'How....'

Sophia thought to herself as she stared at the scene in front of her, filled with awe and shock—mixed with strikinh terror.

'... terrifying.'

The room was devoid of any noise, it was quiet. A tranquil silence. And yet it couldn't be any more loud for her; the beat of her heart quickened, making her body tremble as the rhythmic sound in room gradually became louder.

The slow reverberating sound of footsteps echoed.

It was mere footsteps; and yet it took over the attention of everything in the room. It was as if a declaration of presence and aura, chilling and frightening everyone's senses.

It took a while before she handled herself together... the shock of the battle brought her to a trance of disbelief. At that point, she had a hard time distinguishing what was real and what was not.

"Now..."

A chilling, cold voice resounded in the room shattering the tense, silence atmosphere.

"...Tell me all you know."

A distinct familiar, and yet unfamiliar voice resounded—Sophia had a hard time believing that she knew who the owner of the voice was—after all, it was her leader.

In the middle of the room, surrounded by bronze swords with lusters of flames. A white haired man stood as a formidable, frightening aura emitted from his body.

"Speak."

Arcuied stated, his eyes cold as his pupils ocassionally shone, alike a golden judge. His hand gripped on the handle of his sword, pointing it to a fallen figure in the ground—completely defeated.

"Tell me everything you know about me."

—

Earlier...

In a wide barren land, a torned down castle; lost all of its former glory was situated as the debris attached to it ocassionally fell down. Inside the castle, magnificent bronze swords filled the throne room.

Creak—!

The door of the throne room loudly opened as a distinct figure walked inside. It was white haired student with shining golden eyes that displayed resolution and calmness.

Arcuied stopped his body, his gaze shifting to the ends of the room in wariness. An immense, sense of danger filled him—this had not happened since his battle with the cultist in the Harrowing Lands.

In the opposite end of the room, a tall figure stood calmly. The figure had a distinct appearance; having long scarlet red hair and broad shoulders, wearing a student uniform while a callous expression was plastered on his face as he stared at Arcuied from a distance.

"You finally arrived. It took you a while." The red haired student muttered loudly. "...As expected, you really are 'one'."

"...One?" Arcuied asked, frowning. "Regardless, can you release my teammates?"

After entering the entrance path, they walked inside the gigantic castle—however, as soon as they entered inside, a student proclaiming himself as the examiner for this year's exam showed up and took all his teammates away.

"Them?" The red haired student faintly asked. "That's inappropriate, don't you think? This is 'our' battle afterall. They wouldn't serve to be nothing more than cannon fodders and distractions."

"Huh?" Arcuied titled his head, confused. Suddenly, he felt a weird sensation. He stared at the red haired student, feeling some sort of magnetism towards the person. "...Wait. Who are you?"

"In this room of fallen swords, It's time to start the final exam of the year then." The red haired student announced, shaking his head. "No... I will not treat this an exam. I can't do so. In this castle, we will fight... I will hold nothing back and so shall you. The victor will be the one that continues to advance."

"You're not making any sense..." Arcuied frowned. "Just what are you saying?"

"That is what we two are after all, beings with no sense and explanation." The red haired student sighed in irony. "Arcuied Valens... show me everything you have because I won't hold back."

"I won't fight." Arcuied said. "Tell me first—who are you? And what's your true purpose here?"

He didn't know why, but increasiny magnetic sensation grew, longer he spent his time talking with the red haired student. It was bizarre... he never felt anything like this in any way at all in the past.

This was a first. For some reason, he wanted to wak up to the man and just—kill him. Yes, that was right. His body was screaming to act; to kill; and to slaughter—it was as if the man was the supremw devil of all humanity.

"You don't intend to fight?" The red haired student frowned. "Stop lying. Between us, our killing intent has already filled the room—I'm sure you can feel it. The desire to kill and slaughter."

Arcuied turned silent, assuming a stance as the wariness within him grew.

