Chapter 79: Neglect and Consequences

There are mistakes born of hatred. Others, of ignorance.
But the most dangerous… are born of confidence.
Trusting that everything will stay the same.
Trusting that the plan will work.
Trusting that there is still time.

True chaos does not arrive like thunder.
It arrives as a crack in routine. A whisper that is ignored. A glance that looks away.
And when you realize it… it’s already too late.

Power isn’t measured only by brute force.
It’s measured by the ability to foresee. To contain. To accept the consequence before it is born.
But even the oldest gods forget that when arrogance speaks louder than reason.
Because in this world, every carelessness has a price.
And every price, sooner or later… is paid in blood.
——————————————————————————————————————————

The heat of blood still steamed on Huitzilopochtli’s golden skin. His left arm hung useless, covered in open wounds, and his ragged breathing barely managed to stay steady. The burning ruins of the temples around him bore witness to the ongoing disaster.

“Damn it… if this keeps up…” he thought, sweat and blood mixing on his face, “I’ll die.”

Before him, a familiar figure stepped out of the shadows with a twisted smile. His gaze carried hatred and resentment, like an arrow drawn tight for centuries.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” Tezcatlipoca, his brother, spat with disdain.

“You’ve fallen very low, brother…” Huitzilopochtli replied, his voice broken by pain. “I never believed you’d get to the point of allying with them… and turning against all of us.”

“Shut up!” Tezcatlipoca roared, eyes bloodshot with fury. “You left me no choice. I tried and tried… and you never let me be the great sun god.”

His voice trembled with repressed rage, each word like a reproach driven into a wound.

“But that ends now. Today will be my coronation. I will rule over all the races of Zutarts.”

“You’re an idiot…” Huitzilopochtli shot back, grinding his teeth as his wounded arm began to tremble. “You know better than anyone that we don’t choose that title… it is the ritual that decides.”

“Then I’ll just destroy them all,” Tezcatlipoca declared coldly. “One by one.”

Huitzilopochtli looked at him with a blend of sorrow and courage. But his worry wasn’t entirely for his brother… it was for the presence behind him. A shadow loomed with a force impossible to ignore. It did not speak, yet its mere existence pressed on the air. It was something… monstrous.

“That one…” the sun god thought. “He is the real problem…”

A gigantic serpent made of fire descended from the sky, hurtling toward Tezcatlipoca with fury. The impact seemed inevitable, but Tezcatlipoca’s shield flashed with a dark energy and reflected the attack with equal violence. The fire spun through the air, shattering nearby pillars and temples. Huitzilopochtli barely dodged.

“You’re a fool,” Tezcatlipoca taunted. “You know that as long as I have this reflective shield, you can’t hurt me.”

The shield’s gleam was almost hypnotic. The symbol of the inverted sun flickered across its surface.

“Stop resisting and hand over the solar stone.”

But Huitzilopochtli did not answer. His thoughts spun frantically.
“I must prevent them from taking it… at all costs…”

A few meters away, among the ruins, a hooded figure watched the scene. The wind lifted his cloak for a moment, revealing a face known only in whispers: Yogen, the leader of the Black Lights. His eyes were fixed on the battle, but his mind traveled back to the past.

Flashback

“What did you say, boss?” asked Unknown 61, unable to hide his surprise.

“Next week we’ll depart for Zutarts,” Yogen said in a calm but firm voice. “It’s time to act.”

“Now? Why so suddenly?” intervened Unknown 62.

“If we keep waiting, it might be too late,” Yogen replied. “The Twelve Families are planning something involving our god. Shun and the king are also moving… and we can’t trust their intentions.”

“And what’s the real objective?” another asked.

“To unleash our lord’s true power. To change this world. To overthrow the false gods. And to fulfill the scriptures… the ones that speak of the god of the new world.”

“That doesn’t sound so simple…” said Unknown 39, arms crossed. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. If we fail now, we won’t get another chance.”

Silence settled among them like a vow.

