The timer counted down with merciless precision.
00:03:00... 00:02:59... 00:02:58...
Kael stood at the edge of the Heaven's Gate staging area, eyes fixed on the massive hologram hovering above the arena. Zara Moror's screen still showed chaos—three-way battle raging, poison and water and claws creating a vortex of violence that made it hard to track individual movements.
00:02:00... 00:01:59... 00:01:58...
The tiger-kin from Primal Heart broke free of another hypnosis attempt and launched a flurry of claw strikes that forced Zara backward. The Empyreal water manipulator seized the opening, sending a pressurized jet that caught Zara in the ribs.
THWACK.
Zara stumbled but didn't fall. Her snake abilities surged—shadow tendrils erupting from the ground, wrapping around the tiger-kin's ankles, yanking him off-balance. The water manipulator tried to capitalize, but Zara's tail whipped around and caught her across the face.
CRACK.
00:01:00... 00:00:59... 00:00:58...
