The clamor of the arena buzzed in Luci's ears as he walked across the dusty grounds. Sunlight glinted off the polished armor of the competitors and highlighted the eager faces of the crowd seated all around the colossal coliseum. Luci, however, paid no attention to the cheering masses. His crimson eyes scanned the royal box, spotting the king—reclined and tearing apart a roasted chicken with his teeth. His son, the silver-haired knight, sat beside him, watching the arena with a calm but focused expression. Flanking the king was the princess, her face masked by a veil, and the black-haired knight, a man with a reputation for ferocity.
The king, Luci noticed with a smirk, barely acknowledged the fight about to happen, seemingly more interested in his food. Typical. They all underestimated him. They assumed this commoner with chains binding his hands was just another disposable contestant.
"Luci!" His opponent's booming voice snapped him back to the present.
He turned, lazily, to face the man in the center of the arena. A towering knight, wielding a massive Warhammer that shimmered faintly with an aura of divine blessing. The man was already in position, feet firmly planted, the ground trembling slightly beneath him. Luci raised a brow, unimpressed.
"You ready to meet your end, boy?" the knight sneered, lifting his hammer above his head in a show of strength.
Luci shrugged, his gaze drifting once more toward the royal box. "I'd be more worried about your hammer," he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for the front rows to catch. A few chuckles echoed through the crowd.
The knight roared in response and charged. His boots slammed into the earth, sending small tremors with each step. The crowd leaned forward, eyes wide in anticipation. In seconds, the man was upon Luci, swinging the Warhammer in a wide arc aimed directly at his chest. The air itself seemed to ripple from the force of the blow.
But Luci didn't move. He barely flinched as the hammer struck him squarely—and shattered into countless pieces.
The arena fell silent. Dust and splinters of divine metal swirled in the air, glinting like shards of glass in the sunlight. The towering knight stared in disbelief at the remains of his once-mighty weapon. His hands trembled, still clenched around the hilt, now nothing more than a broken handle.
The crowd erupted in gasps and murmurs. Even the royal box showed signs of life. The princess leaned forward slightly, as though trying to see Luci more clearly through her veil. The silver-haired knight sat straighter in his seat, eyes narrowing.
Luci, however, was unimpressed. He tilted his head and sighed, "Weakling."
The knight's face flushed with anger and humiliation. "I... I don't need a weapon to defeat you!" he bellowed, taking a step back. "I'm a knight blessed by the God of Earth! I'll show you real power!"
The ground beneath their feet rumbled once more, but this time it wasn't from the knight's footsteps. He raised his hands, calling upon the god who had granted him his boon. " calling the God of Earth! Grant me your power—rock control!"
Luci's eyes flicked toward the ground, where the earth itself began to rise up. Large chunks of rock, boulders the size of men, lifted into the air and hurled themselves toward him. They came from all directions, faster and faster, threatening to crush him into the ground.
The crowd's excitement grew, their roars blending with the rumble of the shifting earth. People stood, craning their necks to see the spectacle of divine power in action.
Luci, however, didn't move. He didn't even blink. The boulders smashed into him with deafening force... and shattered on impact. Just like the Warhammer before them.
The crowd gasped. The royal box was now on full alert. The king paused mid-bite, his greasy hands frozen in the air, and the silver-haired knight's eyes narrowed further. The princess was completely motionless, her veil fluttering in the breeze.
Luci shook his head, stepping through the dust and rubble. "What are you?" the knight whispered, his voice trembling.
"Thinking about roasted chicken, mostly," Luci replied, his eyes drifting back to the king's dinner. He wiped a stray speck of dust from his shoulder. "But you... you gave me dirt to eat. Now," his eyes gleamed crimson as he stepped closer, "I'll turn *you* into dirt."
The knight's resolve shattered. He stumbled back, but Luci was already in front of him. With a flick of his wrist, Luci grabbed the man by his armor and threw him to the ground. The earth beneath trembled again, but this time not from divine power—from sheer, raw strength.
Desperately, the knight tried to summon more rocks, hoping they would save him. The ground shook as he raised his arms, but Luci was already done with him. He placed both hands together, the chains clinking softly as he forced the rocks into a single, massive boulder around himself. The crowd went silent, eyes wide as they waited to see what would happen.
With a simple grunt, Luci shattered the boulder from the inside, dust flying everywhere. "You're not bad," Luci muttered, stepping through the rubble toward his opponent. "But you're not enough. Show me more."
The knight was done. He trembled on the ground, crawling backward, trying to escape. "S-Stay away from me!" he cried, scrambling toward the edge of the arena. The crowd, once cheering, now watched in uneasy silence.
Before he could summon another bit of power, the knight's eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed. His body slumped against the ground, unconscious.
The announcer's voice rang out, breaking the tension in the air. "The winner is... Luci!"
The crowd roared in disbelief, though some in the stands remained uneasy after witnessing such raw power. Luci cast a glance at the fainted knight. "So that's what happens if you overuse your boon," he muttered to himself. "Lucky you didn't die."
As the other knights rushed to carry the unconscious man away, Luci casually walked out of the arena. His mind wasn't on the victory—it was on the feast waiting for him. He strode into the banquet hall and sat down, devouring plate after plate of roasted chicken, barely paying attention to the ongoing fights.
