The arena trembled.
A monstrous growl erupted from the depths beneath the mist.
Suddenly—BOOM!
A chunk of stone shattered as the ground cracked open, and one of the beasts emerged.
It was colossal, easily thirty feet tall—a three-headed rock serpent, each head crowned with molten horns, its eyes glowing like dying suns. Its body was formed from dark obsidian, veins of lava running like blood through its form. Every movement it made shook the ground. Its breath reeked of ash and death.
Another beast rose from behind it—a horned panther, with wings made of bone and flesh. It roared, and a blast of sonic energy shattered the eardrums of the closest participants.
Screams echoed.
One boy, trembling, ran without direction.
Crunch.
The rock serpent's tail swept sideways, sending him flying. His body collided with a relic stone, splintering both. Blood splattered across the mist.
Another girl turned to back to run,broken from inside and willing to give up—but she didn't see the cursed creature.
Invisible.
It struck her from behind.
A clean hole burned through her chest, her expression frozen in shock as she collapsed forward—dead before she hit the ground.
Chaos exploded.
Dozens of participants screamed, breaking formation. Mist turned red in patches as more cursed beasts ripped through the weak-willed.
---
Yukato, panting, dove behind a fallen pillar. His arm was scraped, his robe torn.
Yukato: (breathing heavily) "This isn't what I expected... This isn't a test… it's a slaughter."
He looked up at Hiroshi—standing calmly in the middle of the chaos, sword drawn, expression cold.
Yukato: (shouting) "Hiroshi! I think… I think we picked the wrong exam, brother!"
Hiroshi didn't reply.
Instead, he moved—faster than Yukato had ever seen him. His blade danced, slicing through the serpent's leg with such force that cracks splintered up its obsidian hide.
One head turned to bite him.
Hiroshi rolled beneath the fangs, slid across the blood-soaked ground, and launched upward—stabbed straight through the creature's jaw into its brain.
The serpent collapsed.
More participants paused mid-fight, eyes wide in disbelief.
Yukato: (in awe) "You're a monster…"
Hiroshi turned slowly, blue eyes glowing.
Hiroshi: "No. I'm your brother."
But as he spoke, a cursed beast struck from behind—targeting Yukato.
Yukato reacted on instinct. His shadow moved.
Flickering into a humanoid form, it caught the cursed beast's blade—just long enough for Yukato to dash forward, stab deep into its core, and dispel it in a cloud of black smoke.
They stood back-to-back now.
Yukato: (grinning, blood on his lips) "Maybe I was wrong."
Hiroshi: (smirking) "You usually are."
More beasts advanced. The test wasn't over.
But the Kujin brothers—were finally fighting side by side.