A flashback occurs years ago as little Sting was staring down at a mound of Ripar corpses while Chief Ezgord was staring at him from behind. During this moment, Sting slowly turns towards his father with a terrifying widened eyed stare.
"Your winner!: The 'Shadowmancer of the Ripar tribe'...! Sting!!!" Trengal's voice echoed at the court.
The audience gave a massive roar while some were shocked at what Sting had done to Gorn and began to murmur among themselves.
"Damn. This guy just buried Gorn with one shot."
"Yeah, what a brutal fight!"
"This wasn't a fight, this was a stomp."
"True, but is that Tenplar boy still alive?"
"Let's just hope he is."
Down at the arena, Sting stared down at Gorn's hand that was sticking out of the ground and walks away with an unhappy expression.
"He seems to be in a crappy mood despite him winning this round." Trengal said within himself.
"Gorn..." Raen said softly.
"He got beaten so easily." A feminine voice said beside Raen.
"Man, what a weakling." Another feminine voice said.
"Guess he was all hype." Another feminine voice said.
Raen's eyes rolls towards the females beside her and saw them to be the girls that were admiring Gorn earlier before the match started.
"You've got to be joking." Raen said while glaring at them, "You girls were trying to get everyone see that you were with Gorn but the moment he lost a one sided fight, you are willing to abandon him and talk trash about him?"
"I don't associate myself with weaklings." The Ripar girl among them said.
"Yeah, Gorn is a weakling." A Graundar girl said.
"Humph. Peerless dawn, my foot." Another Graundar girl said.
"You know, if all of you combined together should fight Gorn, he'd beat you without breaking a sweat." Raen said while glaring down at the arena.
"Hey, why do you care about what we say about him?" A Kenar girl asked, "Do you have some kind of feeling towards him?"
"Careful..." A redhead Tenplar girl said while smiling, "This is Raen; The one who is 'Soon to be Gorn's wife'. You wouldn't want to upset her now, would you?"
The girls began to giggle with their hands covering their mouth which ended up angering Raen.
"You whores better shut your mouth before i do it for you." Raen said in a cold tone while emitting a faint green aura and glaring down at the arena.
Meanwhile as Rish was watching Sting walk away from the arena, he took notice of how Karma was staring down at Sting with a fixed expression while having her arms crossed.
"What's with her?" Rish asked within himself.
"I knew it." Karma said within herself, "I knew you were just playing around and hiding your strength.
You are truly the one i have deemed worthy of becoming my prey and it is by my hand that you shall be crushed!"
As Sting was walking alone in the hall, he suddenly halts as he felt a presence behind him.
"What do you want?" Sting asked while facing forward.
"I came to see you, Sting." Chief Ezgord said from behind as he was walking towards Sting, "You were impressive. You completely dominated that match and put that Tenplar boy in his place. You even earned a title by that Keigra announcer as the Shadowmancer."
"Shouldn't you be watching the tournament?" Sting asked while still facing the ground, "You know, watching the other candidates perform?"
"You're the one i came to watch. The others don't matter to me." Chief Ezgord replied, "So tell me, how did you feel in the match? I was against you learning the gaaruda because i thought it would make you weak but you managed to prove me wrong."
"Gorn... To be honest, when i fought him, i had to lower my power to match his so that i can get excited in our fight, which i was for some time but eventually i got bored with him." Sting said. "But that last moment... That smile..."
Sting quickly recalls the smile of Gorn while he was facing the ground.
"He didn't surrender because he felt it was pointless to keep on fighting..." Sting said after recalling that moment, "It was if he understood he hurt someone close to him to get to where he is and because of that, he felt he didn't deserve to win the match."
"He was a weakling." Chief Ezgord said, "You totally went soft on him. However, even the strong need to show the weak mercy at times to remind them of their place."
"Sure... Whatever." Sting said.
As Sting began to walk away, Chief Ezgord quickly held Sting by the shoulder.
"Wait." Chief Ezgord said, "Your mother ... She would be proud of you."
Hearing this, Sting began to emit a menacing dark aura while facing the ground.
"I'd appreciate it if you removed your hand... Father." Sting said.
As Chief Ezgord removed his hand away from Sting's shoulder, Sting's dark aura slowly vanished and Sting released a deep sigh.