“We’re with you, Yogen,” said Unknown 60 with determination. “Our dream lies in your hands.”

“Thank you,” murmured the leader.

“I guess there’s no such thing as a safe plan, huh?” 39 joked.

“No…” Yogen replied. “Someone will die in this mission.”

“Then so be it,” 39 muttered. “We’ve all suffered because of those gods. It’s time they feel the pain too.”

End of flashback

Back in the present, Yogen watched the flames devour the capital of Zutarts.

“I can’t disappoint them…” he thought. “Every second counts. When we open those gates… the world as we know it… will vanish.”

The city burned. Mutilated bodies hung like puppets on a grotesque stage. And in the middle of it all, with flushed cheeks and a gaze lost in his own madness, Puppet laughed like a child before a new toy.

“How beautiful…” he whispered, fascinated.

A soldier, barely holding himself upright, tried to intervene.
“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“This… this is art,” Puppet murmured, almost tenderly.

“Shut the—”

A thread sliced through the air. The sound was sharp. The soldier’s head split cleanly in two.

“Damn uncultured fools,” Puppet spat, wiping his hands as if he had just finished a sculpture.

Then footsteps echoed. Heavy. Powerful. Ancient.

“Well, well…” said a familiar voice. “Long time no see, King of Puppets… Puppet.”

Puppet’s face froze. His body trembled involuntarily.
“W-What are you doing here… Shun?!” he stammered, as if seeing a ghost.

Before him, Shun walked forward with a steady stride. His gaze was unshakable.
And his aura… a storm contained, on the verge of unleashing.

Yosa’s muffled scream was swallowed by the chaos, but his face spoke louder than a thousand words. Something had crossed the limit of his understanding — something too brutal for his young, trained mind.

Before him, Aphrodite and Quetzalcoatl stood like divine pillars, motionless in the face of the enemy they had just unmasked. At their feet, Zef’s body lay limp and unconscious, perhaps worse.

“You are truly impressive,” Aphrodite said without changing her tone, though her eyes burned with fury. “You managed to infiltrate with your companions without us noticing… until now.”

Unknown 60 shrugged with an almost insulting calm.
“I expected nothing less from the two of you. Elite warriors… though I’m surprised you noticed so soon.”

“What do you hope to gain by interrupting the tournament?” Quetzalcoatl asked in a deep voice. “Fame? Fear? A blood spectacle?”

“None of that,” the infiltrator replied. “We already have what we want. Now it’s only a matter of time… before the false rulers fall.”

An invisible thunder shook the field. Aphrodite and Quetzalcoatl released their power in unison, wrapping themselves in an overwhelming radiance that tore at the very atmosphere.

“You will not be allowed to!” they thundered together, unleashing divine judgment.

Far off, Juana recoiled, unable to look away from the shredded body of a Zutarts student. This was not an ordinary fighter. It was a massacre. Yosa stepped forward, instincts firing at full throttle.

“Watch out!” he shouted, surgically deflecting a furtive attack from another hooded assailant — Unknown 59 — who had tried to take them by surprise.

“Well, well…” the attacker whispered with a twisted smile. “You will be a human worth savoring.”

His tongue licked his lips as if truly tasting fear. Yosa and Juana tensed instantly, knowing this would not be an ordinary fight.

On the other side of the field, a subtle crack disturbed the silence.

“Well, well…” repeated another voice, this time with a hint of irony. “Looks like I found someone interesting.”

Tiresias had materialized behind Unknown 39 like a formless shadow. The man spun around abruptly, stepping back, stunned, alarmed.

“How…?” he thought. “I didn’t feel it coming. Not a breeze. Nothing.”

“You and your companions have caused quite a mess,” Tiresias commented, surveying the field littered with fire, blood, and ruins. “A rather dirty one.”

A few meters away, Shu barely kept himself standing, covered in wounds. Beside him, Lowa struggled to breathe, clutching her abdomen with both hands as blood seeped through her fingers.

