Death or Courage (2/2)

There was one more match on the day.

The last match.

And it was—anticlimactic.

Theron and Kira faced Aldous Mauwen and his partner again—she was a skilled mage named Helena Dark. The match was brutal, violent, and one-sided.

Aldous didn't just fight. He dominated.

His magic was overwhelming—massive spell constructs that filled half the arena, attacks that forced Theron and Kira onto the defensive immediately. Helena supported him perfectly, her water magic creating openings that Aldous exploited ruthlessly.

Theron couldn't penetrate Aldous's defenses. Kira's precision meant nothing when Aldous simply overpowered every spell thrown at him.

The match ended in eight minutes.

Ironwood Academy had won.

The crowd's reaction was muted. Stargold's section sat in stunned silence. Even the Ironwood supporters seemed uncomfortable with how thoroughly Aldous had crushed his opponents.

In the arena, Aldous stood over Theron and Kira, his expression cold and satisfied.

"Know your place," he whispered, just loud enough for them to hear.

Then he turned and walked away, leaving them lying in the dirt.

That evening, the mood in Stargold's dormitory was somber.

"We did well," Ralf said, trying to sound optimistic. "We won some hard fought matches. That's not bad."

"We do have the final match coming up. So, Ki-rin and Ari, just give it your best," Ralf said, smiling with his thumbs up.

"Aldous is just... he's on another level," Frey added. "I don't know if any of us could beat him one-on-one."

Ki-rin sat quietly, listening. He'd watched the final match from the stands, seeing the sheer power Aldous commanded.

That's what a real S-rank looks like.

"Stop it," Ariana said, appearing beside him again.

"Stop what?"

"Comparing yourself to him." Her voice was gentle but firm. "Aldous has been training his entire life. He has resources, tutors, and family support. You have a few months of formal education."

"Exactly," Ki-rin said. "I'm not—"

"You're not him. You're you." Ariana's hand found his under the table, hidden from the others. "And that's enough."

Ki-rin wanted to believe her. He really did.

But watching Aldous fight had reminded him of something he'd been trying to forget.

He was still a slum kid. Still the outsider. Still the one who didn't belong.

The next day, everything changed.

The final exhibition match was supposed to be the final battle of the Ironstar Tournament. The best two teams from each academy. Giving a chance for the academies to showcase their best students' abilities in a controlled environment, just impressive displays of magic for the assembled nobles and dignitaries.

The only problem was that Aldous Mauwen and Helena Dark, were not their opponents.

The pairing of Ki-rin and Ariana placed them not against the best Ironwood students Aldous and Helena. But against Haro Flan and Jen Hoover. It should have been straightforward—a chance to show off their coordination with the pressure of actual combat and opponents far superior.

The match started normally.

Ariana fired arrows that painted beautiful arcs of elemental magic across the arena. Ki-rin moved in perfect sync with her, his swords deflecting the Ironwood students' counter-attacks. The crowd applauded appreciatively.

Then something went wrong.

One of the Ironwood students—a boy named Haro Flan—began chanting behind a huge barrier Jen casted, holding a cloth with strange writings all over it. The spell was complex, far more advanced than he could handle.

"What is he doing?" Ariana called out, alarm in her voice.

The summoning circle ignited, shaking the ground around the arena.

Reality tore open.

The spell made Haro cry out in madness.

Then it happened.

The demon that emerged was massive—easily fifteen feet tall, its body a writhing mass of shadow and flame. S-rank at a minimum, possibly higher. Its presence flooded the arena with suffocating malice, and the protective barriers shuddered under the weight of its aura.

Panic exploded through the stands.

People screamed, scrambling for the exits. Guards rushed forward, but they were too far away, moving too slowly through the panicked crowd.

The demon's burning gaze swept across the arena—and locked onto Ariana.

Time seemed to slow down.

Ki-rin saw it happening. Saw the demon's claws rising. Saw Ariana turning, too slow, her bow only half-drawn.

He moved blindly.

Elemental magic erupted around him in layered bursts—wind blades that sliced through the air, stone pillars that erupted from the ground, water whips that lashed out like living things, fire arcs that painted the arena in crimson light.

The demon staggered back, surprised by the sudden assault.

Ki-rin pressed forward, his twin swords appearing in his hands. He channeled everything he had into the blades—fire and wind, earth and water, all four elements flowing together in a way that should have been impossible.

The demon adapted quickly. Its claws tore through Ki-rin's defenses, scattering his magic like smoke. One massive fist caught him in the chest, sending him flying backward.

Pain exploded through his ribs. Ki-rin hit the ground hard, the impact driving the air from his lungs.

But he got back up.

I have to protect her. I have to keep fighting.

The demon came at him again, faster this time. Ki-rin barely managed to raise his swords in defense. The impact sent shockwaves through his arms, nearly breaking his grip.

Behind him, Ariana was firing arrows as fast as she could conjure them. Each one struck true, punching through the demon's shadowy form, but it wasn't enough. The creature was too strong, too resilient.

"Ki-rin!" Ariana's voice was desperate. "Fall back! We need to—"

The demon's tail whipped around faster and harder than either of them could react.

It caught Ariana across the chest.

The sound of the impact was sickening—a wet crack that echoed across the suddenly silent arena.

