The woman's body shook violently.

H-how

As if responding to her shock, the faint mist wrapping around her body suddenly burst explosively.

"Ugh...!"

A groan of unfiltered pain escaped her lips. Once more, dark red blood trickled down from her already scabbed and bruised lips.

'She's weak. The slightest backlash from her surprised reaction to us could overwhelm her... But if this continues, she'll lose control.'

Yuder quickly assessed her condition and placed his hand on her abdomen. He whispered rapidly to her, whose eyes were wide with alarm.

"Focus on the flow of your power. I'll help you control it. Try to calm your mind, imagine a state of peace. That will help."

As Yuder drew upon his own strength, the woman's power, sprawling throughout the space to suppress the Awakener's abilities, immediately reacted, trying to snuff out the foreign force. However, the power Yuder invoked wasn't his inherent ability, but a pure, formless essence unique to Awakeners.

This was the same power absorbed from the Red Stone, refined and stored in a medium, and recently used to awaken Emperor Keilusa. Astonishingly, as this power surged within him, the strong suppressive force weakened and dissipated.

'Just as I thought. The essence absorbed from the Red Stone can assimilate with any Awakener's power. And I can exploit this opening, however brief.'

Yuder's understanding of manipulating the Red Stone's power had significantly increased after his experiences with Kishiar and Hosanna, and through the awakening of Emperor Keilusa. With an instinctual sense beyond explanation, he intensely focused on calming the woman's power.

The effort was effective, but not without its issues.

"I... I don't know what to imagine to calm down," the woman muttered, her face marred by pain.

"What am I supposed to do...?"

Yuder wanted to respond, but concentrating on the power made it difficult to speak. Fortunately, someone far more adept at this was by his side.

"Think back to the time before you came here. Remember how warm the sunlight felt outside, the sensation of walking along the water's edge, the feelings of running freely across the vast lands. The taste of meals shared with others after a day's work. What foods did you enjoy?"

"..."

"What and whom did you love?"

Despite the urgency, the woman, hearing this gentle voice, slowly closed her eyes. Shortly after, the dangerously escalating power within her subsided.

The weight of the power suppressing her abilities lifted from their shoulders, and a thin breath escaped the lips of the three.

"Phew."

When the woman reopened her eyes, tears silently streamed down her cheeks.

Despite her unsteady body, previously sprawled across the table, she righted herself. Her gaze, clearer than before, fixed on Yuder and Kishiar.

"You said you came to destroy this place. Tell me. What is this 'Cavalry', and how did you know I was here? Tell me everything."

"Of course, we'll explain," Yuder replied. He and Kishiar then spoke about the Cavalry and the purpose of this fighting arena. After hearing their story, the woman cautiously revealed who she was and how she came to be here.

"My name is Reneve. I am not from the Empire... but from Durban in the west."

Reneve lived on the border of Durban, a place that, for several years, had been a frequent site of armed clashes with the adjacent Nelarn. It was less a village and more a reluctant home for refugees who had barely survived and could not find death.

Unlike many who lived there, tormented daily by the fear of being struck by an errant arrow, she sought a path of survival. She chose to flee to the Orr Empire, crossing the Great Sarain Forest instead of succumbing to the dread of blind arrows.

However, the broker who promised to take her safely to the Empire and find her a job, taking her meager savings, turned out to be a human trafficker. Reneve, along with others deceived, were transported helplessly like mere cargo to the south. There, they were selected as sacrificial lambs to enter the random combats of the 'Black Orca' fighting arena.

Those who ascended the stage before her initially wanted to escape, but their demeanor changed when promised a hefty sum for victory, no matter the means.

Their opponent, however, was an 'Awakener.' A man, infamous even before his awakening for his thuggery, now wielded fists hardened like black stone, easily knocking down the trembling sacrificial lambs.

Late pleas for mercy and desperate escape attempts were met with merciless blows. The audience pushed the fleeing participants back, screaming for them to win and not waste the money they had wagered.

The battle ended only when the defeated lay indistinguishable, their bodies beaten into bloody, unrecognizable corpses. Most of those dragged with Reneve died within mere hours.

But as the triumphant thug boasted about the prize money for the final victor, a new, more fearsome Awakener appeared. In a swift move, he split open the thug's back and belly, killing him instantly.

The shocking scene sent the crowd into a frenzied ecstasy.

Countless new stakes were thrown onto the shoulders of the newcomer.

And so Reneve ascended the stage to face him.

On her way up, forced to pick from the armory, she trembled, barely able to lift the heavy sword that did not suit her. The Awakener she faced up close was terrifying. Seeing Reneve, he chuckled dismissively, ready to use his power as if she were mere prey.

In extreme fear, Reneve closed her eyes.

"And then... suddenly, this power came to me."

Reneve did not die. When she opened her eyes, the Awakener, overwhelmed by the sudden loss of his abilities, had crashed into the railing and collapsed. Other Awakeners nearby, whether in other fighting stages or waiting areas, were equally confounded and screamed in dismay.

Thus, Reneve became the winner, albeit inadvertently.

She was immediately taken by the subordinates of Nukijo and imprisoned here.

"At first, I tried to escape. But... they threatened to kill Cyril if I didn't obey."

"Who is that?"

"The only friend I've had since I became an orphan. As good as family. I don't know if it was good or bad luck, but we were brought here together. But since the day we were imprisoned, I've never seen that friend of mine again."

A dry laugh escaped from her strangely twisted lips.

The day Reneve won the fight, Cyril had not yet appeared in the arena. Nukijo's gang used Cyril's life as leverage to detain Reneve, then created a third underground level to confine her there, commanding her to exert her power over the entire space as long as she could.

The captors, it seemed, were not entirely devoid of cunning. In their own way, they had attempted to coax Reneve into willingly joining their ranks. They had bought her expensive clothes and fed her reasonably well, evidently trying to make her life comfortable enough to sway her decision.

But Reneve did not yield to them.

"They never showed me Cyril's face, not even once," she said. "I told them I would stay quietly here if they just let me see Cyril once... but they didn't."

Within her, a torturous cycle of thoughts churned endlessly the fear that Cyril might already be dead and she was foolishly trapped for nothing, against a slender thread of hope that persisted. The luxury of expensive clothes and meals, once unimaginable, brought her no joy in her current plight.

Trapped in her small room, Reneve withered away endlessly. As each day passed, it became increasingly difficult to exert her abilities. Yet, whenever there was even a slight lapse, the Nukijo gang, like phantoms sensing weakness, would appear to beat her.

"Actually, recently, I've been feeling extremely exhausted... reaching my limit, really. I kept thinking that I wanted to die. That was, until you all came here."

Silence followed.

Reneve burst into nervous laughter, which soon abruptly ceased. Her alternating between crying and laughing was unsettling.