With the coliseum plunged into silence, everyone watched in utter amazement at the scene they had just witnessed. It was a cold, relentless, and utterly humiliating experience.
In one of the waiting rooms, chaos had broken out and was raging out of control.
Splintered tables lay overturned, and furniture was reduced to rubble. The food, once carefully served, was now scattered on the floor, trampled underfoot.
But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Amidst the disaster, the lifeless body of a man lay face down, his blood slowly spilling out, staining the remains of food around him. Bread, meat, and fruit mixed with his coagulated blood, forming a disgusting, grotesque mass. His arm was still trembling slightly, but his eyes were already empty.
The stench of despair, anger, and defeat permeated the air.
Scarlett stared at the screen formed by observation magic, her face completely contorted with rage and hatred.
"Why does that damn bastard... that son of a bitch born to a commoner always get in my way?" She spat out the words, clutching her hair tightly, as if she needed something to pull out to restrain herself.
This was supposed to be his son’s moment to shine. The moment when he would rise to glory and the clan’s name would ring out loud and clear throughout the Kingdom.
But everything... everything had been trampled on by one person.
That name made her nauseous. It was like poison running through her veins, a poison that burned, that corrupted, that made her tremble with rage.
Her jaw clenched. Her breathing was erratic. And as the image on the screen showed her son’s defeated body, the contempt on Kael’s face tore her apart inside.
She couldn’t watch any longer.
She looked away with a violent movement and, turning around, her eyes fell on the corpse in the living room. Without thinking, she kicked him brutally in the stomach, sending him flying against the wall as if he were a useless sack of flesh.
And then she left the waiting room with firm, heavy steps, as if each footfall wanted to crack the floor.
The fury that enveloped her was not human. It was a dark, scorching flame that threatened to reduce the world to ashes.
Back on the combat platform, Jasper was kneeling, and Kael was standing in front of him.
"Why are you doing this to me...? What did I do to you...?" Jasper murmured, his voice broken, almost inaudible, barely a whisper laden with despair.
He was shaking. He had nothing left. He had lost his honor, pride, respect, and dignity. Everything. The only thing he still held onto was that empty question, which even he didn’t know deserved an answer.
He looked up awkwardly, like a wounded animal that still doesn’t understand why it’s being beaten. His face was swollen, bruised, and covered in dried blood. Tears flowed uncontrollably, mixing with mucus and saliva. There was no anger.
From where he lay, sunlight beat down on Kael’s motionless body. The shadow cast by his figure fell like a slab on Jasper. His younger brother’s face was shrouded in darkness, but his eyes... those eyes, black as the abyss, stared at him without emotion.
Kael crouched down, staring at his brother’s pathetic face as memories of his life began to flood back, one after another.
The images returned with brutal clarity: the contempt in their eyes, the mocking laughter, the shoves, the cold. The way they treated him... as if he were nothing more than an unwanted pest.
He remembered the dark corner where he and his mother slept, next to the pigsty, breathing the same air as the pigs, surrounded by manure and rats. No one spoke to them. No one looked at them. The servants threw them scraps as if they were animals, and his mother, with her head bowed, picked them up without saying a word.
It seems I still have a long way to go. Kael laughed bitterly and grabbed Jasper’s hair again.
"How can you be so pathetic?" His voice was as cold as before, emotionless, weightless, as if he weren’t talking to a person.
With his free hand, Kael grabbed one of Jasper’s fingers and twisted it effortlessly.
Jasper’s heart-wrenching scream echoed throughout the coliseum, shattering the absolute silence. He writhed in pain, trying to break free, but his body no longer responded as he wanted it to.
Kael looked at him silently. A blank smile, without joy or malice, slowly formed on his face. "Why are you screaming so much? We’re just getting started."
And just like that, he broke another finger.
"AAAAAAHHH!!! STOP! ENOUGH!"
Jasper’s cry was even louder, more raw. He had no pride left. Only suffering.
The referee standing near the platform took a step forward, his face tense, his fists clenched. He wanted to intervene. But he couldn’t. The rules of the Spring Tournament were clear: he could only act if the participant surrendered... or lost consciousness.
And Jasper, clinging to his humiliated pride, had not yet done either.
So the referee could only watch.
Amid his pain, Jasper tried to shout. "Me...!"
But Kael’s hand was faster. He covered his mouth before he could make a sound... and without hesitation, he broke another finger.
The scream that followed was heart-wrenching, much louder than the previous one. It echoed throughout the coliseum like a nail piercing the soul.
The audience held its breath. No one knew how to react to such cruelty. And worst of all, they could no longer look directly at Kael. Something about him... wasn’t human. It was like watching a demon, one that didn’t need to scream or show anger.
"P-please... stop..." Jasper begged between gasps, tears, and snot covering his bloodied face. His words were barely intelligible moans. Every second was pure torture.
Kael didn’t respond. He simply broke another finger.
Jasper’s scream was heart-wrenching, a sound that pierced flesh, bone, and dignity. The pain was so intense that his body collapsed, staggering on the verge of fainting.
But Kael gave him no respite. Coldly, he took his remaining hand and, one by one, broke his remaining fingers.
That last scream was etched into the hearts of everyone present: nobles, commoners, wizards, knights... No one would ever forget it.
From that day on, everyone learned one lesson.
Never, under any circumstances, was it wise to mess with Kael Medici.