Raiden’s eyes opened to a blurry haze. His mind struggled to focus, reluctant to process his current situation.
He blinked and subconsciously focused mana into his eyes, sharpening his vision. A dull wooden ceiling ca into focus above him, and he shot to his feet instinctively.
The windowless room contained only a small bed. A mirror hung on the left wall, and a wooden door stood ahead. Despite being utterly boring, the room was stifling hot, with deep red scratches carved across the floor and walls.
What perplexed Raiden most, however, was simply being alive. Looking down at himself, he found he was dressed in an ordinary white shirt and black trousers, nothing like the clothes he’d worn before losing consciousness.
He brushed his hand through his dark hair. Nothing seed right. He rembered dying from his cracked skull, blood draining his life away. But there was no crack now, not even the faintest scar.
Had his berserk mode truly taken control? He looked down at his bare feet in confusion, his body trembling with frustration.
The door suddenly opened. He leaped backward instinctively, dropping into his stance. Being alive probably ant he was now a hostage of the Chaos Armada.
A girl glowing with a blue aura stepped into the room. Her black hair was a chaotic ss of spiky, voluminous strands shooting out wildly. Half-lidded eyes gazed through her bangs with profound boredom, dark circles underneath completing her exhausted appearance.
She was dressed in a white button-up shirt, torn and frayed, with a red tie hanging loose. A dark green jacket drooped off her shoulders, as if maintaining it properly was beyond her care.
Around her neck hung an assortnt of necklaces—chains tangled with various pendants.
Her lazy eyes made Raiden drop his defensive stance. She blinked slowly before him, appearing frozen in place.
"Oh, you’re up," she said wearily. Without another word, she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Confusion lingered in Raiden’s mind. Beyond her obvious fatigue, her aura seed scattered and wild. He sighed and chose to pursue her.
However, before he could reach the door, it opened from behind.
A second girl entered, a dark aura swirling around her. She wore her dark brown hair in a short, tousled pixie cut with lighter highlights. While as disheveled as the first girl, she carried herself with a certain style.
Her half-lidded eyes and subtle pout created a boldly defiant expression, one that spoke of confidence and underlying attitude.
Her outfit consisted of a fitted black shirt with a red necktie, partially tucked to accentuate her figure. A tan jacket hung loosely at her waist, completing the look with a light green short skirt.
She locked eyes with Raiden while running her hand near her ear, displaying her multiple earrings and the tattoos that adorned her hand.
Raiden’s eyes narrowed as he stared into her piercing ones. "What’s going on? Who are you?"
She studied him briefly before shaking her head in disappointnt. "Great, you don’t rember anything."
"I’m Snow." She turned and headed for the exit. "Follow ."
Her na alone didn’t satisfy Raiden’s curiosity, but he had little choice except to comply.
"The other girl was Anya," Snow ntioned as Raiden followed her lead.
Beyond his door lay a short corridor with a dead end nearby. Eight additional rooms lined the passage beside Raiden’s own. Snow went left, and he followed her. The turn revealed a massive hall bustling with people, each one glowing with a distinct aura.
"This is the Chaos Armada." Snow glanced back at him as Raiden reached for an aether cigarette in his pocket.
"You’re part of the Chaos Armada now, Raven."
The aether cigarette found its place between Raiden’s lips as he stepped into the hall. He looked up, taking in the enormity of the space. Hundreds of people wandered freely below while five massive dragons, red and black, over ten feet long, moved among them with wings occasionally spreading. Corridors identical to his own dotted the surrounding walls.
The aether cigarette moved between Raiden’s lips as he worked it with his tongue. Snow’s face remained impassive throughout her explanation, lending credibility to her words. Testing candidates before the armada selection would be logical.
"Why ? I never fought in the arena."
Snow kept her hands in her jacket as she gazed toward the middle of the hall. There, most people clustered around a square barrier that extended all the way to the ornately carved ceiling.
"You’ve proven yourself already." Raiden took the aether cigarette from his lips and rolled it between his fingers.
"You’re the only one I’ve seen survive Zion’s ability." She shrugged casually. "And you did pretty well against my people too."
Raiden massaged his forehead, squeezing the aether in his hand from frustration. This wasn’t the first ti his berserk mode had taken over, wiping his mory clean afterward. Yet he’d been incredibly strong in that state. Why couldn’t he tap into that power when he was actually in control?
Snow gestured toward the barrier in the middle of the hall. "Over there is the target barrier."
Raiden frowned. "What’s a target barrier?"
Snow turned to him. "Not common in your kingdom, huh?"
"A target barrier works like a marked barrier, but with a key difference. While marked barriers target specific people with commands, target barriers only affect concepts, not people."
The crowd around the barrier erupted in cheers that echoed throughout the hall, giving Raiden a better understanding of what Snow had explained.
"So if the command issued is ’death,’ it’s different from a marked barrier that only affects the targeted person. In target barriers, it applies to everyone within the barrier, and no one cos out unless soone dies, right?"
Snow smiled at him. "You’ve got it."
She turned to the left. "You can walk around freely. Your first fight within the barrier is tomorrow." She started walking but paused. "Third captain of the chaos armada, by the way."
She smirked. "You’re quite strong. I can help you keep the abilities you showed yesterday under wraps." She turned and began walking away.
Raiden stared at her as she walked away. What exactly had he done? His mind began to wander—letting Snow train him would an she might learn more about his ability.
He sighed. "I don’t have a choice, do I? If I’m still captured even after going into that form, she must have defeated ."
This wasn’t about pride and secrecy anymore. It was about survival.
At that mont, a loud scream erupted from the barrier, soone pleading for their life while everyone around just smiled.
That couldn’t be his fate. He had to show his strength and get soone to buy him out of this shithole so he could focus on what really mattered. For now, he was a slave, Raven, not the bookkeeper Raiden.
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