Coming out of the apartment I felt incredibly refreshed.

The warm and humid air didn't seem to bother me like it usually did. Touching my face to make sure that my disguise was perfect, I headed for the Colosseum.

In all honesty, there was no need for me to touch my face.

My disguise comprised of an illusion.

... It's just as packed as yesterday.'

There was a long line at the entrance of the Colosseum that stretched very far. I took one glance at the line before heading for the private line where I was let in without any problem.

There were perks to being a finalist.

"This should be my seat."

It sat right in front of the platform, allowing me to get a good look at the upcoming fight.

Despite not participating, I was a little nervous. In all honesty, I wasn't sure whether Leon could win the match.

...I wasn't sure if I could beat the current Aoife.

She was already strong, but with the addition of the statue, I found her extremely difficult to deal with.

Especially since I didn't know what sorts of cards she had.

This was the perfect chance for me to see the full extent of her strength.

'Well, if Leon wins then I don't have to worry.'

To some extent...

I still needed to deal with the Angel whose goal was starting to become clear to me.

I just needed to find a way to deal with her.

....That was what I struggled with.

"Hm?"

Amid my thoughts, someone sat next to me. I glanced in his direction for a brief moment before looking away.

I couldn't recognize him.

However, he appeared to be rather tall with long brown hair and hazel eyes. His appearance could be described as average at best, with a mole by the side of his nose.

"How are your injuries?"

But it seemed like he could recognize me. Tensing a little, I didn't show it on my face and kept my gaze fixed on the platform beneath.

"....Do I know you?"

"You do."

He knows me....? All sorts of thoughts churned in my mind as I thought about his words. From someone potentially being from the Inverted Sky to the Faceless Man. However, I was quick to dispel the second thought.

If it was the Faceless Man then I wouldn't feel so at ease.

Someone from the organization then...?

"Looks like you can't recognize me."

11

".....

The silence that came after his words was enough of an answer for him as he pinched his throat.

"How about now?"

"Ah."

A voice I could distinctively recall echoed in my ears.

Turning my head, my eyes widened.

"How did you manage to recognize me?"

"It wasn't that hard."

Kaelion tilted his head and massaged his neck.

"This area is only reserved for a few people. While you did change your appearance you didn't change your height. I doubt that anyone else from the Summit is keen on watching the match, especially not Caius, so I guess that it was you. And I was right."

"Right..."

I felt a lot more relaxed upon hearing his words.

For a moment, I really was worried that I was going to be tangled in something troublesome.

I already had a lot on my plate, and so I wasn't too keen on dealing with other stuff.

Leaning forward, I kept my eyes fixed on the platform.

"What brought you here?"

"....Same reason as you, really. I wanted to watch the match."

"Oh."

"Your match yesterday was rather boring."

"I guess."

It couldn't be helped. Nobody could really see what was happening inside of our minds.

But...

That aside, Kaelion appeared strangely chatty. He didn't strike me as that kind of person... "Do you want anything from me? Are you worried that I'll reve-"

"Nah."

Kaelion waved his hand dismissively.

"I don't care about that at all. If you tell them, so be it. In the end, my value trumps everyone else that the Empire brought. I may have betrayed them, but betrayal is common where I come from. I'll at most be sent to the camps."

Camps...?

I was a little intrigued by the word but didn't probe any further.

"So you're just here to watch?"

"Yeah."

He briefly glanced at me, his lips pulling slightly at the corners as he leaned his body back

onto the chair.

".... Just here to watch."

***

"Hooo."

Leon took a deep breath as he leaned his arms forward and stared at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was drenched, and water dripped down from the side of his face.

His match was about to start soon, and his next opponent was Aoife.

She was usually strong, but things were different now. Leon didn't know the full extent of her abilities now that she was possessed.

He couldn't even expose her in public given Julien's circumstances.

If she were to be exposed, Grimspire would most likely be shut down with the clerics coming

to check on everyone for possession.

There was a high chance Julien might get implicated if a situation like that arose.

For that reason, that option was not valid.

'I need to defeat her.'

....Or find a way to get rid of the possession.

Evelyn was currently outside doing her own thing. She didn't share anything with him.

It was something along the lines of; 'The Angel sees everything that I do so there's no point in

sharing anything with you.'

Leon wanted to argue against her but found himself talking to a brick wall.

No words could get through her skull.

In the end, the only thing he could do was fight Aoife and win.

"Huu."

Splashing his face with water, he faced the door of the locker room. Behind it, he could hear

the cheers of the crowd.

They were loud and his blood started to boil.

'Right, I'll be fighting Julien after this match.'

He could finally get his revenge...

11

Pursing his lips, Leon took off his clothes and changed into his combat ones.

Then, taking another deep breath to calm his nerves, he reached out for the door and opened

it.

