The roar of the crowd rolled through the coliseum like thunder.
Ren stood among ninety-nine other fighters on the massive arena floor, trying not to stare at the sheer scale of the place. From down here, the towering walls seemed to stretch endlessly upward. Tens of thousands of spectators filled the seats. Flags waved. Trumpets sounded. Soldiers lined the upper levels.
The Emperor stood high above them all on a marble platform overlooking the arena.
Beside him stood his right-hand man, expression unreadable.
Ren noticed Jonah standing several dozen yards away.
Neither acknowledged the other.
That was the plan.
If the cult truly had eyes everywhere, they couldn't risk looking like teammates.
Not yet.
The Emperor raised his hand.
The entire coliseum fell silent.
"Warriors of Greece and honored guests."
His voice echoed throughout the arena.
"Welcome to the first Imperial Tournament."
The crowd erupted.
The Emperor waited for the noise to settle before continuing.
"One hundred competitors stand before us today."
His gaze swept across the arena.
"Only twenty will advance."
A murmur spread through the audience.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
Twenty.
That was brutal.
The Emperor smiled.
"The first round shall be simple."
The smile somehow made it worse.
"A free-for-all."
The arena exploded with noise.
Some competitors immediately tensed.
Others grinned.
Several looked terrified.
"No teams."
The Emperor's voice cut through the chaos.
"No alliances."
His eyes seemed to sharpen.
"No mercy."
The crowd loved that.
Their cheers shook the arena.
"A timer has been placed above the arena."
A massive glowing clock appeared high above the battlefield.
10:00
"If twenty competitors remain before the timer expires, the round ends immediately."
The Emperor paused.
"Otherwise..."
The smile returned.
"When the timer reaches zero, the twenty strongest competitors still standing shall advance."
Ren felt his stomach tighten.
That meant survival wasn't enough.
You had to stand out.
You had to prove yourself.
Jonah glanced upward.
Ten minutes.
That was a long time in a battle like this.
The Emperor raised his arm.
"Begin."
The clock started.
9:59
The arena exploded.
A hundred fighters surged into motion simultaneously.
The sound alone was deafening.
Stone shattered.
Fire erupted.
Wind screamed.
Metal clashed.
The first elimination happened within seconds.
A massive man covered in stone armor slammed another competitor into the ground hard enough to crack the arena floor.
The defeated fighter didn't get back up.
A horn sounded.
Eliminated.
The crowd roared.
Then everything became chaos.
Ren immediately moved away from Jonah's position.
Their plan was simple.
Stay separate.
Survive.
Meet later.
Appear to be strangers.
The last thing they needed was someone connecting them before they understood who was watching.
A blast of heat shot past Ren's head.
He ducked.
A woman stood atop a chunk of raised stone with molten lava flowing from her arms.
Not fire.
Actual lava.
She hurled a glowing sphere across the battlefield.
The attack smashed into another fighter.
The arena floor exploded.
The unlucky competitor disappeared beneath molten rock.
The crowd erupted.
"Remind me not to fight her," Ren muttered.
Nearby another battle was already escalating.
A young man wielded a sword made entirely of crystal.
The blade shimmered with dozens of colors as he exchanged blows with two opponents simultaneously.
Each swing left razor-sharp crystal shards in the air.
One fighter got too close.
A crystal spike erupted from the ground and launched him into the air.
Eliminated.
The crystal swordsman smiled.
He looked entirely too confident.
Ren filed him away as a future problem.
A sudden gust nearly knocked him off balance.
He spun.
A man around his age stood twenty feet away.
The air around him twisted violently.
Wind.
Great.
The man grinned.
"You'll do."
Ren sighed.
"Wish I could say the same."
The wind user thrust both hands forward.
Compressed air exploded across the arena.
Ren dove sideways.
The attack carved a trench through the stone where he had been standing.
The fighter followed immediately.
Sharp currents formed around his arms.