Ariana was thrown backward, her body rag-dolling through the air before slamming into the arena wall. She crumpled to the ground and didn't move.

Blood pooled beneath her, dark and spreading.

Ki-rin's world stopped.

Everything—the crowd, the demon, the arena itself—faded to nothing. There was only Ariana, lying broken on the ground, blood staining her crimson uniform even darker.

No.

He ran. Staggeredly.

His legs moved without conscious thought, carrying him across the arena floor. He dropped to his knees beside her, hands shaking as they hovered over her body, afraid to touch, afraid to hurt her more.

"Ari?" His voice cracked. "Ari, please... please don't..."

She wasn't moving. Her chest barely rose and fell, each breath shallow and labored.

"Don't die," Ki-rin whispered. Tears streamed down his face. "Please don't die. Don't leave me. I can't... I can't lose you too."

The demon loomed behind him, its shadow falling across them both.

Ki-rin didn't care.

Let it kill him. Let it end this. He couldn't watch another person he loved die in front of him.

Loved.

The word echoed in his mind, and something inside him shattered.

The air turned cold.

Dark mana exploded outward from Ki-rin's body in a violent surge, visible as black lightning that crackled across the arena floor. The temperature dropped twenty degrees in an instant. Black frost formed on the ground, spreading outward in crystalline patterns.

Behind Ki-rin, something manifested.

A massive, ethereal figure—fifteen feet tall, cloaked in shadows that seemed to devour light itself. A Grim Reaper, its skeletal face hidden beneath a hood, its presence radiating death and finality.

Two swords appeared beside Ki-rin.

One blazed with radiant light—pure, blinding, holy. The other swallowed the air in darkness—absolute, consuming, void. They floated in the air, waiting.

Ki-rin stood slowly.

His eyes were no longer fully human. His hair shifted, half of it turning white as snow, the other half black as midnight.

Absolute terror gripped the crowd, freezing them in place.

In the royal box, King Erbin shot to his feet, his expression shocked. Beside him, Duke Fullford's face had gone pale.

"What is that?" someone whispered.

Headmaster Thorne's hands gripped the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. "That's... that's not possible. That kind of magic doesn't exist."

Ki-rin reached out, and the twin swords flew into his hands.

The moment his fingers closed around them, power flooded through him. Light and darkness, perfectly balanced, neither overwhelming the other. The magic was beautiful and horrifying at the same time.

He turned to face the demon.

The creature—which had seemed so terrifying moments before—took a step backward.

Ki-rin moved.

Too fast to follow. One moment, he was standing beside Ariana. The next, he was in front of the demon, both swords raised.

The Reaper kept pace with no hesitation....

The demon's claws came up to defend—

The blade of light struck first.

It carved through the demon's arm as if it were made of paper. Flesh split open, revealing muscle and sinew that glowed with corrupted mana. Dark blood—thick and viscous, almost black—sprayed across the arena floor, hissing where it landed. The severed limb hit the ground with a wet thud, twitching as dark essence leaked from the stump.

The demon shrieked, a sound that made the crowd cover their ears.

Ki-rin didn't stop.

The dark blade followed in a horizontal arc, catching the creature across its torso. The sword did not just cut—it consumed. Where the blade passed, flesh didn't just separate—it disintegrated into black particles that scattered like ash. The demon's chest cavity opened, ribs cracking with sounds like breaking branches, organs spilling forward in a grotesque cascade of corrupted tissue.

More blood sprayed—gallons of it—painting Ki-rin's face and uniform in streaks of black and crimson. The stench mixed with something worse, something sulfurous and wrong, that made people gag.

The demon tried to regenerate. Dark mana surged, attempting to knit the wounds closed.

Ki-rin's swords crossed.

Light and darkness merged at the point of intersection, creating something beyond either element. The energy exploded outward in a sphere of annihilation.

The demon's body came apart.

Not cleanly. Not quickly.

Its flesh tore in chunks, muscle fibers snapping like overstretched rope. Bones shattered into fragments that dissolved midair. Its remaining limbs were ripped from their sockets with wet, tearing sounds. Dark blood and corrupted essence erupted in a fountain, spraying across the arena in a grotesque rain.

The creature's head split vertically, its skull cracking open to reveal the pulsing mass of dark mana that served as its brain. That too disintegrated, breaking down into particles of light and shadow that scattered and faded.

Within seconds, there was nothing left.

Not killed. Not banished. Erased. The space where the demon had stood was empty—not even ash remaining, just a massive pool of black blood slowly evaporating into dark mist. The only evidence of the creature's existence was the gore splattered across the arena floor and the horrified faces of everyone watching.

The arena was silent.

Ki-rin stood there for half a second longer, the twin blades still glowing in his hands. The Grim Reaper behind him began to fade, its purpose fulfilled.

Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.

The blades disappeared. The dark mana dissipated. His hair returned to its normal black.

He fell beside Ariana, unconscious, his body finally giving out.

Healers rushed forward, their faces pale with shock.

In the stands, nobles whispered frantically.

"What was that?"

"Did you see his eyes?"

"That power... that's not normal S-rank magic."

"Is he even human?"

High above, King Erbin stared down at the two unconscious students, his expression unreadable. "We need answers."