The quiet that followed the fall to one hundred twenty fighters felt nothing like peace. It was the kind of silence that lingered before explosions—taut, electric, hungry. Dust drifted from the high cavern ceiling, glittering like dull stars in the glow of the mana veins. The air itself seemed to hold a breath.
Then Jade Killington cracked his chi-charged arms.
CH-CHNK.
That double-shotgun sound cut across the chamber like a promise of violence. A few fighters flinched. Others stared. Jade rolled his shoulders, neck popping loudly, lips curling into a grin that held more danger than humor.
"Right then," he muttered, voice low, thick with East London steel. "Let's 'ave a proper go."
His heartbeat settled into a rhythm he knew better than any lullaby—a street-fighter's cadence, forged in alleys that smelled like blood and rain. Jade didn't fight for honor or legacy. He fought because he loved it. Because every punch, every shockwave, every broken rib built the story of who he was: a bastard who refused to fall.
And today he felt good.
Across the cavern, Shadeclaw glanced at him with a predator's respect. Swift's silver-dragon eyes flickered in acknowledgment. Jake waved nervously because he didn't know what else to do. Everyone could feel it—
This chapter of the battle belonged to Jade.
The first fighters to test him were a trio with swirling tattoos and fan-blades buzzing with wind chi—The Iron Gale Squad. They darted from three angles, kicking up slicing currents with each step. Their formation was tight, disciplined, meant to overwhelm anyone caught in their tornado.
Jade smiled.
The first Iron Gale spun in low with a slicing kick toward Jade's hip. Jade stepped forward, not back, and slammed an elbow into the man's ribs.
BOOOOM.
The chi detonation was so violent it cracked the man's wind shield and sent him sliding across the stone hard enough to scrape sparks. Jade pivoted, letting the next fighter slice empty air above him. He surged upward with a palm strike under the man's jaw. The blast launched him backward, teleporting him before he could hit the ground.
The last Iron Gale, smart enough to know he couldn't win alone, tried escaping. Jade reached out, snatched the back of his collar, and yanked him into a point-blank chi shot that detonated like a grenade.
The man vanished in an explosion of light.
Jade spat on the ground casually. "Next."
Jimmy howled from the stands, "THIS IS ILLEGAL! BEAUTIFUL, BUT ILLEGAL!"
Julian nearly screamed, "WHY ARE HIS ARMS MAKING SHOTGUN NOISES?!"
But Jade was already turning to the next challenge—two hulking juggernauts, twins clad in thick layered armor, stomping forward in perfect formation. These were the Twin Maulers: one specialized in grappling, the other in crushing skulls afterward. Classic technique. Jade respected it.
"Oi!" he called to them. "You boys buy your armor in bulk or somethin'?"
They didn't answer.
The grappling twin grabbed Jade from behind, arms locking like metal clamps around his ribs, crushing his lungs. The second giant roared and raised his fist like a wrecking ball.
Jade laughed.
"You're done."
He compressed chi in his chest and released it outward in a violent burst.
The explosion blew the grappler backward into a wall hard enough to warp his armor. The crushing twin's punch fell—but Jade stepped inside the arc and hammered four explosive elbows into his ribs.
The fourth one broke something important.
Teleport beams took both.
Shadeclaw rumbled approvingly from across the cavern.
Jade flexed his arms. "Not bad. Who's next?"
The answer came as five fighters in coordinated armor rushed across the battlefield—an assault squad who'd made a name earlier in the tournament for overwhelming elite contenders with synchronized combo attacks. They spread around Jade, forming a circle.
Shadeclaw appeared at Jade's back.
Jade grinned. "Old times?"
Shadeclaw cracked his knuckles. "Old times."
They hit the squad like a two-man apocalypse.
Shadeclaw tore through the first two fighters with claws like sharpened steel, leaping between blows with wolf-born grace. Jade met the third opponent with a chi uppercut so forceful it cratered the stone under the man's feet. Shadeclaw seized the fourth, hurled him across the ground—
Straight toward Jade.
Jade launched into a flying knee.
The impact detonated in a chi blast so bright the onlookers shielded their eyes. The man didn't even have time to scream before he teleported out.
Shadeclaw dispatched the fifth with a spinning claw-strike that nearly shaved off the fighter's armor.
Both stood for a beat, chests rising and falling, nodding like two warriors who knew their time fighting side-by-side was nearly over.
Jade's grin softened a moment. "Good clean fun, yeah?"
