The heroes prevailed before Hwin and his macabre audience, but it was not over yet. Once again, the announcer appeared in the arena and, seeming excited, announced: "Look at this beautiful scene, ladies and gentlemen. With it, we come to the end of our first act. Our Finger lords named this act 'Reunion'. In it, our heroes managed to defeat Thalarax and thus brought her back. But they did not know that the first act was not over yet!" The announcer raised his hand up, as if presenting something.
The audience, who had lost a bit of ecstasy, looked to where the announcer was indicating, as did everyone in the arena. Up there, beyond the magical barrier, a light turned on.
In a floating round cell were Draka and Ninea, bound. They did not appear to be injured, but they were unconscious. The audience fell silent, waiting for the announcer to continue with his macabre presentation. However, seeing the girls up there, Kal made an extremely fast jump to where they were and struck the magical barrier with his sword, but could not destroy it and fell back to the arena. "We must quickly destroy this barrier and free the girls!" said Kal.
Adonis, however, said: "Calm down, Kal, everything is going according to plan. We just need to stay calm."
Markel was still looking at Sahara, who held puppy Nia in her lap with tears in her eyes. "Don't be like this, Sahara. Nia is fine, let's focus on freeing the girls now," said Markel.
But Sahara, still very sad, said, "Hwin did something terrible to Nia. I can feel all the suffering and pain she went through."
Pudin, who was on Kal's shoulder, said he could also feel a desperation emanating from Nia's spirit.
"Can you help Nia in some way, Pudin?" asked Kal.
"I think so. I don't have many spiritual abilities, but I think I can soothe all of her suffering!" said Pudin.
Kal then put Pudin close to Sahara and Nia. "Sahara, Pudin is going to try to soothe Nia's spirit. You must stay away from the battle with her and Pudin. Don't worry, everything will be fine!" said Kal with a serene and calm look.
Sahara took Nia and Pudin and moved away to a corner as Pudin tended to the suffering afflicting Nia's spirit. Then the announcer continued: "See, those two are the reason our heroes are here tonight. They came as heroes to save our little damsels in distress. However, to achieve their goal, they will have to face the trials of all the Fingers. As I said, the first act was called 'Reunion', which was a small introduction to everything that will happen here tonight before your eyes. In total, we will have six acts, and you will see here tonight feelings being shredded, loss of family, the pain of separation and the glorious ascension of the Fingers, for they are the Fingers of God's Hand! "
After hearing this, the audience once again screamed in ecstasy, understanding that everything happening was in Hwin's and the Finger mercenaries' hands. Then the announcer continued: "The next act was personally written by Lord Krekk, the werewolf. He is the thumb of the Fingers and, since childhood, has suffered to reach the place he has reached. Krekk is not the son of kings or with lord's blood. He fought and achieved this level, and today he is here to prove that all, commoners or not, demi-humans or not, we can all reach the highest level! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Krekk the Great Wolf in his second act: 'Ascension'!"
The arena filled with a deafening roar as Krekk, the werewolf, appeared, his sharp claws and eyes glowing with contained fury. Krekk wore a golden gauntlet on his left hand with writings in the ancient language and a gemstone of various colors in the center glittered and sparkled with various colors; he walked to the center of the arena to the sound of the great audience.
Krekk raised his hand wearing the gauntlet as if asking the audience for silence, which immediately fell quiet. Krekk had a reputation for being cruel and dangerous; he was the thumb of the Fingers and the hunting dog of the Fingers, leading cruel and powerful men. The announcer took advantage of the audience's silence to continue: "In the second act 'Ascension', it will be a one-on-one battle - Lord Krekk will fight against one of the hero group's members, and when one dies another will take their place. However, Lord Krekk has decided to fight alone, so if any of them can kill Lord Krekk, the second act ends. Who will ascend in this battle?" asked the announcer. "Our little heroes?" The audience began an enormous jeer. "Or the Great Wolf of the Fingers?" At this the audience screamed enthusiastically.
Meglin raised his voice and shouted, "Nobody said it would be one-on-one! We are a group and we will fight as a group!"
However, Krekk, with a voice that seemed like a dark and ferocious growl, said, "You didn't look close enough. You don't have a choice!" He pointed again at the cage where the girls were. Pudin, who was focused on helping Nia, looked up and her expression changed. Sahara, able to see the kitten, asked, "What happened, Pudin?"
The kitten, with an extremely frightened look, said, "Look at the girls' heels." Sahara looked up again and noticed that the girls' heels had small black spots, imperceptible to the eyes of those who could not see spiritually. Sahara screamed, "Kal, look at the girls' heels!" Kal looked and was able to notice the black spots. "What is this?" asked Kal.
