Free Web NovelChapter 62: Finals - Only God Forgives
"One thousand and one," Kane whispered.
"One thousand and two."
Silence filled the inn room around him.
Thora slept deeply. Sira curled on her side, facing the wall, keeping her bow resting against the bedframe within an arm’s reach.
Kessa slept on a woven mat nearby, one pointed ear twitching occasionally as her beastwoman instincts cataloged every faint sound in the building.
Sitting in a chair by the window, Grieselda remained perfectly still and completely awake, watching him count.
"One thousand and three."
Finishing at twelve hundred, Kane finally stood up and wiped his face with a rough cloth.
Opening his status screen quietly, he reviewed the numbers.
[Name: Kane]
[Stage: Warbrand — Peak]
[Level: 35]
[Strength: 214]
[Vitality: 179]
[Agility: 94]
[Charisma: 148]
[Dominance: 64]
[Gold Coins: 15,247]
[Weapon Bond: Mjoldr — Soul Brand active] fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Rising from her chair without a single sound, Grieselda crossed the room to where Mjoldr leaned against the wall.
She didn’t ask for permission. Grabbing the crimson handle, she caused the blade’s red aura to flare briefly at her touch, as if recognizing an old friend.
Carrying the weapon to the window where the light poured in, she began a silent process that took ten minutes.
Kane watched all of it without speaking a word.
Her pale hands moved over the blade in slow patterns. Instead of touching the steel directly, her palms hovered a half-inch above it.
The intricate mark resting between her breasts pulsed in perfect sync with whatever ritual she performed.
It felt like the subtle difference between a fire that merely warms and a fire that burns.
Finishing her work, she held the axe out to him, handle first.
Taking it carefully, Kane felt the difference immediately.
The weapon felt less like a forged tool and more like a living extension of his own arm.
"What did you do?" Kane asked quietly.
Pressing her palm flat over her own chest, she then reached out and pressed it over his heart.
Finally, she pointed a slender finger at the axe.
’The three of us are the same thing now,’ Kane translated mentally, or at least he understood something very close to that meaning.
Looking down at the blade, he noticed the Soul Brand property was still active.
But resting underneath it was something new.
’I will figure out exactly what it is when I bury it in a royal chest,’ Kane thought, strapping Mjoldr securely to his back.
Stirring awake on the bed, Thora watched him for a moment without sitting up.
"How do you feel?" she asked softly.
"Clear," Kane replied.
It was the most honest answer he could give.
There was no lingering anxiety and no performed arrogance today.
Sitting up, Thora brushed her sleep-tangled hair out of her face. Her eyes looked soft, but her expression carried that stubborn determination she always got when she decided on a course of action.
"Come here," she commanded gently.
Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Kane let her move behind him.
She placed her warm hands firmly on his shoulders. It wasn’t a soothing massage; she was just making sure he felt her presence right against his back.
"Whatever happens today," Thora began.
"I know," Kane interrupted softly.
"Let me finish," she scolded with a faint smile.
Waiting patiently, he let her find the words.
"Whatever happens today... I was there from the very beginning," Thora whispered near his ear.
"The Bloodfang camp, the forest, the worms, Greenhaven, the merchant road, Sylvandar. All of it. Whatever today makes you, I was a part of making it."
Kane stayed quiet for a long moment, letting her words settle.
"You were first," Kane said, his voice laced with deep affection.
"I know," she agreed.
"I just needed to say my part."
Kissing the back of his neck once, she finally moved away to get dressed for the arena.
"Chief. There are people outside." Brak called from the outside.
Walking over to the window, Kane looked down at the streets of the Honored Guest District.
An hour ago, the avenues were empty. Now, they were overflowing with bodies. The entire capital city seemingly decided simultaneously to move toward the arena.
Every single race and faction marched together.
Elven citizens who had never watched a barbarian fight walked beside beastpeople who traveled miles just for this specific match. Human mercenaries and traveling traders joined the massive herd.
Spotting a cluster of familiar faces, Kane recognized Dragonblood clan members marching proudly.
Rutheus must have sent word to his people.
This semifinal was originally announced as a mere administrative formality. The prince won his quarterfinal, and Kane won his.
But what was happening in the street told a completely different story.
There were no semi-finals.
The city understood that today was a brutal question the empire had been avoiding for five hundred years, and the bloody answer would be visible to everyone present.
’Unmapped territory,’ Kane thought, watching the endless crowd.
Turning away from the window, he cracked his knuckles.
"Let’s go." freewebnovel.cσ๓
Seventy thousand people filled the Celestial Aurora arena to maximum capacity.
Noise hit Kane like a physical wall before he even reached the tunnel entrance.
Multiple languages and multiple registers blended into the roar of a crowd that didn’t share a common rooting interest, but shared a deep understanding that history was about to break.
Walking through the competitors’ corridor alone, Kane passed eliminated fighters standing along the stone walls.
Some offered respectful nods as he walked by. Standing near the end of the corridor with his arms crossed, the dwarf from the market watched Kane approach. T
he old smith studied Mjoldr with the intense professional interest of a man desperate to see what the weapon would become.
Stepping out of the tunnel and into the bright sunlight, seventy thousand people screamed simultaneously.
"Bring down the elves!"
Win, barbarian! Break the silver crowns!"
They were cheering for the violent moment about to unfold.
Walking straight to the center of the sand, Kane stopped and looked up at the seats.
Elven nobles sat stiffly in their designated luxury areas, while general admission sections packed everyone else together.
Over in the competitors’ gallery, Rutheus stood tall with his left hand resting on the railing and his bound right arm hanging at his side.
Thora and Sira found seats right behind the giant. Preferring to stand, Kessa kept her eyes scanning the crowd for threats purely out of feral instinct.
Kane could see Lyssel standing in the crowd, her face in the shade of pink.
She bought her father to watch the match.
Good.
Up in the royal box, the queen sat without her usual privacy screen.
She was present and visible in a way she hadn’t been during the entire tournament.
Looking across the vast arena, Kane met her gaze.
She looked back.
Neither of them nodded or offered any polite acknowledgment.
Today, an immortal who has forgotten fear will remember what it is.