Shadeclaw gave a quiet grunt. Then, with mutual understanding, they parted without another word.
Two lone predators again.
The next challenger stepped forward almost silently—a tall, sinewy duelist in serpent-like clothing, movements coiled and precise. His blades were thin, trembling, vibrating with killing intent.
The Steel Serpent Duelist.
One of the highest-ranked attack specialists remaining.
He struck without warning—blindingly fast. Jade's cheek split open, blood pattering the stone.
Jade touched the cut.
Smiled darkly. "Finally. Someone hits back."
The duel became a blur.
Serpent feints, coils, and lunges executed with inhuman grace. Jade countered with street brawler instincts sharpened by chi discipline.
His elbow crashed into a blade strike, chi bursting in sparks.
His palm smashed aside a serpent coil attack with a concussive shock.
He absorbed a knee strike to the ribs and answered with a brutal headbutt that echoed like a gong.
When the duelist attempted a killing lunge, Jade caught him by the throat with a chi-charged grip.
"Too slow, mate."
He detonated the chi in his elbow point-blank into the man's chest.
The Steel Serpent teleported mid-air, body folding like a ragdoll.
Swift watched from across the cavern and whispered, "He is far more dangerous now."
Jake replied, "I am updating my list of things I fear," as he scribbled in the air.
Jade wiped the blood from his mouth, rolled his neck, and stepped back into the fray.
All around him, the subterranean arena had devolved into darts of motion and arcs of power.
Swift and Jake fought as a draconic duo now—Swift freezing fighters into statues while Jake shattered them with thunderous swings. Ember Claw spun in a cyclone of flame, melting armor with each step. Tundra Lynx carved lines of frost into the stone as he moved. Mira dispatched elites like she was erasing ink from parchment—precise, clean, merciless. Sedge Hat's traps bounced through the air like metallic devils, each detonation a work of chaotic art. Giga-Ronin bulldozed a cluster of fighters as if they were paper.
But Jade saw all of this only as background.
He was locked into that rare state—half instincts, half madness, pure combat joy.
And the next challenge came in threes.
Three monks stepped forward, each with iron rings around their wrists and ankles. Their chi formed visible spirals around their limbs. They were disciplined, synchronized, deadly.
Jade cracked his knuckles. "Monks, huh? Let's see what you got."
They attacked together.
It was like being assaulted by a hurricane.
Rings slammed into his arms, sending shockwaves through bone. Kicks spun like fan blades, knocking Jade sideways. One monk caught him in the ribs, another in the jaw, another swept his legs.
Jade hit the ground.
Rolled.
Got up laughing.
"That's what I'm talking about!"
He surged into them.
His elbows detonated like cannons, breaking their formation.
His knees cracked their guard stances.
His fists rattled their bones.
The monks adapted quickly, adjusting their rhythm—but Jade broke rhythm by nature. He feinted with a street-left and then chi-blasted them with a kung-fu elbow using stolen technique. He turned a stumble into a devastating low kick. He powered through a hit to deliver a bigger hit back.
He slammed the first monk with a chi elbow that pulsed like a thunderclap. Teleport light swallowed him.
He kicked the second monk into the air—and met him with a rising chi uppercut that cracked the stone under Jade's feet.
The last monk tried to retreat, but Jade grabbed him by his collar and hammered a knee strike into his gut so brutal it made the spectators gasp.
Teleport took him away.
Jade staggered a moment, blood on his lip, chest heaving.
He grinned wider.
"Come on then! Who else wants some?!"
From the upper ledge, Wolf King leaned forward. "That boy fights as if the world wronged him and he intends to wrong it back."
Danny's voice was quiet. "Jade adapts faster than the rest. He will be a problem soon."
Wolf King's golden eyes narrowed. "Good."
The eliminations surged.
Jade smashed another pair of fighters with chi blasts. Swift and Jake eliminated three. Ember and Tundra separated into two fronts, tearing through the remaining teams. Sedge detonated a triple trap that looked like an accident but absolutely wasn't. Mira erased two more with silent precision. Giga-Ronin punched someone so hard an entire pillar cracked.
The scoreboard dropped:
120 → 113 → 108 → 102 → 97 → 90
Then silence fell again.
A heavy silence.
Everyone left was deadly.
Jade wiped the blood from his chin, spun his arm, and let the chi rattle inside like a shotgun's chamber.
Across the battlefield, Shadeclaw met Jade's eyes.
Both smirked.
Jade breathed out slowly.
"Almost time, bruv."
Fighters Remaining: 90 / 500