATUS
???
????
That was all.
There was no level, no designation.
Nothing.
I stared at the broken display for half a second.
The system couldn't place him.
Whatever hierarchy existed behind Angel, behind the strange interface in my head, this man stood beyond it, or at least beyond what it could currently process.
Angel continued.
"This individual could eliminate every biological entity within this arena almost instantly."
A pause.
"Preparing escape protocols"
The words dragged my attention away from the older man immediately.
"Escape protocols?" I thought back.
The response came quickly.
"In the event of death, your memories and consciousness patterns are preserved and sealed in a recovery location. Current cloud system destination is unknown."
My breathing slowed.
What?
Angel kept going.
"Your body would regenerate over time using ambient energy accumulation."
Another pause.
"You will need at least one thousand years if your body were to recover on this planet."
I stared blankly ahead.
That kind of power existed?
Not just the old man.
The system itself.
Everything about Angel suddenly felt much larger than before, older too, tied to something beyond the regime, beyond the stories people whispered about the old empire.
And all of that needed to wait.
Because right now we were trapped in the presence of something terrifying.
The strange part was that the entire exchange with Angel only lasted a few seconds.
Then suddenly the pressure vanished.
Completely.
The effect was immediate.
Several people collapsed forward as their bodies overcompensated from the sudden release. Others gasped loudly, pulling air into their lungs like they had been drowning.
I pitched myself forward, one hand catching the metal railing before I slammed face-first into it.
The relief hurt.
My muscles trembled.
For a second, nobody understood what had happened.
Then the noise started returning.
Confused voices, heavy breathing.
A few frightened shouts.
I straightened slowly and looked back toward the older man, expecting him to be walking away already.
He wasn't.
His expression had changed.
Something close to irritation.
He was looking upward.
I followed his gaze.
And froze.
Someone was standing high above the pit.
Floating.
Not attached to anything.
Just… suspended in the air.
There was no visible equipment supporting him. No jet systems. No cables. No drones nearby. The figure simply remained there above the settlement skyline, robes shifting slightly against the wind while the sky behind him darkened toward evening.
My stomach tightened.
Humans could do that?
Angel's voice returned immediately.
"Another high-level psionic individual detected."
The words came faster now.
"You possess no viable escape probability if these two entities engage in combat."
A pause.
"Estimated survival rate for all lifeforms in this area: negligible."
Yeah.
I didn't need help figuring that out.
The atmosphere between the two figures felt wrong even from this distance, tension hanging silently in the air while the entire pit watched without fully understanding what they were witnessing.
The floating man remained still.
The older otherworlder stared upward for several long seconds before his expression tightened slightly.
Displeasure.
Then he glanced toward the kneeling fighters below.
The proud one still struggled weakly to rise, blood dripping steadily onto the sand. The second remained lowered completely.
The older man clicked his tongue softly.
Annoyed.
Then he turned around.
Just like that.
And began walking away.
The kneeling fighters reacted instantly.
Both rose immediately and followed behind him without a single word, joined by several of the otherworlders standing nearby. The crowd instinctively parted to create space as they moved through the tiers.
Angel filled the silence.
"What occurred was telekinetic suppression combined with direct telepathic communication."
I kept staring upward.
"The airborne individual and the departing entity belong to separate factions," she continued. "Conflict likelihood was high."
Factions.
Of course there were factions.
"This further confirms advanced psionic development outside this planetary system," Angel said. "Recommendation updated."
A small pause.
"Leaving Skorrag is now top priority after growth optimisation."
I watched the floating figure for another moment.
Nobody around me seemed to fully understand how close they had all come to dying. Most were still recovering from the pressure itself, whispering among themselves, trying to process what they had seen.
Then the man in the sky moved.
He simply turned and shot away into the horizon, fast enough to vanish within seconds.
Flying.
Actually flying.
I sat there quietly while the noise slowly returned to the pit around me.
Today had changed something.
The world outside Skorrag was much larger than I imagined.
Much deadlier too.
The fights in the pits suddenly felt smaller now.
Temporary.
Training.
Because out there—
There were much bigger fish waiting.