Chapter 4 – Silent Storm

The arena gates slammed shut with a thunderous crash.

Thousands of voices screamed at once, merging into a single, deafening roar of bloodlust.For them, this was not a tragedy.Not an execution.Just an ordinary Tuesday.

On the sun-scorched sands stood two figures: Kubo and Yaat.

The announcer's voice boomed like thunder across the arena."BEGIN! Dryx's miracle child, Kubo, versus the Harbinger of Calamity… Yaat!"

Kubo drew his black sword in one swift motion. The blade shimmered faintly. He took a deep breath.

Mist gathered around him. Droplets began to spin, accelerating into a vortex of needle-sharp rain.

"I can do this," Kubo whispered to himself, his voice trembling."I have to survive… for my mother."

Across from him, Yaat stood completely still. His black robe fluttered lightly in the wind, stretching his shadow across the sand.

His wounded mouth was twisted into a permanent grin. His eyes looked like empty, sunken pits.

Suddenly, Yaat stepped forward.

And stumbled.

His foot caught on the hem of his own robe. His arms flailed like a scarecrow as he struggled to regain balance.

The crowd burst into laughter.

"Look at him!""He can't even walk!""Kill him, Orange Boy! End this pathetic thing!"

Kubo screamed, releasing all the fear and rage he had swallowed inside the cell.

"I WON'T DIE HERE!TEARS OF THE DESERT!"

Mana exploded from his slender body.

The pale blue sky above the arena darkened instantly. Gray clouds spiraled into existence, converging directly above the pit. A single raindrop fell.

Then another.

Then a downpour.

Kubo didn't wait. He charged.

His sword swung in a wide arc, launching rain and wind forward. Needle-sharp droplets surrounded Yaat, slicing through the air.

Yet despite Kubo's relentless assault, Yaat was not hit even once. His movements were impossibly smooth, as if he were dancing with the wind itself.

A moment later, the ground beneath Yaat began to tremble.

The sand split apart. A deep crater opened, as though the earth itself were tearing.

"I SEE YOU, COWARD!" Kubo shouted.

Through the rain, he could sense every movement. He prepared his final attack. His sword, coated in mana and rainwater, pulsed with power.

Kubo pointed the blade at Yaat.

The rain froze midair.

Every single droplet converged onto Kubo's sword.

He was about to attempt a dangerously reckless technique. The clouds above shifted color, lightning cracking down around the arena.

"I only have one chance!"

He inhaled deeply.

Then swung.

"FURY OF THE STORM!"

All the gathered water surged forward as a colossal slash. The water cleaved through the arena like a blade, carving deep grooves into the walls. Even the clouds themselves split in two.

Having spent all his mana, Kubo nearly collapsed. He drove his sword into the ground to stay standing.

"Yaat… is gone.Did I win?"

His eyes scanned the arena.

He couldn't see him.

"I won…I WON!"

His chest burned. Breathing itself hurt, yet he smiled.

He steadied his shaking legs by leaning on his sword.

He looked toward the stands. He expected applause. A cheer. His name.

For a moment, he thought he saw his mother's face, smiling at him through the rain.

Look, he wanted to say.I did it. I'm alive.

But as Kubo searched the crowd, he realized they weren't looking at him.

They were staring at the sky.

Yaat stood above him.

There was no malice in his eyes. Only tired boredom.

"You're standing in the wrong place," Yaat murmured. His voice sounded wet, as if his lungs were filled with liquid.

"What?" Kubo gasped, trying to rise.

The rain suddenly changed direction.

The wind stopped.

Thousands of people held their breath at the same time, without knowing why.

It was as if the arena itself had sensed what was coming.

The stone groaned.

CREEEAK.

The sound came from above.

At the top of the arena, a massive decorative iron statue shaped like the kingdom's sun symbol began to sway.

The rain Kubo had summoned was heavy. Unnaturally heavy. It had pooled into the cracks of the ancient ceiling. Water seeped into the limestone holding the statue in place.

Softened by centuries of neglect and now saturated with magical rain, the stone finally gave way.

Kubo looked up.

Rain poured into his eyes.

And through the rain, a massive shadow descended.

He didn't even have time to scream.

