Levi was called in for two more battles, and this time, he handled his opponents more efficiently than before. By this point, his spirit senses had started to kick in during combat, almost like second nature. His main focus was still the same, making the Shattered Veil Aura his first line of defense and integrating it into his attacks.
In the third match, only a few people placed bets on him, while most sided with his opponent. They thought greed and pride had clouded the Shadow Slayer's sponsor's judgment, forcing him to fight repeatedly without rest. For most people, even five solari was enough to live comfortably for a month, yet this sponsor kept betting ten percent of his wealth on Levi like money meant nothing to him.
In third match, Levi faced a Venomancer Echo, an opponent relying on the Silent Fang Memory. The fighter lunged forward, attempting to overwhelm him with speed, but Levi refused to yield an inch. He denied him any chance to unleash his arsenal of toxins: neurotoxins to numb, hemotoxins to bleed, and worse. He exploited every weakness typical of an Order-7 Venomancer.
They generally rely on hit-and-run tactics, avoiding direct confrontation in favor of slow, grinding attrition. Each time he tried to create distance, Levi closed it, denying him the space needed to brew his deadliest poisons. Most of them are fragile in close combat and lacked the ability to deliver a decisive blow. The fight became a dance of millimeters, Levi always one step ahead. Their strength lies in drawn-out battles, not in sudden kills or critical strikes. Many of their venoms also require preparation or reagents to be fully effective.
But Levi understood all this. He had studied the nature of Echo Memories, what they offered and where they fell short. In every new life, he claimed new Echo memories, researched them, experimented with them, and learned to counter them. This knowledge was his weapon, an edge invisible that no one could see.
After dueling for a while, he once again chose to forfeit the match, accepting the loss. This time, his opponent was left even more confused. Shadow Slayer hadn't used a single visible Echo skill, yet he never gained the upper hand.
Back in the rest room, the battler sat in silence, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. Around him, the other fighters began asking questions about Levi. They all knew from experience that none of them could consistently counter every move their opponents made, so how could a boy younger and smaller than most of them do exactly that?
In his fourth match, Levi faced an opponent who, like him, was a basic Echo. The two of them sparred with their auras, testing and refining their techniques. This opponent fought with raw power, his Shattered Veil Aura flaring like a storm. Levi matched him blow for blow, their auras clashing in visible ripples. This time, the opponent wasn't nervous, he already knew Shadow Slayer would eventually surrender, so he clashed at full strength without hesitation or fear.
The opponent swung a fist wrapped in crackling energy, Levi ducked, retaliating with a knee to the gut. They traded strikes, neither yielding, until Levi's body began to fail. His arms trembled, his legs buckling under fatigue. With one last exchange, he staggered back, signaling forfeit.
But now, his vision blurred at the edges; each breath was a struggle against the weight pressing against his ribs. He barely made it back to the resting room. His body was pushed to its absolute limit, every muscle aching and screaming in pain. Despite that, he sent a message through Veylan to Dorain: "The next battle will be the final match. Tell him to wait for the big fish."
While the arena's attention shifted to other matches, whisper's of the Shadow Slayer's return lingered like smoke. The audience grew more excited after every battle of him. Even if they didn't bet on him, they were drawn in by the sheer stamina of the boy. Despite losing match after match, he still showed up for a fourth round, something even seasoned Echoes rarely did. Typically, veterans only fought three matches in a row, and only when they were winning.
As the tournament progressed, dueled came and went but the Shadow Slayer was nowhere to be seen. Anticipation grew. The audience, now watching other matches more critically, began to notice a stark contrast. Levi's fights weren't fast-paced skirmishes; they dragged on ten, sometimes fifteen minutes, like he was giving his opponents time to reveal all their hidden moves, just so he could counter them evenly. It was a theory the audience whispered among themselves.
The difference was undeniable. Other clashes ended in mere minutes, their fates sealed in the blink of an eye, seven minutes at most. But Levi's fights? They always stretched to the full ten, a relentless dance of skill and endurance. And the audience loved it. For them, arenas were the only place where they could witness Echoes in battle, warriors wielding strange, awe-inspiring abilities that commoners could only dream of. Most had failed the Shattered Veil Trial in their youth, their hopes dashed long ago. Now, they lived vicariously through these clashes, marveling at powers they would never possess.
But the battlers harbored doubts. How could a boy counter moves they'd spent years mastering?. They knew exactly how it felt to stand in front of Levi, completely exposed, stripped of all tricks. It wasn't luck or showmanship. It was calculated, precise, and terrifying.
So now, even the other battlers and spectators waited for the Shadow Slayer's next match with growing curiosity and anticipation. Their expectations were finally about to be met when Dorain received a message, one that stood out from the usual chatter. It came from one of the Ultimate Guests. He opened the page, and the message read: "Why not wager your remaining solari on the Shadow Slayer against my Grimspine? I'll bet an Echo Memory but in return, we want the Echo Memory your Shadow Slayer possesses."
