LOGINHeavy footsteps thudded against the dark red bloodstone stage.The floor trembled slightly with every step.Barton stood two and a half meters tall, his muscles bulging like blocks of granite, straining the seams of his custom-made oversized leather armor.His eyes were bloodshot, a cruel grin stretched across his face. The stench of blood and unbridled bloodlust hung thick in the air around him.Eira tossed her grey cloak aside and stepped onto the stage, her black combat attire flowing softly as she moved.They stood face to face.The contrast was stark—an adult grizzly bear staring down a helpless kitten.The roar of the hundred thousand spectators died down. Everyone waited for the inevitable bloodbath, for the kitten to be torn apart.In the hidden private box, Lila trembled with excitement, already salivating at the thought of Eira’s brains splattering across the stage.In the VIP box, Kaelen’s hand clamped down so hard on his sword hilt his knuckles turned white. Every muscle i
Morning of the twenty-second day.The Central Arena of Blackrock City.This massive circular coliseum, built to hold one hundred thousand people, was packed to the rafters. The stands boiled like a cauldron, flags snapping in the wind, the roar of the crowd threatening to tear the sky apart.The giant fighting stage at its center was paved with solid dark red bloodstone. The blood of every contestant who had died here over the years had seeped deep into the stone, staining it forever.Eira sat in the most obscure corner of the contestants’ area, dressed in her sleek black combat attire.Her hands were wrapped in clean white bandages, hiding the wounds from her training. The other contestants kept a wide berth, staring at her like she was already a corpse.In a hidden private box high above the stands.Lila sat in the shadows, her face hidden behind a thick veil. She stared at Eira, her nails digging deep gouges into the wooden windowsill.“Laugh while you can. Breathe while you can,”
On the outskirts of Blackrock City stood an ancient coliseum, abandoned for centuries.Cold wind whipped fine shards of ice through the broken stone pillars, sharp as blades. Scattered across the coliseum floor lay massive dark boulders, hardened by centuries of volcanic ash until they were as tough as forged steel.THUD!A dull crash echoed through the empty arena.Eira, clad in a thin training robe, drove her right fist hard into a boulder as tall as she was. Silver moonlight power exploded across her knuckles—but the rock only bore a faint white scratch.The recoil tore open the skin on her hand. Blood dripped from her fingertips into the snow, blooming into bright red flowers.Only two days remained until her match.What would work? How could she break through Barton’s defense?Eira gasped for breath, staring at the boulder. Barton’s physical strength, amplified by the Dark Blood berserker array, would be even harder than this rock.Her moonlight power was pure, but her awakened s
Early morning of the twentieth day.The central square of Blackrock City was a seething mass of noise.The pre-tournament draw for the Continent-Wide Young Warriors Tournament was taking place beneath the towering War God Statue. The stands were packed with spectators from the four great clans, a cacophony of different dialects ringing in the air.Eira and Serena stood in the contestants’ waiting area.All around them were burly warriors over two meters tall, their muscles bulging beneath their armor. Eira’s slender frame and grey linen gown stood out like a sore thumb among the sea of heavy plate.On a raised platform at the edge of the square, several VIP boxes offered unobstructed views.Kaelen sat in the central throne, clad in his black leather trench coat. His gaze cut through the noisy crowd, fixed unblinkingly on the grey figure in the waiting area.He hadn’t sent anyone to see her since the day she’d slammed the inn door in his face. But every night, he stood on the Star Obse
The old wooden stairs of the Windchaser Outpost creaked underfoot.Leo, in his elegant cream robe, twirled a copper key strung with Star Ocean pearls between his fingers as he descended slowly to the first-floor hall.To keep a low profile, the outpost looked shabby from the outside. The tables and chairs were chipped, and the air reeked of cheap, sour ale.Eira caught the key and sealed parchment scroll steadily. She didn’t open the scroll immediately, just set it on the scratch-marked wooden table beside her.“How much for the intel?” Eira pulled out a bench and sat down directly.Leo didn’t stand on ceremony. He pulled out the chair opposite her, crossed his long legs, and propped his hands behind his head, looking utterly relaxed.“Miss Eira is straightforward,” Leo smiled, his sky-blue eyes glinting. “This intel cost us three high-level spies planted on the Dark Blood Duchy border. Two Tier 2 peak intelligence agents died getting this list out of the Frozen Forest.”Serena stood
At the highest point of Blackrock City’s royal palace stood the Star Observation Tower.Cold wind howled through the tower’s stone pillars. Kaelen leaned against the icy railing, his cold golden eyes fixed firmly on the eastern district.Half an hour earlier, his shadow guards had delivered news.Eira was not only in Blackrock City—she had saved Eve from four Dark Blood death squads in an alley in the east district.The moment he heard those words, Kaelen’s heart felt as if it had been squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.Blurred memories of his past life surged again. The woman whose wolf core he had crushed with his own hands in the snowy wilderness had, in this life, saved his most cherished sister at the same time and place.She knew full well how the Blackrock Wolf Clan spurned her. She had torn up their contract publicly at the coming-of-age ceremony. And yet, she had still stepped forward to save Eve.What did this mean?Did she still have feelings for him? Was she saving Eve