No time to think of his mother.

BOOM.

The impact shook the entire stadium. Sand, water, and iron exploded outward.

The crowd fell silent.

For the first few seconds, no one screamed.

There were no cries.

Only the sound of cooling metal and falling rain.

Then someone vomited.

And then the arena erupted into a delayed scream.

When the dust settled, the giant iron sun was embedded in the center of the arena.

Beneath it lay only a mass of orange hair dissolving into rain and red liquid.

Yaat stood two fingers away from the fallen statue's iron ring. He sighed, pulled a handkerchief from his robe, and wiped the mud from his cheek.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

"The winner…" the announcer's voice trembled, then snapped back into excitement."THE WINNER IS YAAT! ONCE AGAIN, HE BRINGS CALAMITY!"

Yaat did not look back.

He did not even glance at the corpse.

For him, the match was over.

Calamity had done its job. The next moment awaited.

The crowd roared. They cheered for blood. They cheered for that grotesque accident.

In the waiting area, Hope stood motionless, hands resting on cold iron bars. His expression hadn't changed.

"He overdid it," Hope muttered to himself."Summoning rain weakened the arena's structural integrity, but he didn't calculate the fall trajectory. Also, dumping all your power into a single attack and being unable to move afterward is stupid.But that man… Yaat… he knew everything."

"That's all you have to say?"

A voice emerged from the shadows behind him.

Hope turned.

Leaning against the stone wall stood a muscular, bearded man with sandy hair. He wore nothing on his upper body and torn pants below. His posture was strange.

Too confident.

"That was your cellmate, wasn't he?" the man asked, stepping closer. He didn't seem dangerous."You spent the night together. He probably told you his tragic story. And now he's a pile of slime on the sand."

He stared into Hope's eyes, searching for a crack. A tear. A flinch.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

Hope looked back at the arena, where goblins were already scraping Kubo's remains out of the sand for the next match.

"Why would it?" Hope asked sincerely."He died."

"Yes," the man said slowly.

"Things always die," Hope continued."I raised dungeon bosses for months. Fed them. Named them. Then adventurers came and killed them. Or they killed the adventurers."

Hope shrugged.

"Death is normal. Kubo's technique was flawed. He let his emotions control him and ignored environmental hazards."

The muscular man froze.

He had expected fear.Or anger.Or grief.

He hadn't expected post-match analysis.

"You're a monster," he said quietly.

It wasn't an insult.

It was a classification.

Hope smiled. A bright, innocent smile that never reached his analytical eyes.

"Thank you! My monsters were very strong. That's a compliment, right? Friends compliment each other."

The man blinked, then exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"I'm Deniz," he said, setting rivalry aside. He extended his hand."Looks like we're friends now."

Hope didn't understand, but he shook Deniz's hand anyway.

"I'm Hope!"

"Yes, yes, I know. Your name spreads faster than you do."

Hope didn't understand that either.

"Why is my name spreading?"

Deniz gave him a crooked smile.

"You really have no idea, do you? If you want to live long enough to analyze another death, listen to me. The barons are watching you. That rain boy was just an appetizer. You're today's main course."

"I love main courses," Hope replied."I'm as hungry as a Flame Tyrant right now."

Before Deniz could respond, magical speakers roared again, shaking even the stones of the waiting chamber.

"AND NOW! ONE OF TODAY'S MOST ANTICIPATED MATCHES!"

The heavy doors in front of Hope groaned open. Blinding sunlight flooded in, casting his figure into silhouette.

"HE DEFIED THE RULES! BROKE THE SYSTEM! CALLS HIMSELF A HERO, BUT WE CALL HIM A CRIMINAL!"

The crowd erupted. Boos and applause blended together.

"Hope! Hope! Hope!"

"GIVE IT UP FOR THE CHILD BORN IN THE DUNGEON…THE ROMANTIC REBEL…HOPE!"

Hope stepped into the light.

He didn't look back at Deniz.

He didn't look at where Kubo had died.

He looked at the sun.

And then at the arena floor.

To everyone else, it was a battlefield.

To Hope, it was just a small obstacle standing between him and Lypin.

"Just wait, Lypin. I'm coming." he whispered.