The Vanguard's Severed Gift
By @john1208
I survived three years in the rotting jungles of the Rimur Expanse because Baskara's manipulative family forced me away. Now I’m back in the floating sky-city of Dirgantara, greeted by a strange delivery: a blood-stained courier-hawk carrying a wedding invitation. Baskara is marrying Citra - a stand-in who hasn't just taken my place in his bed, but used a forbidden ritual to swap her magical signature with mine, legally stealing my family's legacy. When Baskara pulls me aside at the gala and whispers, 'It's just a contract, my heart is yours,' I don't shed a single tear. Instead, I loudly congratulate them, hand over the severed head of the shadow-beast his father sent to assassinate me as a petty wedding gift, and walk out. To reclaim my birthright, I must fight my way up the brutal Spire of Cyclones. I forge an alliance with Rimba, my former deadliest tournament rival, who offers me a fake identity to enter the games. But as Baskara's marriage crumbles and he drops to his knees begging for my forgiveness, I don't even look at him. I have bigger problems - can I slaughter my way to the top before Dirgantara falls from the clouds?
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