SHATTERED REALM: FORGOTTEN ECHOES-Chapter 165: Utterly Defeated

Aramith’s irises had darkened, fading from deep purple into an abyssal black, swallowing the color whole.

He was bloodthirsty now.

Lynnor stopped laughing.

Rynelle went to Sylvia. "Tell him to stop! He’s your brother, do you want him to die?!"

But Sylvia was just as scared as everyone else was.

Her smile had faded a while ago, and she wasn’t even sure she would be safe if she stepped in. Then to tell him to stop? Sounded like suicide.

Eryndor tried to crawl away, trembling.

Aramith appeared beside him without making a sound.

A knee came crashing into Eryndor’s ribs.

His armor shattered, and he felt the raw impact as bone broke.

Eryndor screamed, and almost everyone else looked away, but Aramith didn’t flinch.

He grabbed Eryndor’s head and smashed it into the stone.

Blood splattered.

"This is too much!!"

"Keeper, stop—!!"

But the Keeper froze.

He couldn’t move or speak.The pressure pouring out of Aramith... it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t human.

Aramith’s fingers dug into Eryndor’s collarbone.

He lifted him like dangling balls.

[A.N. (⚆_⚆) Wasn’t me.]

Aramith drew back his fist, expression blank, and his eyes swirled with pure darkness.

That was when everyone watching realized he wasn’t fighting anymore.

"STOP!!" Mozrael shouted, taking a step forward, but Lynnor moved first.

The wind flared under her feet, and she moved with no hesitation.

She appeared beside Aramith and grabbed his wrist mid-swing.

The entire arena went silent.

Aramith didn’t even blink.

He simply turned his head toward her, frowning.

"Stop interrupting."

He didn’t sound angry, just annoyed.

Lynnor’s jaw tightened.

"Look," she ordered sharply, slamming her free hand onto his chest and pushing his head toward the ground.

Eryndor lay in shattered stone, barely breathing.His face was swollen, blood dripping.He only breathed because his body reflexively fought to survive.

Aramith’s darkened eyes stared down.

For a second, they flickered.

Then his fists relaxed.

Lynnor released him and stepped back.

Aramith exhaled.

"I see," he murmured.

He didn’t look remorseful in the slightest.

Just coldly calm.

"He deserves it."

A ripple of horror passed through the crowd. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Even Sylvia lowered her gaze.

Mozrael’s expression tightened into something unreadable.

"I’m calm now, you can go," Aramith said to Lynnor.

Lynnor eyed him carefully before finally stepping away.

He glanced at Sylvia, then turned his head slightly, eyes half-lidded but terrifyingly focused.

"Stand."

Eryndor flinched.

"I—I can’t... I c-can’t..."

His voice cracked like a child’s.

Aramith didn’t raise his voice, but with power, he sounded loud.

"You challenged me." He took a step forward.

"You tried to kill me."Another step.

"And you insulted those who walk with me."

Eryndor scrambled back, palms slipping on the cracked stone."I-I concede! I concede!!"

The Keeper opened his mouth to announce it, and Aramith lifted a hand slightly.

The Keeper shut his mouth.

He wasn’t interfering. Not anymore.

Aramith crouched, eye-level with the trembling prodigy.

His tone was calm... too calm.

"Good. Then listen carefully."

Eryndor had no choice.

"You’re talented, strong, arrogant, predictable, emotional, and above all..."

Aramith leaned in the slightest ounce closer.

"...fragile."

Eryndor’s breath froze.

"You broke yourself trying to kill someone who wasn’t even fighting you seriously." he paused for a second to let the words sink in, then:

"Never let emotion steer your blade."

Aramith stood.

"Keep in mind that the sister you look down on because of your current strength is better than you. And she’s only going to grow."

Eryndor couldn’t lift his head.

He couldn’t even breathe right.

Every student watching felt the message crawl into their bones.

The Keeper finally managed to step forward, voice shaky,

"W...Winner... Therin of Forsaken Peak."

Silence.

No one cheered. They were afraid.

Because everyone now understood one thing:

The one known as Therin hadn’t shown strength today. He had shown what it looked like when he stopped holding back his humanity.

This was the dark horse of Forsaken Peak Academy.

And worse yet, they didn’t know his true identity.

From her seat, Serephene smirked. "He’s the one. Find a way to get him. We’ll use him for the trade."

Elira nodded.

Everyone held their breath until Aramith finally stepped away from the broken stone and turned his back on Eryndor.

Students shifted back instinctively, forming a path without needing to be told.

No one wanted to be within arm’s reach of him.

Whispers started low.

"Is he really from Forsaken Peak...?"

"That wasn’t normal strength."

"Did you hear? Eryndor was at Platinum."

"What is he?"

The Forsaken Peak students stood frozen for a moment, unsure whether to approach him or keep their distance. They’d looked down on him and now...everything had changed.

Mozrael was the first to move.

She walked up silently, her eyes scanning his face, then she noticed the dark vein pulsing at his neck for just a second before disappearing.

