2026-05-06 23:53:06The 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.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 58
The broken pieces of the heavy wooden door lay on the cold stone floor. The medical ward was completely silent.High Inquisitor Malphas stood in the ruined doorway. He was a man who had fought in a hundred magical wars. He had killed rogue mages, dark witches, and giant beasts. He wore the thickest, strongest holy armor in the entire kingdom. But right now, his hands were shaking.Malphas looked at the boy sitting on the edge of the broken bed. Adam Cook did not have a weapon. He was not wearing armor. He was bare-chested, wearing only simple dark pants.Yet, Malphas felt a terrible, crushing weight pressing down on his chest. It was not a spell. Adam was not doing anything. The heavy pressure was just coming from Adam’s simple presence."I think," Adam whispered again, his voice echoing inside Malphas’s brain, "you are going to have to fix the door."Malphas opened his mouth to speak, but his throat was perfectly dry. He wanted to raise his heavy silver broadsword. He wanted to sho
Chapter 57
The purple screen flickered. A new message appeared in bright red letters.[Query Acknowledged.][To expand the Soul Architecture, the current walls must be completely destroyed.][Action Required: Open the Second Gate of the Void.]Adam read the words. He understood perfectly.To build a bigger castle, you have to tear down the old one. He had to destroy his own soul's shape to let the Void expand naturally. But there was a catch. The System immediately showed another red warning.[WARNING!][Opening the Second Gate will instantly shatter the current Soul Walls.][If the Host cannot control the raw energy without walls, the Host’s physical body will instantly vaporize in the real world.][Survival Rate: 0.01%.]Adam smiled. It was a cold, dark, fearless smile. "I survived the mud," Adam said softly. "I survived the Ice Witch. I survived the Bone Dragon. I survived the Holy Seraph. Do you really think I care about a decimal point?"Adam raised both of his hands. He looked at the thick
Chapter 56
Catherine closed her eyes. She reached deep into her own magical core. She did not pull out normal ice magic. Normal ice magic would just melt against the extreme heat of the Moon-Shard explosion and the Holy Smite.She pulled out something much deeper. She pulled out her bloodline's secret. "Primordial Frost," Catherine whispered.A blinding, pure blue light erupted from her hands. It was not just cold. It was the complete absence of heat. It was the magic of the frozen end of the world. Primordial Frost did not just freeze water. It froze energy. It froze time itself."I am going to build a dam," Catherine told the unconscious boy. "The energy inside you is leaking. It is a flood. I am going to freeze the flood. I will hold the chaotic energy back. You just have to rebuild the walls. Do you hear me? Rebuild your walls!"Catherine pushed with all her might.The Primordial Frost sank directly through Adam’s skin. It did not try to fight the dark Void. It did not try to fight the hol
Chapter 55
The terrible, pitch-black cloud over the arena did not last long. For one single, terrifying moment, Adam Cook had held Julian Martinez by the throat. Adam’s eyes had glowed with the power of a dark god. He had stopped the holy fire. He had controlled the eclipse. But a human body is still made of flesh and bone.The Eternal Sovereign System had removed the safety limits to save Adam’s life. It had forced the Second Gate to open just enough to swallow the massive magical explosion of the Moon-Shard and the Holy Smite. But opening that gate had a terrible price.Suddenly, the blinding violet light in Adam’s eyes flickered. BZZZT. It sounded like a dying lantern.Adam’s hand lost its iron grip. His fingers went completely limp. He dropped Julian. The heavy, bald boy fell to the sand, coughing and gasping for air. The golden runes on Julian’s face were dull and gray.Adam did not say another word. He did not look at the Princess. He did not look at the Inquisitor.Adam’s eyes rolled bac
Chapter 54
Julian did not listen. He did not care about his own life. The Seraph only cared about destroying the darkness."I will purify you," Julian commanded. He raised his hand toward the sky. A massive ball of holy fire began to gather in his palm. He was preparing to execute Adam right there in the sand.Adam’s hands fell away from Julian’s boot. He had no strength left.The digestion fever had sapped his muscles. The broken ribs made it impossible to breathe. The Holy Smite had burned his nerves.Adam lay pinned to the dirt. He looked up at the bright blue sky.“I wanted to be a King,” Adam thought slowly. His brain was shutting down. “I promised myself I would never be on the ground again. But here I am. In the mud. Under his boot. Again.”He thought about Catherine. If he died here, Julian would tell the Inquisition about her. Malphas would burn her at the stake.He thought about Princess Elara. She was sitting up in her velvet chair, watching him die like a dog on a leash.He felt a de
Chapter 53
The darkness formed a heavy barrier between him and Julian. It was the same shield that had easily stopped the Bone Dragon and the fire mages.Julian’s finger glowed brighter.BZZZZZT! A thick beam of solid, roaring white light shot from Julian’s finger. It moved faster than lightning. It crossed the ten feet of sand in a microsecond and slammed directly into Adam’s Void Shield.Adam expected the Void to eat the magic. He expected the black smoke to swallow the light. But it did not.The moment the holy light touched the Void, a terrible, shrieking sound filled the arena. It sounded like water being thrown into a fryer.The Holy Smite did not fade. It burned through the darkness like boiling acid melting through thin paper.[System Alert: 300% Critical Damage Received!][Holy Energy is the absolute counter to Void Energy.]The white beam pierced right through the center of the black shield. It hit Adam directly in the left shoulder."GAAAAAH!" Adam screamed. It was a raw, agonizing s
You may also like
Totem Warrior
Cindy Chen28.0K viewsThe Overpowered Grass Magician
Shame_less00746.2K viewsXianXia : Sovereign of the Gods
kalki_gsk19.9K viewsThe Invincible Ron Benedict
Olivia C. Onoh14.9K viewsGravespawn Dominion
Lady Gema96 viewsGod-Level Dominance
DiamondPWrites167 viewsThe Fallen Ring
Inara117 viewsThe Last Cursebound
Elvis Cruz120 views