The Echoes of Light

Link was dead.

It didn't make sense to anyone who was watching after Link fell to the ground bleeding. The confusion was evident as they all stared, attempting to get even a sliver of information about what had happened.

"How?" Quinn asked as she watched her brother lose his life.

All the demigods seemed to be confused about what was happening, except for one. Tyler held on to his right arm as he kept a normal face to the sight of Link, almost as if it was not surprising to him.

"The winner is Tyler Justice," XVII then finally announced to the audience after a few seconds.

Silence filled the arena as no demigod understood what was going on. Suddenly, Tyler fell to his knees and proceeded to breathe heavily out of exhaustion. The tattoo on his arm continued to glow, almost like it could not stop.

Eventually, Tyler lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

It was clear that whatever had happened took a lot of energy from Tyler. Both fighters eventually got transported, after a few more seconds, to the medical facility.

The demigods awaited their return, but they didn't seem to have any possible idea of what had happened. They attempted to make sense of it, but after a while, they eventually decided that there was no possible way to confirm what had happened unless Tyler decided to reveal it.

A few minutes went by before Tyler and Link finally returned. The demigods welcomed the fighters and complimented them on their performance in the battle.

"What happened to you?" Quinn immediately asked Link.

"Honestly, I don't even know," Link surprisingly responded. "One second I'm about to eliminate Tyler and the other, I feel this extremely sharp object pierce through my chest."

Quinn stared in confusion but attempted to understand what had happened.

"Interesting," she said before turning to Tyler. "I'm guessing you aren't going to explain what happened, right?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Tyler responded, knowing that explaining could potentially cost him his next battle.

"Fair point," Quinn replied before deciding to move on.

The demigods already knew who the next battle was going to be between considering it was among the last two of them who had not yet participated, but they still had to await XVII's announcement. XVII then finally walked ahead before proceeding.

"I am sure you all are aware already, but I will announce the next fighters," XVII started. "The next battle is... Klaus Walker vs Siren."

Shade turned as Klaus quietly got up and headed for the arena. Siren also followed after a few seconds behind him. Both fighters stood against each other, awaiting the battle's commencement.

"G-Good luck," Siren said to Klaus.

Klaus gently nodded his head, keeping his focus on his opponent before the alarm finally rang, indicating the battle's commencement.

As the battle began, Siren instantly turned his attention to the dial on his arm. He then cranked the percentage of his sonic shots to ten percent. After this, he proceeded to walk sideways, awaiting any possible motion from Klaus since Klaus continued to remain stationary after a few seconds.

"I apologize in advance for anything I do," Klaus then said to Siren before finally walking forward.

This statement made Siren slightly agitated that Klaus was so calm about their battle and seemed more confident than he was supposed to be. But all Klaus did was keep his usual expression as he proceeded to his opponent.

Siren pointed his right fist at Klaus before a low charging sound queued three times, with each one, a higher pitch than the previous. After this, a sonic boom fired out of his suit and headed directly at Klaus.

But as this shot reached Klaus, he simply tilted his head out of its trajectory, easily evading the fired attack.

Klaus could see the attack that Siren launched, although feint considering its nature of pure sound. Siren dropped his right hand and lifted his left, doing the same action before launching another sonic attack. He then continued to do so with his right and left, launching constant sonic booms at Klaus as the queuing sounds continued shot by shot.

But Klaus did not seem too phased by this as he continued to evade the attacks, making every move he took look easy. He gracefully continued to evade the attacks until Siren finally came to a stop after realizing that he was going nowhere.

Klaus walked close to Siren, which caused Siren to move back a few more steps before pointing his right fist at Klaus once more.

"Is dodging all you're going to do?" Siren asked in confusion as to why Klaus was not doing anything.

Klaus then stopped on the spot, taking a few seconds before sighing. He then stretched both of his hands apart from each other before finally saying something.

"Fine," Klaus started. "Take one more shot and I won't evade it."

This statement came as a shock to everyone spectating, as well as Siren. Siren did not understand if Klaus was trying to be cocky or tricky so he stood in shock for a few seconds. But after seeing the straight look on Klaus' face, Siren knew at the very least that Klaus was serious.

Siren was conflicted about what to do. This was an opportunity that could get him the win instantly if he took it. However, if he decided to attack with more power than he could handle, he would end up exhausting too much energy which could cost him the game if Klaus decided to evade the attack. This was one of those situations where although the best choice was to fire all he had, it was too risky of a play.

Siren then turned his attention to the dial and proceeded to turn it to twenty percent, twice as much as before but still in a manageable range where he would not be exhausted after. He then placed both fists together, queuing the usual charging sound before firing another sonic attack.

