Steel clashed against steel all around them. Fire and ice tore through the air, followed by countless screams, some of fury, others of pain.
It was complete mayhem.
A handful of pairs fell within seconds, and others teamed up against them, before turning in on each other.
Standing in the middle of the battlefield wasn't as bad as Damon would've expected. The tight space meant that if anyone wanted to get to them, they had to deal with the pairs around them first, meaning they had a moment to think of their next move.
"There!" Elise yelled, dashing forward in a direction where a battle of two pairs was coming to an end, with only one person left standing, bloodied and beyond exhausted.
The man turned with a surprising speed, but just as he was about to swing at Elise, he missed by a hair's breadth. The girl didn't counter and dashed behind him, where another person was scrambling to his feet, the man's companion.
She cut him down in an instant, just as Damon thrust his blade at the man who tried to strike Elise earlier.
He had no time to recover from his earlier swing as Damon's sword plunged deep into the man's chest.
His body froze before it fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Behind!" Elise called out.
Damon ducked without thinking, narrowly avoiding a rapier-like blade that hissed through the air where his head was.
He rolled forward, toward Elise, as he turned toward his attacker.
Another pair was already upon them, but before they could follow with another attack, a wave of fire tore through the whole battlefield, separating them from their attackers.
'It's complete chaos!' Damon cursed inwardly as he and Elise dashed away from the fire.
The raging battle around them wasn't one of skill or resolve. It was a desperate battle of those who wish to live no matter what.
For a moment, Damon watched as cries were cut short beneath blades, screams and pleas begged for mercy before burning alive.
He tightened the grip on his sword.
They didn't make it this far only to die in the end.
Without another moment wasted, he dashed forward to a nearby pair, catching Elise off guard by his sudden attack.
He tore a massive gush across one of the participants' backs. There was no honour, no pride in what they were doing, and he didn't care for it. He would win no matter what.
The partner of the man he just wounded lunged forward, but at that moment, Elise's threads caught his foot, yanking it out from under him and causing him to plummet to the ground face first. He tried to scramble, tried to get back to his feet, but Damon's blade already moved, plunging deep into the back of his neck.
A sudden shard of ice crashed into Damon's leg, too fast and too unexpected for even Elise to have seen it coming.
"This whole thing turned into a bit of mayhem, Damon, didn't it?" Nicholas yelled through the battlefield.
"Still alive? Why don't I help you meet your pair?" Damon replied, almost finding calm in this whole bloodbath.
"No need, you can pass the message for me!" Nicholas answered as he shot another barrage of ice shards toward him.
'Seems like his mana has recovered!' Damon noted as he dodged the strikes.
For a moment, he wondered why Elise wasn't moving the ice shards out of the way, but as he glanced toward where she had stood a moment ago, he saw her in the midst of her own battle, her daggers striking against some sort of sword wielder.
"Looking for help?" Nicholas asked as his blade cut through the air, meeting Damon's sword with a loud clang.
Damon didn't reply but still smiled at the man's wits.
All around them, the battlefield was starting to become calmer. He and Elise were fighting one person each, while a few meters away from them, the fire wielder was dealing with the last two participants on his own.
Damon, however, didn't pay that any mind; his focus narrowed on the opponent in front of him. He broke from the clash and swung his blade, but Nicholas deflected it with ease before retaliating with a counter.
The blade tore clothing around Damon's chest but missed his body. He sidestepped just in time, countering with his own thrust.
CLANG!
Nicholas moved even faster than before, deflecting the thrust faster than Damon would've expected.
His eyes widened as his arm flailed way too far for him to recover.
He gritted his teeth as he saw Nicholas' blade come toward him, but before it could reach him, a wave of raging fire struck Nicholas in the back, causing his blade to drop.
Unintentionally, Nicholas' body shielded Damon from the strike. The attack continued for a few seconds before the flames subsided to reveal the scorched body of Damon's opponents.
'He's already dead,' Damon noted, staring as Nicholas' scorched body fell to the ground.
"Hahaha"
The flame wielder laughed across the battlefield, flames tickling across his fingers.
He raised his arm once more, straight at Damon, who was far too close to evade.
His breath hitched as flames formed on the man's palm.
But before they could reach him, Damon caught a glimpse of silver threads connecting to the man's arm, and when they did, his arm suddenly bent in half, and as the flames erupted, they hit the man right in his own face.
He screamed in agony for a few moments, flame scorching his own body, and when the flames subsided, his flames were cut short, and his body hit the ground.
Damon's head whipped toward Elise, who had long won her own duel and just controlled the man's arm.
Her figure swayed in the air before collapsing to the ground. She spat blood from the mouth as Damon rushed toward her.
'Mana backlash', he realised, remembering the girl's earlier words.
"Elise! You okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a gentle smile on her face, "I won't be able to use my ability for a while"
"You won't have to", Damon said, turning toward the battlefield where everyone else lay dead.
As if right on cue, a voice cut through the arena.
[Congratulations! We have one pair remaining. The final phase will commence shortly.]
'Huh? Final phase? But isn't the game over? There is no one left-'
Damon didn't get to finish the thought as he saw Elise force herself to her feet.
The look on her face was complicated but not like before. It wasn't a look of someone who's hiding something, but rather a look of emotions Damon couldn't quite grasp.
The girl took a few steps toward him just as the announcement voice returned.
[Announcement! Final Phase: Your kill pair. Time limit: 5 minutes]