The subterranean arena, moments ago a convulsing, unstable nightmare of shaking stone and erratic mana surges, suddenly froze. Every fighter felt it—like the entire world inhaled and held its breath. Dust hung suspended in the air. Cracked mana veins flickered weakly, then steadied into a consistent glow. Hard-light partitions across the cavern snapped into alignment with crisp, clean edges.
For the first time since the collapse, the battlefield felt solid again.
On the upper level, Danny stood with one hand still extended, his palm barely glowing from the stabilizing pulse he had released. He lowered his arm calmly, watching the effects ripple downward. The stone beneath his feet hummed in resonance. The arena walls, once trembling under magical stress, realigned themselves as if grateful.
Wolf King snarled from across the ravine, pacing with restless energy. His claws scraped sparks across the stone. "You stall the battle with this little trick?"
Danny didn't answer. He simply exhaled, the quiet sound echoing faintly down into the depths.
Wolf King's muscles flexed. His golden aura flared.
But the arena—now stable—refused to let them near each other.
Below them, the subterranean fighters slowly rose from braced positions, blinking as the world settled around them. Dust drifted down like snow. The drifting platforms stopped wobbling. The mana veins pulsed rhythmically, calmly, instead of in wild spasms.
Shadeclaw shook out his arms. "About time."
Jade cracked his chi-laced forearms with a CH-CHNK sound. "Oi. Looks like the arena's remembered it's supposed to be a battlefield, not a blender."
Swift dusted frost from his fingertips, silver scales gleaming. "We should take advantage of the stability while it lasts."
Jake stumbled upright behind him. "I—I second that. The floor isn't trying to kill me anymore!"
Swift glanced back. "For now."
Sedge Hat pumped a fist. "Oh YES. My traps might actually work on solid ground again!"
Jade yelled across the cavern, "NO MORE NEW HAZARDS!"
Sedge Hat paused. "…Aw."
But Sedge's disappointment didn't matter.
Because the moment the ground steadied—
the fighters attacked each other again.
No distortions.
No sudden gravity shifts.
No mana storms.
Just fists, claws, blades, chi, frost, lightning, fire, and pure skill.
The Battle Royale resumed in full force.
—
CUT AWAY — The Dark Buddies Secure the Prison
Far from the arena, deep in the Enforcer Vault, three shadows slipped through layers of magic like needles through cloth.
Nightblade, Fangwire, and Grimstitch approached the fractured prism that contained Magic Kid. The prison was trembling, shuddering with unstable power. Rainbow cracks rippled across its surface.
Inside, Magic Kid pressed both hands against the crack, his face illuminated by prismatic glow. "Almost there… come on… just a little more…"
Nightblade surged forward, slicing through the prison's outer shell with perfect precision. Shadow-katana arcs caught the floating fragments, binding them in place.
Magic Kid tried to push outward.
Grimstitch shoved a handful of cursed thread into the cracks. The stitches sealed across the prison like spiderwebs.
Magic Kid's fingers pressed through two inches—
A spark erupted.
Fangwire extended two crackling claws and zapped the stitches, solidifying them.
Magic Kid hissed, teeth bared.
Almost…
Almost…
Nightblade snapped his fingers.
A shadow cocoon wrapped around the whole prison. Magic Kid's glow dimmed, trapped once more.
"Containment restored," Nightblade said.
Magic Kid leaned his forehead against the sphere's interior, grinning despite his imprisonment.
"Next time," he whispered.
The Dark Buddies vanished into a shadow gate, carrying the prison with them, Magic Kid's laughter echoing faintly behind.
The breakout was stopped.
But the threat wasn't gone.
Just delayed.
—
Back in the subterranean arena…
Combat resumed in a violent, clear rhythm.
Swift froze the forearm of a charging berserker mid-swing, then kicked him into the wall. The man teleported out with a flash.
Jake swung a lightning-charged haymaker, knocking another fighter back so hard the stone cracked behind him before the teleport triggered.
Swift nodded. "Better aim."
Jake gasped, "THANK YOU I—WAIT WAS THAT PRAISE?!"
Swift didn't answer. He was already leaping into a spinning slash of frost that knocked two fighters off their feet.
Nearby, Jade Killington rolled his shoulders. "Come on, then! Who's next?"
A sword-wielding duelist charged him. Jade redirected the blade with his forearm, then fired a chi blast from his elbow that launched the duelist straight into a pillar.
Shadeclaw dashed past Jade, claws glowing blue. He intercepted a spear thrust by closing the distance faster than the spearman could blink. Shadeclaw slammed the fighter to the ground with one brutal strike between the shoulder blades.
"Nice form, mate," Jade complimented.
Shadeclaw grumbled, "Stop calling me mate."
