The eruption that followed Arcturus' command was instantaneous, violent, and absolute. Five hundred fighters launched into motion, turning the battlefield into an expanding sphere of chaos. Light and shadow slammed together as spells burst in midair. Steel clashed against enchanted bone. Gravity wells blinked into existence only to collapse seconds later. Entire platforms shattered under the strain of too many powerful beings landing at once, the builder bots scrambling to rebuild them even as they fell. Floating ruins rotated above the fray like drifting satellites, glowing faintly as their runes activated and deactivated in frantic patterns.
The coliseum audience roared so loudly the stadium itself vibrated, as though the walls had become part of the living storm.
Up in the commentary booth, Jimmy clutched his headset with manic joy.
"THIS IS BEAUTIFUL! THIS IS WHAT I DREAM ABOUT WHEN I SLEEP!"
Julian held the desk like he was expecting it to explode.
"WHY WOULD ANYONE DREAM ABOUT THIS?! We're witnessing FIVE HUNDRED WAVES OF PAIN!!!"
Down below, Danny moved.
Except "moved" was too simple a word. It implied effort, transition, momentum. Danny did not move so much as exist in multiple decisive places, too fast for the cameras, too calm for the chaos, too effortless for the terror he caused.
A spear struck at him from behind—he shifted a centimeter, and the spear snapped in half. A fireball engulfed him—its flames parted like water around stone. A brute twice his size swung downward in a hammering overhead strike—Danny tilted slightly, and the brute punched a crater into the field so violently it launched other fighters backward like rag dolls.
Danny tapped the brute once on the shoulder.
The giant collapsed instantly.
He walked forward with his hands still in his pockets, expression placid. Around him fighters flew like debris in a tornado.
Near the far side of the arena, Wolf King leapt from his perch. He landed with enough force to crack the platform beneath him; the shockwave blasted several fighters off their feet. His golden eyes burned with primal exhilaration as he tore into a squad of shield-bearers, ripping through enchanted armor as though it were wet parchment.
His claws glowed, carving lines of light through the air. Every motion sent another opponent sailing. Every strike echoed like cannon fire.
And yet, even amidst his rampage, he looked toward Danny—repeatedly, expectantly.
A predator waiting for a worthy fight.
Meanwhile, Swift was dragging Jake out of a collapsing platform's death zone.
The platform buckled under exploding runes; Swift used the momentum to launch both of them across the gap, boots striking a floating shard of stone that spun from the impact. He yanked Jake with the kind of reflex only panic and experience could create.
Jake flailed.
"COULD YOU STOP DRAGGING ME LIKE A TODDLER?!"
Swift bellowed, "STOP WAVING YOUR ARMS LIKE A DISTRESS BEACON AND I WILL!"
He threw Jake behind a re-forming wall just as a lightning spear punched through the air, turning their previous position into molten slag.
Jake peeked over the barrier, trembling. "Swift, behind you—!"
A titan-class striker thundered toward them.
But they didn't need to act.
Danny appeared between them and the titan. He didn't posture. He didn't brace. He simply lifted a hand. The titan's fist collided with Danny's palm and stopped like it had hit an immovable pillar. The shockwave that should have leveled half the arena instead dissipated harmlessly.
Danny exhaled softly.
The titan flew backward as though flung by a trebuchet, crashing into a group of fighters who collapsed upon impact.
Swift stared, breath catching. "He… wasn't even looking at us."
Jake swallowed audibly. "He saved us. But he didn't decide to. It just… happened."
Danny was already gone.
Sedge Hat, meanwhile, was thriving.
He sprinted across a fractured bridge, dropping tiny metallic devices as he moved. Fighters from three different factions charged after him, confident they had cornered an easy elimination.
Sedge Hat smiled.
He snapped his fingers.
The bridge folded inward, collapsing like a mechanical trapdoor. The fighters plummeted into a glowing pit lined with anti-gravity shards. The shards activated and launched the screaming fighters upward and out of the arena.
