The Trial of Dominion was only beginning.
Kael stood over the smoking remains of the mechanical beast, his hands still crackling with residual energy. His breath came in ragged gasps, his body trembling—not from exhaustion, but from the power he had just absorbed.
The Overseer's voice cut through the silence.
"Interesting."
Kael looked up. The shadowed figures observing the Crucible whispered among themselves, their alien tongues a murmur of intrigue and uncertainty.
But there was no time to rest.
A second hatch opened.
The ground shook as two more opponents emerged. The first was a hulking insectoid, its exoskeleton reinforced with glowing crystalline armor. Four blade-like arms twitched as it sized up its prey.
The second was a warrior, but unlike the gladiators Kael had faced before, this one was human.
Kael's stomach twisted. The man had dead eyes—empty, hollow, devoid of anything resembling emotion. His head was shaved clean, his veins pulsed with an unnatural blue light, and metallic grafts lined his arms and shoulders.
A voice rang out from above.
"Face your second challenge: The Bio-Harvested."
Kael's pulse spiked. He knew what that meant.
The Harvested were humans who had been experimented on, their bodies fused with alien technology to make them into weapons. They were hollowed-out shells, reduced to obedient killers.
"They're making us fight our own?!" Ryven hissed. His fists clenched, sparks flickering at his fingertips.
The Harvested warrior moved first, lunging at Kael with inhuman speed. Kael barely had time to raise his arms before a crushing blow sent him skidding backward.
Pain exploded in his ribs.
Damn it, he's strong.
Before Kael could react, the insectoid pounced on Ryven, its razor-sharp claws swiping at his throat. Ryven dodged, barely avoiding a decapitation strike.
The crowd roared.
Kael forced himself to his feet. His electricity was still unstable, but if he hesitated, he'd be dead.
The Harvested warrior lunged again. Kael ducked under the first strike, but the second came faster than he expected. A metallic fist slammed into his gut, knocking the wind out of him.
Kael stumbled back, gritting his teeth.
"You have to kill him," Ryven shouted, barely dodging another strike from the insectoid. "He's not human anymore!"
Kael knew he was right.
The Harvested weren't just enhanced—they were puppets. Their minds had been stripped away, their bodies used as disposable weapons.
There was nothing left of the man he used to be.
Kael's fists crackled with electricity, his power surging as he made his choice.
He would end this quickly.
The next time the Harvested attacked, Kael stepped forward instead of backward. His palm shot out, and in an instant, a surge of blue lightning arced between them.
The shockwave sent the Harvested flying, his body convulsing as energy overloaded his cybernetic implants.
Kael didn't stop there.
He charged forward, grabbing the man's wrist, and sent another bolt of electricity directly into his nervous system.
A second later, the light faded from his eyes.
The body collapsed, smoke rising from the cracks in his skin.
Kael exhaled.
There was no satisfaction in killing one of his own, but there was no other choice.
"Kael!" Ryven's shout snapped him back to reality.
The insectoid warrior had pinned Ryven down, its jaws snapping inches from his throat. Kael reacted on instinct.
A sharp pull in his chest sent a jolt of energy down his arm. A magnetic force yanked one of the fallen warrior's weapons into his palm.
The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, his power surged through it. The blade glowed white-hot.
Kael hurled it.
The weapon sank into the insectoid's exposed underbelly, sending a pulse of electricity through its exoskeleton.
It shrieked in agony.
Ryven shoved it off, ripping the blade free, and finished it with a final strike to the throat.
The body convulsed, then fell still.
The arena went silent once more.
Then, the Overseer spoke.
"Acceptable."
The Overseer's Offer
Kael and Ryven were dragged from the Crucible, their wrists restrained once more by the enforcers.
They were led through a series of metallic corridors, deeper into the Overseer's domain.
Eventually, they were brought before a throne of dark steel, where the Overseer waited. His red-glowing facial markings pulsed rhythmically, almost hypnotic.
"You survived," he said.
Kael met his gaze, jaw tight.
"I did."
The Overseer tilted his head. "Do you know why I allowed you to live?"
Kael didn't answer.
"Because you are an anomaly," the Overseer continued. "A human with untapped potential. Your abilities are raw, but they will refine in time. I am offering you a choice, Kael Ardyn."
The room seemed to darken.
"Swear loyalty to me, and I will give you power beyond your imagination."
Kael's fingers curled into fists.
"And if I refuse?"
The Overseer's smile was unreadable. "Then you will return to the Crucible… until there is nothing left of you."
Kael's heart pounded.
This was it.
The moment that would decide his fate.
His eyes flicked to Ryven, who gave him the slightest nod.
Kael exhaled.
And then, he made his choice.