Zeo: Limitless
Episode 5 — The Tournament of Worlds
The roar of the crowd still shook the arena long after the Abyssal Titan's body dissolved into light. Fighters whispered, cursed, or gawked at the pale-haired warrior who stood untouched amidst carnage.
Zeo.
His cloak now gleamed with molten crimson patterns, his mask sealed and glowing, his number pulsing beneath his feet: Level 50.
The whispers grew louder.
"Fifty? Already?!"
"He's not bound by the same rules we are."
"That one… he's something else."
Kael stood among the survivors, chest heaving, eyes burning with unrelenting fury. His lightning had dimmed, his body trembling, but his gaze never left Zeo. His voice was low, venom dripping from every word.
"You'll fall, spawn. I'll see it happen with my own hands."
Zeo's crimson eyes turned toward him. His response was calm, almost dismissive.
"I don't fall. I climb."
The HUD flared, drowning their voices with a sudden golden glow.
The Announcement
The arena shook as the colossal figure of starlight—the Overseer—manifested once more. Its voice thundered through galaxies.
"WARRIORS. HEED. THE TIME HAS COME. THE TOURNAMENT OF WORLDS BEGINS."
The crowd erupted in screams and cheers. Fighters across the arena froze, then howled with anticipation.
The Overseer raised a hand of burning constellations.
"LIMITLESS UNIVERSES. LIMITLESS BATTLES. CREWS, RIVALS, ALLIES, ENEMIES—ALL WILL FIGHT. SURVIVAL IS THE ONLY RULE. EVERY VICTORY IS PERMANENT. EVERY DEATH IS FINAL."
The HUD pulsed in front of every fighter:
[Tournament of Worlds Activated]
[Stage One: Survival Across Ten Planets]
[Objective: Defeat 100 Opponents. Last 500 Advance.]
Veyra's golden eyes widened. "Survival tournament…"
Jorn cracked his molten fists, steam hissing. "About time."
Serik's masked face tilted faintly. "So many will die."
Kael smirked, his lip curling into cruel satisfaction. "Good. I'll climb faster this way."
Zeo said nothing. His eyes shifted upward, crimson reflecting galaxies swirling overhead. Survival was not a challenge for him. His immortality was absolute. The question was not if he could endure—
It was how much he would rise.
Stage One: Planet of Shattered Skies
The void bent. The ground beneath them dissolved into shards of light. Zeo blinked once, and the arena was gone.
He stood on a floating island suspended in endless sky. Shattered continents drifted in all directions, chained by glowing streams of energy. The air screamed with wind, storms raging across the horizon. Dozens—no, hundreds—of fighters appeared on separate islands, their levels glowing beneath them. Some 20, some 200, some beyond.
The HUD glowed again.
[Stage One Objective: Defeat 100 Opponents]
[Time Limit: None. Death = Permanent.]
Zeo exhaled slowly. The number beneath his feet pulsed: 50.
And then the first wave came.
⸻
The Swarm
From across the islands, warriors surged like storms. Wings, auras, bursts of flame, shadows bending reality. All moved with one purpose—kill or be killed.
A horned beast crashed onto Zeo's island, its body plated in silver bone, level glowing 65. It swung a fist wide enough to crush houses. Zeo vanished, reappearing behind it, heel driving into the back of its neck. The beast collapsed, dissolving into light.
LEVEL 51.
Another rushed him—a serpent-bodied fighter of liquid metal, level 73. Zeo teleported again, palm smashing through its chest, molten sparks scattering into the storm.
LEVEL 52.
The swarm didn't stop. They came in droves, each strike shaking the floating island. Zeo's cloak shimmered with every teleport, his fists a steady rhythm, his red eyes calm.
No fatigue. No pause. No doubt.
By the time Jorn landed on his island with molten fists, Zeo's ground was littered with dissolving sparks of defeated warriors.
The Rival Appears
Lightning cracked across the sky. Kael descended like a storm, his aura raging, eyes fixed only on Zeo. He landed with a thunderous crash, scattering fighters already circling. His number glowed bright: Level 110.
"Fifty already?" Kael sneered, voice trembling with fury. "You think this makes you my equal?"
Zeo turned toward him, cloak whipping in the storm. "No." His crimson eyes glowed. "It makes me your end."
Kael's grin twisted. "Prove it."
⸻
The Clash
The moment their auras collided, the island cracked.
Kael blurred forward, fists exploding in arcs of lightning, striking like storm after storm. Zeo vanished, teleporting in rhythm, each counter-strike sharp, precise, endless. The storm above raged louder, lightning answering lightning, teleport answering teleport.
Their battle became a storm within a storm.
Kael roared, body straining. "I'll surpass you! I'll endure you!"
Zeo's voice cut through his fury, low and eternal. "You can't surpass the limitless."
Their fists collided—Kael's lightning against Zeo's endless stamina—and the shockwave shattered the island beneath them.
Both fighters dropped into the abyss of sky, landing on a lower fragment of floating land. Fighters nearby screamed, some crushed in the fallout, others flung into oblivion.
But the two rivals never looked away from each other.
Kael's Breaking Point
Kael's body screamed with exhaustion. Sweat poured, lightning flickered unstable, breaths ragged. He had already slain dozens in the tournament, every strike draining him further. His aura was fire on its last embers.
And Zeo?
Zeo's eyes glowed brighter. His cloak shimmered with divine crimson. His strikes were as steady as they had been in his first duel. No fatigue. No wound. Eternal.
Kael's pride cracked. His heart screamed denial, but his body whispered truth. He couldn't match it. He couldn't.
"Why…" Kael's voice rasped, fists trembling. "Why won't you break?"
Zeo's palm struck his chest, sending him sprawling across the stone. His crimson eyes burned through the storm.
"Because I don't end."
⸻
The Hundredth Kill
The island shook again. A massive warrior descended, its body plated in crystal armor, its level glowing 120. Its roar drowned the storm, its fists like mountains.
Kael struggled to his feet, teeth gritted. "Mine." He lunged, lightning bursting in one final desperate strike. His fist cracked into the giant's jaw, sparks exploding—but it wasn't enough.
The giant roared, swinging to crush him.
Zeo appeared in an instant, teleporting into its chest. His fist struck once, twice, a rhythm unbroken, until the crystal plates shattered and the giant dissolved into light.
The HUD pulsed.
[Opponent Defeated. +1 Level.]
[Milestone Reached: 100 Opponents Defeated.]
Zeo's number glowed.
LEVEL 100.
His cloak transformed again, crimson patterns shifting into glowing gold, his mask sprouting jagged lines of divine radiance. The crowd watching across universes screamed in disbelief.
The Overseer's voice shook the void.
"ZEO ADVANCES. TOURNAMENT OF WORLDS: STAGE TWO."
Aftermath
Kael collapsed to his knees, chest heaving, body trembling with rage and shame. His lightning had died, his pride fractured.
Zeo stood above him, cloak blazing gold, eyes burning crimson fire. He looked down without malice, without triumph—only certainty.
"You'll chase me forever, Kael. But I'll always be beyond you."
Kael spat blood, glaring upward with hatred that burned hotter than ever. "Then I'll chase until eternity breaks."
The void split again, dragging them toward the next stage. Zeo's red eyes narrowed as galaxies bent before him.
The Tournament of Worlds had only begun.