The Gate of Impact opened — a titanic bronze door with hammer-shaped reliefs. Steam hissed as Valgor walked inside, eyes calm but glowing. Thano waited — a mountain of muscle wrapped in black iron bands, fists like meteors. Sparks fell from the ceiling as the Gate sealed shut. "You're the Riftquake boy. Let's see if you can crack me," Thano said. Two forces bred for impact entered the arena of stone.
Thano lunged first; his fist shattered the stone floor like paper. Valgor bent space with Driftform, sidestepping. Thunderbrand crackled along his knuckles. Their fists collided — blue lightning against black iron. Shockwaves ripped columns into dust. Impact louder than war drums.
"The weak pollute the world. We crush them to purify it," Thano growled. "Or build something stronger instead of ashes," Valgor countered. Thano grinned: "Strength is the only virtue." Valgor's Veilward flickered under the onslaught. Riftquake tore through the floor, unbalancing Thano. Ideas hit harder than fists.
Thano stomped, creating a quake that canceled Valgor's Riftquake. Valgor spun into Driftform, appearing behind him, slamming a Thunderbrand punch into Thano's ribs. The Iron Hammer barely flinched. Thano grabbed Valgor's arm mid-strike, throwing him across the arena. Diamond vs. storm.
Valgor's fists bled from hitting iron flesh. He steadied himself, focusing on all five Pillars. Whispercall traced microscopic fractures in Thano's aura. Riftquake channeled into the weak points. Thano howled as cracks spiderwebbed across his iron bands. Every wall has a fault line.
Thano removed his iron bands; fists glowed golden-red. He leaped, smashing the ground — a hammer blow like a meteor impact. Veilward shields collapsed; Driftform barely saved Valgor. Thunderbrand counterpunch arced upward. The hammer struck the quake.
Valgor drew on trauma and pain, fueling Riftquake. Aura turned violet-black, eyes burning. Movements became almost ghostlike. He weaved Thunderbrand and Driftform into a spiral strike. Thano braced, roaring. Pain became his teacher.
Valgor struck the arena floor, creating a vortex pulling Thano inward. Riftquake and Thunderbrand fused into a soul shockwave. Thano's iron fists met the vortex, splitting energy like glass. The Gate's walls cracked; glyphs screamed. Both fighters vanished in a dust storm. The arena became abyss.
Dust cleared — Thano kneeling, iron fists shattered. Valgor stood, bleeding but smiling faintly. "Finally… someone strong enough," Thano admitted, tossing a golden hammer medallion to Valgor. "Take it. Next door needs both keys." Respect forged in impact.
"Purification is not destruction… it's focus," Thano said. "Then focus on saving, not crushing," Valgor replied. Thano's body faded into golden dust. Valgor clutched the medallion, staring at the cracked Gate. Philosophy left fingerprints on fists.
Elsewhere, Maya fought Alister's blood chains. Jessica slid under a hail of bullets from Maria's twin guns. Ghali Salah carved glyphs to unlock another Door. Eden whispered prayers outside the Gates. The Seventh Door pulsed like a beating heart. Threads of destiny wove tighter.
Elito's hologram returned, looming above all arenas. "Your fights amuse me. But you still breathe poison," he said. Black rain in data form fell at his gesture. "Cleanse yourselves or be erased." Fighters coughed as digital ash burned their lungs. The Pharaoh's judgment fell like code-fire.
Valgor raised the golden medallion against the ash. Aura glowed, burning the data rain away. "We'll clean the world… by waking it." He turned toward the Fourth Gate. Driftform carried him out of the arena. No hammer could crush his resolve.
All fighters glimpsed visions of Earth under Elito's rule — clean but lifeless. Jessica gasped: "This is his dream?" Maya's eyes widened; Whispercall picked up faint screams of humanity. Ghali Salah murmured prayers, fingers bleeding from glyph carving. Eden held a fragment of the Eye Key, trembling. Utopia revealed as void.
Valgor reunited with Maya, Jessica, and Lacolone in a quiet corridor. He showed the medallion and Basim's token. "Two keys. Five remain," Lacolone said. "Then we crack the Fourth Gate before it cracks us," Maya replied. "And end Elito's purge before it begins," Jessica added. Resolution hardened into rebellion.
Walls rippled with ghostly faces of past Saints. Ghali Salah sensed a deeper dimension beyond the Doors. "Seven Gates… Seven Sacrifices…" he whispered. "But who will be left to wake the world?" Eden asked. The Seventh Door flickered, hinting at Elito's throne. The price of truth began to surface.
Across all Gates, alarms and glyphs flared. Elito reinforced barriers. A countdown timer appeared in digital fire. "He's accelerating the process!" Maya warned. "Then we accelerate ours," Lacolone said. Valgor cracked his knuckles; Riftquake hummed. War in dreams raced toward awakening.
The Resistance stood before the Fourth Gate — its surface rippling like a living ocean of eyes. Above, the seven Gates shimmered, aligning like constellations. Elito's voice boomed: "Step forward, awakeners… and drown." Beyond the Fourth Gate waited the Soul Breaker — and the secret of the Thirty-Three.