The Arena
The Glass Room Above
A quiet, cold room with a massive chair in the center where "Minalost" is seated. Four other chairs are placed around the large throne—spaced apart—each one designated for the knights. "Ban" sits on the left chair next to the king.
Sound of the door opening.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to finish some work."
Ban: Did you arrive, "Thea"?
Thea: Did I miss much?
Ban: No, they've just started. So, what were you doing?
Thea: Nothing important. I was just late getting dressed.
Ban (teasingly): What do you have to hide that's taking you so long?
Thea: Shut up.
Thea walks and sits next to the king in the right-side chair.
Minalost (looking toward the arena): How far did you get, Thea?
Thea: I didn't find much, but I'm starting to follow some threads.
Minalost (looking at Thea with a commanding tone): You'd better hurry. Those bastards want to spread it again.
Thea (clenching her fist): Alright, sir. I'll try to finish it quickly.
Minalost: Try to uncover it, not just get rid of them fast. You need to make sure they're killed from the roots this time.
Thea: Understood, sir.
---
The Arena
After "Thanos" injects the ground with his blood:
Thanos: Let me show you something you've never seen before, you arrogant fool.
White (ready to defend): Alright, what's your trick? Show me.
The ground starts to tremble beneath "White's" feet, but "White" is one of the few who can fly, which is why he's responsible for the wall. He draws blood from his hand, places it beneath his feet, and uses it to lift and move himself freely.
Thanos (looking up and shouting): Even if you fly up there, you won't escape this.
The ground begins to crack all around the combat arena, and hardened blood projectiles start shooting out toward "White".
White blocks the bullets with his sword and dodges some of them.
White (mockingly): Is this what made you so happy?
Thanos (laughing): I've only just begun, you idiot.
The speed of the blood bullets increases and multiplies. "White" begins to struggle in deflecting and dodging all of them.
The bullets start to wound "White", and even the ones he dodges turn back and come at him again. It was almost endless.
"White" looks at "Thanos" and charges toward him, aiming his sword at his neck.
But the unexpected happens—chains emerge from one of the ground cracks and wrap around "White's" legs, pulling him down.
Thanos (laughing): You were so confident in your strike. What happened?
White (cuts the chains with his sword, stands, and looks at Thanos): Are you done yet?
"White" advances toward "Thanos", dodging left and right. He gets close and strikes with his sword, but "Thanos" blocks it with his axe. The two exchange fast blows, but "White's" sword starts to break against "Thanos's" axe. "White" backs off and throws away his steel sword.
He then forms another sword from his own blood, black in color, and charges at "Thanos", delivering a powerful strike that knocks him backward.
After launching him backward, "White" doesn't stop—he follows to stab him—but "Thanos" creates a dome-like shield using the blood injected in the ground.
White (striking the shield, but it's very solid): Hiding now, you fool?
Thanos (muffled voice): Shut up.
"White" steps back from the dome and starts circling it, twirling his sword left and right, saying: Come on, come out. Come out, little one.
Inside the shield, "Thanos" takes out the glass capsule given to him by the unknown man, opens it, and swallows the pill inside.
His heart rate begins to rise, his blood surges through his veins, and even the shield outside begins to pulsate strangely. Then the shield disappears, and red smoke begins to rise from within.
"White" steps back, waiting for the smoke to clear in front of him.
As the smoke fades, "Thanos" emerges, but his appearance has changed. The veins in his arms have become engorged and bulging, his eyes filled with red veins, a third horn has sprouted from the center of his head, and his color slightly shifts to brown.
Silence falls over the entire arena, then whispers rise among the crowd: What is that? Has he gone mad? What's happening here?
---
The Room Above
Ban: Damn that coward. He resorted to that now?
Thea: Sir, should we stop the fight? This looks dangerous.
Minalost (raises his right hand as a sign to stop): This is what a coward does when he sees defeat in front of him.
Thea (worried): But this is very dangerous, even for "White".
Minalost: What did I tell you, Thea? Let the fight continue. "White" will not lose.
Ban: Yeah, shut up for a bit. Don't you know who his opponent is?
Thea: I know, but it's still dangerous. You know about that pill—it multiplies power tenfold, but the effect isn't permanent, and it also changes the user's form by stimulating the monster growth center.
Ban: I know. But even if his strength increased ten times, it's still not enough to defeat "White".
Thea (quietly, with concern): I hope so.
---
General Info:
When a user draws their own blood, they need to injure themselves. That's why all blood users wear a small ring with a tiny needle to prick the palm of their hand. A small drop is enough to release large amounts of blood. If they have other wounds, they can use those to release blood as well.
To be continued...