The contestants were gathered in a tensely quiet room, a stark contrast to the brutal arena that awaited them. Adam spotted Iris, separated from him by a few other competitors. The proximity felt odd, almost alien. The air crackled with unspoken rivalry; this was the antechamber to a battle royale, a place where alliances were fragile and trust was a luxury few could afford. The distance between him and Iris, though physically small, felt vast. They were acquaintances, teammates of convenience in the last tournament, nothing more. The upcoming fight, a brutal free-for-all against nine other contenders, made their cautious distance understandable.
The room buzzed with a low hum of nervous energy. Some contestants chatted in hushed tones, while others stood in isolated silence, each lost in their own preparations. Ten figures in total, poised on the brink of a deadly contest. Then, a familiar woman entered the room, her presence instantly commanding attention. Adam''s gaze shifted; he spotted the earth-power wielder, the boy who''d earlier expressed a desire to fight him. The boy''s eyes met his, but Adam quickly looked away, his attention captured by the woman. She addressed the assembled contestants, her voice cutting through the low murmur. "Alright," she announced, "it seems everything is in place. Time to send you all to the battleground."
Suddenly, a faint white light enveloped each contestant. They glowed softly before vanishing completely, leaving the room eerily empty. The woman sighed, a sound of weary resignation. "Okay," she muttered to herself, "it seems we''re going the normal way again." She gestured towards a nondescript door. Adam approached, stepping through. He found himself not in a portal, but in a familiar room—the same couch, the same television—a staging area he recognized from previous tournaments. He moved to another door, opened it, and stepped through.
Adam found himself in a barren landscape, the earth hard and unforgiving beneath his feet, like stepping on stone. The soil was dry and cracked, stretching to a horizon devoid of any discernible features. The door slammed shut behind him, the sound echoing in the desolate expanse. He knew this was a free-for-all; everyone was dropped into this arena, alone and vulnerable. Caution was paramount. Closing his eyes, he focused inward, attempting to sense the presence of the other contestants, to feel their auras, to gauge their positions. Meanwhile, back at the stadium, the giant screen was split into four quadrants, each displaying a different contestant''s location within the arena—a dynamic, multi-view display. Tilda and Eddie watched, their faces etched with worry, their breaths held captive by the unfolding spectacle, their eyes darting between the four screens, tracking Adam''s progress and the movements of his opponents.
Meanwhile, at the other side of the stadium, lost within the throng of spectators, Alex watched with a sickly green pallor. He was certain of Adam''s failure; this tournament, he believed, would be Adam''s end. A row below him, Tyler observed quietly, his attention focused on assessing the power levels of the various contestants, a calculating glint in his eyes. And then there was Akira, her gaze fixed intently on Adam, her expression unreadable, her keen eyes attempting to decipher the outcome of the match before it fully unfolded.
Then it happened. A massive explosion erupted in the sky, mirroring the opening spectacle of the previous tournament—a dramatic signal to commence the deadly game. Instantly, Adam felt a presence behind him, a palpable shift in the air, a threat closing in. He whirled around, just as a powerful fist shot towards him. The earth-power holder, the boy who''d earlier challenged him, attacked with brutal force. The ground shattered under the impact of the blow, a deep crater forming where the boy''s fist had landed. The force of the attack sent Adam reeling, but he managed to regain his footing, his surprise palpable. The boy stood before him, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. "Finally," he breathed, "I get to fight you."
"I gotta be fast before the others get here!" The boy lunged, swinging a powerful fist aimed at Adam''s head. Adam dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow. "What do you mean?" he asked, regaining his balance.
The boy grinned, a cruel glint in his eyes. "Oh, you didn''t know? Everyone''s gonna target you. You''re the only flame-power holder here. With that ability, you can decimate this whole place, damaging people with long-range attacks that are incredibly deadly. I''m not saying *I* can''t do it, but yours is...well, explosive."
"What?" Adam''s eyes widened. The reality of his situation crashed down on him—he was the prime target. Before he could react, an invisible force slammed into him from behind, sending him flying across the barren landscape.
He shot a burst of fire from beneath his legs, the sudden propulsion spinning him mid-air. He landed on his feet, regaining his balance with practiced ease. A man with dark hair and a bulky build stood a short distance away from the earth-power holder, watching intently.
"Oh man, seems like people are already here," the earth-power holder said, a hint of excitement in his voice.
