The four monsters stood in a tight ring of tension—Danny, Wolf King, Wolf Queen, and Mira—all poised, all silent, all moments away from tearing the battlefield apart.
Then the cavern hummed.
Deep. Resonant. Mechanical.
A sharp chime echoed across the arena, cutting through the tension like a blade through silk.
"Top Fifty Spiral has been secured," the system voice intoned.
"Combat zones distributing. Stage Three commencing."
The entire battlefield began to move.
Stone platforms slid apart, walls rose, pillars rotated, and massive rings of stone spiraled outward like a blooming mechanical flower. The center platform cracked into pieces beneath their feet, splitting the four combatants as the ground physically forced distance between them.
Mira reacted instantly—vanishing between two shifting stone plates like a shadow slipping beneath a door. By the time Wolf Queen slashed forward, Mira was already gone. Wolf King whipped his head to the side, hunting for her scent, but the arena's dust and mana churn muddled everything.
Wolf Queen let out a quiet, frustrated hiss. "Cowardice," she murmured.
Wolf King chuckled. "Adaptation."
Danny just shrugged. "Good. Saves me the trouble of stopping you three from blowing another hole in the arena."
He shoved his hands into his pockets, stepping backward with utter disinterest as platforms separated him from the royals.
The spiral continued spreading outward, creating six distinct combat zones connected by narrow, winding walkways. Fighters stumbled into new territories as the floor rearranged itself beneath them.
The Top 50 were now forced into separate arenas.
Swift stood atop a mid-level platform, frost drifting from his feet as he assessed two fighters with sharp elemental signatures. Shadeclaw prowled onto another platform, facing a group of beastmen whose stances screamed anti-werewolf training. Jade's platform was already shaking from whatever explosion he caused just by entering it. Ember Claw and Tundra Lynx shared a platform with six elites who looked like they regretted everything. Giga-Ronin landed on a heavy, reinforced arena designed for titans.
Danny stepped onto a lonely platform, eyeing no one in particular.
And Mira… was nowhere visible.
Wolf Queen sniffed the air, eyes narrowing. Wolf King crouched low, muscles tensing beneath his sleek royal fur. Both scanned the battlefield for any hint of their elusive prey.
Mira answered them by not answering at all.
She had simply dissolved into the chaos.
Swift moved first. The Wind Cutter lunged toward him, slicing the air with blades nearly invisible to the eye. A Frost Monk dashed in at the same time, aiming to trap Swift between ice barriers. But Swift slid backward on frost, body twisting elegantly. The wind blades fissured harmlessly against the ice that erupted around him. He exhaled a chilling breath that condensed into a crescent of shimmering cold, slipping under their guard.
The Wind Cutter froze in place, blade half-raised. The Frost Monk staggered, unable to draw breath before collapsing.
Both teleported in clean beams of light.
Swift bowed his head, steady and unshaken.
On the next platform over, Shadeclaw snarled as four beastmen encircled him, each holding silver-threaded weapons. They moved like reflections of each other—perfect synchronization meant to overwhelm a royal-born werewolf.
Shadeclaw bared his fangs, accepting the challenge fully.
The first attacker lunged with a crescent slash. Shadeclaw ducked, gripping the beastman's arm and tearing the weapon away with a twist. A kick slammed into Shadeclaw's ribs from behind, sending him forward, but he used the momentum to spring upward and rake his claws across the attacker's face.
The other two struck simultaneously.
Shadeclaw roared—his aura bursting in a sudden flare that cracked the stone beneath him. He moved with brutal efficiency, tackling one beastman into a pillar and biting into the man's shoulder before flinging him into a teleport beam.
Another stabbed at him with a silver-edged spear. Shadeclaw caught it between his claws—ignoring the burning pain—and snapped the shaft with a twist before slamming the fighter face-first into the ground.
Three teleported.
One remained, trembling.
Shadeclaw prowled toward the last beastman, dripping royal fury and blood. The man backed away until his heel hit the platform's edge.
Shadeclaw didn't smile. He simply raised a clawed hand and tapped the man's chest. One touch. One elimination beam.
Shadeclaw stood victorious but bleeding.
Jade had no such grace.
His platform was a riot.
Five disciplined martial artists surrounded him, moving with seamless coordination—kicks, strikes, and chi bursts landing with military precision.
Jade laughed.
"OH, I LIKE YOU LOT!"
He surged forward with a burst of chi that exploded from his elbows like shotgun blasts. An elbow strike sent the first fighter flying backward in a wide arc. A second elbow shattered the third fighter's stance entirely, blasting him into a stalactite pillar so hard it cracked the stone.
A chi-charged fist clashed with Jade's forearm. Jade grinned, leaning in nose-to-nose.
"Bad choice, mate."
He swung his other arm in an arc—another shotgun-blast chi eruption—and the fighter teleported mid-air.
The last two fighters hesitated.