The attack went straight for Klaus and before anyone could realize it, Siren landed a direct headshot on Klaus.

Klaus flinched as he raised his face to the sky after receiving the attack. After the shot connected, the silence was clear as Siren stared in shock that Klaus actually took the attack. He was also sure that the attack would be devastating enough to cause Klaus tremendous pain. But after a few seconds of Klaus facing the sky, Siren knew that something was going on.

After a few seconds, Klaus then gradually returned his face to Siren. His eyes seemed to be closed before taking a breath. And after, he finally opened his eyes once more, revealing his usual bright yellow eyes as he stared at his opponent.

"How is he still standing?" Siren asked himself as he stared in shock.

Klaus had just taken a sonic boom head-on and was barely phased by it. Siren could not understand how it was possible that Klaus did not move an inch after the attack and was still standing. Siren turned his attention to the dial to make sure that it was set to twenty percent and he confirmed that was the case.

This made him furious and he decided to turn up the dial and attack one more time.

"Fine then," Siren said. "How would you like thirty percent?"

Siren then turned the dial, amplifying his attack, before returning his focus to Klaus. But as he turned his head forward, Klaus was already right in front of him, crouched, and seemed to be holding a sort of ball.

"My turn," Klaus then said to Siren as he stretched his left hand at Siren.

And before Siren could realize it, he was immediately hit with a solar ball directly to the chest of his suit. The solar ball seemed to be of the same caliber as the one he utilized against Lance, indicating it was a first grade. It was compact and held in his hand instead of being thrown, possibly made with the idea of catching Siren off guard.

The collision was so intense that it caused Siren to fly back a noticeable distance as the blinding light leaked from the attack. Klaus stood, awaiting his opponent, before proceeding to walk slowly to Siren. Since Siren's body was completely covered, alongside his face, Klaus was unable to tell if his opponent was conscious or not. He continued to walk closer until he suddenly heard a small sound queue.

Siren then pointed his right fist at Klaus while still in his fallen state as he launched another sonic attack at Klaus, but this time with the dial at thirty percent. The attack was noticeably wider than the previous one Siren had shot at twenty percent as this was wide enough to hit Klaus' entire body.

Klaus instantly placed both arms ahead of himself as the attack instantly hit him. The strength was so tremendous that it caused Klaus to get pushed back before he finally regained his footing. This attack was significantly stronger than the previous and Klaus knew this, even though it was just a ten percent increase.

Klaus dropped his hands before realizing that Siren had gotten up and had charged another attack with his left hand, firing almost immediately. This caused Klaus to react by jumping out of the attack's way since he was aware that any more would cause more damage than he could withstand.

Siren proceeded to fire yet another attack, which Klaus dodged once again. The constant firing of such a tremendous amount of sound energy seemed to be taking a tremendous toll both on Siren and his suit as the suit suddenly began to make a certain noise that signaled its malfunction. But Siren ignored it as he fired yet another attack at Klaus.

Klaus, once again, managed to dodge the attack, causing more frustration for Siren as he knew that he had to land at least one hit on Klaus.

Siren stretched for his dial once again as he finally seemed to amplify the intensity of the sound waves to fifty percent. Upon witnessing this, Klaus rushed at his opponent to stop Siren from firing another devastating attack.

The current level of Siren's sonic charge seemed to have been the highest he had ever used. As Klaus continued to charge at Siren, his suit proceeded to queue the three charging sounds before his opponent could arrive.

Immediately Klaus reached, with his palm out and another grade one solar ball in his hand, Siren's suit proceeded to launch the sonic charge, but in a completely different manner than before.

The radius of Siren's attack was at a complete 180 degrees, hitting everywhere ahead of him, including Klaus. The attack was so ferocious that it took Klaus off his feet and kept him airborne. Klaus continued to float until the intensity of the attack subsided as he kept his hands ahead of himself but still took significant damage from the attack.

Klaus was so completely shocked by the force of the attack that it took a while for him to return to reality. It felt as if the vibrations from the sound caused his entire body to go numb and his brain to feel extremely dizzy for a few seconds.

But as he finally regained his mental balance and turned his attention below to his opponent, Klaus immediately realized Siren, who had both hands joined together before attempting to launch yet another attack.

"Let's see how you can evade on air," Siren then said before firing another attack concentrated at Klaus at supersonic speed.

Klaus knew that there was nothing else he could do. And as the shot darted at him, it was a direct hit.

Klaus dropped to the ground on his feet, with one knee bent and the other on the floor, alongside his palms.

