Sovereign Beyond Creation

Chapter 12

The Bourbon Academy Arena was a massive stone bowl designed for high-level combat. It was carved deep into the earth, with tiers of marble seating that could hold five thousand students. 

By the time the sun began to dip behind the Academy towers, every seat was filled. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and expectation.

They were all here to see a funeral.

Adam Cook stood in the center of the arena floor. The sand beneath his feet was cool. Above him, the sky turned a deep, bruised purple. He wore his new, dark coat, and his hands were bare. He held no wand. He carried no staff. To the thousands of eyes watching from above, he looked like a lamb waiting for the slaughter.

"Look at him," a voice whispered from the stands. "He’s not even holding a weapon. He really has given up."

"He’s a Null," another replied with a cruel laugh. "He just wants to get it over with."

Across the arena, the heavy iron gate groaned and swung open. Julian Martinez walked out. He looked like a god of war. His charcoal suit shimmered with protective enchantments, and his long, silver-tipped wand glowed with a blinding, golden light. Behind him, dozens of the school’s elite mages cheered his name.

Julian stepped into the center and looked at Adam. His face was twisted in a smirk that didn't reach his cold, dead eyes. "You should have stayed in the kitchen, Cook. You’re a stain on the marble. I’m going to wipe you clean."

Adam didn't answer. He felt the cold, familiar hum of the System in the back of his mind.

[Mission: Survival of the Fittest.]

[Target: Julian Martinez.]

[Status: Duel Initiation.]

[Void Devourer Skill: Ready.]

"Begin!" the referee—a stern-faced professor—shouted from the balcony.

Julian didn't wait a second. He snapped his wand forward. "Solar Flare!"

A massive orb of pure, searing golden light erupted from the tip of his wand. It roared like a dragon, tearing through the air and heading straight for Adam’s chest. It was enough heat to melt stone and turn a man to ash in a heartbeat. The crowd gasped, many covering their eyes.

Adam didn't move. He didn't dodge. He didn't raise a shield.

He simply lifted his palms.

As the golden orb of fire reached him, Adam’s eyes turned a deep, hollow violet. He didn't block the magic; he invited it.

Fwoom.

The fire didn't hit him. It didn't explode. Instead, as the orb touched his palms, it simply ceased to exist. It curled into his skin like smoke into a vacuum. The roaring noise cut off instantly, leaving the arena in a sudden, ringing silence.

Adam lowered his hands. A faint, dark mist drifted from his fingertips, vanishing into the air. He looked perfectly unharmed.

The crowd went quiet. Julian’s smirk faltered. "What... what was that?"

"My turn," Adam said. His voice was calm, but it carried to the edges of the arena.

Julian’s face flushed with anger. "Don't get cocky, you piece of trash! Solar Torrent!"

He whipped his wand in a wide arc. A wave of golden fire, twenty feet high, surged toward Adam. It was a Tier 3 spell, designed to incinerate everything in its path. It was unstoppable.

Again, Adam stepped forward. He walked directly into the wall of flame.

As the fire engulfed him, the arena floor behind him stayed cold. The fire didn't burn him; it fed him. The System’s interface flashed rapidly: [Mana Absorbed: 50%... 70%... 100%.]

Adam walked through the center of the golden torrent, his black coat fluttering in the heat-wind. He emerged on the other side, his hands glowing with a soft, hungry violet light.

"How?" Julian screamed, his voice cracking. He panicked, waving his wand frantically. "Why aren't you burning?! DIE!"

He threw spell after spell—lightning, concussive blasts of gravity, blades of wind. Adam caught them all. He stood in the middle of the arena, his hands outstretched, swallowing the pride of the Martinez family piece by piece.

The stadium was silent now. The laughing, cheering students were staring down at the floor, their mouths agape. They weren't looking at a weak Null. They were looking at a hole in the universe.

Julian was breathless, his wand shaking in his hand. He had emptied half his mana pool in less than a minute. "You... you're a parasite! A leech!"

Adam closed his eyes, felt the shadow-network beneath his feet, and moved.

Shadow Step.

He vanished.

Julian spun around, frantic. "Where are you?! Come out and fight like a man!"

"Right behind you, Julian."

The voice came from directly behind his ear, cold as a tomb.

Julian whipped around, but Adam was already there. He was moving with a speed that defied the laws of magic. Before Julian could raise his wand, Adam’s hand shot out and clamped onto the golden badge on Julian’s chest—the source of his family’s magical amplifier.

"Who’s the parasite now?" Adam whispered.

He didn't strike Julian with his fist. He struck him with the Void.

Adam pushed his palm against the badge. A black, jagged ripple of energy flowed from his hand into the metal. The golden lion on the badge shrieked—a metallic, dying sound—and then crumbled into gray, lifeless dust.

Julian’s eyes bulged. He tried to cast a spell, but nothing happened. He tried to gather his mana, but his veins felt empty—not just drained, but muted.

"My... my mana," Julian gasped, falling to his knees. "I can't... I can't feel it!"

Adam stood over him, his eyes glowing with that terrifying violet light. He leaned down, his voice loud enough for the first five rows to hear. "You don't need magic to be a man, Julian. But since you have nothing else... you have nothing."

[Skill Activated: Mana Severance.]

[Result: Target’s mana circulation blocked for 24 hours.]

Julian grabbed his throat, screaming in terror. To a high-born mage, losing the ability to feel mana was like going blind and deaf at the same time. He clawed at the sand, a pathetic, weeping wreck.

The arena was deathly still. Not a single person cheered. They were all afraid.

High up in the royal box, a girl sat on a throne of white silk and velvet. She was the Student Council President, Princess Elara, the daughter of the King. Her dress was spun from moonlight, and her hair was a cascade of cascading silver.

She didn't look away. She didn't look shocked like the others.

Instead, a small, slow smile spread across her lips. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, her eyes locked on Adam. It was the look of a predator watching a new, dangerous animal enter the forest.

"Interesting," she murmured, her voice like silk over glass. "A Null who eats gods. I think I finally found something worth my time."

Adam looked up. He sensed the gaze, and for a fleeting second, his eyes met the Princess’s. She didn't look away. She held his gaze, her smile widening.

[System Warning: High-Level Threat Detected.]

[Subject: Elara, Princess of the Realm.]

[Power Level: Sovereign Class.]

Adam looked down at the sobbing Julian, then back at the Princess. The duel was over, but the game had just begun. He had survived the arena, but he had just caught the attention of the person who owned the whole world.