Zeo: Limitless
Episode 6 — Stage Two: The Blood Planets
The void split apart again.
Zeo felt no fear as light consumed him, no strain in his immortal body. Only silence. Then, suddenly, he stood once more upon solid ground.
The world around him was drenched in crimson. The sky bled with storms of red lightning. The ground pulsed faintly, as if veins ran beneath it, the entire planet alive with hunger. Mountains loomed sharp like fangs, rivers ran not with water but with black ichor.
The HUD pulsed before his eyes:
[Tournament of Worlds: Stage Two]
[Blood Planets Survival: Only 100 Survivors Advance]
[Objective: Destroy Rival Crews and Their Leaders]
Zeo's crimson gaze swept the horizon. Dozens—no, hundreds—of warriors materialized across the surface of this world. They were not scattered like before. Now they formed into crews, alliances glowing faintly around them. Groups of ten, twenty, thirty.
And across the battlefield, their levels glowed in countless colors—ranging from 50 to 500.
The crowd of universes beyond the sky roared with frenzy. This was not a skirmish. This was war.
⸻
The Crews Gather
Veyra unfurled her dark wings, feathers sharp as blades, eyes gleaming gold. Jorn stood beside her, his molten body steaming as magma dripped from his fists. Serik, silent as ever, flickered faintly in smoke.
And, as if by cruel design, Kael's lightning cracked into existence only steps away from Zeo. His silver hair whipped in the storm, his level glowing bright: 112. His eyes locked onto Zeo with venom that refused to fade.
"Don't think for a second you'll leave me behind."
Zeo's cloak shimmered, golden patterns burning brighter, his number glowing: 100. He said nothing.
The HUD flared again:
[Randomized Crew Formation Complete]
[Crew #7: Zeo, Kael, Veyra, Jorn, Serik, and Five Randoms.]
The five "randoms" appeared—a skeletal giant, a three-eyed assassin, a beast of crystal fur, a dancer wrapped in flame, and a childlike figure with no mouth, only glowing hands.
Kael's lip curled. "Fate mocks me."
Veyra smirked faintly. "Or perhaps it fears him." She nodded toward Zeo.
The Blood Planet Awakens
The ground rumbled. The entire planet shuddered like a beast drawing breath. From the mountains emerged rivers of blood, surging downward like tidal waves. The first clash began instantly.
Across the horizon, crews charged at each other, dozens colliding in an eruption of power. A thousand fighters fought at once, the sound of their fists shaking the blood-soaked sky.
Zeo's crew braced as a rival pack descended—fifteen fighters, their levels ranging from 80 to 140. Their leader, a towering warrior of stone with glowing cracks across his body, bellowed at them.
"Leave none standing!"
Kael smirked. "Finally."
⸻
The First Blood Battle
The clash was chaos.
The stone warrior lunged first, his arm the size of a boulder, smashing toward Kael. Lightning cracked, Kael dodging with fluid rage, countering with a fist of sparks that burned stone into dust. Jorn roared, molten fists hammering against enemies, magma spraying across their ranks. Veyra's feathers carved through throats and spines with surgical precision, her wings a storm of blades. Serik flickered, stabbing through shadows, dragging screams into silence.
And Zeo?
He moved like the eye of the storm.
Teleport. Fist. Vanish. Heel. Strike. Vanish again. His cloak blurred with gold, every blow a rhythm unbroken. Enemies screamed as his calm red eyes locked onto them, their bodies dissolving into sparks of light one after another.
No sweat. No pause. No exhaustion.
By the time the dust settled, fifteen fighters had been reduced to ash. Zeo's number glowed brighter.
LEVEL 120.
The crowd across universes roared.
Kael's Obsession
Kael staggered, sweat dripping, chest heaving. His lightning sputtered as he glared at Zeo. He had slain three enemies himself—yet Zeo had erased ten times that without strain.
"Damn you," Kael hissed, fury burning in his lungs. "You think this is strength? You think endurance makes you invincible?!"
Zeo's crimson gaze met his. His voice was calm, steady as eternity.
"It makes me endless."
Kael's fists clenched until blood dripped down his palms. His pride, his rage, his desperation—they all twisted into one vow.
"I'll surpass you. Even if I have to tear through every world in this tournament, I'll surpass you!"
The others in the crew exchanged glances. Veyra's feathers twitched. Jorn exhaled steam. Serik tilted his mask. All of them could feel it now. This was not a rivalry of equals. It was a storm chasing an eternal mountain.
⸻
The Blood Planet's Trial
The sky split open.
From the rift above, massive tendrils of blood surged downward, wrapping around floating fragments of land, dragging them together into a single massive battlefield. Thousands of fighters clashed in sight of each other now. Crews roared, leaders bellowed commands, and bodies dissolved into light like falling stars.
The Overseer's voice shook the crimson world.
"ONLY 100 SURVIVORS WILL ADVANCE. FIGHT UNTIL ALL ELSE FALL."
The planet screamed again. New horrors emerged—monsters of blood itself, titans with no levels but endless hunger. They descended on all crews alike, devouring fighters whole.
Veyra snarled. "The planet fights us too?!"
Jorn cracked his fists. "Then it bleeds with us!"
Zeo teleported, striking through one of the blood titans. His fist split its chest, its form exploding into rain that drowned the battlefield. His cloak shimmered, golden patterns expanding.
LEVEL 130.
Kael gritted his teeth as he watched. Even the planet itself could not slow Zeo.
The Rival Crews
The next rival appeared fast. A crew of twenty, led by a woman cloaked in stars, her eyes burning with galaxies. Her number glowed bright: Level 300.
Her voice was cold. "Children. You should not have advanced this far."
Kael smirked, lightning flaring, though his chest heaved with fatigue. "We'll show you how wrong you are."
Zeo teleported forward before the words could fade. His fist clashed against hers, galaxies and crimson fire colliding. The explosion shattered mountains, rivers of blood boiling away.
The crew battles raged—Veyra's feathers clashing against cosmic storms, Jorn's magma against starfire, Serik's smoke twisting through black holes. Fighters screamed, blood and light scattering across the battlefield.
But at the center, Zeo's calm gaze never wavered. His fists struck endlessly, each teleport carving deeper into the star-cloaked leader. She gasped, eyes widening as fatigue dragged at her limbs while Zeo's rhythm remained eternal.
And then—her body broke into light.
The battlefield went silent for a breath. A Level 300 erased by a Level 130.
Zeo's number pulsed.
LEVEL 200.
The universes watching shook with disbelief.
Kael's Vow
Kael fell to his knees, fists trembling, sweat pouring, lightning gone. He stared at the golden-cloaked warrior above him, the mask glowing crimson light across the blood-soaked world.
"You… damn you…" His voice cracked with fury, envy, awe. "No matter how many I kill, you climb higher. No matter how far I push, you're always beyond me. But I swear, Zeo…"
His eyes blazed with pride that refused to die.
"I will surpass you, even if I burn myself to ash."
Zeo's gaze fell upon him. Calm. Endless. Immortal.
"Then burn."
The ground shook again as the Overseer's voice thundered.
"STAGE TWO NEARS ITS END. ONLY 100 WILL ADVANCE."
The planet screamed, crimson storms tearing across the battlefield. The survivors clashed, screams rising, blood falling like rain. And at the heart of it, Zeo stood untouched, his cloak glowing gold, his eyes eternal.