Dorain furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Huh? But Levi doesn't even have any Memory…" he muttered, glancing toward Veylan, who stood nearby.
When Levi received the message, a slow smile spread across his face. "So… they've run out of patience," he said to himself. "And now they want to butcher me just to find out what mysterious Echo Memory I'm hiding." But the moment his facial muscles reacted, the pain surged through him, wiping the smile from his face. Grimacing, he held back and composed himself, then gave his response to Veylan to send.
Dorain stared at the message, speechless. Noticing his stunned expression, Veylan asked, "What happened?"
Still frozen in disbelief, Dorain replied, "He… rejected their offer?"
Veylan blinked. "Rejected? But wasn't that the whole plan, to bait out an Echo Memory?" Dorain didn't answer. Instead, without wasting any more time, he forwarded the message exactly as it was to the next Ultimate Guest.
In a separate chamber, five or six individuals were gathered, two dressed in fine, luxurious clothing, one a representative from the arena staff, and the remaining two were high-ranking battlers. One of the nobles spoke up, his voice laced with surprise and uncertainty: "He rejected our offer?"
"Wait, what? Did you even mention which Echo Memory we were offering them?" one of the nobles asked sharply. He couldn't fathom how anyone could resist the pull of an echo memory, a thing so potent it couldn't always be bought, no matter the price. Some sacrificed limbs, fortunes, even their futures, just to occupy it.
"No," the other replied with a slight shrug, "but I doubt it would've changed their mind… unless—"
"Unless what?" one of the battlers cut in.
"Unless we offer two Memories instead."
A scoff followed. "So they do have greed, even after losing four matches? What a spoiled brat. If it weren't for the Shadow Slayer's supposed mind-reading Echo Memory, we wouldn't even bother dealing with them. Heaven must've truly made a mistake, gifting something so rare to someone so undeserving, abusing it like were a toy."
There was a tense silence before he added coldly, "We don't have much choice. Before anyone else makes a move on the Shadow Slayer's Memory, we should claim it ourselves."
After coming to an agreement, the group sent another message, this time offering two Echo Memories and listing their names clearly. To their surprise, Levi accepted the offer. However, he added one condition: he wouldn't appear for the next match. He intended to rest as long as needed.
His opponents didn't mind. To them, Levi was just prey trapped in a cage, unable to escape. And the key? That foolish, spoiled noble, easily manipulated by his own greed. In their minds, this was a common story. They'd seen nobles make these kinds of mistakes before, squandering wealth on reckless bets without understanding the consequences.
Meanwhile, Levi used the time to rest, pushing his body to recover as much as possible. He knew what was coming, the final match, his toughest opponent yet. He had tried everything to conserve energy, relying on his vast experience, but there was a problem: this body wasn't built for combat. It was used to quiet hours in libraries and occasional classes at the academy. Suddenly forcing it into extreme exertion carried serious risks.
Still, he pushed on, clinging to the hope that all this pain might still bear fruit. After hours of waiting, the anticipation finally reached its peak when a name echoed through the arena:
"Shadow Slayer vs. Grimspine!"
The crowd stirred instantly. The moment they heard Grimspine, the undefeated champion of the Iron Ring Arena, was announced excitement surged through the stands. He had never lost a single match, and his reputation alone was enough to draw attention.
Spectators who had already started to leave due to the late hour, turned around and rushed back to their seats. No one wanted to miss this. Cheers for Grimspine and Shadow Slayer grew louder with each passing second, and bets started pouring in.
What the audience didn't know, however, was that behind the scenes, a far more dangerous wager had been made. A hidden bet between two parties, each offering Memories as the stake. These high-stakes wagers were treated as binding contracts, witnessed and validated by an arena official. They were never announced publicly, both for privacy and because they often involved strategies too complex, or too dark for open scrutiny. This wasn't just another fight. This was a calculated gamble, with far more than pride or coin on the line.
Levi stepped onto the platform, his footsteps unsteady. Fresh cuts, bruises, and the faint marks of daggers were still visible across his body, evidence of the brutal matches he had endured. His eyes lifted to meet his final opponent.
A fully grown man stood across from himz silent, expressionless. Scars crisscrossed his face and body like a map of past battles. His eyes were calm, unreadable. His breath steady. His body wasn't sculpted for show, it was built purely for survival.
"Looks like this one's going to be a real fight," Levi thought, taking in the man's quiet, composed presence. This was what he had been waiting for, a final match against a worthy opponent. And from a single glance, he could tell: this man was no ordinary fighter. At the very least, he was a honourable Echo. But what disturbed him more wasn't the man's strength… it was the familiarity. This opponent had looked death in the eye, just like him.
For someone with as much experience as him, the eyes often told a story the mouth never would. But he didn't put too much faith in appearances. He knew where truth lived, in the cracks of desperation, where survival stripped away every mask. In that moment, all that remained was one thing:
The will to survive.