The arena vibrated with restrained power.
Kayla stood on one side, her emerald armor breathing softly with pulses of living light, leaves blooming and fading across her mantle like silent seasons cycling in accelerated time.
Across from her, Volcanic Dogshit grinned.
Heat thickened the air around him until it shimmered. Bronze skin cracked along the shoulders and chest, molten magma bleeding through glowing fissures like veins of liquid sun. His crown burned brighter, lava dripping from its edges yet evaporating before touching the ground.
"You look fragile," he chuckled.
Kayla didn't respond.
The bell never rang.
He moved first.
The arena floor exploded beneath his step.
A volcanic shockwave tore outward, molten stone erupting in jagged pillars that shot toward Kayla from every direction. The temperature spiked violently as magma serpents burst from those pillars, jaws wide, bodies crackling with explosive heat.
Kayla raised her hand.