"You ARE my mate," Jade insisted. "You fight next to me. That's a mate."
Shadeclaw growled and charged the next opponent to avoid the argument.
—
On the far side of the chamber, Ember Claw and Tundra Lynx resumed their two-element domination.
A cluster of fighters charged them, assuming—with the arena now stable—they could overwhelm the pair.
They were wrong.
Tundra Lynx froze the ground beneath their feet. Ember Claw struck simultaneously with a flame uppercut that vaporized the ice beneath the attackers, creating a steam blast that knocked them out cold.
Teleportation beams lit up the cavern.
"Not even a warm-up," Ember Claw said.
"Too messy," Tundra Lynx replied in his cold monotone.
—
Giga-Ronin resumed his walking-cataclysm routine.
He absorbed three simultaneous attacks—a volcanic punch, a lightning strike, and a thrown axe—and then pulsed outward, sending six fighters flying.
He wasn't glowing out of control anymore.
But he was still unstoppable.
Jake hid behind Swift. "I don't wanna go near him."
Swift: "Correct."
—
Mira-the-Silent was even more terrifying in a stable arena.
She didn't have to compensate for shaking platforms or collapsing stone.
She simply moved from shadow to shadow, eliminating every high-level combatant she encountered. Her movements were fluid, seamless, almost ghostlike.
A fighter wielding dual blades confronted her.
He slashed.
She sidestepped.
She tapped his shoulder lightly—
—and he dropped instantly, teleported away before he hit the ground.
Shadeclaw muttered under his breath, "She's a walking nightmare."
Jade responded, "She's brilliant."
—
Sedge Hat set up traps again—finally able to plan placements with reliable surfaces.
His traps were no longer chaotic accidents.
They were horrifyingly precise.
A flying kick aimed at him set off a pressure plate. The fighter bounced into a spring tile. The spring tile launched him into a gravity magnet. The magnet slammed him into the ceiling. Teleportation whisked him out.
Sedge nodded. "Art."
Julian shouted from the commentary booth, "IT'S NOT ART, SEDGE! STOP CALLING IT ART!"
Jimmy added, "Well—it IS creative!"
"No! No, Jimmy, do NOT enable him!"
—
Up above, seeing stability return, Jimmy leaned into his mic. "Jules! We're headed toward the Top 100 soon! Should we speculate?"
Julian rubbed his temples. "Fine! But this is YOUR fault."
Jimmy grinned. "Danny, Wolf King—obviously locks."
Julian: "DUH."
Jimmy: "Swift and Jake have improved a LOT."
Julian: "Swift, absolutely. Jake… maybe."
Jimmy: "Jade and Shadeclaw are terrifying."
Julian: "Terrifying is an understatement. Jade doesn't blink during explosions. Shadeclaw jumps like gravity owes him money."
Jimmy: "Giga-Ronin is a walking apocalypse."
Julian: "I'm expecting a 'Giga' warning label on him by Top 50."
Jimmy: "Ember Claw and Tundra Lynx? Team of elemental destiny!"
Julian: "And Sedge Hat is a war crime."
Jimmy: "And Mira—oh man—Mira could single-handedly be Top 50."
Julian: "If she wanted to, she could be Top 5 and no one would know how."
The two continued speculating, adding names like:
Craterfist
Blueback the Mystic
The Snarl-Twins
The Double-Ogre Brothers
Silver Koi
Grove-Kicker
Julian ended with, "Look—if someone's still alive after the first two hundred drop out, they're either brilliant or insane."
Jimmy cheerfully added, "Or both!"
—
The battle intensified further.
The stable environment allowed fighters to unleash full abilities. Clashes echoed through the cavern like thunder.
Swift froze a section of floor, sliding into a low kick that shattered an opponent's stance.
Jake delivered a lightning-fueled spine flex that knocked three fighters down.
Jade unleashed a chi shield bash that flung a trio into each other.
Shadeclaw's claws traced luminous arcs as he carved through a group of close-range duelists.
Ember Claw ignited a foe's armor.
Tundra Lynx froze another into a crystal statue.
Mira eliminated targets too quickly to track.
Giga-Ronin bulldozed through everything.
Sedge created beautiful—and horrifying—trap chain reactions.
The bodies teleported out faster and faster.
And for the first time since the battle's beginning—
The arena felt like a true warzone again, not a collapsing magical organism.
—
But stability didn't mean safety.
Deeper cracks spread across the floor.
Mana glowed deeper.
A rumble vibrated through the stone.
Danny glanced downward.
Wolf King's eyes narrowed.
Something ancient was stirring beneath the subterranean arena.
And the fighters could sense it.
The chapter ended with the cavern trembling—
not from instability, but from awakening.
"The next phase of the Battle Royale was about to begin."
Fighters Remaining: 210 / 500