The battlefield ignited as Sai Fukuda surged forward.
Sai's body was cloaked in blazing armour that shimmered like a living and breathing inferno that could swallow blackholes whole.
His fire sword gleamed like molten steel, every flicker of its edge promising devastation.
With a burst of speed, he dashed across the arena, flames trailing behind him in a streak of incandescent fury that painted the air with searing light.
His target was Ban Nakajima, the skeletal dragon-warrior whose hollow eyes glowed with a sinister ember.
The moment Sai closed the distance; his fiery momentum collided with Ban's towering frame.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the arena, rattling the stone pillars, and shaking the ground beneath the spectators.
Before Ban could recover, Sai unleashed a relentless barrage of kicks.
Each strike was faster than the last, flame-coated boots hammering into Ban's body with merciless precision.
Sparks erupted with every blow, driving Ban upward into the air as if Sai's fury itself sought to pierce the heavens.
The crowd gasped as the two warriors ascended, locked in a brutal aerial clash.
Sai's movements were fluid yet merciless, his kicks echoing like thunderclaps, each one leaving trails of fire that scorched the sky.
Ban's skeletal wings flared open, trying to stabilize him, but Sai's assault was unyielding, an unending storm of flame and steel.
With a final, devastating strike, Sai twisted his body midair, channelling every ounce of his blazing aura into one colossal kick.
His boot connected with bone and flame, and Ban was hurled downward like a meteor.
The skeletal warrior crashed into the arena floor with explosive force, the ground cracking beneath the impact.
Dust and debris erupted in a violent storm, obscuring the battlefield in a haze of destruction.
Sai landed gracefully, his fire armour still blazing, his sword humming with heat as if thirsting for more battle.
He stood tall, eyes locked on Ban's fallen form, his aura burning brighter than ever an unquenchable flame of wrath and resolve.
The crowd roared in awe, sensing that Sai's fury was only beginning to unfold.
From within the rubble, Ban stirred.
His dragon-skeletal body glowed faintly with embers, the cracks in his bones pulsing with eerie crimson light.
Slowly, he rose, wings unfurling like jagged blades, his hollow gaze fixed on Sai.
The arena fell silent, anticipation thick in the air.
Sai tightened his grip on his sword, flames coiling around him like serpents.
Ban's claws scraped against the shattered stone, sparks flying as he prepared to retaliate.
The battlefield trembled under the weight of their power, as if the very earth knew it was about to witness a clash beyond mortal reckoning.
Sai's fiery armour blazed hotter, the flames licking upward as though the very air bent to his fury.
His eyes locked on Yoi Ohara, who lingered in the shadows like a phantom, her poison mist curling outward in sinister tendrils.
With a sharp sidestep, Sai slipped behind Ban Nakajima, determined to break through and strike Yoi before her venomous haze could consume the arena.
But Ban was faster than expected.
His skeletal-dragon frame shifted with uncanny agility, bones grinding like ancient gears.
In an instant, he was already in front of Sai again, blocking his path with a predator's precision.
His ember-lit chest glowed faintly, each pulse of light echoing the rhythm of his breath, and his hollow eyes narrowed as if he could read Sai's movements before they even formed.
Before Sai could react, Ban spun with brutal force. His leg arced through the air in a perfect roundhouse, the strike carrying both bone-shattering strength and dragon-born ferocity.
The blow connected squarely with Sai's fiery armour, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.
The impact launched Sai across the arena like a blazing comet. He slammed into the stone wall with explosive force, cracks spiderwebbing outward as dust and debris erupted in a violent storm.
The crowd gasped, their voices drowned beneath the roar of destruction, as the flames around Sai's armour flickered from the sheer magnitude of the strike.
Sai groaned, his body pressed against the fractured wall, but his regeneration refused to let him fall.
His fire armour reignited, glowing brighter, hotter, more furious than before.
He pushed himself free from the rubble, his sword of flame still burning in his grip, his eyes filled with defiance despite the punishment he had endured.
Ban stood tall in the centre of the arena, his skeletal frame gleaming under the lights, his presence radiating dominance.
His wings stretched wide, casting jagged shadows across the battlefield, as if daring Sai to challenge him again.
Behind him, Yoi's shadows writhed like living serpents, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Her poison mist thickened, curling into the cracks of the arena floor, threatening to choke the battlefield itself.
And still, Kane Eguchi remained silent at the edge of the arena.
His gaze was cold, calculating, his hands folded as though he were conducting the flow of battle itself.
The air around him rippled faintly, bending in unnatural waves, as though time itself awaited his command.
The crowd fell into uneasy silence.
Three forces now stood poised to clash, fire, shadow, and bone, while Kane lingered as the storm's unseen hand.
The arena trembled beneath their combined presence, and every spectator knew: the next exchange would decide whether the arena survived… or was reduced to ash and ruin.