2026-08-04 17:16:11The horn sounded across the Skyreach Colosseum.
The first challenger stepped onto the platform with a broad sword resting on his shoulder. Flames curled around both arms, and the crowd cheered as he faced Asher. “Begin!” The man rushed forward. “Flamebreaker Slash!” His sword came down, releasing a wave of fire that tore across the stone. Asher did not retreat. He raised one hand, and a thick wall of blue ice rose before him. Fire struck ice and steam filled the arena. Before the challenger could see through it, Asher stepped from the mist and caught the burning blade with his bare hand. The flames died. Asher looked almost disappointed. “That was all?” Ice spread from his fingers, covering the sword and crawling over the man’s arms. The challenger tried to pull away, but Asher struck his chest with one palm. The frozen armour shattered. The man flew off the platform and landed unconscious below. The crowd erupted. “One move!” “Asher crushed fire with ice!” “He is already stronger than his peers!” Asher barely looked at the defeated man. “Next.” A woman in green robes entered with two thin blades. Wind gathered around her feet as she bowed toward the elders, then faced Asher. The moment the herald gave the signal, she vanished. Several green shadows surrounded Asher, attacking from different directions. “Gale Shadow Dance!” Asher avoided the first two blades and blocked the third. The real woman appeared behind him, aiming for his back. A smile touched his lips then cold air exploded from his body. The shadows shattered, and frost locked the woman’s feet to the platform. Before she could escape, Asher struck her across the face and she fell hard. “I yield,” she cried. Asher stepped on her hand and bones cracked beneath his boot. Her scream cut through the arena. One elder leaned forward. “Asher, she has surrendered.” Dante remained seated beside him without saying anything, happy that his son was already striking fear in the heart of the people. Asher kicked the woman again, then stepped on her other hand and the elder looked at Dante, hoping he'd intervene but he cold said, “The herald has not declared the match over,” he said calmly. “The laws of the arena still stand.” The elder fell silent and everyone understood. Dante ruled House Jian and held Skyreach in his hands. No one would openly challenge his son over a wounded contestant. Asher finally removed his foot. “Then she should have surrendered faster.” The woman was carried away while the crowd applauded, though the cheering was less certain now. Mira watched from the servants’ section. Her wrists still burned beneath the magical restraints, and every breath pulled at the hunger twisting in her stomach. Still, she kept her eyes on Asher. He was not fighting to prove he deserved the lordship, he was enjoying the fact that no one dared stop him. She watched as Asher defeated one challenger after another, some forfeited and this only made him more arrogant One final challenger entered the arena, a young swordsman carrying a lightning blade. Fear showed in his eyes, but he still bowed. “I challenge you.” Asher glanced at the injured contestants being carried away. “You saw what happened to them.” “I came here for the lordship. I cannot leave without fighting.” “Then try not to bore me.” The swordsman moved first. Lightning wrapped around his blade as he attacked from the left, then changed direction halfway through the strike. Asher raised an ice shield, but the blade cut through it and tore the edge of his robe. A thin line appeared across his shoulder and the crowd fell silent. Asher looked down at the cut and when he raised his eyes again, the air around the platform turned bitterly cold. The swordsman stepped back but it was too late. Asher struck the ground with his palm. “Ice Burial.” Frozen spikes burst from beneath the platform. The swordsman jumped over the first row, twisted past the second and charged forward with lightning gathering around his sword. Asher met him halfway. His ice-covered fist struck the blade. Steel shattered. The swordsman froze in shock, and Asher drove another fist into his stomach. He folded forward, losing his breath, but Asher caught him by the neck before he could fall. “I yield,” the swordsman gasped. Asher slammed his knee into his face and blood sprayed across the stone. He hit him again. The herald hesitated, looking toward Dante. Dante gave no signal to stop. Asher struck the swordsman a third time and threw him aside. The young man rolled across the platform and did not rise. “The challenger has been defeated!” the herald finally announced. Guards rushed forward and carried him away and no one else entered after that Asher stood alone among broken weapons, blood and cracked stone, his clothes almost untouched except for the small tear on his shoulder. “Is there anyone else?” he asked. The remaining warriors avoided his gaze. A noble rose quickly. “There is no shame in accepting the truth. Lord Asher has proven himself superior.” Another followed. “He is powerful enough to protect Skyreach.” “He should be declared the next lord!” The praises spread until the colosseum shook with his name. “Asher!” “Lord Asher!” Asher smiled and turned toward Mira. She stood among the servants, pale and thin, but there was still no admiration in her eyes. His smile became a challenge and he wanted her to understand what would happen next. The moment he became lord, the laws of Skyreach would place every member of the defeated Voss branch beneath his authority. Mira would no longer be merely a prisoner he kept in secret. He would have the legal right to claim her service, control her movements and decide Nia’s fate. No one would be able to question him. Mira’s hands slowly tightened. She had hoped to endure until she found a chance to escape. She had stayed quiet because Nia needed her alive but once Asher was crowned next in line, there would be no escape. Nia would belong to his rule too. The head elder rose and raised one hand. The cheering gradually faded. “As no other warrior has stepped forward, Asher has proven himself the strongest challenger. Under the laws of Skyreach, he shall now be declared...” “I challenge him.” The elder stopped. The words were calm, but they carried through the entire colosseum. Heads turned toward the servants’ section. Mira stepped forward and Asher’s smile disappeared. The head elder frowned. “Mira Voss, you are restrained and have not registered as a contestant.” “I am a blood descendant of House Voss,” Mira replied. “Arena law allows any recognised descendant of a ruling house to challenge before the lordship is declared.” Murmurs spread through the crowd. She was right. The old law had been created to prevent a family throne from being seized without giving its bloodline one final chance to resist. Asher looked at the magical seals around her wrists and laughed. “You cannot use your power.” Mira walked to the edge of the platform. “I know.” “You cannot defeat me.” “Perhaps.” “Then why step forward?” Mira looked him directly in the eyes. “Because the moment you become lord, you gain authority over my daughter.” Her voice hardened. “I would rather die stopping you than live long enough to watch you put your hands on Nia.” The colosseum fell silent and Mira stepped onto the platform. “So... I challenge you.”