Adam clenched his teeth, a cold dread washing over him. "Are they all going to work together? To take me down?" His eyes narrowed as he saw both the earth-power holder and a new figure—clearly an air-power holder, judging by the subtle currents of air swirling around him—moving to attack.
The air-power holder launched himself, his fist arcing towards Adam. But the fist itself seemed oddly distant, the attack not what Adam expected. Then, a whirling vortex of wind erupted from the air-power holder''s hand, a sudden, brutal gust that struck Adam in the chest with immense force. He groaned, pain lancing through him as he was sent flying backward. Before he could even begin to recover, a massive rock appeared seemingly out of nowhere, plummeting from the sky. It slammed into his chest, the impact throwing him violently to the ground, the force of the blow crushing the breath from his lungs.
From the stadium, Alex let out a triumphant "Ha! He''s totally getting destroyed!" A smug grin spread across his face. Tyler, however, remained impassive, his expression unreadable. Akira''s face, too, offered no clues to her thoughts. Tilda, meanwhile, was visibly distressed, her worry evident. Eddie, however, spoke to reassure her. "He''ll get through this," he said confidently. "He''s way stronger than this." His words were barely out when the rock exploded in a shower of debris and dust. Through the dissipating smoke and dust, Adam stood, seemingly unscathed.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
"Wow, that is amazing," the earth-power holder said from a distance, his voice carrying across the barren landscape. He extended both hands, clapping them together. Instantly, the earth on either side of Adam rose up, forming two massive stone walls that slammed towards him, like colossal doors closing in for the kill. But Adam reacted swiftly. He spread his arms wide, unleashing two searing fireballs that met the oncoming stone, shattering them into rubble. He started to move, intending to counterattack, but discovered his legs were ensnared by thick, rapidly growing green vines, effectively immobilizing him.
He glanced to his left and saw Iris standing there, her expression unreadable as she held out her hands, the source of the vines that bound him. He knew instantly: she was another one of his attackers. Confusion warred with anger. "Why? Why would they all want to attack him? He wasn''t that much of a threat." Damn it, if only he could move faster. His thoughts drifted to the shackles—both literal and figurative—that bound him. Then, a memory surfaced: Kim''s instructions to activate his unique power, the power that had destroyed the pocket dimension. He thought of the power, the immense pain it would unleash, the pain he''d thought he''d never have to endure again.
His memory flashed back to Kim''s reaction in the pocket dimension where he, Tilda, and Eddie sometimes trained. He remembered Kim''s request to see his power, the moment he''d activated it—the searing golden-orange glow that spread through his skeletal system, visible even through his skin. He recalled the overwhelming urge to fight, the primal instinct that had consumed him, the only thought in his mind. He shuddered, remembering how he''d barely managed to shut down the power before causing any irreversible damage.
After shutting down the power, a sharp cracking sound echoed through the pocket dimension—the sound of his bones fracturing. The pain was excruciating. He roared, collapsing to his knees, the agony unrelenting. Tilda rushed to his side, her concern evident as she knelt beside him, supporting his weight. She turned on Kim, her voice sharp with anger.
She told Kim, her voice tight with anger, that she knew this would happen; she''d warned him that the aftermath of Adam unleashing his full power would be terrible. Her concern for Adam was palpable. Kim, however, was stunned, not just by the sight of Adam''s suffering, but by something else entirely. "This is..." he breathed, his voice awestruck, "...the aura he just emitted...it''s divinity."
Adam''s throat constricted, a strangled gasp escaping his lips as he channeled his power. His legs erupted in a fiery blaze, incinerating the vines that bound him.
Suddenly, another invisible force slammed into him, the impact jarring his entire body. He felt the sickening crack of ribs as he was sent sprawling backward, only to collide with a massive stone hurtling towards him from behind. The impact was brutal, like a high-speed car crash. The stone fractured under the force of the collision, and Adam fell heavily to the ground. Iris watched, noting his pain, but this was a free-for-all; she wasn''t his friend, and she had no compunctions. Adam, however, rose to his feet, his body screaming in protest.
His body began to heal, the minor wounds knitting themselves shut. He tried to attack, but the vines reacted, growing thicker, stronger, their tendrils tightening around him, head spikes now piercing his flesh, holding him fast from legs to hands. He groaned in pain. Just then, the earth-power holder announced, "I''m next," and started to run towards Adam, only to be stopped by someone landing directly in front of him. It was the lightning-power holder—the same one Adam had faced and failed to defeat before. Adam''s eyes widened in fear as the lightning-power holder''s eyes glowed blue, crackling with raw electrical energy.
