Arcane Era-Chapter 46: Promised Day (Part 1)

"Excuse me, but you’re stressing out the patient. We’re going to need you to step back."

At this point, well-built men in uniform appeared, and they stopped Theo from proceeding any further with Liyah in the gurney as she entered her designated room.

Theo watched from afar, seeing as she mouthed the words: "Thank you" before the doors shut and he didn’t see her any longer. At that point, the compassion and fear he felt began to vanish—replaced by nothing but pure rage.

He turned away, walking past his own room in the corridor as he advanced to the exit with his patient wear. Before reaching that point, he saw Kaycee rushing into the corridor with worry written all over his face.

"Theo, Liyah is—!"

"Down the hall, to your right." He said to Kaycee, his voice very dull and repressed. "Please look after her, and don’t leave her side."

"W-what about... you?" Kaycee turned to Theo, whose face was fuming with a mix of several emotions—mostly wrath—as his eyes were fixed at something beyond the corridor.

"You don’t need to worry about that."

Theo walked past the puzzled Kaycee, his attention shifting from Theo to the interior of the corridor so he could find Liyah. After hesitating for a moment, he ran further down the hall, wishing Theo good luck.

"Thanks man..." Muttered Theo under his breath as he appeared out of the door and cast his gaze on the first and only man that appeared in his mind.

He was seated in the participant chair, a frown on his face as both arms were folded.

Just like the rest of the audience, he glanced at Theo, who walked forward—without any form of restraint—and only stopped when he was right in front of the man.

"I know who you are..." Theo told him. "... And I don’t care."

Austin—or rather, the Mercenary King—cocked his head in seeming confusion as Theo spoke to him with seething rage. He remained still, calmly waiting for whatever Theo was going to say or do.

All eyes were on them as the interaction quickly devolved into a staring contest.

Then—

"I will destroy you..." Theo leaned closer, his bloodshot eyes burning bright amber as every syllable carried great weight.

"... Even if it’s the last thing I do!"

************

There was a short break before the final round, and the audience walked out to have their brunch, talk among themselves, and socialize. During this period, the only topic that interested most of them was the brutal nature of the participant, Austin, and how exciting his final match against Theo was going to be.

Theo, who lurked around during this break, quickly pieced together what happened in Liyah’s match while he was getting treatment.

’So he cut her up with an Armament and used another acid-type one to burn her skin, showing no regard for her wellbeing...’ Theo nodded to himself, processing everything silently as he built up his anger. ’She kept fighting, but then he overpowered her with brute strength, and when the fight got physical, she began to overpower him... but then he hit her on her face, pinned her to the ground, and said some words to her before knocking her out and spitting on her helpless body...’

Theo quickly recognized that most of these retellings could have been exaggerated or sensationalized, and without him being present, there was no way for him to decipher the true facts, but he didn’t care. He took everyone’s word for it and used their comments as fuel to sustain his ever-increasing rage.

’He wasn’t disqualified because, despite beating Liyah near the inch of her life, he didn’t kill her or use any fatal moves... thank goodness.’

If he was disqualified, how would Theo be able to exact vengeance?

"Whatever..." He rose up, wearing the same tattered outfit that the medical experts had taken off him before their thorough examination and prescription. He no longer felt any kind of pain on his body, so he had removed all the bandages and had worn his previous attire in preparation for the upcoming match.

"I just need to win."

He returned to the hall, proceeding to the contestant section and had a seat—waiting for the finals to officially begin.

Not long after, the crowd began to trickle in, and a few minutes after that, the hall was chock full of spectators. Dignitaries from all over the Mainland, business sponsors, high-ranking members of the Ak’ashi Guild, and also regular members—all of their cadres explicitly divided by the structure of seats in the hall.

Once everyone had settled in, with Shen Ak’ashi and the three members of the Zenith having their seats high above everyone else, a proctor rose to the stage and sweetly smiled at all who watched.

It wasn’t Claudius.

"Claudius, your previous host, had to leave for some urgent business, so I’ll be taking his place." The lady who spoke wore a colorful gown, her gaze enchanting and her smile sweet as she seemed to lock eyes with everyone present—Theo included.

"Now is the moment you’ve all been waiting for... the culmination of a seeming eternity of waiting... and I can tell that you’re all excited to witness it!" She made a grand speech, both hands flailing into the air as she excitedly poured out words that seemed to encapsulate the anticipation electric in the atmosphere.

"Now, without any further ado... let’s call in the final contestants." Her eyes rested on Austin, who nodded at her, rising to his feet before his name was even called.

Theo did the same.

They both walked to the stage, neither of them staring at each other until they stood face-to-face under the gazes of the hundreds of people present. Asking for silence in the incredibly charged hall would be requesting for too much, as murmurs and whispers traveled in all directions with the proctor grinning in delight.

"Since this is such a momentous occasion, let us all count together, shall we?"

"5..." She began the countdown, and everyone in the crowd joined her.

"... 4..."

Austin was emotionless as he looked at Theo, whose eyes were already burning with rage as he readied himself to pounce on his target the first opportunity he got. Whether or not he’d let him live was a debate Theo postponed for later.

"... 3..."

"What do you think is about to happen now?" Austin’s voice overlapped with the joint chant of the audience, but Theo heard him loud and clear.

"What’s going to happen is simple..." Theo replied. "... I’ll destroy you."

"...2..."

Austin smiled, leaking out a voice that did not belong to the contestant.

It belonged to the King.

"We’ll see..."

At that point, the chants stopped—for one reason, and one reason alone.

"...1!"

The time had come.

VWUUUUUUUUMMMMM!!!

Right as Theo charged forward, a loud hum echoed within the hall, sending a dark purple light to gleam all over the vast hall. It originated from high above, around what should have brightened up the hall like a shining sun.

Instead, the dark purple light eclipsed the brilliant golden light—shrouding it in darkness.

And with it came something else.

Glassy walls made entirely out of blackish purple energy suddenly covered the audience seats, encasing them in a prison made entirely out of translucent energy.

The glassy walls all had beams of energy connecting them to the deep purple shroud that floated in the air, supplying them with the power to maintain their sturdy veil over the unsuspecting crowd. All of this happened within the fraction of a moment—practically at the speed of light—so no one noticed until it was too late. frёewebnoѵēl.com

By the time Theo noticed that the hall had suddenly turned dark, a silhouette appeared before him and sent a straight punch into his stomach.

"Gahhh!" Struggling with both confusion and pain, Theo felt a mix of saliva and blood exit his mouth.

Still, he quickly recovered and managed to swing his fused blade—releasing the most powerful burst of flames he had ever attempted to discharge at once. Pouring all his rage into the attack, he shut off all forms of distractions and screamed to the top of his lungs.

But—

VWUM!

All of the fiery flames vanished as the shadowy figure grabbed Theo’s blazing blade... and effortlessly shattered it like brittle glass.

"H-huh...?"

Theo could not even process his stupefaction, as a sudden blow to his jaw sent a paralyzing wave of pain into his body. His body turned helplessly silent, as he was thrust into the air—powerless to stop his descent.

Before he could crash into the ground, a strong hand gripped his head.

It didn’t belong to Austin.

In fact, there was no Austin on the stage any longer.

Instead, a tall man wearing a skull mask stood majestically, his hooded cape fluttering in the air as his armor gleamed with deadly lustre. Helplessly trapped in one of his hands was Theo, while his other hand folded to form a fist.

"The time has finally come..."