The Ancient one walked up the shadow-staircase, the two memory-wiped hybrids human demons trailing silently behind. Their eyes were empty.
Above ground, Commander Hayate, Tsuneo, and Kaida felt it—a crushing aura rolling from the tunnel mouth. It smothered the air. Drove them to their knees.
Hayate gasping "This pressure... the Shadow Lord?"
Kaida teeth clenched"Worse... it's evolved."
Tsuneo recognizing the wounds:"Tamotsu...?"
The Ancient One didn't stop walking.
"Stand ready for blood stone arena ," he commanded, voice echoing with unnatural depth. "Sharpen your blades. Tell the others to Hone their Sido."
He passed them like wind over graves.
The commanders stared, frozen.
Kaida: "What... was that order?"
Tsuneo rising slowly: "A warning. And a death sentence if we ignore it."
Far off, Hisoka stumbled from ash-drifts. His decay had stopped. The memories? Gone. Only a gnawing void remained. He saw the Ancient One's group vanishing into the grey horizon. A flicker of fear. Instinct. He followed.
The Grey Vale City rose—a monstrous sprawl of: Spiked black walls humming with trapped souls
Floating districts chained to jagged rock spires
Pulse-towers blasting raw soul-energy into the ashy sky
The two hybrids trembled. The Ancient One didn't glance back.
At the colossal gate, soul-wardens in obsidian armor crossed spears.
Warden 1: "Halt! No entry for—"
The Ancient One's silver eyes flared.
"Move."
The wardens vomited black blood, collapsing. The gate-runes shattered. Doors groaned open.
Chaos. Beauty. Horror.
Markets selling bottled memories & ghost-lights
Fighting pits where specters bet on demon hybrids
Soul-factories where wails were refined into fuel
The Ancient One walked untouched through crowds. Beings parted like scared fish—sensing death in his shadow.
Tamotsu's consciousness stirred beneath the Ancient One's control—a muffled scream:
"Where are we?!"
The Ancient One smiled coldly. "Home."
He stopped before a towering Spire of Masks:
Thousands of stone faces covered its surface
Each one screaming silently
The peak vanished into storm clouds
The servant waited at its base, porcelain mask gleaming.
"Welcome back, Master.
The Ancient One placed a hand on the spire.
new mask get placed over Tamotsu's face:
Obsidian-black with concentric silver circles radiating from the eyes
Cold to the touch, humming with contained power
Sealed with a hiss, merging with his skin
The servant bowed before the Spire of Masks. "Long have the Grey Vale's wars festered in your absence, Lord."
Ancient One voice muffled by mask:"I purged the demons once. Yet they fester like rot in ashes."
"Their strength grows with ours. Weakness invites annihilation."
He turned, mask-eyes burning silver.
"Gather every Soulwarden survivor. All villages. All ranks. Bring them to the Bloodstone Arena."
"There, they fight. To the death."
"Only those who taste true desperation... will evolve."
Hisoka's Gambit Hisoka limped to a fortified demon spire—black iron gates guarded by
Bloody skin demons.
Demon: "Ash-trash. Crawl away."
Hisoka bared decaying teeth: "I was Stone Warden. I know Sanctuary's weak points. Their Sido patterns. Let me in... I'll gut them for you."
A slit-eyed demon commander appraised him. "Bind him in void-chains. If he lies, flay his soul."
The gates groaned open.
Commanders' OrdersTsuneo read the blood-rune scroll materializing in his hand:
"By decree of the masked lord all soulwardens report to bloodstone arena. Trail by combat commences at dusk. Refusal equals treason."
Hayate gripped her wind-blades: "The arena is a slaughterhouse. We can't—"
Tsuneo stared toward the city: "We go. And we watch. That thing isn't Tamotsu... but he is somewhere."
The Bloodstone Arena pulsed:
Walls: Fossilized demon bones fused with soul-steel
Pits: Glowing magma pools where losers would melt
Seats: Packed with thousands of silent Soulwardens from Stone, Flame, Mist, and Tidal villages
Sky-boxes: Village leaders sat rigid—Stone Elder gritting his teeth, Flame Sovereign gripping her throne
The Ancient One appeared atop the Executioner's Pillar, masked gaze sweeping the crowd.
"Your first trial: Survive and defeat."
He snapped his fingers.
Hundreds of cage-doors slammed open.
Starving, acid-dripping void-beastscharged into the arena—
—as Soulwardens screamed, drawing weapons.