"I didn't enter this tournament for you." Sting said, "There is a girl that challenged me to face her at the tournament. I've got to say, she is quite strong and extremely dangerous but I'm not bothered, because what I'm going to do..."
"Is going to shock her and everyone in the tournament." Sting said with a dark smile and a deepened voice as he turned around to look at his father along with his scleras being black and his irises glowing which led Chief Ezgord to frown at Sting in confusion.
Sting walks away from his father, leaving Chief Ezgord alone to stare as Sting exits the hall.
"You know, i'm not sure if i should be curious or terrified of what Sting is planning to do." A masculine voice said.
Chief Ezgord turns around and sees the person to be Zotek.
"Hello, brother." Chief Ezgord said.
"Hello, brother." Zotek replied.
"Why are you here?" Chief Ezgord asked.
"I just finished dealing with some issues and i decided to speak to Sting after learning that he defeated Gorn." Zotek said.
"Oh, you mean that weakling that was over hyped by Chief Tenya?" Chief Ezgord asked.
"Gorn isn't weak." Zotek replied, "He just happened to face someone that was far above him.
He's young and he still has a lot of potential in becoming stronger."
"Just like my son." Chief Ezgord said, "Since only the strongest gets to rule, I'm going make sure that he becomes the strongest Ripar of his generation; From there, he'll have no choice but to become a Chief of our tribe. He's in his rebellious phase but he'll get over it and thank me later."
"Is that what you think?" Zotek asked, "It's because of this, Sting refrained from using his Kan ability and went to learn the gaaruda but yet, you still continue to push him more into fulfilling your agenda."
"What i do with Sting is none of your business." Chief Ezgord said, "He is my son and I will do what i must."
"Yes, he is your son but he is also related to me as well." Zotek said, "Do you remember how hard you used to push him in your trainings? You pushed him so hard that he lost control of his ability and caused the death of so many Ripars including his mother."
Zotek quickly recalls the moment of little Sting staring down at a mound of Ripar corpses.
"Of course, nobody found out because all you had to do was pin it on an enemy and kill him for a crime he didn't commit." Zotek said.
"Would you prefer i let them harm my son?" Chief Ezgord asked.
"That's not my point." Zotek said, "My point is that you keep pushing Sting further away from you with this agenda of yours and you refuse to acknowledge it.
His Kan ability: Plague... An ability that allows him to bring death upon anyone or anything he comes across, with or without contact. But as kan deepens as we get older so did his. It got to a point that when he forces that concept of death on a person, the person's soul is immediately enslaved to him, giving Sting a boost of power."
"And?" Chief Ezgord.
"Are you aware that he still has his mother's soul and has no idea on how to put her and the others to rest?" Zotek asked.
"That's on him." Chief Ezgord said, "If he continued trying to master his Kan ability and break his limits, he would have been able to do that."
"I'm usually considered as the inhuman one in the family but why am i the only one that is making human responses here?" Zotek asked, "Are you aware that your son asked me to alter his appearance with soul shift? Apparently, it seems that he can't stand his appearance because of the immense guilt and disgust he feels with himself but he masks them all up with his behavior."
"But you changed him back?" Chief Ezgord asked.
"Yes, i did... I... Had to." Zotek replied, "I gave him three days to stay in his altered appearance but even after those three days, he still begged me not to change the altered appearance of his eyes but i had to do it, eventually."
"Like i said before, he'll get over it." Chief Ezgord said, "After all, you got over yours."
"But at what cost?" Zotek asked, "If father didn't offer his own soul for me when i was extremely young, i'm not sure i would have been able to control the hunger of devouring souls.
Older brother, when we were little, you used to believe the notion that life isn't all about power and control. What happened to you?"
"I grew up." Chief Ezgord answered.
"I see..." Zotek said while staring down at the ground as Chief Ezgord exits the hall.
Zotek immediately feels a disturbing presence in the hall, leading to turn back with a stern look.
"Reveal yourself." Zotek said as his irises glowed.
A shimmering image formed in the hall which quickly revealed itself to be the mysterious cloaked man.
"Impressive." The mysterious man said with a slight grin, "You're not as strong as your older brother but you are able to sense me. Could it be because of the amount of souls you have devoured?"
"Who are you?" Zotek asked.
"Who i am doesn't matter." The mysterious man said, "You could say that i'm a being that exists and at the same time... Doesn't."
