The Imperial Arena was a place of loud, deafening noise. The millions of people in the stadium were screaming, cheering, and demanding the fall of the false Emperor. But down on the hot, melted black glass of the arena floor, the world felt incredibly slow and quiet. Lucien stood in the center of the stadium. He held the pitch-black God-Slaying Spear in his right hand. He held the blazing golden Spear of the Dawn-Bringer in his left hand. He had just revealed his true face to the world. His piercing silver eyes looked up at the terrified Emperor in the Royal Box. Everyone thought the fight was over. Everyone thought Crown Prince Julian was dead. When Lucien had kicked Julian, the massive force had thrown the Prince across the arena, smashing him head-first into the solid white marble wall. Julian had fallen into the dirt. The golden fire in his empty eyes had died. His body had gone completely still. But the Tears of the Seraph is a very cruel, very wicked poison. It is an ancie

Julian’s chest literally tore open. Right down the middle of his chest, his pale skin split apart like an old, dry piece of paper. But no blood came out of the massive wound. Instead, blinding, searing, pure white-hot light poured out of the crack in his chest. The light was so bright it looked like a laser beam shooting out of his heart. "AAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHH!" Julian screamed. It was the loudest, most terrible sound Lucien had ever heard. It was not a battle cry. It was the sound of a human soul being boiled alive inside its own body. Julian fell onto his back in the dirt. He thrashed wildly, kicking his legs and tearing at his own face. More cuts opened across his body. A huge crack tore down his right arm. A crack opened across his forehead. Searing beams of golden light shot out of every single wound. The light hit the ground and melted the sand into black glass instantly. The golden veins that pulsed under his skin expanded. They grew thicker and thicker until they burst rig

The bright, blinding explosion of golden light had covered the entire Imperial Arena. Millions of people had squeezed their eyes shut. They had covered their faces with their hands, expecting to be burned alive by the terrible heat. But the heat did not kill them. The explosion slowly began to fade. The loud, roaring sound of the fire turned into a low, strange humming noise. The thick, white smoke slowly cleared away from the center of the stadium. Up in the Royal Box, the Emperor pushed himself off the floor. His golden crown was crooked on his head. He looked down through the broken magical glass of his balcony. He expected to see a deep, empty crater. He expected to see that his son, Crown Prince Julian, had completely burned himself to ash. But the Emperor’s eyes went wide. His jaw dropped. Down in the dirty Coach's Box, Lucien stood perfectly still. His purple-black eyes narrowed sharply. He gripped the God-Slaying Spear in his right hand and the Spear of the Dawn-Bringer i

"Form a circle!" the Guard Captain ordered, his voice shaking with fear. "Throw the chains! Bind its arms and legs!"The one hundred brave guards ran onto the hot, melted glass floor. They surrounded the Light-Demon in a wide circle. They swung their heavy iron chains in the air, ready to throw them over the beast. The Light-Demon stopped screeching. It slowly lowered its head. The featureless black void split down the center of its face faced the guards. The dozens of burning golden eyes inside the void darted around, looking at the tiny, silver-armored men. The Light-Demon did not raise its hands. It did not swing its razor-sharp wings of light. It did not take a single step forward. The creature simply stared at the Guard Captain. The dozens of golden eyes locked onto the Captain. Suddenly, a single, concentrated beam of pure, corrupted holy fire shot out from the eyes in the void. It was as thick as a tree trunk. It moved at the speed of light. The beam hit the Guard Captain

The sky above the Imperial Capital was no longer blue. It had turned the color of a bruised, bleeding wound. In the center of the ruined Imperial Arena, the monstrous Light-Demon, the mutated creature that used to be Crown Prince Julian, was preparing to end the world. The creature hovered in the hot air. Its six razor-sharp wings of hardened light flapped violently. Every flap sent a wave of burning heat across the melted black glass floor. Above the demon’s head, the massive, apocalyptic orb of corrupted holy light continued to grow. It was the size of a small castle now. It looked like a dying, angry sun. The heat radiating from the giant orb was absolutely unbelievable. The thick white marble walls of the stadium, which had survived thousands of years of history, began to glow orange. The stone slowly melted, dripping down like hot, wet candle wax. Far away from the center of the arena, the millions of normal citizens were still trying to escape. They pushed through the narro