The Arena Gates Shuddered Open. Five tides of nightmare flesh flooded the sands, led by their monstrous champions:
Clan of Scourge: Vorak, a skinless horror, muscles glistening raw, wielding a whip braided from still-twitching spines.
Clan of Bone: Gorath, a ten-foot skeleton-warrior, knuckles adorned with skull-dusters, each socket burning with green flame.
Clan of Embers: Zara, wreathed in living ash, eyes glowing like dying coals, exhaling cursed smoke that withered the air.
Clan of Venom: Slithis, serpent-tailedand scaled, jaws dripping paralyzing ichor.
Clan of Shadows: Nyxxa, incorporealand shifting, her 'face' a void that flickered with the stolen visages of her victims.
First Challenge: The Firebrand
Kenji of the Melt Clan stepped forward, flames uncoiling from his arms like living, hissing serpents. Heat haze shimmered around him.
Vorak scraped his blade-like teeth, a wet, grating sound. "I ate three Fire Wardens yesterday. Their fear tasted... spicy."
Kenji cracked his neck, flames flaring white-hot. "Weaklings. I melt mountainsfor breakfast."
The Duel Ignites
Vorak's spine-whip lashed out, faster than sight. Kenji blurred sideways—
"Sido 7: Magma Geyser!"
Lava erupted beneath Vorak, searing his legs to blackened stumps. The skinless demon screamed , a sound of pure agony. "I'll wear your skin!"
Kenji dodged a glob of acid spit from Slithis, eyes fixed on Vorak. "Stage 10. Melt the of the World." He clapped his handstogether.
A wake of white fire roared forth. It vaporized the spine-whip, then Vorak's arms mid-swing, then engulfed his torso. In a heartbeat, only greasy smoke and ash remained where the Scourge champion stood.
Kenji lowered his hands, smoke curling from his fingertips.
"Next."
From the stands, Tsuneo remained stone-faced. "Kenji cleared the Crimson Tunnels alone last cycle."
Kaida's flame-eyes blazed with approval. "His control... flawless. A true Melt Clan heir."
Hayate watched the remaining demons shift uneasily. "He's toying with them.Vorak was just the appetizer."
High in a shadowed skybox, the Masked Ancient One observed. Silver light glinted behind the obsidian mask. His hand trembled faintly against the railing – a silent battle raging beneath the surface.
Near the Bone Clan warriors, Hisoka, shrouded in decay and shadows, hissed:
"Aim for Kenji's legs. The Melt Clan's balance falters when grounded."
Gorath stomped forward, neck-bones cracking like dry timber. He pointed a skeletal finger at Kenji. "I was Stone Warden Captain Borin..." His voice, gravelly and hollow, echoed with bitter pride. "...before I embraced real power." He stomped—Sido shockwaves rippled out, shattering the arena floor around Kenji. "Weaklings like you refused the demon gift. Now? You're nothing."
Kenji's flame-wings ignited, lifting him slightly off the fractured ground. "Keep talking, bone-bag. I'll make your ribs into toothpicks."
The Trap Sprung The Brutal Turn
Vorak Scourge Clan, newly regenerated but charred, lunged with a spine-whip crack: "I'll string your—"
Kenji white flames coiling: "Save your breath. You'll need it to scream." He feinted left towards Gorath—
—then blitzed right at blinding speed, straight at Vorak! "Sido 10: Solar Spear!" A lance of condensed white firescreamed towards the skinless demon's heart!
Gorath bellowed, slamming his fists together: "Ember Shell!" A carapace of hardened, cooled magma instantly encased Vorak. The Solar Spear shattered against it in a shower of sparks.
Simultaneously—
Ren of the Tidal Clan, Kenji's silent partner, spun towards Gorath, unnoticed in the flare. "Sido 10: Tidal Guillotine!" A monomolecular blade of pressurized water sliced silently towards the Bone champion's spine!
Vorak sneered within his shell, whip lashing out: "Tide Breaker!" His whip dispersed the water blade into harmless mist before it could strike Gorath. "Your flames are kindling, boy!" Vorak spat at Kenji.