He didn’t look at her, but she saw the faint tremor under his skin—the aftereffect of that blood surge.

She could only imagine how terrible everything would have been if he had fully gone out of control

Lynnor scoffed, forcing out a shaky laugh."Dammit... you almost made me step in too early."

But there was no humor left in her voice.

Aramith only replied, "I handled it."

He started toward the arena exit, and the Forsaken Peak group couldn’t raise their heads to look at him.

They now understood what Ilthane had seen in him and were too ashamed.

Everyone else was too afraid to walk beside him.

When everyone was sure it was over, Eryndor forced himself up.

He refused to go down that way.

"You used some artifacts, right?!" He shouted. "Admit you cheated!"

Aramith turned to him, frowning.

He was surprised Eryndor was still putting up a front. And even standing while doing so.

Sylvia looked at her brother, then at Aramith. He’d done this because of her, but his methods made him frightening.

She calmed herself, swallowed her fear, and stepped forward to stand beside him.

"Dragons are prideful, and his blood has that of a dragon."

She didn’t need to explain further. He understood.

So it’s the bloodline...

You lost, brother," Sylvia said in Aramith’s defense, but that made him even more infuriated.

"Why did you decide to do this? All this could have been avoided if you hadn’t left home!"

His eyes were glowing in an uneven mix of white and orange.

"He’s going out of control," Sylvia said to Aramith.

The people from Dragon Emperor Academy all stepped back, afraid.

"Everyone, stay back!" Lynnor shouted.

A thin tremor ran through the arena floor. Frost crawled across one crack while heat shimmer distorted the air above it—conflicting energies tearing loose.

They only had a second to dodge before—

BOOM!

A shockwave of flame and frost erupted outward, ripping stone from the arena floor and blasting shards into the air.

The arena couldn’t withstand the suicidal blast.

Lynnor waved a gust of wind across.

When the smoke finally cleared, the frost was already melting, and only scorched stone, fractured ice, and drifting embers remained.

Eryndor lay on his back, his chest rising in uneven, strained breaths. The last flare of heat he’d released still shimmered faintly around him.

Eryndor simply had nothing left to give.

Rynelle ran first. Her boots scraped against the stone as she dropped to her knees beside her brother, pulling his upper body into her arms.

Sylvia followed, pressing her palm lightly against Eryndor’s cheek.

Rynelle frowned at Eryndor, but she understood it wasn’t her fault entirely.

"Brother... look at me," Rynelle whispered.

He tried. His eyelids lifted weakly, revealing a dim, unfocused gaze. Even his pupils seemed exhausted.

Aramith remained a few steps away. He remained unaffected by Eryndor’s final blast. Only a few scorch marks on his arms showed effect, but it wasn’t anything serious.

Sylvia turned her head toward Aramith. Fear and gratitude tangled together.

"He needs treatment immediately," she said. "His heart is destabilizing."

Lynnor appeared beside them.

"Stay away!" A tutor from Dragon Emperor shouted, but Lynnor didn’t have time to waste on him.

"Kneel!" She commanded, unleashing her domineering Dragon’s Gate aura. They all fell to their knees from the pressure.

The respect and fear for Forsaken Peak increased a thousandfold.

"Let me help," Lynnor said, but Rynelle understood it was a command.

She stood beside them and extended his hand over Eryndor’s abdomen. A thin, controlled glow pulsed between her fingers.

It wasn’t fire or ice, just pure Youm threaded with restraint. Eryndor’s breathing steadied slightly.

"You’re suppressing the backlash?" Rynelle asked.

"Temporarily," Lynnor replied. "His fire and ice clashed when he forced them both to the limit. His veins can’t regulate the temperature shift."

As if to emphasize the point, a small crackle of frost climbed up Eryndor’s arm before vanishing in a burst of heat. He winced, but Rynelle held him closer, whispering reassurance he was too dazed to understand.

Keepers arrived from the arena’s edges, pushing a stretcher between them. Lynnor withdrew her hand and stood.

"Move him carefully," she instructed. "If his temperature spikes or drops too quickly, the shock could worsen the internal tearing."

The Keepers nodded and lifted Eryndor. Rynelle brushed a shaking hand against her brother’s hair before following alongside the stretcher. Sylvia remained behind a moment longer, her gaze locked on Aramith.

"You pushed him hard," she said. Not accusing. Simply stating what everyone knew.

Aramith lowered his eyes. "Yes."

"But you didn’t cross the line," she added, though she knew he would have done so, had Lynnor not stepped in.

He looked up again, unbothered. Sylvia didn’t smile. She only studied him, as if reassessing him entirely.

"He’ll want a rematch," she added quietly.

A faint, tired breath escaped Aramith. "I expected that."

She nodded, then turned to Forsaken Peak.

Aramith looked at Lynnor. "Why did you help him?" He asked.

Lynnor shrugged. "Because you went too far. I don’t want that academy or clan bothering us later. Rector would be mad. I’m bored anyways, bye. Mozrael, let’s go."

Before Mozrael had a chance to react, Lynnor dragged her along and left.