The Berserk Array

The Abyssal Arena was a masterpiece of violence. Suspended by chains over a bottomless waterfall, the circular stone platform was surrounded by thousands of cheering disciples.

The semi-finals.

The massive illusion board in the sky flashed the names of the combatants.

* MATCH 1: KAEL VS. ZOYA.*

The crowd gasped. An Outer Disciple against the Golden Boy? It should have been a slaughter.

Zoya stood on the stone, the wind whipping her robes. Across the arena, Kael stood motionless. He looked wrong. His skin was pale, sweat beading on his forehead. His eyes were unfocused.

"Kael!" Zoya shouted over the roar of the crowd. "Listen to me! Do not circulate your Qi!"

Up in the VIP box, Elder Shen stroked his long white beard, a cruel smile playing on his lips. He tapped his finger on the armrest.

Below the arena, hidden runes flared to life.

Kael convulsed. He grabbed his head, screaming.

Black veins erupted on his neck. The lightning crackling around him turned from blue to a sickly, corrupt purple. The *Thunderclap Step*—the flawed version Shen had ensured he learned—was reacting with the array beneath the floor.

"It's starting," Zoya horrified. "The Qi Deviation."

Kael looked up. His eyes were entirely black. There was no recognition in them. Only hunger and pain.

He roared, a sound that shattered the stone tiles around him. He launched himself at Zoya.

He was fast. Faster than ever. Zoya barely deflected his strike, her iron sword shattering on impact. The force threw her backward, skidding across the grit.

"Kill her!" the crowd chanted, thinking it was part of the show.

Kael was a storm of destruction. He wasn't fighting; he was exploding in slow motion. If he kept this up, his core would detonate, taking the entire arena with him.

Zoya dodged a bolt of purple lightning that vaporized the spot where she had been standing. She couldn't fight him. He was too strong. But she couldn't run.

* This is it,* she thought. *The moment of choice.*

In her past life, she had turned her back. She had survived.

Zoya looked at Kael’s tortured face. She saw the boy who had tried to protect her from the bear. She saw the boy who had laughed with her in the library.

She threw her broken sword hilt away.

She sprinted straight into the storm.