The entire arena seemed to tremble.
Not because of the crowd…
but because of the tension packed into the chests of forty combatants gathered before the ten side gates.
And when the siren sounded, low and deep, vibrating straight into bone—
TUUUUUOOOOOM…
The gates opened.
Light flooded the arena's red sand, and chaos took shape.
They had planned it.
Marcus on the front line.
Jay holding the right flank.
Sienna in the back, with her summoning grimoires.
Emanueru providing support.
But Wrath allowed no focus.
No patience.
The first impact came with the sight of three tattooed giants charging forward with axes—Tork's Berserkers.
Marcus looked at them…
And something inside him simply burst.
"Those are mine," he snarled, not waiting for the tactical call.
"MARCUS, NO!" Ethan shouted from the stands.
Too late.
The warrior surged forward like a lightning strike.
The Berserkers roared.
Marcus smiled.
Sunbreaker Rael's blade howled, its solar glow clashing violently against the arena's red dust.
The first axe came down—and Marcus whipped his sword with absurd speed, slicing the opponent's wrist mid-swing.
The second came from behind.
Marcus dove, sliding through the dust, and rose with an uppercut slash that split the brute's chest open.
The third tried to grab him.
Marcus planted his foot, spun the hilt in his fist, and drove the sword into the giant's collarbone with enough force to crack bone.
The crowd exploded.
Marcus was a hurricane of steel.
He muttered, almost disappointed:
"Hm… way too weak."
That was when a blade nearly went through his throat.
Shadows.
A trio of assassins emerged like ghosts, venom-coated daggers gleaming green.
Marcus twisted away by a thread, but the third strike was about to land—
FOOM!
Three luminous swords intercepted the attacks, spinning around the warrior like celestial guardians.
Behind him, Emanueru kept his grimoire open, face tight with strain.
"Focus, Marcus!" he shouted. "You're not immortal!"
"Not yet," Marcus answered, already throwing himself back into the fight.
The shadows retreated, analyzing.
They had no chance.
Not there.
Not against that kind of DPS.
On the other side of the arena, Jay faced the Heavy Blade Ruffians.
Four against one.
Long swords.
Violent charges.
And Jay let them hit him.
On purpose.
Each impact made the kinetic core pulse harder.
TUNK.
TUNK.
TUNK-TUNK.
TUNK-TUNK-TUNK.
Orange runes ignited like living embers beneath the metal.
"JAY, WATCH OUT!" Emanueru shouted from afar.
Jay raised the shield at the last instant.
The blow was so strong it dragged him three meters across the sand.
But it only fed the core.
Jay smiled.
"Keep going," he said, steady.
Another strike.
And another.
The side pistons vibrated, ready.
"Time," he murmured.
He pulled the trigger.
KRAAAAAAASH!
A kinetic wave exploded forward, throwing dust into the air, launching all four enemies like ragdolls, shattering stone and cracking the ground.
The crowd roared.
It was like watching a steel bull charge.
While Marcus shone and Jay bulldozed everything ahead of him, Sienna found herself surrounded by seven combatants.
They came in screaming.
She simply opened her grimoire.
"Lupus Minor: Duet."
Two crystalline wolves erupted forward like arrows.
One clamped onto a fighter's arm.
The other knocked down two at once.
Sienna laughed, forcing more mana through her veins.
"Oh, my love… you thought you'd get me from behind?"
A fourth attacker nearly reached her—
the wolf sprang and bit the man's helmet, slamming him into the ground.
The crowd went insane.
High on the throne, Lord Valdred narrowed his eyes.
"Hmph… too strong."
He raised his hand.
The air grew heavy.
A wave of pure Wrath spread across the arena—a blood-red pulse that pierced eyes, skin, and heart.
The few remaining groups—three besides Ethan's team—went pale.
A murderous intent flooded their minds.
They looked toward the main group…
And charged together.
Ethan's eyes widened in the stands.
"He manipulated their Wrath to create a temporary alliance."
Elenya gripped her bow, ready to intervene.
"They won't withstand this alone…"
Four fighters appeared at the front.
Each had a massive mechanical arm powered by Wrath magic.
Every punch opened craters in the ground.
They ran like locomotives.
The leader—a brute with a bull mask—swung his mechanical arm like a giant hammer.
Jay swallowed hard.
"Okay… those guys hit harder than Marcus."
"Jay… it's now or never," Sienna said.
Jay locked the shield into the ground.
The Impactors attacked at the same time.
BAAAAAM!!!
The blow was brutal.
The ground cracked in rings.
The shield shuddered violently—but held.
Orange light pulsed hard.
Sienna shouted, loud enough for the whole stadium to hear:
"GO ON, FORGE STUD! SHOW THEM WHY THE SHIELD HAS SPIKES!"
Jay regained his balance and slammed forward with the shield, activating the retractable spikes.
CRACK-TCHAK!
The spike tore through the leader's mechanical arm, sparks exploding outward.
The others backed up to regroup.
Marcus smiled.
"Leave them to me."
Farther back, three casters appeared, bodies marked with veins of blue and red electric light. Their eyes flickered like unstable bulbs.
They raised their hands.
Three gigantic electric spears materialized in the air.
The spears were hurled in arcs, ricocheting across the arena like controlled thunder.
Emanueru raised his arm.
"Lux Spatha!"
Three swords of light appeared—unstable under the electrical interference, but still surging forward.
The collisions tore through the arena's sky.
KRRR-TCHOOOM!
Emanueru was thrown backward by the discharge.
Sienna summoned smaller wolves that hurled themselves at the remaining lightning.
They turned to sparks.
Vanished.
Sienna bit her lip.
"They're draining my wolves way too fast…"
Three women advanced.
Bodies covered in red crystals that grew with every blow they absorbed.
Predators.
One targeted Marcus.
Another, Sienna.
The third, Emanueru.
The one on Marcus twisted, blasting the ground into crystal shrapnel.
"Alright… this one's mine," he said, charging.
His blade cut.
The crystal blocked.
Cracked.
The second tried to reach Sienna.
"Stay still, little summoner…"
"You just call me 'shortstack'?" Sienna snarled.
Marcus laughed for a second.
"She said little summoner!"
"Damn right!" Sienna shot back.
She triggered an emergency rune.
"Lupus Minor!"
A wolf appeared and bit the Fury's ankle, giving Sienna space to retreat.
The third Fury leaped to crush Emanueru.
But Jay slid across the sand and intercepted the blow with his shield.
BOOOM!
Kinetic energy surged even higher.
Jay shoved the Fury back, releasing part of the shock.
THRAAAAM!