CHAPTER 56: THE IMMOLATED

The arena’s rules were simple: fight with your weapon and skills. Items from quests, consumables, and anything expendable were banned.

Killing was forbidden, but brutal, potentially lethal injuries weren’t condemned. You fought as if lives were on the line.

Before his friends stepped into the arena, Ace got their attention and gave a few pointers.

"Alex, you remember you can’t use provoking skills on Rankers, right?" he asked his tank.

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

Ace turned to Chaewon. "It’s a duel, but if you go easy on them, you’ll regret it. I’m not asking you to kill Edward, but fight to permanently disable him."

Chaewon didn’t reply. She swallowed and nodded.

"Just as Chaewon hasn’t learned much from her Aquasteel Grimorie, you haven’t learned much from your Holy Codex," Ace told Mercer. "In this duel, watch your position. Don’t let them reach you easily or use you as bait to draw out Chaewon. Understood?"

"Yes, big bro," Mercer said with a decisive nod.

Ace smiled at all three. "Think too much and you fail. Think too little and you fail. Against Rankers, the ones who think a few moves ahead usually win. Your opponents will make you overthink and turn every action against you. They might open with their best skill to show you what they can do. Even if it fails or you block it, you’ll start accounting for it. The threat of it coming again will slow you down. Remember your options and use them smart."

The trio nodded and headed to the arena.

Ace took a seat in the stands, smiling as he looked forward to his friends’ duel. A lot of Rankers had shown up. News that the Rank Five and Rank Seven from Ace Avalanche’s Sixteen were fighting Edward Sawyer and his friends had spread fast through the Heaven Village.

Someone sat beside him.

He looked over and was surprised to see her.

—

Three-on-three, same classes. The only differences: Edward Sawyer used a long spear, and Chaewon a katana. Alex carried only a shield, while Edward’s tank held a sword and shield.

"Just a shield? We aren’t only meant to take damage, idiot," Edward’s tank taunted.

Alex sneered. "Didn’t have a chance to do more than tankin’ ’cause our damage dealers are actually fucking good, you know?"

The man grunted.

No one else was in the mood for chitchat. Edward tried to speak to Chaewon, but she ignored him. Her focus was sharp, stance tight and ready. He noticed she was all-in and kept his spear low, point forward.

A gong sounded. The fight began.

Edward leaned and kicked off with a crack of thunder. He barreled straight at Alex and thrust.

Before the blade connected, he pulled it back and vanished from Alex’s sight. Slipping past his blank point, he stabbed at Mercer. Mercer slid clockwise to Alex’s other side, and the spear missed.

A few more thunderclaps followed as Edward threatened the trio from every angle.

The crowd roared.

"This guy’s Lightning Steps always make me jealous!"

"Yeah, he can reach anyone whenever he wants, and run from danger, too!"

"Is he playing with them, though?"

Only high rankers saw the plan. Edward tested his limits and extended his control, showing right away what he could do.

Ace recognized the pattern. Later, people would call it Edward Sawyer’s lightning web. Rankers, monsters: anyone caught in it was as good as dead.

Once the web spread, Edward’s teammates joined in. His tank waited for the cue, ready to step in and lock down Alex.

Edward kept circling, always pressing them.

Chaewon slashed at empty air. A heartbeat later, her blade met the spearhead and stopped Edward cold.

His eyes snapped wide. It felt as if his lightning web had been cut in half and scattered.

Her cold stare pinned him. Alex slammed his shield into Edward, sending him rolling across the arena.

"W-What the? Edward’s been stopped so easily?! His team hasn’t even made a move yet!"

"That Chaewon is cold as hell..."

Chaewon lowered her sword, easing her grip, her gaze still on Edward. She didn’t chase. Staying beside Alex and Mercer, she kept her guard up.

"I knew you’d stop that bastard, Godmother! Haha!" Alex hollered.

It looked like pure swordplay, but she’d used Danger Zone on Mercer and Alex. The skill had evolved during the battle against the Silvervest Bear.

It saved a life, and Chaewon valued it enough to train until the evolution stuck. She succeeded.

When Edward was about to deal real damage to Alex, her Danger Zone flashed red. Chaewon moved before she could think and cut him off.

Alex followed because he trusted her. He could always count on Don Capo and Godmother. One hell of a pair. Still not official for some reason.

If Ace knew exactly what Chaewon did, he would tell her, "That’s so like you, Chaewon."

But he didn’t have time to think about his trio.

"I didn’t expect you to meet me first, Seraphina Griffin," he said.

Currently Rank Three, Seraphina Griffin had crossed Ace’s mind more than once during his short time on the Gravehaven Isle, mainly because Chaewon had taken her grimorie. It hadn’t truly been Seraphina’s Grimorie, but in his first life, she capitalized on it and made a name for herself. It was her main source of strength.

Because Ace had returned to the past, Seraphina Griffin had been stripped of that skill. Of all people, she was the first to sit beside him. Yet her appearance, or rather her mood, didn’t match what Ace remembered.

She came across as a quiet, introverted woman, the opposite of the Seraphina from his first life.

This change worried him.

"You did not? Even though we’re the same?" she asked.

The same? What’s she talking about?

Ace’s expression gave him away as Seraphina shook her head. "You don’t have to play dumb. You’re one of the Drowned, and I am one of the Immolated. We’re both slaves to this world now."

Ace’s eyes widened in genuine shock. He tried to speak, but the words clogged his throat. Was he trying to spit out responsibility, or was he simply that shocked?

That explains the Shrine’s early contact with the Heaven Village... but... "Why?" Ace asked.

"Why? Isn’t it obvious?" Seraphina asked, her eyes low.