Rei's body trembled as Kage's shadow hold tightened around him. For the first time in his memory, something primal and overwhelming surged through his system—fear.

  It coursed through his veins like ice water, making his heart hammer against his ribcage with such force he thought it might burst. His lungs constricted, each breath becoming shallow and insufficient. The sensation was alien, disorienting—a storm of physiological responses he had no framework to understand.

  What is this? His mind raced, thoughts fragmenting under the weight of this new emotion. Is this what others feel? This... helplessness?

  His usual emptiness had been a shelter, a void where nothing could touch him. But now, with fear flooding every cell, he felt paradoxically more alive than ever before. Colors seemed sharper, sounds more distinct, even the scent of Kage's cologne more potent. It was as if his senses had been dulled his entire life, and fear had suddenly calibrated them to their proper intensity.

  The shadow pushed deeper into his chest, its cold presence seeping through his skin like frost crawling across a window. An unfamiliar tightness built in his throat, something between a scream and a sob threatening to escape.

  I don't want to die.

  The thought stunned him more than the fear itself. He had never before cared about his continued existence—it had been a matter of complete indifference. Yet now, faced with its potential end, he found himself desperately clinging to life.

  As the shadow's pressure increased, something snapped within him. The fear didn't diminish—it transformed.

  His vision tinged red, the world viewed through a crimson filter. His muscles tightened, coiling with newfound strength. The cold dread crystallized into something harder, more focused—rage born of fear, a ferocity awakened by the instinct for survival.

  With a guttural roar that sounded nothing like his usual voice, Rei broke free of Kage's shadow hold. The restraint shattered like glass, fragments of darkness dissipating into the air.

  Kage's eyes widened behind his designer shades, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his normally impassive features.

  "Well, well," he murmured, adjusting his stance. "Looks like the Vessel isn't empty after all."

  Rei lunged, moving faster than humanly possible, his body nearly invisible as he crossed the space between them. His fist connected with Kage's jaw with devastating force, sending the assassin skidding backward.

  For the first time, Kage was forced to truly defend himself.

  His shadow rose in a protective wave, but Rei was already somewhere else, moving with a speed and precision that defied comprehension. His eyes burned brighter, twin pools of molten crimson illuminating his path.

  The fight intensified, their movements creating afterimages in the air, too fast for normal perception. The observation room trembled with each impact, cracks spreading across the floor and walls like spider webs.

  Then, abruptly, Kage disengaged. He straightened his jacket casually, as if they'd been engaged in nothing more strenuous than a light sparring session.

  "Interesting," he said, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Very interesting."

  Rei stood poised to attack again, his body still thrumming with that strange new energy. But just as suddenly as it had appeared, the power began to recede. The crimson faded from his vision, his muscles weakening as if the strength was being drained away.

  His knees buckled. The room spun around him. Darkness encroached on the edges of his consciousness.

  As he collapsed to the floor, the last thing he saw was Kage's calculating smile.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Back to the Battlefield

  Raiden stepped forward, lightning flickering at his fingertips like living, dancing snakes. "Stay back," he told Hiro and Josuke, his voice firm yet calm.

  The blind martial artist cut an imposing figure despite his lean frame. His medium-length hair, tied loosely at the nape of his neck, swayed with each deliberate movement, revealing glimpses of his light blue eyes—unfocused yet strangely alert. Though blind, his eyes were striking—pale blue like a winter sky, clouded with a milky film that gave them an otherworldly appearance.

  His upper body was covered only by a short sleeveless vest that left his muscular torso mostly exposed, revealing intricate wrappings of white tape that spiraled around his abdomen and wrists. The tape was meticulously applied, not just for protection but to enhance his sensitivity to electrical currents. His loose-fitting martial arts pants billowed slightly with each step, and his feet were bare against the earth, toes digging into the dirt to better sense the electric currents flowing through the ground—his unique way of "seeing" the world. With each movement, tiny sparks of lightning traced his footsteps, illuminating the soil beneath him.

  "If I don't take down an anomaly, Hiro and I won't move on," he explained, his sightless eyes somehow focused in Mya's direction.

