Exodius's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The bodies were still being dragged away when the white-and-gold figure rose from the stands. Exodius had felt its eyes since the fight ended. He could not fight what he did not understand. So he climbed the broken steps toward it, past fighters who shrank back from his path. He needed one answer: was this the opponent he had come to find, or a trap dressed as one? Marcus Thunderstrike caught his arm halfway up. The lightning around his gauntlets had gone quiet. "Don't," he said. "That thing isn't ranked. It doesn't fight for a place. It only watches." His grip tightened. "Men who walk toward it don't walk back." Exodius pulled free. "Then I need to know why it watches me." He kept climbing. The figure wore white and gold, with three faces turned in three directions and a halo of light above its crown. When Exodius reached the top row, all three faces settled on him at once. The air grew heavy. His mask's glow brightened against the pressure. "You are measuring me," Exodius said. "Why?" "We measure all things." The voice came from everywhere. "We are the Living Tribunal. We weigh what is balanced and what is not. You climb too fast. Your strength has no edge we can find. That is a flaw in the scale." "Then you are not my opponent." "No. We do not fight. We judge." The halo flared. "But you wish to know your limit. We can show you where it begins." Before Exodius could answer, two figures stepped from the shadow of the Tribunal's cloak. One was a small fighter in orange, black hair spiked upward, fists already clenched. The other wore a black suit and an easy smile, hands in his pockets like the arena bored him. "The Tribunal doesn't dirty its own hands," the suited one said. He tilted his head toward the boy in orange. "So it borrows ours. I'm Lucifer Morningstar. The kid is Kaito Tempest. We're here to see if the scale was wrong about you." Kaito did not wait. He blurred forward, a fist aimed at Exodius's ribs. Exodius turned the blow with his forearm and felt the floor crack beneath his heel. The hit was real. It was strong. For the first time since the gate sealed, a strike made him step back. "Good," the Tribunal said. "Now we see." Exodius understood then. The figure was not his final opponent. It was a judge, and it had just set two trials in his path. He had come to find the one adversary who could reveal his limit. Instead he had drawn the attention of something that could name it. He lowered his stance. Kaito grinned and raised his fists. Lucifer stepped back to watch. "Fine," Exodius said. "Judge me."