The wind changed.
The beasts around Yamino paused.
Even the corrupted mist that hovered over the ruins around him stilled, as if the entire world had begun to hold its breath.
He didn't move—but his eyes were locked toward the east.
"So you came."
A single figure stepped into view from the haze of broken stone and burnt sky. His cloak was torn, his face blood-smeared, but his presence…
Unmistakable.
Platinum hair, a gaze like sunlight through glass, and four spectral wings—each one barbed, elegant, and shimmering with seraphic flame.
A true Seraphborn.
One of the last purebloods.
His name was Ishvanel, the Broken Dawn.
And unlike the others, he wasn't afraid.
"You're the one they all fear now, aren't you?" Ishvanel said, his voice distant and emotionless. "The reaper. The sovereign without a crown."
Yamino's eyes glinted. "And you're the fool who thinks he's the exception."
Ishvanel didn't answer.
Instead, he extended his hand.
> [ Weapon: Dawn Harbinger – Manifested. ]
A silver greatblade appeared, etched with divine runes and leaking golden blood. It pulsed in tune with his heartbeat. The moment it appeared, Yamino's grim beasts shrieked and staggered back—some even dissolving into mist.
> [ Skill Detected: Blade of Calamity – Anti-Soul Weapon Class. ]
"An anti-soul blade…" Yamino grinned. "Now that's a surprise."
Ishvanel vanished.
BOOM.
Yamino's entire upper body was flung backward, skidding across ruins, a line of black ichor trailing behind him. The ground cracked beneath his body like glass.
He stood up, coughing blood, the left side of his ribs crushed.
The blow had connected.
"Good," Yamino said, licking his lip. "Let's make it interesting."
-
They clashed again.
Ishvanel moved like light itself—each slash a streak of divine radiance. Every cut burned the space it passed through. Yamino countered with Grim Vein Claws, his movements tighter, more calculated, built to maim and disable.
The battlefield warped under their steps.
Ruins shattered. Ground peeled. Dead trees were reduced to ash.
Yamino leapt, twirled midair, and summoned a Grim Beast Blade—a weapon made from a hundred howling souls.
It clashed with Ishvanel's greatblade, the sound thunderous.
> Clang!
Crash!
Hssssshh—BOOM!
Each impact knocked back shockwaves, tearing apart nearby terrain. Players watching from afar were knocked off their feet. One was instantly killed just from being too close.
---
> [ Skill Activated: Sovereign of Grim Beasts – Subskill: Beast Fusion Mode. ]
Yamino's body glowed with crimson-black marks as two of his grim beasts fused into his form—arms became clawed monstrosities, a tail of bone and shadow whipped behind him, and his teeth extended into fangs.
> [ Fusion Beast Form: Dread Howler – Activated ]
Ishvanel didn't hesitate.
> [ Skill Activated: Wings of Sanctity – Subskill: Solar Aegis. ]
His body exploded with divine fire. Each of his wings split into dozens of razor-sharp blades, floating around him like a death halo.
They clashed again.
This time, blood splattered everywhere.
Ishvanel's blade carved a deep line across Yamino's chest, burning through bone and soul. In response, Yamino grabbed Ishvanel by the face and slammed him into the ground, creating a crater fifty meters wide.
Ishvanel retaliated by stabbing upward.
The blade pierced Yamino's shoulder, melting his bone from the inside.
Yamino howled—and bit into Ishvanel's neck.
Divine blood sprayed like mist.
---
Both stood now, panting.
Wounded.
But not slowing.
Yamino's right arm hung limp—but already the grim essence was rebuilding it.
Ishvanel's neck was half torn open—still, he raised his blade again.
"You don't die easily." Yamino said.
"Neither do you." Ishvanel coughed. "But you bleed."
And then both vanished again.
They clashed midair—then again across the valley, through ruined temples, shattered spires, broken mountain ledges. Each meeting tore apart part of the world.
Twenty players nearby were killed by accident—some vaporized by the divine flame, others shredded by Yamino's stray beasts.
> [ Temporary Skills Copied – "Seraph Dash", "Sky Lance", "Heaven Flare Trap" ]
> [ Health: 36% | Beast Energy: 82% | Soul Core Integrity: Wavering ]
Yamino staggered after a hit—his chest split open by a backslash.
Ishvanel knelt—wings half-burned, right eye gone.
They stared.
Blood soaked the earth between them.
---
Ishvanel raised his blade for one last time.
Yamino readied his spear.
They both charged—a final collision of light and shadow.
BOOOOOOM.
The explosion tore the sky open.
Half the battlefield went dark.
When the smoke cleared, Ishvanel was gone—his body fading into motes of light.
He wasn't dead, but removed—teleported away by the system, barely hanging on.
Yamino knelt in the crater, half his body burnt, still regenerating.
