{ Zephyr vs. Evara & Zayna }
The fight was a dance of chaos.
Zayna Malik stormed forward, muscles tense, swinging her blunt training axe like a berserker. Evara Umbrea, poised and elegant, struck from angles—each kick and palm precise, aiming for pressure points. They came at Zephyr Karshem from both sides.
But Zephyr was
Calm. Calculated.
He parried Zayna's wide swing with a narrow pak sao deflection, pivoted off his back foot, and redirected Evara's side kick using her own momentum.
> "Predictable."
Then he spun low, sweeping Zayna's legs with a capoeira-style negativa, dropping her hard.
Before she could rise—he was already gone.
---
{Elsewhere – Jin-Seok vs. Noah}
Meanwhile, Noah Varnok was laughing mid-air as Jin-Seok flipped him clean over with a judo seoi-nage, slamming him into the dirt for the third time.
> "AGAIN! AHAHAHA! Do it again!"
Jin-Seok casually dusted his hands.
> "I'm starting to think you like getting slammed."
Noah skipped up like it was nothing, eyes shining.
> "Maybe I do. You're fun."
He lunged again, wild and fast.
Jin-Seok slipped under with a boxing weave, planted his hip, and executed a perfect suplex—Noah bounced off a root with a wheeze.
> "Wheee! Worth it!"
---
{ Chaos Converges}
That's when it happened.
Zephyr, mid-dodge, crossed into the clearing where Noah and Jin-Seok were fighting.
Noah's eyes snapped to Zephyr.
> "OHHH! Z!"
He sprinted straight past Jin-Seok, launching at Zephyr like a golden retriever on steroids.
> "We never got to fight!! Fight me, Z!!"
Zephyr barely had time to brace before Noah came flying in with a flying knee.
CRACK! Their fight exploded.
Jin-Seok blinked.
> "Did I just get ditched?"
He barely turned—Zayna and Evara came crashing toward him from the brush, hot on Zephyr's trail but mistaking Jin-Seok as the target.
Zayna swung her axe.
Evara aimed a low sweep kick.
Jin-Seok sighed.
> "You two seriously picked me?"
He leaned back. Zayna missed.
He stepped left. Evara whiffed.
Then he did something outrageous—he stepped forward, grabbed Zayna by the collar, and flicked her forehead.
> BOINK!
Zayna flew back like she'd been hit by a truck.
> "Zara Malik's granddaughter, right? Yikes. She'd cry if she saw this."
Evara's eyes narrowed, striking fast with a spinning elbow.
Jin-Seok ducked it clean, stepped into her space, and gently tapped her on the head.
> "And you're from House Umbrea? This is what the Tower noble houses are sending out now?"
Evara snarled, pride wounded.
Zayna got up, blushing and furious.
> "Y-You bastard!"
Jin-Seok turned to both, grinning.
> "I expected monsters. Got mascots instead."
---
{ Colosseum: Audience in Total Chaos}
VOX (shrieking):
> "THERE IS NO WAY—I MEAN—YOU CAN'T JUST—YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THIS TO THEM!!"
VOX (pointing at the screen in disbelief):
> "ZAYNA MALIK — FAVORITE GRANDDAUGHTER OF ZARA FREAKING MALIK — ONE OF THE SEVEN SOVEREIGNS! SHE'S BEEN FED GRAPES ON SILVER PLATES SINCE BIRTH! AND NOW—
AND ALSO—
Do you know how many people bow before Evara Umbrea?! AND HE JUST—TAPPED HER ON THE HEAD AND MOVED ON?!"
"No one. No one. Treats them like this. Their families treat them like walking artifacts! I once saw Lady Evara's uncle apologize for asking her to pass the salt."
> "AND THIS GUY—THIS JIN-SEOK—JUST TOLD THEM TO 'STOP FLAILING AND THINK BEFORE YOU SWING'… LIKE THEY'RE A TRAINEE IN A BEGINNER DUNGEON?!"
Audience Howling – Actual Voices in the Chaos:
> "SOMEONE GIVE HIM A TEACHING LICENSE!"
> "ZAYNA'S FACE LOOKS LIKE SHE GOT GROUNDED!"
> "EVARA'S OUT HERE FUMING—AND HE'S NOT EVEN LOOKING AT HER ANYMORE!"
> "IS THIS WHAT HUMILITY LOOKS LIKE?! I'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE!"
> "DID HE JUST SAY 'GOOD EFFORT' TO A ROYAL?! BROOOO."
> "YO, MY GUY'S RUNNING CHILDCARE SERVICES MID-FIGHT!"
Audience Chant Builds Again — Louder This Time:
> "SENSEI JIN! SENSEI JIN! SENSEI JIN!"
VOX (cracking up):
> "They were the Tower's golden girls. Unshakable. Untouchable.
And now he's out here… assigning homework."
