"The sky does not fall—it strikes."
— Stormward Tablets of the Cloudbreaker Clans
⚡ The Sky Splits Open
The dome above the arena convulsed as if struck by an invisible fist.
Black clouds churned into a whirlpool, revealing a single colossal eye—glowing like molten silver—before the Sky-Rend Dragon emerged.
Its wings were not feathered nor scaled, but woven from lightning itself.
Each beat of those wings shook the entire arena.
Jin's hair stood on end before the first strike even landed.
🌩 The Arena Transformed
The stone beneath their feet vanished, replaced by a floating web of storm-forged platforms suspended in the void.
Between them, arcs of lightning leapt from one surface to another, making every step a gamble between life and instant obliteration.
The dragon's voice rolled like thunder:
"You bear four Seals, Flamebearer. But can your flame survive the storm that ends the earth?"
⚔ First Clash — The Lightning Fang
Without warning, the Sky-Rend Dragon lunged, its maw crackling with Heaven-Pierce Bolts.
Jin barely raised the Leviathan Blade in time, channeling water qi to disperse the strike.
The clash sent an electric shock through his core.
His knees buckled.
Even his spiritual sea trembled under the voltage.
🧠 Strategy Against the Sky
Direct confrontation was death.
Jin shifted into movement—Wave Step, leaping from platform to platform in unpredictable arcs, letting the dragon's bolts strike where he had just been.
But the Sky-Rend Dragon was not a beast of simple rage—it began anticipating his movements, placing lightning arcs between his escape points.
Lin Xue shouted from the Southern platform:
"Don't outrun it—turn it back!"
🌊 Tide Meets Storm
Jin inhaled deeply, calling on the Tidebound Reversal Sutra—but instead of redirecting a solid strike, he tried something untested: bending the storm itself.
He met the next lightning bolt with a sweeping arc of the Leviathan Blade.
The water qi along its edge split the current, sending half into the storm above… and half back toward the dragon.
The beast roared—not in pain, but in satisfaction.
🐉 The Fifth Seal
The dragon circled once before lowering its massive head toward him.
"You are not yet sky… but you are no longer only sea.
Bear the Fifth Seal, Flamebearer."
A lightning-shaped brand burned into his collarbone—sparks dancing across it before fading into his skin.
Five runes now blazed on the arena floor, and the dome shuddered again. The awakening was close.
⚠ The Sixth Challenger
From the farthest edge of the arena came a sound like grinding stone.
A giant figure emerged—armor made of obsidian plates, each etched with glowing runes. Its eyes burned like magma.
The herald's voice trembled.
"The Trial of Stone… the Mountain Lord comes."