Chapter 342: The Demonic Feast

Chapter 342: Chapter 342: The Demonic Feast

The Wind Whisperers knew they were fighting for their lives.

They spread across the arena in a loose formation, their robes fluttering with the spiritual wind that coiled around their bodies. The captain stood at the center, his twin sabers already humming with compressed gale force.

Kai Reventon stood at the opposite end of the arena.

Alone.

The Crimson Eclipse Sect had sent him first. No support. No backup.

Just Kai.

The Wind Whisperers didn’t hesitate.

The captain raised his hand and dropped it.

Six gale blades shot forward simultaneously, each one a crescent of compressed wind that screamed through the air. The blades were fast. Faster than the eye could track. They crossed the arena in less than a heartbeat, aimed at Kai’s head, chest, and legs.

Kai didn’t move.

The gale blades hit him.

They should have carved through flesh and bone.

Instead, they shattered against his skin.

The wind dissipated harmlessly around him, his demonic bone grafts glowing faintly beneath his robes. The grafts had fused with his skeleton, turning his bones into armor that could withstand Earth Spirit Realm attacks without a scratch.

The Wind Whisperers’ eyes went wide.

Kai smiled.

Then he moved.

His body cracked like a whip, bones snapping and reforming as he teleported through space. The sound was wrong. It wasn’t the smooth displacement of a spatial technique. It was violent, jagged, like his skeleton was breaking apart and reassembling with each step.

He appeared directly in front of the wind vanguard.

The young man had no time to react.

Kai’s hand shot forward, his fingers elongating into jagged bone claws that punched through the vanguard’s chest. The claws emerged from the back, dripping with blood.

The vanguard gasped.

Kai twisted his wrist.

The bones inside the vanguard’s chest shattered. The young man’s eyes went glassy as his body went limp.

Kai pulled his hand back.

The claws retracted, slick with gore.

The vanguard collapsed to the ground, dead before he hit the stone.

The crowd erupted in a mix of horror and excitement.

Damon watched from the dugout, his golden eyes tracking every movement. His jaw was tight.

Ariel grabbed his arm. "He’s faster than yesterday."

"Much faster," Damon said. "The grafts are adapting."

Selene’s voice was cold. "He’s not just using demonic arts. He’s fusing with them. The grafts are becoming part of his skeleton."

Mio’s hand trembled on her bow. "That’s not cultivation. That’s mutation."

"It’s both," Damon said. "And it’s working."

In the arena, the Wind Whisperers regrouped.

The captain shouted orders, his voice sharp and desperate. "Spread out! Don’t let him get close! Hit him from all angles!"

The disciples obeyed.

They scattered across the arena, their wind techniques creating a storm of gale blades that struck Kai from every direction. The blades hit his back, his sides, his legs.

They did nothing.

Kai stood in the center of the storm, his arms spread wide, his head tilted back.

He was laughing.

"Is that all you have?" he shouted, his voice carrying through the arena. "I thought the Wind Whisperers were supposed to be fast!"

The captain gritted his teeth. "Full power! Now!"

The six remaining disciples channeled their spiritual energy into a single attack. A massive cyclone formed above the arena, its winds howling with enough force to tear stone from the walls.

The cyclone descended on Kai.

He didn’t dodge.

He didn’t try to block.

He stood there, his arms spread, as the cyclone consumed him.

The winds ripped at his robes, tore at his skin, exposed the demonic bone grafts beneath. The grafts glowed brighter, pulsing with dark energy as they absorbed the attack.

Kai’s laughter grew louder.

"Beautiful!" he screamed. "More! Give me more!"

The captain’s face went pale. "Retreat! Now!"

It was too late.

Kai vanished.

He appeared behind the captain, his bone claws already extended. The claws punched through the captain’s back, emerging from his chest in a spray of blood.

The captain looked down at the claws protruding from his chest.

His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Kai leaned close to his ear. "You should have run faster."

He ripped his claws sideways.

The captain’s body split in two.

The remaining Wind Whisperers screamed.

They tried to flee, but Kai was faster. He flickered through the arena, appearing in front of each disciple with bone-cracking speed. His claws punched through chests, severed limbs, shattered skulls.

Blood mist filled the arena.

Kai’s demonic grafts drank it greedily, glowing brighter with each kill. His synthetic King Realm aura swelled, pressing down on the crowd like a physical weight.

The last Wind Whisperer fell to his knees.

He dropped his weapon. "I surrender! I surrender!"

Kai stopped.

He turned to look at the disciple, his eyes burning with manic glee.

"Surrender?"

The disciple nodded frantically. "Yes! Please! I yield!"

Kai took a step forward.

The disciple scrambled backward.

Grand Marshal Vane appeared between them, his halberd already swinging. The blade stopped an inch from Kai’s throat.

"The disciple has surrendered," Vane said, his voice flat and cold. "The match is over."

Kai’s smile didn’t waver. "I was just playing."

"Your playtime is over."

Kai held up his hands, stepping back. "Fine. Fine. I’ll behave."

Vane didn’t lower his halberd.

He stood there, his Saint Spirit Realm aura pressing down on Kai, until the Crimson Eclipse Sect’s other disciples entered the arena to retrieve their captain.

Kai walked past them, his eyes never leaving Vane.

"You can’t protect them forever," he said. "The Eclipse Cult will consume everything."

Vane’s grip tightened on his halberd. "Leave the arena."

Kai laughed.

He turned and walked toward the Crimson Eclipse dugout, his footsteps echoing through the silent arena.

The crowd remained frozen.

They had just witnessed a massacre.

And Kai Reventon had enjoyed every second of it. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The Wind Whisperers were carried out on stretchers, their bodies broken, their cultivation crippled. Only three had survived. The rest lay dead on the arena floor.

Grand Marshal Vane raised his hand.

"Crimson Eclipse Sect wins. Seven to zero. They advance to the Quarterfinals."

The announcement hung in the air like a death sentence.

Kai stood at the edge of the Crimson Eclipse dugout, his eyes burning across the arena toward Damon.

He raised his hand.

And drew his thumb across his throat.

Damon didn’t flinch.

He met Kai’s gaze, his golden eyes cold and steady.

Ariel pressed against him. "He’s coming for you."

"Let him," Damon said. "I’ll be waiting."

The arena fell silent as the next match was announced.

But everyone knew.

The real fight was coming.