Then Pudin responded, "It is the same rot infecting the forest. Most of the spirits that are dying in the forest are not devoured by the dark wolves, but are infected by them and die slowly with their spirit wasting away until it disappears. The girls' spirits will waste away until they disappear, and they will never wake up again!" said the kitten.
Kal's expression changed completely. He remembered promising to protect Draka and Ninea, and now learning they had been infected by the rot of the evil spirits left him terrified. "What's happening?" asked Cruxe. Only Kal and Sahara could see and hear Pudin, so the others could not see anything related to spirits. Sahara then explained to everyone what Pudin had said, and they understood Kal's expression.
"Pudin, is there a way to cure spiritual rot?" asked Kal.
"Unfortunately, we don't know of anything that can help. The wise man Ogan said he believes only Astaruin herself can cure it," responded Pudin.
Kal then looked frustrated, believing he could do nothing for the girls. He asked Pudin, "How long until the disease takes over the spirit?"
Pudin responded, "I don't know the exact time either, but I've seen spirits die in five days and others die in just eight hours. I'm sorry, Kal, I don't know much about the rot."
No one else there seemed to be hearing or seeing Pudin, so they were not completely understanding what was happening. But Krekk realized they saw what he wanted them to see. "You understand," said Krekk. "Hwin personally took care of this so you wouldn't have a choice but to cooperate. We don't know how much time they have, right?"
Kal then, holding his katana, walked toward the center of the arena. "They want a fight, one-on-one, then they'll have this fight. I will end this quickly and save Draka and Ninea!"
Adonis, seeing Kal's determination, whispered to the others, "We need to support Kal even though he's fighting alone. We can't let him do this without help."
Krekk, with a sadistic smile, advanced toward Kal. "You're brave, boy. But courage alone won't be enough to win."
Kal kept his eyes fixed on Krekk, his katana shining in his hand. "We'll see," he said, his voice steady.
The battle began with a fierce impact. Krekk attacked with speed and strength, but Kal was prepared. He avoided the blows and counterattacked with precision. The audience watched in silence, absorbing each movement.
Sahara, holding Nia with Pudin by her side, watched the fight anxiously. "Kal, please be careful," she murmured.
Adonis and the others remained ready to intervene if necessary. Aura prepared support and healing spells, while Yorin observed the magical barrier, trying to find a way to weaken it.
Krekk, despite his brutality, began to realize that Kal was more skilled than he imagined. "You have talent, boy, but that won't be enough!" he growled, attacking again with renewed fury.
Kal, taking a deep breath, focused. He remembered Pudin's words and the promise he made to Draka and Ninea. He couldn't fail. With a quick, precise move, he landed a powerful blow that hit Krekk in the shoulder, making him stagger.
Krekk smiled as if enjoying the battle. "I was hoping to face that other white-haired one, but I think I struck gold facing you!" he growled. Once again he attacked Kal with his sharp claws. However, Kal continued dodging the blows and quickly countered, trying to slash Krekk's chest with his katana. But Krekk stopped Kal's attack with the golden gauntlet he was using. "I know you think you've already won, I know you think you have a great plan, but you will die here!" Krekk whispered with an evil smile.
Kal then concentrated his mana in the mechanical arm that Aura had made for him, making the three stones glow and creating an explosion of mana that threw Krekk hard against the walls. "I'm going to finish you, here and now!" said Kal, walking toward Krekk. All the others saw how strong Kal was, but Adonis, having seen Kal's spirit, knew the one fighting here was not the real Kal.
Krekk then stood up, smiling again. Taking off the golden gauntlet from his hand, he turned to Kal and said: "This is an artifact. I don't need artifacts to help me win battles, but Hwin told me this artifact would be useful against you. It's called the 'Gauntlet of Heaven and Earth.' It hurts more than the flesh; it hurts the opponent's spirit, leaving them dazed and without the will to fight. However, it cuts the user's mana in half, and for me it's better to fight without it!"
Krekk threw the gauntlet forcefully up into the air. Concentrating his mana, he conjured arcane spells upon himself: "Third Circle: Speed Increase" and "Third Circle: Strength Increase." And before the gauntlet fell back to the ground, he simply disappeared from view for everyone in the arena and reappeared before Kal. He grabbed Kal by the shirt and, extending his hand upwards, saw the gauntlet that he had thrown fall back into his hand. Donning it again, he pierced Kal's chest with his five fingers.
The audience let out a shout of euphoria, but the pain and surprise in Kal's eyes seemed to freeze the arena for an instant. Krekk looked directly into Kal's eyes, the shadowy smile still on his face. "Do you feel that, boy? The pain in your chest is just the beginning. Soon, your spirit will be shattered too."
