The arena convulsed.
Sylith's Abyssal Requiem detonated in a roar of crimson distortion, reality itself tearing at the seams. The shockwave split the ground, warped the air, and flung Lucien backward. His boots skidded across the ruined floor, jagged cracks splitting further beneath each step. Dust exploded outward, blinding the tiers in a choking haze.
Sylith was no better off. Her wings snapped open to brace herself, but even she staggered under the recoil of her own attack. The crimson glow of her devil core flickered, veins of light racing across her body in jagged pulses. Her breath came shallow, strained, but her crimson eyes never left him.
The rune-etched pillars groaned, their glow stuttering like a failing heartbeat. Jagged fissures tore through the floor, sand and stone sliding into freshly carved canyons.