Siren's panting made it clear that he had used up a tremendous amount of energy, but he was happy that he had finally landed a devastating attack on Klaus.

"There's no way he could've withstood that attack, Siren thought to himself as he tried controlling his breathing before turning to Klaus.

Siren was a bit far from Klaus so he could not tell what was going on, but as Klaus remained in the same position after a few more seconds, it made Siren slightly confused that his opponent had not fallen over. Suddenly, as he continued to stare at Klaus, he noticed a small orb-like object fall from the sky gradually.

But as he turned to it, he realized that it was a small ball of light and before he could react, the ball of light stopped in place before enveloping the entire arena with blinding light.

Although still in a suit, Siren was still heavily blinded and could barely see even a few meters ahead of him. After a few more seconds, he managed to gain a small portion of his vision before he turned ahead of him, noticing that Klaus was nowhere to be found.

And immediately he realized this, Siren turned to his right as he came across Klaus who was already beside him, holding a larger ball of light, possibly a second grade of solar ball.

Siren tried to react to his opponent, but before he could do anything, Klaus raised his right foot, which was closest to Siren, and slammed it directly on the side of Siren's right knee, instantly breaking his opponent's leg.

But before Siren could even react to the sheer pain he felt from such an attack, Klaus hurled the solar ball directly at Siren, landing a direct shot before the ball of light exploded, enveloping the entire room with light and blinding every single demigod in the arena, including X who's eyes slightly flinched while still in his meditating state.

After a few more seconds of blindness, the intense light finally subsided, allowing all the demigods to see the aftermath of the battle. As the spectators stared down, they noticed Klaus still on his feet and panting slightly from the energy he had just utilized.

"Wow," Rose said. "He's really something else."

"Yeah," Mia replied as the demigods watched as Klaus' panting instantly subsided.

The fact that Klaus had used his energy to absorb that amount of light was truly phenomenal, but the fact that he did so without losing his consciousness or balance was what made him even more remarkable.

Klaus turned his attention to Siren whose suit was in a bad state as most of them around his body were in pieces. Siren's body was also in noticeable pain as bruises and blood were seen from the visible parts of his body. He was also apparently unconscious, but could not be confirmed since the helmet of his suit was still on his head.

Considering that XVII had not announced Klaus as the winner, it meant that Siren was still alive.

Klaus wondered what would happen since Siren was unconscious and could not surrender at that moment. But he knew that the only way he could win was to eliminate his opponent.

Klaus did not want to do that, but he knew that this was his only option at the moment. He gradually walked to Siren, who was at the edge of the arena and had clashed with the wall before falling to the ground after Klaus' attack connected. Klaus continued until he finally arrived at Siren's location.

But as he got there, suddenly, a small beeping sound started to queue. It sounded like the suit had taken noticeable damage from Klaus' attack and started malfunctioning. Klaus didn't know what to do, until he turned his attention after realizing that Siren's hand was on the dial, turning it to the maximum possible amount.

Klaus' eyes widened upon the realization as he moved back a bit before the beeping sounds of the suit continued to get louder. But as the beeping noise turned into a static sound, and before Klaus could even do anything, an explosion occurred directly from Siren's location.

But this was no ordinary explosion. This explosion was so massive that it took the entire battlefield with it. The walls in the battlefield shattered and the whole arena of Valor vibrated in sonic shock. The force was so strong that the force field placed around the battlefield shook, barely able to contain it.

This was the most tremendous explosion any of them had ever witnessed.

All the demigods had reacted to the explosion and could not see what was going on. At this point, they were all skeptical if anyone was even able to survive. They all returned their focus to the battlefield as thick dust covered the entire place.

And after a few more seconds as the dust started to reduce, they all had their eyes fixed on the battlefield after seeing the same outcome.

"H-How?" Quinn asked as she stared in confusion.

"I don't even understand," Tyler responded.

All the demigods had utter shock on their faces as they witnessed Klaus still standing and almost unfazed by the attack that had just occurred.

"The winner of the battle is Klaus Walker," XVII then announced, indicating Siren's death.

Siren's body was nowhere to be found, which made Klaus wonder if that attack was with suicidal intentions or something of that manner. Klaus was still a bit tired from the battle so he decided to remain on the battlefield so he would be transported to the medical facility.

The silence that came after XVII's announcement lasted for almost a minute as Klaus had been transported, yet a single word was still not muttered.

"I actually have nothing to say," Quinn eventually said after turning her attention to the other demigods.

"That's a first," Link responded.

And with the conclusion of the battle, the first round of the Divine Tournament had finally concluded.