Chapter 886: The inevitable [2]

"Yes, I want to."

The words left Leon’s mouth more easily than he expected. The moment they left his lips, it was as if something weighing down his chest lifted.

The elder didn’t respond immediately.

He remained seated on the opposite side of the table, both hands resting over the head of his cane as his gaze lingered over Leon’s face, seemingly searching for something.

Leon didn’t look away.

He already knew what the man was going to say.

That it was dangerous. That fighting the Dune Conqueror could very easily lead to his death. That agreeing to something like this after everything he’d been warned about was idiotic.

Leon was long aware.

There was no need for anyone to explain it to him.

Leon had watched Tharvek fight before, and even without seeing the full extent of his strength, the difference between them was obvious.

Julien had been right about that much.

His chances weren’t good.

Perhaps they were worse than that.

And yet, even knowing all of this, the answer didn’t change.

The elder’s fingers moved slightly over the cane.

"You understand that I am not asking whether you believe you can defeat him. I’m only asking you to go against him."

"...I know."

"I am asking whether you are willing to stand before him knowing there is a considerable chance you will not walk away."

Leon lowered his gaze.

For the briefest of moments, Julien’s voice surfaced inside his head again.

’You’ll die.’

It sounded almost exactly as he had said it before.

There was clear certainty behind the voice. And that was what bothered Leon the most.

Leon understood why.

That was perhaps the worst part of it.

Neither Julien nor the Elder were trying to sugarcoat things for him. Both understood that he was weaker than the Dune Conqueror.

Leon’s fingers slowly curled.

’...You can do it...’

But there existed another voice in Leon’s head.

One that told him the complete opposite. One... that resonated deep within his heart.

’It’s possible...’

Right, it was possible.

Leon breathed slowly through his nose.

Perhaps he really would die.

Perhaps Julien’s vision was unavoidable, and every step he took from this point onward would only bring him closer to the corpse Julien had already seen.

But if that was true—

’Then at least let the steps be mine.’

Something inside his chest loosened.

’Keep going.’

Leon’s gaze rose.

"I understand that you have your own motives for getting me to fight him, but so long as you don’t interfere with my fight, I am willing to go along with whatever you’re planning."

The elder’s expression moved slightly.

Leon continued.

"...I need you just as much as you need me."

Silence followed.

The old man stared at him for several seconds before his grip around the cane loosened.

"...Good."

Leon narrowed his eyes.

"But I won’t be doing this for free. I’ll need something from you in exchange."

The elder reached beneath the table and removed a small piece of parchment.

"I’m already aware of what you seek."

***

The challenge arrived near sunset.

Tharvek stood on one of the highest terraces of the upper district, the city spreading beneath him in layers of sandstone and pale gold.

From there, most of Karah Togg looked small.

People moved through the streets like scattered dots, disappearing between buildings while the distant noise of the lower districts blended into a low and constant hum.

Tharvek rested one hand against the railing.

He had spent a long time climbing high enough to see the city like this.

Long enough that he’d almost forgotten what it felt like to stand below and wonder what the people above were looking at.

Almost.

Right, he wasn’t at the very top yet.

Footsteps approached from behind.

"My lord."

Tharvek didn’t turn.

"Mm?"

"A formal challenge has been issued."

His eyes lifted slightly. That was enough for the attendant to step closer and extend a folded parchment with both hands.

Tharvek took it.

The seal belonged to the Ranking Council.

That alone was enough to make his smile deepen.

Slowly, he opened it.

His gaze moved slowly down the page until it eventually stopped upon a single name.

Rhizen.

"...Oh?"

The hot wind pulled faintly at his grayish hair. For several seconds, Tharvek said nothing.

Then a low laugh escaped him.

"So he actually did it."

The attendant remained silent.

Tharvek read the challenge again. There was something strangely nostalgic about it.

Not the words themselves.

The feeling.

The stupid certainty of someone standing far beneath another person and deciding that the distance between them was something worth crossing.

’Right, it almost reminds me of him...’

A chuckle escaped his lips.

His eyes slowly drifted toward the arena in the distance. From where he stood, only the uppermost section could be seen.

For the briefest of moments, the arena before him disappeared.

An older image took its place.

The same sands, only darker then, stained deep beneath the dying light.

A man stood below with blood running down one arm, a strip of torn cloth hanging loosely from his shoulder as the crowd roared around him. Thousands of voices, screaming and shouting for his death.

And somewhere along the railing, almost lost among them—

Small fingers clung to the stone.

Gripping it so tightly that the skin around the knuckles had turned white.

Tharvek blinked.

The image disappeared.

His smile remained.

People often misunderstood what it meant to reach the top.

They thought the reward was the ability to look down.

To see how small everyone else had become.

To stand somewhere others couldn’t reach and enjoy the distance between them.

Tharvek had once thought the same.

But after climbing high enough, he’d learned something far more irritating.

There was always something above.

Another person with enough power to decide what he could or couldn’t do.

His eyes slowly moved upward.

The pale second sun hung motionless within the sky.

"...How troublesome."

The attendant glanced toward him.

"My lord?"

Tharvek smiled.

"Nothing."

He folded the challenge.

Everyone beneath him thought he wanted strength because he enjoyed looking down at them.

How amusing.

They never noticed how often he still had to look up.

That was the problem with climbing. The higher one went, the clearer the things above became. He could see what others couldn’t, and once Tharvek saw something above him, he could no longer pretend it wasn’t there.

He had spent too much of his life depending on the mercy of people standing higher than him.

Depending on whether somebody decided he was useful.

