I am the Only Son of Nyx

It was the Blood Rite all over again.

Kai could feel the same isolated coldness of the cave as he woke up in the first trial, despite the sun hovering right above his head. He could feel the nauseating nervousness that churned his stomach, threatening to push out everything inside his gut. He could feel the finality that was present in the moment.

A dance that would determine whether he would live or die.

All of the horror and suffering that he had gone through since the very moment he ascended into the sky and became an Angel had been a highway path to this one brilliant fated moment written by the Moirai, the Goddesses of Fate, before the annals of time.

Or perhaps this was the cliché trance for people who are balancing on a thin string.

One that was suspended between life and death.

It was the thought process of people like Kai, who was trying to make sense of the moment. To make sense of putting their lives on the line for a word as hollow as victory. Nevertheless, he revelled in this sensation and prepared to battle again.

Right outside of the arena, floating on winged boots, the announcer explained the rules.

It was the same rules as earlier, but he ought to speak them again to further drill them.

Kai wasn’t listening—the voices drifted away as he tuned out of the world.

Even the cheering crowd was muted, leaving only his steady breaths and pounding heartbeats.

This is it. This is my second step.

Bella’s death—it was months ago, but he still remembered the feeling of dread and anguish that gripped him back then. He also remembered her final wish uttered through her very last breath.

Be strong.

It was as simple as a last wish can be.

Become brave enough to live for himself and refuse any constrictions that limit his freedom to live as he wants. She did not ask to be avenged. She didn’t ask to be remembered. No selfish requests that centered around her.

Bella’s wish was simple—be strong. Strong in every way.

For the last couple of months, the sky had tried to break him. Tried to crush him.

Return what was given tenfold.

That is the code instilled in him by Bella, and he decided to live by it.

If someone gave him kindness, then he would return it tenfold. And if someone gave him evil, then he would also return it tenfold. Now—the enemies had shown him that they wouldn’t stop no matter what.

Shown him that there was no line in this bleak world they wouldn’t cross to kill him.

Kai would return it to them tenfold.

He would return all the bad that he had endured to every single person—who had done him wrong. Chester, Ragnar, Hensen, the Chancellor, the Demigod, and the Demon Man. He will make sure that they regret what they did long before Hermes came—and brought them to the underworld.

For that, he needed to surrender himself to the darkness.

Kai closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, filling his lungs to the fullest.

And then, he exhaled through his nose.

He got rid of all the virtue in him and left only the wicked.

Once his eyelids fluttered open slowly, the vigor behind them had turned into a daemon.

Even Chester could feel it—the air around Kai changed as if he was now staring at someone else entirely. Like this was his first time seeing Kai for who he really was—the clearest moment of their animosity.

Despite that, there was no longer any fear in Chester’s eyes.

He had been nervous when Kai dismantled Barbara on the second round with such ease, but somewhere along the way, the tension had faded. Now—he was back to his usual self. Seeing Kai for what he truly was: a Lesser Angel.

Still beneath him. Still beatable.

"But the final round won’t be a simple bout between two finalists. There’s no fun in that." The announcer’s voice swept over the crowd—his eyes scanned the seats before fixing on the fully excited seniors. "I’m sure the seniors know exactly what I mean. But for the new Angels—let me show you."

Rumble—!

Just then, the arena trembled beneath Kai’s feet.

It was a loud, grinding shudder that crawled up through the stone and rattled his body.

He glanced down, eyes narrowing in confusion. At the center of the arena floor, Kai caught a circular dark outline, as if there was something underneath. And with a mechanical groan, the stone dropped away.

A hole yawned open, leading to absolute darkness.

Kai frowned.

In truth, he was expecting the final round to be a straight bout against Chester exactly like the second round. But that wasn’t the case. He turned his gaze and found Chester across the arena, standing perfectly still, perfectly unsurprised.

Of course.

Ragnar must’ve briefed him about the final round, and he knew what was coming.

Kai’s attention snapped back to the pit as a violent, rowdy growl rolled up from the depths.

A thick and wet sound crawled through his skin, and it was followed by heavy thuds.

Heavy thuds that Kai could only attribute to the footsteps of something massive.

Kai’s body tensed on instinct. His fingers tightened around the Blood-phantom Scimitar until the leather creaked. Whatever lay underneath the arena was big. Bigger than him. And most certainly bigger than anything that had ever been human.

Around, the crowd’s roar swelled to a fever pitch as the source of the growls emerged.

A monstrous creature.