Invisible blades.
Ren drew his revolver.
The crowd reacted instantly.
Most competitors used flashy abilities.
Fire.
Lightning.
Weapons.
A gun was unusual.
The wind user laughed.
"Really?"
Ren pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew.
The man shifted his air current.
The projectile curved.
Then curved again.
Then again.
The bullet struck him directly in the shoulder.
His grin vanished.
The crowd cheered.
The fighter stared.
"What?"
Ren smiled.
"Good question."
The man attacked again.
This time more cautiously.
Wind exploded around him.
Dust and debris filled the air.
The arena became difficult to see through.
Ren remained calm.
Probability bent around his bullets.
The shots still found their mark.
The wind user rushed forward.
Ren fired twice.
Both bullets struck his legs.
The fighter stumbled.
A third shot hit his chest.
Not lethal.
Enough.
The horn sounded.
Eliminated.
Ren moved immediately.
No celebrating.
No standing still.
That got people killed.
Across the arena, Jonah hadn't moved from his original position.
At least not much.
A circle of competitors surrounded him.
One charged.
A spear user.
The weapon slammed into Jonah's side.
The kinetic energy vanished.
Jonah punched him.
The fighter launched backward like he'd been hit by a speeding truck.
Another rushed him.
Then another.
Then another.
Every strike only made Jonah stronger.
Energy accumulated.
Stored.
Waiting.
The crowd had started noticing.
Jonah looked almost bored.
A woman swung a hammer at him.
The impact cracked the arena floor.
Jonah absorbed it.
Then casually pushed her.
She flew thirty feet through the air.
Eliminated.
The audience erupted.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the battlefield, a tall fighter watched Jonah carefully.
He had been winning his own battle effortlessly.
Three opponents already lay defeated around him.
His attention slowly shifted.
Not to the crowd.
Not to the Emperor.
To Jonah.
The man's eyes narrowed.
Recognition.
A flash of memory.
Something familiar.
He had seen that figure before.
Somewhere.
Not the face.
The posture.
The way he stood.
The way he fought.
The man frowned.
Then returned to his own battle.
But the thought remained.
Where had he seen him?
The fighting continued.
Eight minutes.
Seven.
Six.
Competitors fell constantly.
The arena became a warzone.
Fire clashed against ice.
Stone battled lightning.
Animals created from legends fought mythical weapons.
The number steadily dropped.
Seventy.
Sixty.
Fifty.
Forty.
Every elimination made the survivors more dangerous.
The weak were gone.
Only genuine threats remained.
Ren finally spotted Jonah again.
Far across the battlefield.
Good.
Still alive.
Their eyes met briefly.
Neither reacted.
Perfect.
Strangers.
Just as planned.
The final minutes were brutal.
Competitors became desperate.
The closer the timer got to zero, the more vicious everyone became.
Thirty fighters remained.
Then twenty-eight.
Then twenty-five.
The crowd counted every elimination.
The Emperor watched silently from above.
Twenty-three.
Twenty-two.
Twenty-one.
The timer ticked lower.
0:15
A fighter was blasted from the arena by a wave of lightning.
Twenty.
The horn sounded.
Immediately.
The timer froze.
0:14
Silence spread through the battlefield.
The surviving competitors looked around.
Bodies covered the arena floor.
Cracked stone stretched in every direction.
Burn marks.
Ice.
Crystal formations.
Crater after crater.
Ten minutes had transformed the battlefield into ruins.
The Emperor rose from his throne.
A smile spread across his face.
"Twenty remain."
The crowd exploded.
Ren slowly holstered his revolver.
Jonah rolled his shoulders.
The surviving fighters studied one another.
Because now the real tournament could begin.
And somewhere among those twenty survivors was at least one person who recognized Jonah from somewhere they couldn't yet remember.
A person who hadn't taken their eyes off him since the fighting began.
And that worried Ren far more than the tournament itself.