"Then, I'll introduce myself." The red haired student stepped forward. "Ashen Ataraxia, the Rank 10 Student in the Volund Rankings. I am here to test you—no, I am here to finally kill you... Valens."

"Kill me..?" Arcuied hardened his grip towards his sword. "I thought you were a examiner, not an assassin. Or does the academy itself want to see me dead, which one?"

"The academy?" Ashen blinked, shaking his head. "You misunderstand. I'm not here because of the academy's will. I'm here because... I really want to kill you. And I need to."

"Need?" Arcuied frowned, increasingly growing confused. "...Did I do something to you in the past? Why do you need to do so?"

"No, we're completely unrelated." Ashen shook his head. "...Well, not completely unrelated. But all you need to know is that only one of us is stepping outside of this castle alive—it's what destiny foretold, anyway."

"...Oh well, all this talking is slowing us down." Ashen said calmly, his hand reaching out to the long sword hanging on his back. "Let us start then."

At that moment, a ripple of flames formed behind Ashen as a bright, burning lotus merged into his body like fiery wings. The lotus shone brightly.

Ashend raised his hand, pointing the long—obsidian sword towards Arcuied. The formerly, blackened dark obsidian sword was suddenly filled with pure, flames that burned everything near.

However—it didn't stop there.historical

The seven clad burning lotus suddenly shone more brightly, this time filling his body in flames. Ashen was like a bug; trapped in a cocoon of flames as his body burned and turned asunder.

From a distance, Arcuied could feel the immense heat and force radiating from the flames. Even a single ember of it could burn a whole huge tree down and yet... Ashen's face showed no change of expression, as if feeling no pain.

But that was false—Ashen was no god of flames, nor was he the master of fire—he was a mere human, and thus... the fire inside burned him, turned his body and and face asunder as immense pain assaulted his mind.

A while later, the lotus flames withdrew and released Ashen's body. This time—he looked different. His formerly, scarlet red hair and eyebrows were now flowing fiery flames; while his borad and unassuming body was now clad and reinforced of blazing fire.

His former appearance was no where to be recognized. In this instance, he looked like the incarnation of fire itself—a living representation of a fire storm.

Everything near Ashen burned fiercely. The embers of the lotus that fell to ground turned into a ring of fire that surrounded the middle of the room, turning the cold throne room into a fiery inferno.

"Now..." Ashen said, his eyes shining red. He pointed his fiery sword clad with flames towards Arcuied. "Let's start."

Arcuied tensed up, sweat filling his body as the heat from the fire surrounding the room boiled his body. Before he could prepare himself more, Ashen's figure flashed and suddenly appeared before him.

Ashen raised his sword, slashing it towards Arcuied.

Arcuied reacted too late; the sharp fiery sword teared grazed his body as a small wound formed on his shoulder. The wound was filled with flaming embers, burning him internally.

However — not paying any heed to the pain, Arcuied realized his situation and immediately retreated back in full force. His body turned into a blur as he tried to distance himself from Ashen.

However, his action didn't escape Ashen's notice. Ashen followed suite, raising his hand as he swung the sword in an arc—producing a wave of fire mid air aimed at Arcuied.

Arcuied felt the fire accumulate behind his back. He stopped moving as he tightened his grip towards his sword.

At that moment, the air around him trembled and shook as raging wind converged towards his sword—but it didnt end there. Icy snowflakes suddenly emerged from his body, covering him in chilling cold.

The raging wind frosted, turning into icy wind.

Arcuied raised his sword. The wave of flames neared him, filled with the intent of burning his body to the ground. He moved his hand, swinging the sword in an arc.

Woosh—!

At that moment, a wave of icy wind formed mid air and clashed with the wave of fire. Both incorporeal elements turned extreme and clashed against each other, blowing up and filling the room with smoke.

From both opposite ends of the room, Arcuied and Ashen stared at one another. Their eyes holding intense desire to kill.