Deniz Bizaya just laughed and added one more step, which caused the eight nails behind him to disappear and reappeared around Ikenga. They surrounded him and kept pushing and shoving him until it became impossible for him to escape, covering him completely.

Bizaya laughed a little. "Your time has just begun, Ikenga of the Old. Fifty-nine seconds to go!"

The audience cheered. They called the prince by many names: the golden horse, the ancient prophecy, the Eddie of Seerish, the calamity to the surface...

Deniz Bizaya felt some belief. He'd won. This very prison was a cul-de-sac dungeon. Only someone with over a thousand years of pol could get out of it. And Ikenga had one hundred so he was confident he would succeed. If Ikenga got out of it then his father was right about Ikenga being related to Ururu.

The audience saw a giant awning made of giant nails which trapped Ikenga, and they started counting down. Meanwhile, Ikenga found himself in a room surrounded by walls. There were eight thousand walls to be exact. Each wall was made of the same red, shiny nails. Each extending as far as the eyes could see. Beyond the walls was darkness. An endless abyss that stretched as far as the seven worlds.

Ikenga had his body tied with chains, which he counted to be exactly 8,000 pieces. The last time he was there, the chains were just 4,000 and the walls were 4,000 as well, but then there were only four nails. To escape, he would have to cut down all the walls and severe all the chains, the difficulty of which was unimaginable.

It was already thirty-three seconds but Ikenga was still lying on the floor, still and in comfort. He looked at the darkness in the room and he felt calm. He'd been in hell for so long that he liked it there. He liked the darkness. He liked to fight in it. It stirred hatred in him that no fired could burn. And when the time came he would strike the entire world with it and burn everything to ashes. The sacrifice of his people would never be in vain.

"Hmmm." He sighed. "It's good that I didn't show him all my skills in our previous encounters. Good that he didn't know about the art of King Steps."

He spoke quietly as if he wasn't running late, as if he was in control of the future.

"He wouldn't have proposed this challenge if I have shown it to him. But we would have still won. Even If I have shown it to him back then, nothing would have changed now. The truth is if he hasn't reached a thousand years then he won't be able to stand a chance. Nor will he be able to fight me in any way."

Ikenga called out his Bend.

"Shaibal-shísu!"

If one were to speak Aldurish, one would realize that the translation of this verse meant 'King Steps'. The sword on his back glowed, whereupon the room became clear and it appeared to be made of the same hammer nails as the others.

The sword moved on its own, slipping out of its sheath to cut the chains restraining his right hand. The chains fell to the ground like they weren't made of metal.

Ikenga raised his hand to his mouth, biting his thumb until it bled. He reached for his forehead and drew a logo that looked like miyura with his blood.

Once he was done, an actual miyura appeared on his forehead. It had three eyes, each at a different angle, with a red line joining them.

He straightened up and reached out to grab his sword in the air. He slashed through all the chains restraining him and they fell to the ground like leaves. He took a deep breath, raised his right foot, and took a single step forward. In response to that, the chains that just fell from his body transformed into swords.

He lifted his feet again and, in response, the swords flew forward and attacked the 8,000 walls that surrounded this room. A powerful explosion blew the walls and the room. The sky cracked and it fell on him. The prison blurred and began to disappear.

Outside, the audience counted the 51st second. They'd no idea what was happening inside the prison. It wasn't until the 56th second when they saw the hammer nails around Ikenga disintegrate one by one until they were all gone.

Standing, with his eyes closed, Ikenga appeared on the ring holding his sword in his left hand.

He didn't speak and had no intention of saying anything if the look of disinterest on his face was any indication. His appearance had changed slightly. He looked somewhat bigger and his eyes looked frightening.

Bizaya clapped. "You... have won!" His face was blank as he moved closer to Ikenga.

When people lost in the jinzidal they cried for many reasons: for pain and injuries, for sending their people to slavery, for losing money, and so on and so on. But Bizaya was smiling, much to Ghalee's surprise, as he walked.

When the audience saw Bizaya walking towards Ikenga, they whispered about what he would do. Many said he would punch him. Others just watched in silence.

Nothing happened, to everyone's surprise. Bizaya just whispered to Ikenga.

"I thought you were hiding something in our previous fight. It appears I was right. But do you think you are the only one who is planning secretly?" Bizaya chuckled. "Let's just say we would finish this fight later someday."

And that was all. He jumped down from the ring and walked to the exit. The people followed him with their eyes. A few angry fans from Seerish followed him behind, demanding an explanation.

Some began to speculate that Bizaya allowed Ikenga to win on purpose.

***

One day before the jinzidal began...

In a large library located in the capital city of Seerish, King Deniz Iluru, dressed in garb, read a book to his son in preparation for the tournament to be held tomorrow in the country.

It looked strange to be reading a book on the eve of a tournament instead of sparring. But the king had been a great lover of history, and it was difficult to find anyone who loved history and explored it like him. He built a large, seven-story library for himself simply to collect historical material.

"Bizaya, are you listening?" The king continued to explain to his son. "This boy Ikenga whom you have been inviting to fight with... he might have what we have long sought. Something that will allow us to live on the surface. Or at least his bloodline does. It has to do with what happened two thousand years ago between his ancestors and the Ururu. It's a long story, but I'll tell you a little bit of it. All I want from you is to find out if he is the one who has this secret or not. If you find out about it, I will give you a gift."

At first, Bizaya didn't like it, because, contrary to his father's wish that only involved finding out about Ikenga, he wanted to win the competition to show himself to the world. But when he heard about his father's gift, he immediately agreed.

Historically, the Denizens were forced to live underground because of a war that took place hundreds of years ago. But nobody knew what happened except King Deniz Iluru. He knew because he was the King, so even his son Deniz Bizaya didn't know. Only a king was allowed to know about it when they became King. But any elderly person in the country would tell you that they needed to return to the surface for some unknown reason that they believed in.

"Listen to history, my son. It may prove helpful in our situation." Deniz Iluru told his son a little bit of world history.