Chapter 149

Rider staggered back, breathing hard. Sweat clung to his temples as the crowd's cheers blurred into background static.

But it wasn't exhaustion gripping him.

It was fear.

Something about Jaden Rift didn't add up. His eyes... they weren't the eyes of a mere combatant. They were something far darker—something ancient. Calm. Cold. Inevitable.

And then he said those words again.

"Do you remember the woman who jumped from a building ten years ago?"

The memory hit Rider like a lightning bolt through his spine.

He remembered.

That night had started like a joke. A party. A dare. A private suite. Laughter. Screams muffled behind glass.

He remembered standing at the edge of the rooftop. Watching her cry.

The woman had begged. Begged.

And they'd laughed.

His fists clenched, blood rushing to his face.

"No," he growled. "That was nothing. Just another casualty. You think I care about

CRACK!

Jaden's fist slammed into his ribs like a hammer. Bone crunched.

Rider's scream was drowned out by the gasps of the crowd.

He staggered again, spitting blood, only to be grabbed by the throat before he could even blink.

Jaden lifted him off the ground with one hand - his grip vice-like, crushing his windpipe slowly, cruelly.

Blood trickled from Rider's nose. Then his mouth.

“I—I will not die at your hands," Rider rasped, voice strangled. "I am not weak..."

Jaden's expression didn't change. His voice was like frost.

"Oh... trust me. I never planned on killing you that easily."

He slammed Rider into the arena floor, the tiles beneath them shattering like glass. The crowd erupted in chaos.

Rider coughed, wheezed — tried to crawl. But Jaden stepped on his hand, grinding it against the broken floor until three fingers snapped sideways.

"You remember now, don't you?" Jaden whispered, crouching beside him.

"She wore a red jacket. You pulled it off. She screamed your name. She said she had a son."

Rider's eyes widened. "No... stop—"

Jaden grabbed his face and smashed it into the ground.

"That son... was me."

Rider choked. Blood filled his mouth. Teeth scattered across the arena floor like dice.

But Jaden didn't stop.

He stood again, slow and deliberate, pulling Rider to his knees like a puppet.

Then he drove a knee into his spine with a crack that silenced the crowd. Rider screamed, the sound of a man whose soul had been ripped halfway from his body content

He collapsed again — twitching, trying to move. Trying to breathe.

“Please.......” Rider whispered, voice barely audible. “Please just kill me. Stop... this... just kill me..."

Jaden knelt beside him, tilting his head.

"You didn't show mercy that night. Neither will I.”

He pressed two fingers against Rider's chest, energy crackling with violent purpose.

Then with a slow, measured touch - he began burning a rune into Rider's skin.

Rider screamed again, his voice turning feral, animalistic. His body

shook, legs flailing as fonet

rune

glowed and hissed.

It wasn't just pain. It was humiliation. Exposure. The truth of his crimes burning into

his flesh for all to see.

"This... is what monsters deserve," Jaden said, his tone emotionless.

Rider whimpered, his eyes rolling back. He looked like a ghost already.

And finally, Jaden stood.

"No more begging. No more mercy."

He raised his hand - fingerst

energy dark - and in one swift, brutal movement, movement, drove his palm straight f through Rider's heart

The body spasmed. Then fell limp.

Silence.

Jaden stood over the corpse, breathing slowly, as if he hadn't just ended a life..... but erased a stain.

He turned and walked away, leaving the broken body behind like discarded trash.

And then-

"And the winner of this round...”

the announcer's voice cracked over the speakers, shaky, almost afraid.

"JADEN RIFT!"