Jade clapped his hands together once, loudly. "Next!"
Both charged.
Both teleported thirty seconds later.
On the dual-elemental platform, Ember Claw and Tundra Lynx were knee-deep in destruction. A six-man elite squad tried to flank them, combining fire spells with earth barriers and water bullets.
Ember inhaled deeply, then blasted a vortex of flames that spiraled outward, creating a heat wave that melted water projectiles mid-air.
Tundra Lynx struck the wave with a frost-clad swipe—instantly freezing the flames into a spinning ring of ice shards. The thermal shock blew outward, catching three fighters off-guard and eliminating them instantly.
Ember cracked his neck.
Tundra nodded once.
Then they split, turning to eliminate the others individually without a word.
Giga-Ronin's zone became an earthquake.
A chi cannon fired directly into his chest—Giga-Ronin didn't dodge. He just walked through the beam as if it were mist. He grabbed the cannon operator by the head and lifted him off the ground before tossing him like scrap metal.
Two shieldmasters charged him, forming an impenetrable wall.
Giga punched the wall.
The shields shattered.
Both fighters teleported.
The transformation-type fighter—now a hulking boar-man—charged Giga in a rage.
Giga's punch landed beneath the boar-man's jaw.
Teleport.
He exhaled slowly, steam rising off his armor.
Meanwhile, on the quieter side of the battlefield, Danny watched the shifting platforms with idle interest. A trio of fighters saw him standing alone and thought he might be vulnerable.
Danny looked at them.
They stopped.
Danny flicked his finger.
Three beams lit up at once.
He sighed. "Fight fair next time."
Back on the sidelines, Jake stirred.
He groaned.
His head throbbed.
His eyes cracked open.
The first thing he saw was Bumble's oversized metal face hovering inches away.
"BRONZE UNIT: YOU ARE AWAKE!"
Jake screamed so loudly half the battlefield paused.
He scrambled to his feet. "I'M— I'M STILL HERE?! I'M STILL ON THIS FLOOR?!"
Bumble helpfully replied, "AFFIRMATIVE! RANK: TOP FIFTY! PLEASE CELEBRATE JOYFULLY!"
Jake did not celebrate joyfully.
He panicked.
Two mid-level fighters rounded a corner, locking onto him instantly.
Jake squeaked.
Lightning sputtered.
His scales flickered uncertainly.
And then he got punched in the chest.
Jake stumbled backward and screamed again—but then instinct kicked in. Electricity jolted down his arms, and he threw a wild, terrified punch that somehow connected perfectly with the fighter's jaw.
The second fighter lunged. Jake ducked, tripped over rubble, spun accidentally, and elbowed the man in the stomach on pure accident.
Both fighters teleported.
Jake stared at his hands in horror. "I AM NOT BUILT FOR THIS!!"
Bumble rolled behind him. "COMMENDATION: SURVIVAL INSTINCTS ARE ADEQUATE!"
Jake sobbed, "STOP HELPING ME!"
Bumble chirped, "AFFECTION: ACKNOWLEDGED."
Then Bumble attempted to repair a cracked wall.
By slamming it repeatedly with a hydraulic hammer.
The wall collapsed onto two unsuspecting fighters, eliminating both.
Julian screamed, "HE KILLS MORE ON ACCIDENT THAN MOST DO ON PURPOSE!"
Jimmy cheered, "GO BUMBLE!"
Bumble then attempted to weld a pillar.
The pillar launched into the air like a rocket, striking another fighter on a higher platform and knocking them into a teleport.
Jake cried, "WHY IS HE LIKE THIS?!"
Swift felt a ripple of danger.
Shadeclaw lifted his head, scenting blood.
Tundra Lynx paused mid-slash.
Ember Claw raised an eyebrow.
Giga-Ronin slowly turned his head.
On a silent platform above them, Mira reappeared.
She eliminated three fighters in six seconds—one tendon cut, one chokehold, one needle—then slipped back into the darkness before Wolf Queen arrived, claws glowing.
Wolf King followed the scent seconds later, snarling low.
"Where is she?" the Queen murmured.
"Gone," the King replied.
Mira glided through a shadowed gap in the spiral, silent as moonless night.
Danny watched all of this with mild annoyance.
He wasn't going to chase anyone. He wasn't going to double-team anyone. He wasn't going to break the arena for fun.
He was simply waiting for someone to fight him properly.
The arena lights flickered.
Sirens pulsed.
"Stage Three nearing threshold.
Top Forty imminent."
The spiral tightened again, pulling platforms inward.
Jake screamed as the floor shifted under him.
He grabbed a pillar.
Bumble grabbed his ankle.
"STABILITY ENHANCED."
Jake screamed louder.
Wolf Queen felt Mira move.
Wolf King grinned.
Mira drifted along a higher ledge like a phantom.
Danny cracked his knuckles.
And the spiral began to close.
Fighters Remaining: 45 / 500