Booom-

The cheers of the crowd engulfed him.

Without turning back, Leon headed for the main platform where the audience waited.

***

The darkness felt suffocating.

Within it, wails of despair reverberated through the air.

'Help!'

'Get me out of here!'

'Someone please!'

'Ahh...!'

Hands reached out in desperation, seemingly trying to grasp the darkness and tear it away.

But it was useless.

There was no escaping the darkness...

"Kh...!"

Kiera's head twitched as she looked at the surrounding darkness with unease.

She wanted to scream, to curse, to break free-but she couldn't. Panic clawed at her mind as

she looked down, two cold stone hands gripping her tightly from behind.

Horror filled her eyes as Kiera watched her limbs stiffening, and her skin turning to stone.

Her body was slowly petrifying, inch by inch, and she was powerless to stop it.

'What do I do...?'

An unknown amount of time had passed since she had found herself in this state, and she had

lost track of time.

At first, the darkness had been quiet.

However, with time, the darkness became louder and louder as she heard more and more

wails.

It started to chew at her mind, adding to the sense of torture that she felt.

'Make it stop!'

Kiera roared in her mind, but her words went to deaf ears.

Unlike the others, she couldn't scream. She had gone past that stage... she was now at the

stage where she would soon completely succumb to the statue.

....And that terrified her.

The darkness that surrounded her terrified.

She hated the dark.

Added to the feeling of entrapment that she felt, Kiera's entire body twitched with anxiety.

All of this added together reminded her of the time in the past that she wanted to forget, and

her anxiety shot through the roof.

'Stop... Make it stop...'

Kiera was practically pleading by this point.

However, her pleas went to deaf ears. There was no one to help her.

All she could see was the darkness around her.

...And as the darkness hugged her entire body, Kiera felt her fingers twitch.

'C-cigarette... In-need a cigarette.'

Kiera swallowed, her entire body trembling as sweat poured from the side of her pale face.

Her eyes started to lose focus as she went in and out of consciousness.

This was torture for her and she wanted nothing more than to get out of this place.

'S-someone...'

Kiera's mind blacked out for an unknown period.

"Kiera."

Waking her up from it was a familiar voice.

'Uh...?'

Weakly raising her head, the first thing Kiera saw was a lock of purple hair.

'...Evelyn?'

Surprised, she blinked slowly.

She couldn't quite grasp what was going on. What was she doing here? Did she also get

trapped...?

"Kiera!"

But her voice seemed so close.

And...

"Uh?"

Kiera felt her voice return.

The realization shook her mind and she regained clarity for a brief moment. It was then that

she fully realized what was happening as she saw Evelyn stand before her with her hand

pressed against her chest, a purple magic circle appearing in front of her.

"Y-you..."

"Shh."

Evelyn mumbled, her eyes darting around frantically.

It was as if she was afraid of something.

Kiera couldn't quite understand what it was, but she didn't have to. Within moments of

regaining clarity of her mind, the hands that were grasping her body shot toward Evelyn at

lightning-fast speeds.

"....!"

Evelyn's eyes constricted and she pressed her foot down, dashing away and narrowly avoiding

the attack.

".....

Kiera watched all of this in silence, her mind frozen.

But she quickly snapped out of it.

Feeling sensation return to her arms, she twisted her torso and elbowed the area behind her.

Bang!

Kiera felt her elbow hit something hard.

"Ukeh!"

A wave of pain hit her arm, but she held the pain and smashed her elbow back again.

Bang!

A crack accompanied her strike.

Kiera propped her elbow forward once more, readying herself for another desperate strike.

But before she could summon the strength, a sudden jolt of shot through her. Her lower half

- she could feel it again. Control was returning, creeping back as she regained the sensation

of

her legs. Kiera stopped whatever she was doing and pressed her legs forward, shooting where Evelyn

was.

"Ukh."

She stumbled several times, and just when she thought she was going to fall over, Evelyn

appeared, gripping her shoulder and helping her up.

"Y-you..."

"It's a long story."

Evelyn replied, her expression stern as she looked around the darkness that surrounded the

two of them.

"We better hurry."

"Ukh..!"

Propping Kiera's arm over her shoulder, she hurriedly pulled her away from the spot, moving

as quickly as she could.

As though the camera was panning out, Evelyun's figure grew smaller and smaller as she ran

away with Kiera.

All noise ceased from that point as the darkness shattered.

What replaced the darkness was a gray-eyed figure who stood on the opposite end of a large

platform.

His expression was serious, while thousands of people stood around them.

Roooooar-

The roar of the crowd reverberated throughout as Aoife looked around, her lips slowly pulling

into a small smile.

"Hihihih."

A childish laugh slipped from her lips.

How...

Naughty.