Unknown 39 glanced at that scene, then at Tiresias.
“Why didn’t you kill me earlier?” he asked, candidly. “You could’ve cut my throat easily.”

“That’s not my style,” Tiresias replied without arrogance. “Besides, you’re more human than you appear. At least compared to those other two…”

He cast a fleeting glance toward Puppet and Unknown 59.

“What the hell are you talking about?” the hooded man spat.

“Your strikes… they weren’t aimed at vital points. You didn’t want to kill,” Tiresias said calmly.

“You’re seeing ghosts where there are none.”

“Maybe,” Tiresias admitted. “But that makes you worthy of a human death. A quick death.”

His body vanished the instant his voice faded.

Inside the dome, the silence was overwhelming.

Yohei walked forward, tension rising with every step. His thoughts piled up in his head like molten lead.

Weird… we haven’t run into anyone for several minutes.
The elimination notifications have stopped. By now, at least four more should’ve been out…
What the hell is going on?

He shot a glance at Edén, walking beside him. The boy hadn’t said a single word since the tournament began.

Is he dead inside? Awake? Even here? he thought bitterly. The entire plan depended on him… and he’s done nothing.

Frustrated, he clenched his teeth. But then, the forest opened up.
An immense clearing stretched out before them, like a mouth ready to swallow everything.
There, waiting, stood Takahashi and Zipacna.

“I thought you two had gotten lost,” Zipacna said with a half-smile.

Yohei stopped dead. His entire body went into combat mode in an instant.
“Zipacna…”

A heartbeat later, Takahashi appeared right in front of Edén’s face, as if he’d teleported.
“Are we gonna have some fun? Are you ready?” he asked mockingly. “Eh…?”

Edén didn’t answer. His gaze was empty — like his soul had been switched off.

“What a disappointment…” murmured Takahashi.

He’s completely blocked… thought Zipacna, frowning. He won’t be able to do anything like this.

Without mercy, Takahashi drove his fist into Edén’s stomach. The blow launched him through the air, his body crashing into a distant mountainside. The ground shook violently.

“I expected more from you, Edén Yomi,” Takahashi said as he turned away, indifferent.
“Take care of the rest, Zipacna.”

“Yeah…” he replied, turning toward Yohei. “Leave him to me.”

Yohei clenched his fists. A mix of rage and helplessness coursed through him.

“You’re seriously not gonna do anything, demon?”

Even if I win, that lunatic will still be a problem. And I have no idea how the others are doing.

“Damn it… how did I trust such a stupid plan…?”
“Shit…” he muttered with a tense grin.

The ground trembled. His energy began to surge like an untamed torrent. Lightning traced across his skin. His eyes gleamed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Zipacna whispered. “How can you still have that much power… after two fights?”

I didn’t want to use this yet… but I have no choice, Yohei thought.

His hair stood on end, sharper, his eyes turning into pure molten gold without pupils.
And in a breath, he vanished from sight.

Zipacna barely had time to react. The impact was so brutal that he was sent flying, smashing through tree after tree until disappearing into the distance, his body bouncing like a projectile.

“I have to—” he tried to think, but as he looked up, the lightning was already forming. “Shit!”

“Bang!” Yohei shouted.

Lightning fell like a divine cascade. The explosion was so massive it flattened the entire forest. The ground became a smoking crater.

Zipacna emerged from the dust. His armor was shattered, a line of blood running from the corner of his mouth.

“Impressive…” he said between ragged breaths. “You’re far stronger than I expected, Yohei.”

And he smiled.

“You’re definitely way above the other gold ranks… but I won’t let you have all the fun.”

His body began to radiate heat. The air warped around him. Plants turned to ash. The ground cracked beneath his feet.

“I’m… burning up.”

They locked eyes. Two titans on the brink of collision.

Not far away, Edén opened his eyes amid rubble and dust. A shard of stone pierced his arm. Blood, confusion, and pain surrounded him.

“Where… am I?” he thought faintly. “What… happened?”

The battle had only just begun.