’My fame...’
’My power...’
’How can I lose it all to a pathetic human whose name I refuse to acknowledge?’
’I won’t. I won’t stop fighting!’ Ignatius thought, his anger flaring up.
But then, he rose to a knee and suddenly, his eyes jerked to look at Ryuk’s eyes, which were uncannily radiating an intense blue light, a steady runic rune flashing in them.
"Activate King’s Aura..."
Immediately, Ignatius staggered backward, falling on his butt as he slowly backed away in fear—a scene that shocked everyone in the arena.
An overwhelming force rushed through the entire arena, felt faintly by even the elders and instructors, whose eyes flashed in caution.
’How...’
’What...’
Ignatius barely spoke a word, his lips repeatedly moving, his mind numb and thoughtless.
The air, previously thick with the heat of his own flames, now seemed to press down on him with a weight beyond comprehension.
It wasn’t just physical—this was a pressure that gripped his soul.
As Ryuk rose to his full imposing height, Isha’s head tilted beside his, staring chillingly at Ignatius.
The same runic blue line in Ryuk’s eyes also flashed in hers, a suffocating aura overwhelming from both of them, extensions of the sovereign presence now emanating from Ryuk.
The glow in Ryuk’s molten eyes burned brighter, but it was not the fiery rage of battle like before.
No!
It was the cold, absolute gaze of a king demanding submission.
For the first time, Ignatius felt his fire waver.
The inferno that had always surged within him—unrelenting and untamable—now sputtered like a dying ember.
His instincts screamed at him to rise, to fight, to not lose his precious fame, yet his body refused to move.
Ryuk’s oppressive aura crushed his resolve, as if countless unseen arms were pinning him deeper into the scorched ground.
The strength he had relied on for so long, that had granted him so much confidence, that he had thought made remembering the names of other geniuses a privilege to them, was now dwarfed by the overwhelming presence before him.
He felt stripped bare, vulnerable in a way he had never known.
And then came the voice.
Not a roar, not a taunt, but a low, commanding growl that echoed with the weight of absolute sovereignty.
"Surrender..."
In that moment, Ignatius saw not just Ryuk, but the endless shadows of beasts behind him, each one fierce and utterly loyal.
They bore down on him with spectral fangs and claws, their presence a silent declaration of Ryuk’s supreme authority.
’I... I can’t.’ The thought echoed in Ignatius’s head.
Yet when his lips moved...
"I surrender..."
His voice echoed through the arena, drawing gasps from the geniuses, who all stood rooted in shock.
Everyone was only awakened when Ryuk stepped away from Ignatius.
"I declare the winner to be the human boy, Ryuk!"
The voice came from one of the elders’ booths, and its source was none other than the Half-Fallen one herself, who was now rising onto her feet.
Slowly, she clapped once, and then once more, and then once more.
Instantly:
CLAP!
CLAP!
CLAP!
The sound of the claps roared through the entire colosseum as everyone—elders, geniuses, the instructors—all rose up.
Some of the geniuses who had failed in the semifinal stage collapsed onto their knees as they shed tears of joy. The one who wailed the most loudly was none other than the Quinn himself, as tears streamed out from both his eyes, and his nose grew wattery, yet he ignored it all as he clapped as hard as he could.
"Winner, Ryuk!"
The louder declaration erupted from the instructor, who finally refrained himself as cheers grew louder, and Ryuk turned to the elder’s booth, giving a respectful bow, before walking out of the arena and back to his seat.
But midway, many thoughts were running through Ryuk’s mind.
’So this is it. This is what it means...’
’The claps, the screams of joy. The disbelief, the tears...’
’It’s so unreal. I have never felt this before...’
Ryuk thought to himself, yet his eyes couldn’t help but drift behind him, as he found an instructor arrive before the unconscious body of Ignatius and take him away from the arena.
’Yet, what of Ignatius...’
’He is a phenomenal genius with not only overwhelming power but with even more overwhelming potential.’
’Yet, what is there for him?’
’None of the people clapping for me remember him anymore.’
’Somehow, I feel like his essence is slowly fading away as he is carried away.’
’Like his existence is being erased from existence itself.’
’So this is what it means to win...’
’To ruin another’s chance at life in order to better yours...’
’Yet there is no guilt within me...’
’If I hadn’t fought so fiercely. If I hadn’t given it my all, right now, I would be the one being carried out, and probably never waking up again.’
’I did what was necessary to survive...’
’Yes, yes.’
’Now, I finally understand."
’All I had done was to survive, and I have achieved that by winning.’
"So that’s what it means, huh?"
Today, on the precipice of his first life win, Ryuk learned an important lesson, which he thought to himself:
"In this world, you win to survive."
And that’s the harsh reality of a world called Endearth.
-------------
"Do you all remember the events from 50 years ago?" The Half-Fallen’s voice resonated through the entire booth as the elders all turned their attention to her.
"Does your Fallen mean the disappearance of one of top three Supreme-Level geniuses?" an elder asked as the Half-Fallen one nodded.
"Yes."
"Jack Fallen disappeared exactly fifty years ago, one of the top three most powerful geniuses in the entire history of the Flane clan, with a potential so immense, there are only five other entities in this world that can rival him."
"Exactly a month ago, this young human boy appeared before me with an Authority card," she continued. "He claimed he was from Grade E, and judging by how he looks, I can’t argue otherwise.
"He stretched the card before me, and it was no ordinary card."
"In fact, only ten people in the entire world possess that type of card, and I have been able to confirm that and all ten have not been turned over."
"One of these people from the ten is Jack Crimson, and by my results, all nine apart from him still have their card."
"And now, a common boy from Grade E possesses the card, turning it in exchange for access to the Academy of Ascension."
"Now, do you all understand?" The Half-Fallen said as all the elders’ eyes flashed in shock.
They looked at the Half-Fallen, who turned her gaze away from them and returned to look at Ryuk, who currently had a golden-haired boy tied around his neck and crying profusely over his shoulder.
"So, this... this human boy could have only obtained the card from Jack?" an elder asked, and the Half-Fallen nodded.
"If my intuition is correct, this boy is the ultimate map by which we will eventually track down our Fallen Genius."
"He’s a great hope for the Fallen clan, just as much as Jack Fallen himself is."
"I hope that answers all of your questions."