A look of trepidation crossed Jasmine's face as she stared at her father, an arrow lodged deep in his chest.
She screamed, sprinting toward him, her heart hammering as her gaze darted around the room, searching for any sign of the attacker.
But there was nothing.
No doors forced open, no walls disturbed. Everything looked just as it had when she'd entered. It was as if the arrow had simply… appeared.
She turned back to her father, her face pale, as he frowned, glancing down at the arrow protruding from his chest.
"As I thought," he muttered.
"There was someone lurking in the sunken islands. Though I didn't expect them to reveal themselves… not this soon."
Hearing him speak so calmly, almost dismissively, left Jasmine bewildered.
"Dad… are you… okay?"
Her voice trembled; the question sounded absurd, yet she couldn't stop herself from asking.
Joaquin finally looked at her and gave a reassuring, almost gentle smile.
"Of course. I anticipated this and took precautions. Azriel warned me that someone might try to take my life, so I… rearranged my heart."
Jasmine blinked, processing his words.
'Azriel warned him? So… Cadet Lumine was telling the truth.'
Unease coiled in her stomach as her eyes fell back to the arrow—an arrow piercing the body of a saint.
Without a hint of alarm, Joaquin grasped the arrow, pulled it from his chest, and a small spurt of blood escaped, only to have the wound close in an instant. He examined the arrow, noting the dark wood and peculiar metal tip.
He dropped the arrow, which was swiftly swallowed by a shadowy circle that appeared at his feet.
Then he sat back, calm and composed, while Jasmine stood there, dumbfounded.
'Why was I even worried…'
The man himself didn't seem to care.
Jasmine finally broke the silence, steadying her voice.
"Shouldn't we… I don't know, look for whoever shot that arrow?"
Joaquin shook his head lightly, a hint of a smile on his lips.
"They've already left the Sunken Islands. Chasing them would be insanity."
'You're already insane,'
she thought, biting back the words. Instead, she looked down, feeling a fresh surge of anxiety.
'Wait… if even he thinks it's crazy to go after this person, how powerful are they?'
She realized Joaquin had likely known this assailant was lurking somewhere on the islands, waiting to strike. But for some reason, they'd chosen now to reveal themselves, only to vanish just as quickly.
'What is he thinking?!'
Frustration flared inside her.
'Since when can a saint rearrange their heart, anyway?
The more she thought about it, the more questions piled up.
'Forget it. I don't want to know.'
With a sigh, her gaze drifted to Azriel, who was still asleep, his face twisted as if in a nightmare. She glanced at her father, who clearly couldn't be bothered about getting shot.
'If he doesn't care, why should I?'
Yet a strange unease lingered. Something wasn't right.
She noticed Joaquin looking at Azriel with an intensity that hadn't been there moments ago. His expression was serious, almost troubled. She furrowed her brows, following his gaze to where Azriel lay, silent, lost in some haunting dream.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Joaquin didn't answer immediately. Rising from his chair, he walked over to Azriel's bedside, crouching down, his face shadowed by worry.
He shook Azriel slightly, but there was no response.
His face darkened, a rare look of unease surfacing.
"How did this happen…?"
He sounded almost… baffled. Jasmine's anxiety spiked as she pressed him again, desperate.
Joaquin looked at her, then back at Azriel, and his expression grew even more grim.
"He's… in some kind of coma. It's hard to explain, even for me. His blood, mana, brainwaves—everything is behaving oddly. But how could this have happened with me here? No one should've been able to… with me here."
Jasmine's mind blanked, his words reverberating in her head.
'Azriel? In a coma? How?'
She looked at Azriel, who seemed asleep, though his face twisted with traces of a nightmare. She turned to her father, her face a mix of pleading and desperation.
Joaquin looked between her and Azriel, and for the first time, she saw something unsettling in his eyes—uncertainty.
"No… I don't know what's wrong with him. If I tried to wake him forcefully, he might… die."
Her face drained of color, her gaze fixed on her brother's face, her hands trembling.
"W-what should we do?"
Joaquin's gaze was dark as he finally replied,
"There's nothing we can do… but wait."