> [ Temporary Skill Copied – "Solar Aegis" ]
[ Status: Critical. Blood Loss Severe. Grim Beasts: Dormant for 3 hours. ]
He spat blood and smiled, exhausted.
"That one was worthy…"
Then he stood—slowly.
"Who's next?"
And with that, Yamino vanished again—into the bleeding dusk, leaving behind a battlefield torn by heaven and hell.
Ash rained from the sky like petals from a dying blossom. The earth beneath Yamino's feet was still cracked, steaming from his last fight. His wounds hadn't fully healed, and the reek of divine blood still clung to him like smoke.
But no new challenger stepped forward.
Silence returned to the battlefield.
The system notifications quieted.
And for the first time since the tournament began, Yamino let his guard down.
> "So... no one's coming?"
He sighed, glancing toward the sky, his body still aching. Part of him wanted another fight—part of him wanted sleep. The battlefield around him was littered with corpses and fallen weapons.
That's when he heard it.
Click. Click.
The sound of high heels—measured, elegant, and confident—echoed across the scorched stone path.
He turned.
And then he saw her.
---
She didn't walk so much as glide.
A tall woman with blood-red hair flowing down to her hips. Her skin was smooth and pale, her curves divine—crafted by temptation itself. Her horns curled back like a crown of sin, and her wings, dark and leathery, flapped once as she landed lightly before him.
She wore little—just enough to leave most to the imagination. A black silk veil covered her chest like a wicked joke. Her thighs were long and bare, legs wrapped in ribbons of dark energy.
And her eyes… those golden eyes glowed with warmth that shouldn't exist here.
> [ Warning: High-Class Demon Detected – "Succubus Queen: Lilisha Nightveil" ]
> [ Title: Crimson Devil of the Eighth Hell ]
[ Skill: Allure Domain – Active ]
Yamino blinked.
And then smiled.
"You're not what I expected."
Lilisha's lips curled. "Neither were you, Solo King."
Her voice was honey wrapped in silk.
Yamino's instincts flared for just a moment.
But then…
They faded.
Because she stepped closer—and his heart beat faster.
He didn't want to fall for it.
But he already was.
---
"You're bleeding," she whispered, kneeling beside him like a lover.
Yamino watched, tense—but didn't pull away when she ran a finger across his cracked chest, trailing along the scar from Ishvanel's blade. Her touch was warm. Too warm.
"You fought so hard," she purred. "You deserve to be comforted."
> [ Allure Resistance: Degrading. ]
> [ Mental Defense Protocols: Interference Detected. Overriding… failed. ]
"Stop," Yamino said softly.
But she didn't.
She smiled, and leaned in, brushing her lips near his ear.
"Why? Do you really want me to?"
He didn't answer.
Because the truth?
Part of him didn't.
---
Yamino had killed monsters, kings, angels.
But his flaw—the one thing he had never overcome—was women.
Beautiful, dangerous, manipulative women.
The kind who could kill you with a whisper, and make you smile while doing it.
And Lilisha was the apex predator of that category.
---
She climbed into his lap like a cat, straddling him without shame.
Her fingers pressed against his lips. "Shhh," she cooed. "Don't think so hard. You deserve softness."
> [ Warning: Soul Core Interference Imminent. ]
> [ Threat Level: S+ ]
> [ Solo King's Aura: Nullified within Allure Domain. ]
Yamino's heartbeat slowed.
His hands twitched. His grip tightened on the ground.
But still… he didn't move her.
"Lilisha," he muttered.
"Yes, my king?" she whispered with a sultry smile, her breasts pressed to his chest.
"Are you… trying to seduce me or kill me?"
"Why not both?" she replied sweetly, before leaning in to kiss him.
And just as her lips brushed his—
> [ Skill Activated: Soul Lure – Crimson Bind Variant. ]
Yamino's entire body froze.
Pain exploded in his brain—a chain made of pleasure and agony wrapped around his mind. His body refused to listen. Every instinct screamed at him to move—and none of them obeyed.
He had fallen for it.
---
"Got you," she whispered, licking her lips.
"Such a bad, bad boy, Yamino."
"I think I'll break you... slowly."
Her nails became claws. Her aura expanded—bloody roses of flame and velvet tore through the air.
And still, he couldn't move.
---
But then—
CRACK.
His soul ignited.
> [ Emergency Override: Solo King's Will – Activated ]
[ Subskill: "King's Wrath" has awakened. ]
Yamino's body snapped forward—and he headbutted her full in the face.
Lilisha screamed, thrown off him, flipping backward like a demon ballerina. Blood streamed down her nose, but she was smiling even wider.
"Yessss," she hissed. "Make me bleed more. Show me your rage, king."
Yamino stood up slowly, breathing hard.
"Alright," he growled. "You wanted the real me?"
"Then let's dance."