After his first battle, Aren had pretty much lost interest in this round of the tournament, so he walked over to a distant pillar and sat there, with Athena beside him.

They watched the fights from afar, neither of them showing much interest. Time passed slowly, hours slipping by, until the first round finally came to a close. Almost immediately, the next round began.

Ten people remained.

Once again, they would fight one-on-one.

And the very first person called up was Aren.

His opponent was none other than the same guy he had beaten before the tournament had even officially started.

As Aren walked forward and saw the man standing there, he was genuinely surprised. In his mind, he hadn't expected the guy to make it this far, but somehow, he had.

The moment the man saw Aren, his body jerked back violently.

Memories of pain flooded his mind.

His eyes trembled in fear as sweat instantly formed on his face.

To him, Aren wasn't human anymore.

He was a heartless monster.

"Hey there," Aren greeted casually, lifting a hand in a small wave.

"I forfeit!" the man blurted out immediately, backing away.

No one blamed him.

They had all seen Aren fight. Very few people here were willing to face him willingly anymore.

Aren watched the guy retreat and sighed.

"Oh come on, let's at least trade a couple of blows," he said.

"No, I'm fine with forfeiting," the man replied quickly.

"Tch, fine," Aren muttered, waving it off as he turned and walked back to Athena.

He sat down beside her again.

"He seemed scared of you," Athena said quietly.

"I guess I went a bit overboard with the beating," Aren replied, nodding to himself as he leaned back and waited for the next match.

The next person called up was Athena.

Her opponent was Lily.

Lily walked to the center, and Athena followed shortly after. Aren glanced up when he heard the names and immediately knew this would be an interesting fight to watch, though the outcome wasn't really in question.

Athena would win.

Lily stared at Athena, her expression hard.

"You're with that guy, right?" Lily asked.

Athena raised a brow. "Huh?" She glanced toward Aren sitting in the distance. "…Oh. Yes," she replied softly.

"Good," Lily said, her eyes narrowing. "Then I'll make sure I beat you as best as I can, for what he did to us."

Instantly, she summoned her lightning hawk, which screeched as it flew into the sky, drawing everyone's attention.

"And I'll make sure it hurts," Lily added.

The hawk unleashed a massive bolt of lightning straight at Athena.

Athena didn't even flinch.

She raised her hands and activated a technique she hadn't used much until now. In a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree radius around her, chaos tore through the air, forming a violent vortex.

The lightning was completely erased the moment it touched it.

Athena remained untouched.

She looked up and immediately counterattacked.

A wave of force shot toward the hawk in the sky. The summon barely managed to dodge, escaping by the narrowest margin.

On the ground, Lily pulled a ring from her finger. It transformed instantly into a sword.

She lunged forward, closing the distance rapidly, thrusting toward Athena's abdomen.

Athena's eyes snapped downward.

At point-blank range, she unleashed an attack.

BOOM.

Lily was thrown backward, slammed into the ground, rolled several meters, and came to a stop. She coughed up a mouthful of blood.

She glared up at Athena, who stood there as if nothing had happened.

Snarling, Lily forced herself to her feet.

"SCREW YOU!" she screamed.

She summoned another creature, a massive green serpent, its scales gleaming under the lights as it lunged forward at full speed.

A single hit from it would be fatal.

Athena lifted her hands instantly.

Her Chaos Eyes appeared.

With pinpoint precision, she fired.

The attack obliterated the serpent's head in an instant and didn't stop there. It tore through the rest of its body as well.

Blood sprayed everywhere as the summon was ripped apart.

But from the falling blood mist, Lily came charging in, riding her hawk.

In her hands was a black-and-gold spear, her eyes locked onto Athena.

She leaped off the hawk as it dove downward, its entire body coated in lightning.

"I won't lose again!" Lily screamed. "I'll crush you!"

The Chaos Eyes struck again, erasing the hawk into nothingness.

But that was Lily's plan.

The spear buzzed violently with soul energy before igniting in brilliant golden flames.

"DIEEEEE, YOU BITCH!" she screamed as she hurled it downward.

WHOOSH.

The air itself tore apart as the spear descended.

Athena reacted instantly, trying to block or deflect it, but she was just a moment too slow. She only managed to shift its trajectory slightly.

BOOM!

The spear slammed into the ground, releasing a massive explosion. A terrifying shockwave spread outward as dust engulfed the arena.

Everyone believed Athena had been hit Badly.

Everyone except Aren, he knew she was safe.

Lily landed, ready to finish the fight, but as the dust cleared, Athena was still standing.

Her hands and parts of her body were badly burned. Her arms had dropped to her sides.

The Chaos Eyes were gone.

Instead,

Both of her eyes were closed.

And on her forehead, a third eye had opened.

It glowed red, a swirling vortex of chaos spinning within it, glowing runes etched into the skin around it.

Lily stared, her frown deepening.

She transformed another ring into a sword and lunged forward.

"Die already, bitch!" she screamed, thrusting to end it.

And in that instant, the third eye pulsed.

For a brief moment,

Everything went silent.

"My ability came earlier than others. It cost me a lot. I lost a lot. If I could go back, I would make sure I changed the past and stopped myself from getting this ability. Then maybe I would be able to have a normal life.

But I can't. All I have is this life. I can choose to wallow and hide myself, or I can choose to welcome my desires and emotions, my wants. And right now, my want is to win."

These thoughts ran through Athena's mind in this moment.

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