Azriel followed the doctor, who walked briskly, almost like an excited child rushing toward some destination. As they moved deeper, he noticed the hallways becoming narrower, the walls more dilapidated, as if leading him into an abandoned section.
Finally, he found himself in front of a passage carved from ancient stone. It felt like entering a cave, the damp air thickening, making each breath slightly heavier. A chill crept over him despite his affinity for ice.
'I can't even use my skills like [Void Mind] in here…'
he thought, bitterly. If he could, he would've used it back when the doctor injected PE-0 into him, sparing himself that searing pain. But at least it was a distraction from... everything else.
He shook his head slightly, feeling the weight of his own uncertainty. A part of him felt... lost.
The doctor stopped abruptly in front of an enormous stone gate, and Azriel approached cautiously.
This time, the doctor didn't bother to look back, confident Azriel wouldn't make a futile attack. The gate was imposing, carved from dark stone streaked with metallic veins, as though it had been wrenched from the earth's core. Strange, haunting symbols covered its surface, some eroded by time.
'I can't read these runes… unless they're like the ones in the void dungeon,'
Azriel thought. Without the blessing of the God of Death, understanding these runes was impossible.
The doctor placed a hand on the gate, and a pulsing blue glow spread across it. The gate groaned, a low, heavy rumble that seemed to resist opening. Azriel narrowed his eyes, a shiver of unease creeping up his spine. And then, with a final thunderous crack, the gate split open, revealing a sight that took his breath away.
An immense underground dome stretched out before him, vast and echoing. Circular tiers of stone stands rose around him, shadowed and towering. Massive pillars, scarred and battered, supported the ceiling high above, like ancient trees bearing the weight of countless battles. Flickering torches lined the walls, casting eerie shadows that twisted and danced across the stone.
Azriel let out a hollow laugh, disbelieving.
'An underground colosseum... a fucking underground colosseum...'
The doctor turned to him with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"This will be your new routine, 666. Survive. Every day, you will fight here. And perhaps, one day… if you're deemed a success, you'll earn a place among our best in Neo Genesis."
Azriel's eyes trembled slightly.
'Every day? Meaning… I'll have to take that hellish drug every day? And fight'
He had no words, no time to process, as the doctor's voice darkened, his smile turning cold and severe.
"If you defy your routine… disciplinary actions will be taken. Trust me, 666, you don't want that."
Azriel swallowed, nodding slowly, feeling the doctor's piercing gaze. Satisfied, the doctor nodded and stepped back.
Azriel took a deep breath, his heart pounding, as he crossed the threshold into the arena. He glanced back, seeing the doctor's eerie smile just as the massive stone gate began to close, sealing him inside.
He stood alone in the arena, his gaze tracing the rows of cracked and broken seats.
'Why build this underground?'
he wondered, his mind racing. A colosseum in the void realm was one thing, but here?
'This place… isn't it close to the Asura Mountains? Didn't Dante say he found a passage into [White Haven] there? What's the connection?'
But he had no time to dwell on it as the ground trembled beneath him.
Azriel turned, watching the stone gate on the opposite side begin to open.
'I still have it… right?'
In the next instant, Void Eater materialized in his right hand, the familiar weight grounding him.
Seeing his old companion brought an immense sense of relief—whatever twisted memory or nightmare he'd been trapped in, Void Eater was still with him. He gripped the hilt tightly, bracing himself as the gate finally opened.
And when it did, Azriel's eyes widened.
He'd expected void creatures. After all, they were in the void realm, and a colosseum here could only mean one thing—a battle against these horrors. But standing before him wasn't any void creature.
Five of them, dressed in dull gray jumpsuits, their faces pallid and shadowed by dark circles beneath their eyes. Unlike Azriel, who was still in his gown, they looked... drained, their eyes hollow, devoid of any spark of life.
'Their eyes… it's like I'm looking at corpses.'
A cold discomfort seeped into Azriel as the men stepped forward, never once glancing at the vast, colosseum around them. They were focused solely on him, their movements slow but relentless.
'So this is what he meant by 'testing' and 'surviving…'
Azriel thought darkly, teeth gritted as the weight of his situation sank in.
Just looking at them—those dead, empty eyes—told him all he needed to know.
This was going to be…