"I've been feeling your presence for some time at the academy. What do you want?" Zotek asked.
"Relax. I have no interest in you or the others." The mysterious man said, "My business is with the Ruler of the end."
"The Ruler of the end...? Who the hell is that?" Zotek asked.
"It would seem that the mortals of this world has no idea who he is but yet the Great sages do." The mysterious man said.
"The Ruler of the end... Is it Cloud?" Zotek asked, "What do you want with him?"
The mysterious man gave a dark grin as his eyes completely glowed underneath the shadow of his hood while emitting a black-blue aura and immediately disappears from Zotek's sight.
After the man's disappearance, Zotek clenched his fist and his calm expression quickly changed into a suspicious glare.
Meanwhile as Cloud was walking past many medical rooms, he recalls the discussion that him and Killer bee had earlier.
"Oh well, i really must be going." Cloud said while smiling with his eyes closed.
"Wait." Killer bee said while facing her white sheet, "Before you leave, there is something I'd like to ask."
"Hm? What is it?" Cloud asked with a puzzled demeanor.
"How do you feel learning that your tribe isn't really a minor?" Killer bee asked.
"We don't know that yet." Cloud replied, "For all we know, it could be the lost power of my tribe or something entirely different."
"But this is good news, right?" Killer bee asked as she turns her head towards Cloud, "I mean for the first time ever, the Stormwinds are going to be fully acknowledged by everyone else and with you possessing kan, you might be able to last a few minutes and shock the whole of Agaroth, if not the entire warrior realms. Aren't you happy?"
"I am." Cloud replied, "Believe me, i am. It's just..."
"I see..." Killer bee said as she resumes staring down at her sheet, "You do want the Stormwinds to be acknowledged but not like this. You feel that if you become a Pilgrim with Kan, then everything you worked hard for, won't have much meaning because at the end of the day, the Stormwinds were just another major tribe, correct?"
"Yeah, correct." Cloud said as he slightly turns his face away while facing the ground, "Initially, i was happy about it but as i began to give it some thoughts..."
"Cloud, i understand where you are coming from." Killer bee said, "But if the Stormwinds were indeed a major tribe then trying to pretend that you don't possess kan isn't going to help.
It's as if you are trying to build a false world for yourself to live in and believe me when that world crumbles, it will be hard for you to cope with reality... Unless... There is something else bothering you..."
Cloud became mute with Killer bee's assumption and resumed facing the ground.
"Cloud... Is there something wrong?" Killer bee asked.
After remembering that moment, Cloud exhaled with his eyes closed.
"She's right on both sides." Cloud said within himself, "I can't pretend that i don't possess kan but still..."
Cloud quickly remembers image the giant lion he met when he was younger.
"He called me 'The ruler of the end'." Cloud said within himself, "I initially thought it was some kind of nickname, joke or mistaken identity but now... What does that even mean? What is the ruler of the end?"
While thinking about this, Cloud spots a medical room with an opened door and in that room, Van's former friends (Rico, Juni and Garl) were staring down at the unconscious Van with a worried expression.
Seeing this, Cloud quickly recalls a day ago as him, Karma, Gorn and Van were alone in a forest.
"Calm down." Gorn said, "The tournament is only a day from now, there is no need for you to fight each other."
"You'd get in my way too?" Van asked with a dangerous glare, "First it was Karma, now it's you.
Tell me something, Gorn. If i hit you right now...."
"What's going to stop me from dissecting you in half?" Van asked as he raised his fist along with his eyes completely glowing.
After remembering that incident, Cloud turns to look at Van and his former friends again in the medical room.
"If it wasn't for Zotek's intervention, who knows what that psychopath would have done." Cloud said within himself, "Why did i feel sorry for him? He is a dick and an asshole but yet..."
Cloud recalls as Van was screaming and tears were flowing out of his eyes during his round with Onak.
"For some reason, i could feel all his pain and rage... It was just so sad." Cloud said within himself, "Van, what happened to you?"
Back at the arena, a teenage redhead Kenar male was staring at a teenage black haired Kenar male who happened to be facing the ground.
"Meeno is going to fight That guy?" Yulin asked within herself in a slightly excited manner, "This should be good."
"It's been a while, Big brother Dam." Meeno said with a smile.
After Meeno had finished talking, Dam slowly raised his head.