The sensation of teleportation was seamless. One moment, Alistair stood amidst the bloodstained sands of the previous battlefield, and in the next, he found himself standing in the center of a ruined Roman-style arena.
Towering stone pillars surrounded the battlefield, cracked and weathered with time. The air was thick with dust and the faint scent of burning embers. Jagged ruins formed uneven terrain, providing both cover and obstacles. Above, the illusion of a setting sun cast long, dramatic shadows across the arena floor, giving the battlefield an almost theatrical feel.
Alistair exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders.
Another match.
The second-to-last battle before the final round.
He glanced at the students materializing beside him. Twelve students, all forming his temporary team. Unlike his first match, these were more competent fighters.
Not elite, not prodigies, but decent.
E- to E Rank. A mix of swordsmen, archers, mages, and close-combat specialists.
As the light of their summoning faded, his teammates immediately began assessing their surroundings, murmuring among themselves. Some recognized Alistair.
A few whispered excitedly. Others looked visibly relieved.
"He's on our team?"
"Thank the gods… Maybe we actually have a chance."
Alistair ignored them.
The weak had already been eliminated.
Now, only those with real talent remained.
Which meant—
The opposite team would be just as strong.
And then they appeared.
A faint shimmer in the air. Thirteen figures materialized across the arena.
Alistair's black eyes flicked upward as he scanned their ranks.
He immediately recognized several names.
Skilled warriors. Talented mages. A few promising dueling specialists.
But all of them blurred into irrelevance when his gaze locked onto one individual.
A boy with long black hair and glowing violet eyes.
Alistair's lips curled into a smile.
Ryu.
One of the strongest combatants in the entire first year.
One of the main villains of the game.
And standing before him, just as terrifying in person.
His presence was suffocating. Not in the way of overwhelming mana pressure, but in something far more unnatural.
There was a sense of wrongness about him.
A predator standing in a den of prey.
Ryu stood motionless, his purple gaze meeting Alistair's.
He, too, was assessing.
Watching.
Waiting.
Alistair's grin widened.
Finally.
Someone worth testing.
The academy's VR system had worked to balance the teams as fairly as possible. They had placed him on one side, and in response, had placed Ryu on the other.
The calculation was simple.
If Alistair was the apex predator of one team, then Ryu was the apex predator of the other.
A perfect counterbalance.
A battle between two monsters.
The other students?
They were just fodder.
Alistair exhaled slowly.
His blood thrummed in excitement.
This was going to be fun.
The final match before the grand finale…
And the first time he would truly test Ryu's strength.
The countdown echoed across the ruined colosseum, the system's voice artificial yet commanding.
[3… 2… 1…]
A moment of stillness.
Then—
[BATTLE START.]
Before the first war cries could leave the lips of their teammates—before the first spell could be cast—two figures vanished.
A blur of black and crimson streaked across the battlefield.
Alistair Vaelthorne and Xian Ryu moved.
They met at the very center of the battlefield, their blades clashing with a violent BOOM that sent shockwaves rippling through the air.
Alistair's sword, wreathed in abyssal energy, shrieked against Ryu's katana, which burned with an eerie crimson light. Sparks danced through the dust-choked air as raw force cracked the ground beneath them.
Abyss met Blood. Shadows met Flames.
For a brief second, they locked gazes.
Black eyes met violet.
And then—
They attacked.
The clash of steel against steel echoed through the ruined colosseum as the two monsters tore through the battlefield.
Alistair's abyssal sword cut through the air in precise, deadly arcs. His attacks were fluid, every movement calculated to exploit even the smallest openings. No wasted motion. No hesitation.
But Ryu was just as relentless.
His Bloodmoon Katana flashed like a crimson comet, meeting every one of Alistair's strikes with Swift and equal ferocity. His swordplay was unpredictable—fluid like water, yet sharp as a guillotine.
The world blurred around them as they moved at speeds beyond what the human eye could track.
To the other students, it seemed as if the two had simply disappeared, their forms flickering in and out of existence like ghosts.
Even the strongest of students present couldn't track their movements
****
Alistair slashed forward—his sword coated in writhing abyssal energy, the edge sharp enough to rend through armor like paper.
Ryu countered instantly, twisting his body to avoid the strike by mere millimeters.
His katana sang as it lashed out—a horizontal cut aimed for Alistair's ribs.
Alistair blocked with the flat of his blade, sliding backward, his boots skidding against the cracked stone.
Before he could regain his footing, Ryu advanced.
[Phantom Step]
His form flickered—an afterimage splitting away as the real him dashed to the side.
A feint.
Alistair saw through it instantly.
His shadow tendrils erupted from the ground, lashing out in all directions—but Ryu was already gone.
[Flickering Phantom]
He reappeared above Alistair, his katana descending in a red crescent arc.
Alistair twisted, raising his sword just in time—but the moment their blades met, an explosion of pressure sent them both skidding backward.
Dust and shattered stone rained around them as they reset their stances.
Neither had drawn blood yet.
But the intensity only grew.
Alistair's black eyes sharpened as he analyzed Ryu mid-fight.
This speed…
Even though Ryu was only on D- two sub-ranks lower than him, he was just as fast as him.
His footwork was flawless, his swordplay nearly unreadable, and his reaction time—inhuman.
But it wasn't just that.
His mana control was precise, allowing him to enhance his physical body beyond what should have been possible at D- Rank.
Most swordsmen relied on raw physicality, but Ryu?
He made up for his lower strength with superior speed, technique, and overwhelming skill.
And it was working.
Despite being a step ahead in both speed and swordsmanship, Alistair wasn't overwhelming him.
He was forced to respect every strike Ryu unleashed.
As expected…
Alistair thought --
From the one of main future villains of the game.
The Heavenly Demon.
The last heir of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
A name which in future will make empires Shiver in fear.
THE HEAVENLY DEMON XIAN RYU
He did not disappoint.
—To Be Continued.