---
{Cutaway – VIP Viewing Chamber: Moments Before the Storm}
The screen flickered. On it, Zayna Malik had just launched her fourth failed strike. Jin-Seok stepped aside like he was dodging a leaf, wagged his finger at her, then turned his back completely.
A beat passed.
And then—
Daman Zhokul wheeze-laughed, slapping his own knee.
> Either he's lost his mind—or he's leagues above us them."
She's the granddaughter of Zara Malik. And now he is toying with her …"
Lyra Varnok, elegant and poised, had to cover her mouth with her fan.
> "He mouthed 'you're getting there' like she's learning how to walk."he is even more wild than noah to do this to them.
Azhrel Karshem, ever calm, was visibly stunned. His lips twitched once—then fully curled into a grin.
He pointed at the screen as Jin-Seok gently patted Evara on the shoulder like she was a sulking junior.
> "At this rate, he'll be assigning her homework."
---
Lyra (laughing through her fan):
> "He's not even fighting. He's teaching them at this rate."
"Gods above… is he going to grade them next?"
---
Daman (wiping tears):
> "They've been babied their whole lives! No one even raises their voice around them!"
He laughed again, nearly falling back in his chair.
> "And now this kid's handing out lessons like he runs the Tower!"
---
{Suddenly – The Doors Slide Open}
A hush rips through the room like someone hit pause on reality.
Crimson robes. Regal posture. A presence that made the air itself straighten up.
Zara Malik entered.
Her voice, low and smooth, cut like a velvet knife.
The moment the doors slid open, the air in the room changed.
Azhrel, Lyra, and Daman all straightened up instinctively, like soldiers caught slouching.
Because Zara Malik had entered one of the seven sovereigns.
Clad in deep crimson robes, eyes sharp enough to flay silence into ribbons, she moved without a sound—yet it felt like the entire room was holding its breath.
She shouldn't be here.
She never came to early-phase trials.
And certainly not for mere spectatorship.
---
Daman (under his breath, barely moving his lips):
> "What the hell is she doing here…"
---
Lyra (softly, fanning herself hard now):
> "I didn't even think she left the Rose Court anymore."
---
Even Azhrel—normally unreadable—lowered his arms and gave a light nod.
Not a bow.
But close enough.
---
Lyra's smile froze. Her fan dropped an inch.
Azhrel looked away from the screen.
Daman choked on his own breath, trying to look composed.
---
Daman (half-bowing with a crooked smile):
> "Oh, if it isn't one of the Seven Sovereigns… the Roseblood Empress herself."
He cleared his throat.
> "Lady Zara Malik. What a… surprise."
Zara's gaze swept over them like a winter storm through a warm hallway.
She offered no greeting.
Zara (smiling faintly):
> "Indeed. It always is."
Just:
> "What's so funny?"
A beat. No one answered.
> "If it's that amusing, surely you can share it with me. I'd love to laugh too."
---
{Tension Rises}
The room tensed.
Because on the screen—Zayna Malik, her precious granddaughter, was being treated like a misbehaving child.
Again.
Jin-Seok was now standing with his hands behind his back, calmly sidestepping both Zayna and Evara's attacks with minimal effort.
Then—he actually clapped.
> "Good effort! Better coordination this time."
And then turned around, hands behind his back, as if giving them time to reset.
She turned her gaze to the screen.
Saw Zayna tripping over her own momentum while Jin-Seok calmly sidestepped and gave her a patient thumbs-up.
Her eyes narrowed.
---
Zara (to no one in particular):
> "What exactly am I looking at?"
No one dared to answer this time to.
-------------
"The trial was never meant to matter.
A stage for the young to clash, to stumble, to grow.
But now—*
The game has changed.*
Because she has arrived.*
Zara Malik.*
The Roseblood Empress.
One of the Seven Sovereigns.
A name spoken in whispers.
A presence that silences rooms.
A will that once made nations kneel without drawing her blade.*
She has not stepped into this chamber in over forty years.
She does not come for amusement.
She does not come for praise.
And yet—here she is.
Crimson robes trailing like falling dusk.
Eyes like blades wrapped in velvet.
Watching.
And on the screen?
Her precious granddaughter…
Zayna Malik—*
Thrown, flicked, mocked.
Her pride trampled under the boots of a nameless boy.*
No title. No noble house. No legacy.
Just… Jin-Seok.
And still—he toyed with them.
A tap on the forehead. A wag of the finger.
Laughter from the crowd.
Mockery dressed as guidance.
And now—the Empress watches.
Unsmiling. Unblinking.
Even Azhrel Karshem falls silent.
Lyra Varnok hides behind her fan.
Daman Zhokul dares not speak above a whisper.
Because when the Empress watches... the Tower holds its breath.
What will she see in Jin-Seok?
A threat?
A lesson?
A mistake?
Will she feel pride… or summon punishment?
And more importantly—
What happens to the boy who made a Sovereign's bloodline bleed on-screen?
_________________________________________________
{An Original Series by Celestial Raven}