Kal tried to resist, concentrating all his strength and mana to push Krekk away, but the pain was excruciating. He felt his vision darken for a moment but refused to give in to despair. "I... won't let... you... win..." he murmured with difficulty.
Kal was feeling something stronger than physical pain. All of the group looked scared, seeing their most powerful member hurt that way. Kal grabbed Krekk's hand, preventing him from letting go. He felt the gauntlet had affected his spirit and that this would definitively mean the end of his connection to his inner sanctuary, since the line connecting him to it had been severely damaged by Spartan in the ruins of White Castle in Bercuranon. Therefore, Kal held Krekk's hand tightly and, using the enhanced strength of the mechanical arm that Aura had built, prevented Krekk from pulling away. Then he concentrated all that remained of his divine mana. "You're going to die here and now, even if I go with you!" said Kal, almost losing consciousness.
Pudin, sensing the same divine mana she felt when Kal entered Astaruin's sanctuary, looked at Kal and just thought, "Kal!" His blood was dripping down the golden gauntlet that Krekk wore, and Kal's body began to glow, making the gemstone on the gauntlet shine in the brightest, most vibrant colors. Krekk felt his right hand burning but couldn't remove it. He looked and saw that Kal was almost unconscious. "This bastard can still have so much strength like this!" Krekk was considered the most physically powerful of the Fingers, one of the most powerful in the whole Duchy. But Kal, even unconscious, held Krekk's hand fast, which was burning.
Krekk began biting Kal's shoulder very hard, lacerating it several times and tearing off a huge piece of flesh. Still, Kal did not let go. Krekk let out a deafening scream, frightening the entire audience into silence at what they were witnessing. Krekk continued biting and hitting Kal with his free hand. Kal, with a small spark of consciousness left, started losing strength, imagining he would die, until everything around him fell silent and dark. "So this is what death is like!" thought Kal. "Actually, I thought I was dead twice before, but both times I was inside my sanctuary. This time, this darkness, I'm probably really dying!" he thought.
Kal's arms holding Krekk finally loosened, and the small remainder of Kal's divine mana was finally spent. The terrible pain Krekk felt was fading. Sahara, sensing Kal's mana had disappeared, stood up and screamed, "Kaaaaal!" Pudin, who continued tending to Nia, did not stop, despite feeling immense despair. Aura and Yorin ran toward Kal with Sahara, while Adonis and Markel just lowered their heads. The audience, still in silence, had not expected to see what happened. When Krekk shook his hand to withdraw it from inside the gauntlet and release Kal's dead body to the ground, suddenly Kal grabbed Krekk's arm again. However, this time an immense pressure took hold of the entire arena. Adonis and the others had felt this pressure in Hadon's house, so they all stopped running toward Kal.
A great fear took hold of their hearts. In the Finger Lords' room, Hwin grabbed his chair, fearing. "Do you feel this?" he asked. Zigga, feeling something on his face, wiped his hand and realized he was crying. "What kind of feeling is this? It's something gigantic!" Amon, with his head lowered, said, "It seems I'm before something beyond my comprehension." Then Hwin stood up from his chair and said, "It seems we've awakened a sleeping god!"
Down below, Krekk's eyes widened and he couldn't understand. "I've killed many men. I'm sure he died. His mana disappeared. What is this?" For the first time in his life, Krekk felt real terror.
There was silence throughout the arena. Everyone stood still. The pressure increased slowly and some in the audience simply couldn't resist and fell. A chill ran through everyone, and many knelt without even understanding why they were doing that. At that moment, Kal lifted his head. He opened his eyes and his eyes had an intense golden glow. Krekk saw in the depths of Kal's eyes a small blue and reddish glow mixing. Krekk felt he was before the vast infinity, and the lights of distant stars were now before his eyes. Krekk felt like the most insignificant of all beings, before the vastness of infinity, the stars of the sky were now before him and he only felt terror.
Kal, looking curiously at himself, said: "I am incomplete. This is but a small fraction of who I am! I remember the last time I was here, I saw men. Yes, yes, wizards. I remember a priest and a dark place. That place had my mana upon it and I took it back. Where was that again?" Then Krekk saw Kal contemplative and realized the opportunity to withdraw his hand from the gauntlet. However, when he pulled back his hand, he realized he had lost his entire right arm. Looking back, Kal held Krekk's right arm in his hand. "Personally I don't believe in luck, but I suppose I can call this luck. After all, if I could manifest with a little more power, all of you would be dead, not just missing a meager arm!" said Kal.
All of Kal's friends were too estranged. "Kal has always been quiet and isolated. This overwhelming personality cannot be Kal," thought Sahara. However, Adonis remembered: "What I felt that day was even greater than this. Who are you truly, Kal?" he thought.