The arena was a color hell.
The Atmospheric Corrosion was intensifying. The mist wasn't just burning exposed skin anymore; it was eating into the digital architecture of their avatars.
Kael lay face-down in the sand, his entire world reduced to the screaming red alerts on his HUD and the frantic, animalistic struggling of the Retainer Knight trapped beneath him.
Health at 58%... 57%...
Being a two-ton golden anchor was effective, but it was expensive. Kael's mana bar was plummeting as he forced the physics engine to acknowledge his weight.
Beneath him, the Knight was fighting like a demon.
"Get... off... me!" the Knight gasped, his voice strained under the crushing pressure.
He couldn't use his sabers—his arms were pinned to his sides by Kael's bulk. But he had one weapon left. The saber he had already stabbed into Kael's shoulder.
The Knight wiggled his fingers, gripping the hilt of the blade that was still buried in Kael's avatar.
He twisted it.
GRIND.