  Mya grinned, swirling a glass perfume bottle between her fingers. The liquid inside shimmered with an unnatural pink glow. "You sure about that, handsome?" Her voice was melodic, dripping with honeyed venom.

  She threw the bottle—

  CRACK!

  Raiden caught it mid-air with lightning-fast reflexes and hurled it far away in a single fluid motion, avoiding the potent, mind-altering scent. The bottle shattered against a distant rock, the liquid evaporating into a harmless mist.

  Mya's smirk faltered, her perfect composure cracking for a moment. Her best trick was useless. She hadn't expected such speed from a blind man.

  Desperate, she tilted her head back and exhaled a misty pink vapor straight into Raiden's face, the particles catching the light like diamond dust. "Let's see you dodge this, Handsome!"

  The vapor swirled around him, designed to blind his target with overwhelming lust and submission. Mya grinned, already celebrating her victory. "That's it! I've added a strong man to my arsenal!"

  Then—BAM.

  A fist slammed into her face.

  Mya stumbled back, stunned, clutching her nose as blood trickled between her fingers. Her perfect appearance marred for the first time.

  Raiden cracked his knuckles, the air around him still crackling with electricity, tiny bolts jumping between his fingers. "That won't work on me." The ground beneath his bare feet glowed faintly with each step, electricity mapping the terrain for his sightless eyes.

  Mya blinked, confusion and anger warring on her face. "Wh-what? How?!" Her voice had lost its melodic quality, replaced by indignant shock.

  Raiden tilted his head. "I'm blind." His tone was matter-of-fact, almost amused. "I don't see with my eyes. I see with this." He flexed his hand, lightning dancing between his fingers, highlighting the carefully wrapped tape on his wrists.

  Mya's jaw dropped as the realization hit her. Her concept relied on visual attraction—it was useless against someone who couldn't see.

  "Tch... Fine." She sighed, throwing up her hands in dramatic surrender. "Take my license. I'm clearly outmatched." She pulled it from her pocket, tossing it toward Raiden.

  Raiden stepped forward and claimed the license, the glow transferring to him as he touched it. The electrical current in his body momentarily intensified, making the tape on his abdomen glow faintly.

  Then, he turned to Josuke. "What about you?"

  Josuke blinked. "Huh?"

  "You wanna team up? We stay together, we survive the next 45 minutes." Raiden's voice was calm but urgent, the lightning still dancing around his fingers, casting eerie shadows across his face.

  Josuke felt his heart pound.

  His caffeine pills were hitting him all at once. His vision blurred at the edges, tunneling. His chest tightened like iron bands were squeezing his ribs. Something was wrong.

  His body locked up.

  Then—

  He collapsed.

  "Yo—" Hiro blinked, crouching next to him. He sniffed Josuke's face, his gills flaring with each inhale.

  Then he licked him.

  Raiden scowled, the lightning around him intensifying with his irritation. "Hiro, STOP licking our new friend!" His voice carried genuine disgust as he stomped his bare foot, sending a small shock wave through the ground.

  Hiro grinned, shrugging. "Dunno, man. He tastes funny."

  Raiden rubbed his temples. "Just—let's take him with us." He hoisted Josuke's limp form over his shoulder with surprising strength, the tape on his arms straining with the effort.

  Hiro beamed. "Hell yeah. Teamwork."

  Back in Osaka, Hinata sat on the couch, gripping her shirt so tightly her knuckles turned white.

  Josuke was safe for now.

  But the relief lasted only a moment, evaporating like morning dew under a harsh sun.

  The camera shifted.

  Another competitor appeared on screen. The crowd around him was scattering, fleeing in blind panic.

  Bodies dropped like flies.

  He wasn't just fighting.

  He was making a statement.

  A chill ran down Hinata's spine, raising goosebumps on her arms.

  A monster had entered the battlefield. Wielding a huge axe that gleamed with a sinister light, terrorizing anyone in his way. Each swing left devastation in its wake, the blade moving with impossible precision.

  35 minutes remain on the clock.

  Time continued to tick down as the battlefield descended further into chaos and bloodshed.