It clawed its way out of the darkness in a burst of motion and fury, a living nightmare coughed up from the deeper layers of the Blue Void. A monstrous four-winged bird—Its body draped in cream-colored feathers that darkened to brown at the edges.

Eight tails fanned behind it.

Each one was a single long feather, with two among them stretching far longer than the rest.

Chains wrapped around its tarsuses and neck, clanking with every movement.

It thrashed and beat its wings in a frenzy, and the air churned.

Swoosh—!

A whirlwind erupted from its struggle—spreading across the arena in a violent howling gust, held back only by the shimmering dome-barrier that encased the arena. Kai crossed his arms but was pushed back a step.

Chester, on the other hand, remained unmoved.

Not because his strength was that strong, but because his shield blocked the wind perfectly.

It must be the Grade-1 enchanted gear Chester received—as a reward from the group ranking. The way the shield turned the violent gusts aside without so much as a stagger made it clear that it had wind affinity, and it also had a powerful origin.

Perfect protective gear for the final round, with the four-winged bird in the fray.

He’s prepared as expected.

Kai shifted his gaze and met the creature’s eyes—they were golden and wild.

And then, he saw a broken, milky white begin to crawl across the creature’s pupils.

It spread visibly, devouring the gold like frost consuming flame.

Once the white consumed its eyes, the four-winged bird went still. It had been thrashing only a second before as its life depended on it, but now it hung motionless. The wildness drained from its massive frame, replaced by a calm that belonged to no creature of the Blue Void.

Mind control? But why?

Just as the question lingered inside his mind, he realized the reason.

His breath was stolen away by something embedded in its forehead. A green orb, glowing and somewhat see-through—pulsing with a sickly light. Looking at it felt like staring straight into the core of the creature’s soul.

A Scourge-class Star Beast.

Are they being serious? A Scourge-class Star Beast is going to be involved in this?

Considering that he had seen a Pest-class Noble Star Beast and knew how strong it really was, Kai couldn’t believe that the final round would involve a Scourge-class Star Beast. That should be out of the league of Awakened Supernal.

Only Aspirant Supernal could contend with these monsters.

"For the final round—the winner would be the one who managed to steal the Heart of Dragon from the chosen Star Beast." The announcer said loudly, making sure that his words reached every corner of the stadium. "And the chosen beast for this year’s Dragon Ring tournament is the Mistress of the Sky, a Scourge-class Star Beast with wind affinity that could easily summon a whirlwind with a flap of its powerful wings!"

Kai looked down at the winged boots he was wearing.

So that’s why I’m told to wear winged boots.

Earlier, he thought the winged boots were simply to help them fight to their absolute maximum.

But that wasn’t the case.

He clenched his jaw at the realization, as this was a big disadvantage for him.

Operating the winged boots required an immense reserve of mana, a reserve that Kai simply didn’t have. And without it, the winged boots were useless. Stealing the Heart of Dragon—or whatever it was would be far harder for him than it already was for Chester.

"Of course, the academy is well aware of how powerful—a Scourge-class Star Beast really is." The announcer said, calming down the crowd that was stunned at the sight of the four-winged bird with a low chuckle. Normally, only a very strong Pest-class Star Beast would be chosen— and even then, it’s already brutal. "For that, it was fitted with an inhibitor. Its strength would be suppressed to the very peak of Pest-class.

"And it would also be mind-controlled to only focus on defending the Heart of Dragon."

After clarifying, the announcer pointed a finger skyward.

Golden energy materialized and bled out of nothing, twisting into a churning vortex of smoke before it began to coalesce before the onlookers’ eyes. At its heart—a brilliant core ignited like a miniature sun, pulsing with a rhythm that suggested that it was alive.

It was the Heart of Dragon.

And then, the barrier formations that encompassed the entire stadium shifted.

The cylindrical wall of reddish light that stretched skyward began to shrink, passing through the seats and through the crowd like a phantom tide—until it settled around the arena where Kai and Chester stood and beyond it, stopping only at the stone wall.

Like dissipating fire, the white dome-shaped barrier surrounding the arena dissolved.

Just like that, the battlefield had grown larger.

"Remember—the winner of the final round is the one who stole the Heart of the Dragon from its talons first." The announcer floated backward and phased through the reddish barrier, out of the battlefield.

He then looked at Kai, and then Chester, making sure that they were ready.

Once he deemed the two participants ready, he nodded.

"Final round of the Dragon Ring tournament—begin!"

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