Depending on whether another person lived long enough for him to remain protected beneath their shadow.

He had no intention of doing so again.

’I will never leave my life in satisfaction.’

The moment a man decided he had enough was often the moment the world began taking it from him. Ambition was the key to the sky.

Tharvek looked at the name written across the challenge once again.

Rhizen.

He was an interesting one. It wasn’t long ago when he had just entered the ranking games. He was also someone who had refused his orders in front of everyone, and someone who, not long ago, had still been too weak to stand before him.

Tharvek’s thumb slowly passed over the ink.

A small laugh escaped his lips.

"Perhaps you’ve finally ripened."

He turned toward the attendant and handed the parchment back.

"Accept it."

The man’s eyes widened.

"My lord, are you certain? His position is considerably beneath your—"

"It’s fine. Accept it."

The attendant immediately lowered his head.

"...Of course."

Tharvek turned back toward the city.

His smile widened as the wind swept across the terrace.

"Tell them I’ll fight him."

***

News traveled quickly in Karah Togg.

By the time the challenge became official, people in the lower districts were already talking about it. By morning, vendors had begun abandoning their usual spots to move closer to the Sun-Scour Arena.

By midday, the corridors surrounding the upper levels were packed.

Rhizen.

The name appeared everywhere.

Not because anyone truly believed he would win.

That almost made the situation more exciting.

He had risen extremely quickly. Not only was the way he fought reckless, but it was also incredibly fun to watch. And now, after barely establishing himself among the higher ranks, he’d challenged the Dune Conqueror himself.

Was this the mere arrogance of a newcomer?

Most didn’t care which one was true.

They simply wanted to watch.

By the time Leon arrived beneath the arena, the noise could already be heard through the stone. A constant vibration passed through the walls as thousands of voices merged together above.

He stood within the narrow waiting passage, rolling one shoulder as he stared toward the closed gate ahead.

His body felt considerably better than it had during his last fight.

Closing his eyes, he felt his own body. He felt and heard the sound of his own blood as it pulsed through his body. But deeper down, he felt something else.

Something deeper.

Gradually, his eyes opened.

The gate began to rise.

Light spilled into the passage as the roar outside immediately intensified.

Leon stepped forward.

The moment he entered the arena, heat washed across his face.

The entire Sun-Scour Arena was filled.

People crowded every level, some leaning so far over the stone barriers that the guards nearby had to pull them back.

"RHIZEN!"

"THARVEK!"

"RHIZEN!"

"THARVEK!"

The chants collided violently above him.

Leon barely heard them.

His gaze had already moved toward the opposite side.

The second gate opened.

White robes appeared through the darkness.

Tharvek stepped into the arena without hurry, his grayish hair shifting faintly with each step while the noise around them rose to a level that made the stone beneath Leon’s feet tremble.

Unlike Leon, he didn’t look toward the crowd.

His eyes remained fixed ahead.

On him.

A smile slowly appeared across his face.

Leon continued walking until only several meters separated them.

For a moment, neither spoke.

The crowd thundered around them, yet the small distance between the two seemed strangely quiet.

Tharvek looked him over.

His gaze traveled from Leon’s feet to his face before settling upon his eyes.

"You’ve changed."

Leon didn’t answer immediately.

"...You have not."

"Haha."

Tharvek laughed softly.

"Indeed, I have not. One can’t change much when they’ve hit the top."

His tone remained at ease as Leon studied him.

Perhaps that was true.

Perhaps that was the problem.

Tharvek tilted his head.

"Your friend isn’t here. I had tasked him to go do something for me, but he isn’t here yet. I guess he failed."

Leon’s expression remained the same.

"Maybe he’s dead?"

"..."

"He seemed rather talented. At least, he’s certainly stronger than you."

Tharvek’s smile widened.

"I wonder what he would think of this."

Leon’s jaw tightened slightly.

Images surfaced again.

Julien standing before him.

’I’ve seen your death.’

Leon let out a slow breath.

"He’d tell me not to be here."

"And yet you are."

"Yes."

Tharvek’s eyes narrowed faintly.

"Why?"

Leon stared at him.

There were a hundred answers he could’ve given.

Because he wanted to become stronger.

Because Tharvek disgusted him.

Because of Gorian.

Because he wanted to know whether Julien’s future could be changed.

All of them were true.

But none of them were the reason he had stepped into the arena.

"...Because I decided to be."

For the first time, Tharvek’s smile changed.

It became thinner, almost thoughtful. But then, he laughed.

Not quite out of amusement, but something else entirely.

"I see."

His gaze rose briefly toward the pale sun above them before returning to Leon.

"What a dangerous reason."

Leon lowered his stance.

"Maybe."

Mana began to circulate through his body. His blood pumped even more fiercely.

Across from him, Tharvek’s white robes shifted despite the wind suddenly dying.

The sand around his feet trembled.

Leon felt the pressure immediately.

It was incredibly heavy. Far heavier than anything he’d experienced from his previous opponents.

His instincts screamed at him. They all told him to concede. Run away. His body was no different, the very hair at the back of his neck rising as sweat trickled down the side of his face.

Tharvek was stronger.

Much stronger.

Leon swallowed.

His heart began to pound against his chest.

And beneath it—

Fear began to form. But he pushed all of that away. For he had no time for fear.

Across the arena, the elder slowly raised one hand.

The entire crowd began to quiet.

Thousands of voices disappeared one after another until only the faint movement of sand could be heard.

Leon stared at Tharvek.

Tharvek stared back.

Neither moved.

The elder’s hand fell.

"Begin."