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Chapter 36: Twenty-Four Hours
Darius stood in the middle of the ruined mall with thirty elite Ravelle guards spread behind him, and somehow the sight of Kade half-buried beneath shattered concrete only seemed to make him angrier. His gaze moved over the bruised workers, the wrecked storefronts and finally Jayden, who still stood with both hands in his pockets as though an entire Great House had not just arrived to threaten him.“You really believe becoming City Lord makes you untouchable?” Darius asked, contempt thick in his voice. “That title is nothing but decorative scrap paper if the Four Great Houses refuse to stand behind it. Skyreach existed before you returned, boy, and men far more important than you decide how this city actually moves.”A few of his guards smiled at that. Elias, standing several steps behind Jayden, did not. The businessman had dealt with House Ravelle long enough to understand the threat beneath the words. Darius was not simply claiming strength, he was reminding everyone listening tha
Chapter 35: The Wrong Man to Humiliate
By the time Jayden and Elias reached Crowne Holdings’ flagship mall, the place barely looked like the same luxury centre they had visited the night before.The main plaza was in chaos. Mud had been dragged across velvet carpets, several glass display cases had been smashed open, and expensive goods lay scattered beneath broken shelves. Employees who should have been welcoming wealthy customers were gathered near the walls instead, some bruised, some bleeding lightly, while others simply stared at the destruction in silence. A few security men had already been beaten badly enough that they could no longer stand.Elias stopped near the entrance, dor a moment, he said nothing then his jaw tightened.“They did all this in a few hours.”Jayden looked around once. “They wanted it seen.”That was obvious now, this was not an inspection but theatre.At the centre of the ground floor, a large man stood on top of what remained of a crystal display counter. His arms were thick, head shaved, and
Chapter 34: A Very Convenient Inspection
Elias Crowne arrived at Jayden’s villa before breakfast was even properly finished.The businessman who usually carried himself with careful confidence looked completely different that morning. His expensive suit was slightly crooked, sweat covered his forehead despite the cool air, and the silk handkerchief in his hand had already been used so many times that he kept folding it just to find a dry corner.The moment he was shown into the sitting room, he barely waited for Jayden to sit down.“City Lord, something has happened.”Jayden had been drinking tea. He looked up from the cup, taking in Elias’s pale face and unsteady breathing before placing it calmly on the table. “You look like someone burned down all your malls.”Elias gave a strained laugh that contained no humour at all. “Not yet, but if this continues, they may as well.”That earned him Jayden’s full attention.Elias sat opposite him but could not remain still for more than a few seconds. “At daybreak, dozens of armed men
Chapter 33: The Men Behind the Curtain
Far beneath the eastern district of Skyreach, hidden below an abandoned wine warehouse that had not opened its doors in years, three men sat inside a sealed underground chamber.The room had no windows and only one entrance, protected by several sound-blocking formations. A long mahogany table stood at the centre beneath dim crystal lamps, while a map of Skyreach covered one wall. To anyone aboveground, the building was dead property. Down here, however, some of the most dangerous conversations in the city had taken place.Darius Ravelle sat with one hand wrapped around a glass he had barely touched. The swelling on Cassel’s face from the previous night still burned in his mind, and every time he remembered his son describing how Jayden had slapped him across the mall before defeating the Ravelle guards, his expression became uglier.Alaric sat beside him, much calmer, his walking cane resting against the chair. The old patriarch had spoken very little since entering the chamber. His
Chapter 32: The Trail Ends at Ravelle
Jayden remained at the western boundary long after the guards returned to their work.The half-erased formation beneath the dirt had already told him enough to know the beast attack was deliberate, but he was not interested in stopping at that conclusion. Someone had used a modified Bloodcall Beast-Draw Array, mixed it with a berserk substance strong enough to affect three Peak Level Seven beasts, and then taken the trouble to erase most of the traces afterward or maybe the person thought he'd erased everything in the first place That meant whoever did it expected an investigation.They simply did not expect him.Jayden crouched again and gathered a small amount of the dark soil into his palm. The bitter residue mixed into it was faint now, almost completely buried beneath blood, dust and broken Neen from the battle, but when he circulated a thread of his own Neen through the sample, several medicinal traces separated in his senses.Most were common.One was not.His eyes narrowed.“
Chapter 31: Someone Is Playing With Skyreach
By the time Jayden returned to the villa, most of the morning had already passed.He brought the three Peak Level Seven beast corpses with him, but none of them went anywhere near the kitchen. The strange Neen he had sensed inside their bodies during the battle still bothered him, and until he knew exactly what had happened to them, he was not going to let Mira or Nia eat even a piece.Instead, he stored the corpses separately inside his ring and took out some of the clean high-grade beast meat he still had from the previous day.The moment he entered the kitchen, his mood changed almost automatically.Fighting beasts was simple. Investigating whoever might have sent them would come later. Right now, Mira and Nia needed food.Jayden cleaned the meat, divided it into separate portions and began refining each one differently.Nia’s portion barely needed any work.After discovering her Gluttonous Body, Jayden had stopped treating her meals like those of an ordinary child. Her physique wo
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