Sedge clapped delightedly. "Efficient. Elegant. And they never learn."
Elsewhere, Shadeclaw and Jade fought with terrifying cohesion. Shadeclaw was a whirlwind of claws and instinct. His movements were sharp, fast, unpredictable. He fought with the fluid intimidation of a wild predator—a low growl under every strike, a flick of his tail whenever he noticed a new threat.
Jade provided precision where Shadeclaw provided chaos. Her blade, shimmering with crystalline arc energy, severed magical constructs with effortless grace.
Shadeclaw snarled as he shredded a volley of ethereal arrows. "Stay away from the center! I'm not stepping anywhere near Danny or the Wolf King!"
Jade nodded while parrying a hammer blow. "We survive, then strategize. That's the order."
Shadeclaw's tail whipped as he knocked another fighter off balance, letting Jade finish the elimination cleanly.
Not pretty.
Devastatingly effective.
Craterfist smashed the ground with fists like meteorites. Ember Claw unleashed spiraling torrents of flame that reshaped entire portions of the battlefield. Tundra Lynx created frost-laced traps that ate at the footing of rushing fighters. Giga-Ronin absorbed explosions and shockwaves as though they were idle inconveniences, countering with crushing kinetic bursts. Mira-the-Silent simply appeared and disappeared behind opponents, each one collapsing without sound or warning.
Jimmy flipped through camera feeds faster than human reflexes should allow.
"Camera four—no Danny. Camera nine—OH there he is—NOPE he's gone again. Camera eighteen—Wolf King doing Wolf King things. Camera twenty—OH WAIT THERE'S DANNY—WAIT NO THAT'S JUST AN AFTERIMAGE. CAMERA FORTY-TWO—HE WAS JUST THERE AN—WHERE IS HE?!"
Julian clutched his headset like it might protect him.
"HE IS BREAKING THE CAMERAS BY EXISTING. HOW DO YOU COMMENTATE A MAN WHO DOESN'T OBEY FRAME RATES?!"
A warm weight suddenly plopped onto Jimmy's lap.
Jimmy glanced down. "Oh hey. You again."
The waffle.
Golden. Warm. Quietly glowing with shimmering runes that slowly rotated.
Julian screeched. "WHY DOES IT LIKE YOU?! WHY DOES IT HAVE RUNES?! WHY DOES IT KEEP—"
The waffle emitted a gentle whompp. Lights above flickered. A faint ripple passed through the battlefield—unnoticed by all but Jimmy.
"Hmm," Jimmy murmured. "That was new."
The waffle vanished, leaving drifting crumbs that evaporated.
Julian groaned into his hands. "We're all going to die via breakfast."
Above the battlefield, the elimination board updated in flashing bursts. Nearly forty names vanished in a matter of moments, victims of stray blasts, self-inflicted panic, environmental hazards, and above all—Danny.
But the surviving fighters weren't stupid.
A coalition of fifty fighters gathered, all veterans, all high-ranked, all maintaining a healthy fear of the monster in the center.
"He cannot be allowed to reach the final sixteen!" shouted a tech-armored captain.
"He'll wipe all of us out eventually!" shouted a fire mage.
"We take him together," a swordsman growled. "Full power. Everything we have."
They formed a wide semicircle around Danny, each preparing their strongest technique.
Spells flared.
Cannons charged.
Explosives primed.
Aerial units took position.
Blades glowed with runic power.
The battlefield dimmed beneath the glow.
Julian screamed, "NO—WHY WOULD YOU ANGER HIM? WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THIS?!"
Jimmy whispered, awestruck, "Ooooh… they're about to learn today."
The fifty unleashed their combined attack.
A blinding wave of annihilation tore through the air toward Danny—enough raw force to obliterate a mountain.
Danny slowly… began to turn his head.
Just starting to look at them.