Gorath laughed, a dry rattle. "I've pissed stronger streams than your Sido!"
Vorak's spine-whip, impossibly fast on the backswing, shattered Ren's right leg below the knee. Bone fragments tore through skin and muscle. Blood fountained.
"Gah!" Ren collapsed, face contorted in agony, blood rapidly pooling on the hot stone.
Vorak loomed over him, grinning with razor teeth. "Soulwarden legs break prettier than human spines."
Kenji roared, spinning back towards Gorath, a fire-shield flaring— "Kenji Behind!" Hayate's warning shout came too late.
Gorath's colossal bone-hammer, fueled by demonic strength, smashed through Kenji's shield and crunched into his ribs. "Bone crusher: Skull Grinde!"
Kenji flew backwards like a ragdoll. Collarbone snapped. A splintered rib pierced his lung. He hit the ground hard, choking on blood. "Tch... barely tickled..." he gasped, flames sputtering weakly.
Vorak raised his whip to deliver the killing blow to Ren.
Gorath leveled his hammer for the final strike on Kenji's skull.
Kenji grinned through bloody teeth, his flames flickering a desperate, unstable blue. "Ren! Now!"
Despite the agony, Ren's hands blurred through seals: "Sido 8: Torrential Bind!" Water chains, thick as pythons, yanked Vorak violently off his feet, hurling him directly towards Gorath!
Gorath, mid-swing at Kenji, gaped.
"They swapped?!—"
Too late.
Kenji, summoning his last dregs of power, plunged his flaming fist into Vorak's gutas the skinless demon flew past: "Sido 7: Fire Spear!" Not aimed at Vorak, but past him— a searing beam of blue fire lancing towards...
...Ren, who had pivoted with inhuman will, ignoring his shattered leg. Using the water chains as leverage, he blitzed Gorath, his blade a whirlpool of force: "Sido 9: Abyssal Impact!" The blade struck Gorath's Ember Shell—
The magma carapace shattered under the focused hydro-kinetic blow.
"Impossib—" Gorath choked as the water blade, amplified by Kenji's piercing blue fire spear hitting just behind Ren's strike, vaporized his ribcage and spine.
Simultaneously—
Ren's water chains binding Vorak coalesced, becoming impossibly thin and sharp. "Sido 10: Abyssal Filament!" A single drop of water hardened into a needle-thin blade of pure pressure—
—SLICING clean through Gorath's neck as the bone demon stared in disbelief at Vorak's falling, burning corpse.
Vorak collapsed, his charred form crumbling. A final, wet whisper escaped him:
"We... trained here... sparred here... before we were promised power..."
Gorath's green eye-lights flickered out as his head toppled. His fading gaze met Kenji's: "The arena... was home once..." His massive skeleton disintegrated into ash.
Silence. Thick, choking silence fell over the Bloodstone Arena. Only the crackle of Kenji's dying flames and Ren's ragged, pained breaths broke it.
Kenji's fire cooled to a weak white glow, exhaustion etching deep lines on his bloodied face. Ren dragged himself over, offering a water-flask with a trembling hand. "Fire... needs balance."
Kenji took it, managing a bloody smirk. "And water... needs fire... to make steam."
Stone Elder rose, his voice thick with grief and fury. "Borin... Vorak... They were Captains here! The Void stole them!"
Flame Sovereign stood, raising her fist high. "But today! Soulwardens stood together! And felled the corrupted!" A ragged cheer began to rise.
Aero of the Sky Dancers landed lightly on the bloody sand before the shifting form of Nyxxa, wind-blades humming with lethal intent. "Your turn, face-thief."
In the shadowed skybox, the Masked Lord watched. A hairline fracture split the obsidian mask further. Silver light bleddown his cheek like a tear. The sight of Kenji's blue flames, the echoes of the fallen captains' voices... something stirred.
A whisper, faint but desperate, echoed in the Ancient One's mind – Tamotsu's voice, fighting through:
"Remember the vows... Remember... us."