The lightning-power holder launched a punch from a distance, and a bolt of lightning shot forth. Adam''s instincts screamed at him to run, but the vines held him immobile. He was about to unleash a burst of flame to burn through the restraints, but the electricity was already upon him. In slow motion, he saw the lightning separating into a barrage of electrical tendrils, inches from his face. "I''m going to die," he thought, the stark realization chilling him to the bone. Then, the lightning struck, encasing his entire body in a searing cage of energy, throwing him violently across the barren landscape before he slammed into the ground with a bone-jarring thud.
Tilda almost leaped from her chair, her voice rising in protest. "This isn''t fair! Why are they all attacking him?" Her anger at the blatant ganging up on Adam was uncontainable. Eddie echoed her sentiment, "Yeah, why are they doing that?" Alex, however, was laughing, a cruel, triumphant sound. "Seems I''m not going to face him in the tournament after all." High above them, in the private viewing rooms of the stadium, Kim and the other founders watched the unfolding spectacle. Michael, one of the founders, murmured, "I wonder why they''re all attacking him..."
Marcus agreed, "Yeah, if anything, they should be attacking the unique power holder." Kim nodded thoughtfully. "They probably arranged this before the tournament. However, I think once they''re done with Adam, they''ll turn on the unique power holder. And I think he knows that too."
"Then why is he helping them fight Adam?" Marcus questioned, his brow furrowed. Michael leaned forward, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, think of it this way. If they all target him, it''s nine against one. But if he helps them beat Adam, it might be eight against one—if they even want to target him at all. And Adam''s the only flame-power holder here. From what happened in the last tournament, I think they know Adam might be a serious problem in this one. So, it''s kind of an advantage for him." Meanwhile, inside the pocket dimension, Adam slowly rose to his feet, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"You''re enjoying this, aren''t you, Ragnarok?" Adam said, his voice low and dangerous. Iris saw him murmur something, but she was too far away to hear. Then, something extraordinary happened—something unexpected, something no one had ever witnessed before.
He unleashed his power—the power he''d desperately tried to suppress. Remembering Kim''s words—to hold nothing back, to unleash every facet of his ability so its impact would be felt even beyond the confines of the pocket dimension—he surrendered to it. From his hands and legs, a golden-orange light bloomed, spreading like liquid fire up his body, his bones glowing with an incandescent energy. A palpable aura erupted, the very ground beneath him cracking and crumbling as if the force of gravity itself had intensified a thousandfold around him.
Astonishment rippled through the arena. The sheer, overwhelming horror emanating from Adam was palpable, a visceral wave that washed over everyone present. Those he was scheduled to fight felt it most acutely; even the power holders already inside the pocket dimension, those who hadn''t yet reached the fighting area, were stopped dead in their tracks by the force of it. The impact extended beyond the pocket dimension itself, reaching the stadium; people inside felt the tremor of power, a chilling premonition of something immense. Even Alex, his smugness replaced by a look of dawning dread, felt it. He gritted his teeth, a low growl escaping his lips. "What is this...?"
Akira and Tyler were surprised, their faces mirroring the astonishment of the others, though Tilda and Eddie, while also surprised, showed less shock; they were familiar with this power, even if its current manifestation was still intimidating. Inside the private viewing rooms, the founders, Michael and the others, were equally astonished. "Is that what I think it is?" Michael breathed, his voice barely audible. Rune nodded grimly. "Yeah, I think that''s divinity."
Adam felt it—the fire within him, a burning intensity that consumed him. His eyes glowed a fierce golden orange, his blood boiling, his fists clenching with an almost unbearable urge to fight. He had to fight; the need was primal, overwhelming. He had to unleash his fury, to revel in the brutal dance of battle. A smile stretched across his face as he looked at the earth-power holder, Iris, the air-power holder, and the lightning-power holder, their faces a mixture of fear and awe. Then, a red-haired girl came running, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and fascination. His smile widened. "I get to fight all these people...by myself," he murmured, his voice low and dangerous, his fists tightening.
Deep within Adam, within the fractured glass cube where Ragnarok was imprisoned, a chilling smile played on Ragnarok''s lips. He was ready to see what would unfold.