And then, while they were fighting
Astra moved.
Not backward in fear—
but sideways, sharp and deliberate.
Raze sensed it immediately.
She wasn't disengaging.
She was *changing the battlefield*.
Before he could react, Astra drove her fist into the arena floor with everything she had left.
*BOOOOOOM—!!*
The ground shattered.
Cracks spiderwebbed outward, splitting reinforced tiles as if they were glass. Entire slabs of the arena collapsed inward, dropping several meters as dust and debris erupted skyward.
Gasps tore through the stadium.
"She destroyed the floor!?"
"That wasn't an accident—she meant to do that!"
Astra landed in the newly formed crater, knees bent, one hand braced against the ground.
Pain ripped through her body.
Her Nexas screamed.
Every second within the radiation felt like knives digging into her bones, tearing at her strength, crushing her instincts.
Her breath came out ragged.
"This is it," she thought.
"One chance."
She forced herself upright.
Her vision swam.
Her muscles trembled.
But her eyes burned with resolve.
Astra reached down into the fractured earth.
Her fingers dug into stone.
And she *lifted*.
The arena groaned.
A massive chunk of rock—jagged, uneven, easily twice Raze's size—ripped free from the ground. Dust poured off its surface as Astra dragged it upward with sheer force.
The crowd erupted.
"No way…"
"That thing is HUGE!"
"She's going to throw that!?"
Astra rose into the air, slowly at first, then higher—wings of force holding her aloft despite the agony tearing through her body.
Her arms shook violently as she held the colossal stone above her.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Her Nexas was fighting the radiation.
Her body was fighting itself.
But she didn't let go.
*One strike,* she repeated.
*Everything I have… in one strike.*
Across the crater, Raze stared upward.
His heart dropped.
"That's… bad."
His instincts screamed danger louder than ever before.
He slammed his hand against the Starbreaker's chest core.
"Stage Three—unlock!"
The system responded instantly—
*ERROR.*
*SYNC DELAY.*
*CORE PRESSURE EXCEEDS SAFE LIMITS.*
"Damn it—!"
He tried again.
"Override—!"
*LOCKED.*
*STAGE THREE UNSAFE.*
Raze's eyes widened.
Too slow.
Astra screamed—not in pain, but defiance—
and hurled the massive stone downward.
The shadow swallowed him whole.
Time seemed to freeze.
Students stood.
Heroes surged forward.
Barriers flared at maximum output.
Then—
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!*
The impact detonated the arena.
Stone exploded.
Dust blasted outward in a violent shockwave.
The force slammed into the protective barrier, rattling the entire stadium.
Some students were knocked back in their seats.
Several heroes instinctively shielded civilians.
When the dust finally settled—
There was silence.
The arena was gone.
A massive crater dominated the field, rubble piled high at its center.
Nothing moved.
"…Raze?" someone whispered.
Astra hovered above the crater, chest heaving.
Her arms fell limp at her sides.
Her body screamed for rest.
Her vision blurred.
She stared downward in horror.
"…No… I didn't—"
Then—
*Crack.*
A faint sound echoed from within the rubble.
Another crack followed.
And another.
The broken stone shifted.
From inside the collapsed mass—
*BOOM—!!*
The rock burst apart.
Chunks of shattered stone flew outward as a flickering nanotech helmet emerged from within the debris, barely holding together.
The helmet cracked—
then dissolved.
Raze Arcwell forced himself up from inside the rubble.
On one knee.
One hand pressed into the broken ground.
The other trembling violently at his side.
His armor was ruined.
Arcsteel plates lay shattered across the arena.
The Starbreaker's cobalt lights flickered weakly, systems screaming warnings.
But he was alive.
The stadium froze.
No cheers.
No screams.
Only stunned disbelief.
"He… broke it…?"
"He survived that…?"
Astra stared, breath caught in her throat.
"…You're… still standing…?"
Raze didn't answer.
He didn't even look up.
Dust drifted slowly around him as he remained kneeling, unmoving.
His body shook—not from fear, but exhaustion.
Inside, everything burned.
*That was close…*
*Too close.*
The radiation around him faded to a faint hum as the Starbreaker stabilized what little energy it had left.
The referee stood frozen.
The heroes didn't move.
No one knew what to do.
Had Raze won?
Had Astra won?
Or had both of them crossed a line where victory no longer mattered?
Somewhere, near beyond the arena—
a blindfolded man smiled faintly.
Because the fight had finally reached the moment he had been waiting for.
The match wasn't over.
But something had already broken.
And whatever came next—
nothing would ever be the same.