A few matches caught his eye, but only barely. One battle pitted a knight blessed by the God of Plants against a man wielding the power of the God of Storms. It was an intense match, with the storm knight calling down lightning to strike at his opponent, only for thick vines to rise from the earth and absorb the blasts. The vines coiled and snapped, wrapping around the storm knight's legs and pulling him to the ground. In the end, the power of the God of Plants proved too much, and the storm knight was trapped in a prison of thorns.
Luci nodded in approval, but his focus remained on his meal.
One fight after another passed, with knights showcasing their boons from the gods. Some called upon the power of flame, others summoned steel, wind, or even light. But none of it impressed Luci. They all seemed weak, relying too heavily on their divine gifts, pushing their limits and exhausting themselves.
Eventually, it was Luci's turn to fight again.
He stood from the banquet table and returned to the arena, his stomach full and his mood considerably lighter. His opponent was already waiting—a slender man with sharp eyes and dark, shaggy hair. His armor was unadorned, plain, but there was something dangerous about the way he held himself.
"I'll finish you in one second," the man boasted, his voice dripping with confidence.
Luci smirked. "Let's see it, then."
The man raised his hands, invoking his god. " calling the God of Colors, grant me your boon: black stealth!"
And just like that, he disappeared.
The crowd gasped. Luci stood still, his eyes scanning the empty air around him. A heavy blow slammed into his side, but Luci barely felt it. Another punch landed on his shoulder, then another on his back. The blows came faster and faster, but none of them made Luci so much as flinch.
His opponent was invisible, striking from all angles, but Luci didn't even bother to defend himself. He heard a faint buzzing sound near his ear and swatted at it, convinced it was a mosquito.
In doing so, he accidentally struck his invisible opponent, sending him flying across the arena. The man slammed into the barrier, cracking it with the force of the blow.
The crowd gasped again. The silver-haired knight, who had placed the barrier, sat up straight, his eyes wide in shock. Luci tilted his head, realizing that his swat had done more damage than he'd intended.
The announcer's voice rang out once more. "The winner is... Luci!"
As the crowd cheered, Luci scratched his head, still wondering where that
As the crowd cheered, Luci scratched his head, still wondering where that mosquito had gone. It had managed to dodge his clap, but the cheers of the crowd drowned out his musings. The excitement in the arena was palpable—he had won once again, and this time, with hardly any effort.
The silver-haired knight, however, remained tense, his eyes locked on Luci. There was something different about this commoner. He had not only cracked the barrier—a barrier he himself had placed—but he had done so without even trying.
Unable to contain himself, the silver-haired knight raised his hand, and the crowd fell silent almost immediately. "Luci," he called out, his voice ringing through the arena, "if you win this tournament, I'll make sure you're given the rank of Silver Knight—not Stone Rank. Do you hear me?"
The crowd gasped in astonishment. To skip ranks from a mere commoner to Silver Knight? It was unheard of. The murmurs of the spectators buzzed like the annoying mosquito Luci had tried to swat, but Luci wasn't fazed. He looked up at the royal box, locking eyes with the knight.
"I accept," Luci shouted confidently. The crowd roared with approval, the energy in the arena reaching a fever pitch.
The silver-haired knight's companion, a stout knight with a scraggly beard, turned to him with a smirk. "Why'd you promise him that?" he asked, laughing. "A commoner skipping ranks? Do you really think he'll make it to the end?"
The silver-haired knight's eyes never left Luci. "He broke my barrier," he muttered, almost to himself.
The stout knight stopped laughing. "Broke your barrier? Impossible!"
The silver-haired knight's gaze remained fixed on Luci, and for the first time, his expression softened from its usual calm arrogance. A faint smile curled at the corners of his lips. "Let's see if he can win the finals."
Luci stood in the arena, arms crossed, as Elric, the Plant Knight, summoned the full power of his god. Vines and roots surged from the ground, aiming to bind Luci. The crowd gasped, witnessing the vast display of nature's fury.
" calling the God of Plants, grant me strength!" Elric roared, directing the vines at Luci, who barely moved.
The vines wrapped around Luci, but instead of crushing him, they withered and crumbled. Luci shook his head in disappointment. "This again?" he muttered.
Elric, sweating, pushed his power further. "I'll finish this!" He raised his staff, sending a wall of thorny branches toward Luci.
But before the attack could land, Luci casually flicked his wrist, breaking apart the branches as if they were nothing. In an instant, he was in front of Elric. "You're wasting your time," Luci said coldly.
As the battle wore on, Elric summoned a final surge of energy, creating an enormous wall of vines that shot toward Luci. Luci, who had barely exerted himself, began to feel something strange. His chains, usually hidden by the invisibility spell, began to shimmer, revealing themselves. At the same time, his crimson eyes, which he kept suppressed, started glowing faintly.
Elric noticed the change immediately. His eyes widened in shock. "What is that?!" He pointed at the chains now visible around Luci's wrists, and as Luci's eyes turned fully crimson, Elric took a step back, fear creeping into his expression.
"What... What are you?" Elric stammered, his voice shaking as he dropped his staff.
Luci looked down, seeing the chains and realizing his concealment had failed. He gritted his teeth but stayed calm. Elric, backing away, whispered in disbelief, "You... you're not human."
The crowd murmured in confusion, but Luci simply turned away, a small, dangerous smile forming on his lips as the realization sank into the defeated knight.