"...."
The Land Dragon's carcass lay sprawled across the cracked stone floor.
Its once-imposing frame was now nothing more than a broken heap of scales, fragments, and smoldering flesh. The air in the arena still smelled of scorched stone and ash, thick with the heat of dissipating flames.
The students collapsed in clusters, nursing wounds, their breath coming in sharp gasps. Jonathan leaned heavily on Lenard, his leg bleeding freely despite the torn bandages hastily tied around it. Marcos and two others lay unconscious but alive, carried by teammates toward the waiting medics stationed at the edge of the arena.
Above, the instructors and scholars stood, their gazes locked on the battered but victorious team.
"Enough!" boomed a voice, echoing across the massive chamber.
The barrier separating the two halves of the arena shimmered and vanished.
