For the first time since the battle began, the cheering had stopped.
Ianâwho had been narrating with manic energyânow stood frozen. His camera shook as he zoomed in, his hands trembling.
The prisoners, who just moments ago were roaring in celebration, now sat in horrified silence.
Even Legend, watching from his God Scope, narrowed his eyes.
âThis is differentâŚâ he muttered.
Raven towered over the battlefield, his form grotesquely transformed. His muscles swelled, jagged edges protruding like blades eager to tear through reality. His dark aura cracked the very air, distorting it like broken glass.
His eyes burned with pure malice.
He clenched his fists. The ground fractured beneath his feet. A single breath escaped his throatâyet even that exhale carried enough force to send a pressure wave rolling across the ruins.
Safari and Angeleva felt it.
This was no longer sport.
This was true danger.
âI admit it,â Raven growled, his voice deep and monstrous.
âYou two were amusingâŚâ
He raised his clawed hand, flexing his fingers like a predator sharpening its blades.
âBut playtime is over.â
And thenâhe vanished.
Safari had barely a heartbeat to react.
One moment Raven stood still.
The nextâBOOM!âa black blur tore through him.
Ribs shattered.
Safari was sent flying through five stone pillars before cratering into a mountainside.
Angeleva gasped, her wings flaringâ
But Raven was already before her.
His claws closed around her throat.
CRACK!
He slammed her into the ground.
And again.
And again.
The entire battlefield shook as he dragged her across the dirt before tossing her like discarded prey.
Safari coughed blood, struggling to rise.
Angelevaâs body trembled, her wings twitching weakly.
In the span of seconds, Raven had annihilated them.
Ianâs camera shook harder. His voice cracked in a whisper:
âThis⌠this isnât good.â
The prisoners watched in silence, their hope collapsing.
The same warriors who just moments ago had toyed with Ravenâ
Were now fighting just to survive.
Even Legend clenched his fists.
âEven after all their training⌠is it still not enough?â
Dust blanketed the battlefield.
Blood pooled beneath broken bodies.
Safari pressed a hand to the hole in his stomach, gasping for air.
Angeleva staggered, her body trembling, but her eyes burned with refusal.
They forced themselves upright.
Bones screaming.
Muscles failing.
But their spiritsâunyielding as they forced themselves to transform again.
Raven smirked, unimpressed.
âStill trying? Fine. Letâs see how much more you can endure.â
The air trembled as he vanished again. Afterimages of darkness flickered across the ruinsâ
He struck first.
Claws ripped through the space where Safariâs head had beenâ
But Safari leaned back at the perfect instant.
Angeleva twisted, wand crackling, and smack!â
She whipped it across Ravenâs face.
BAM!
His head snapped sideways as she blasted a fairy beam.
His expression darkened.
âYouâre starting to irritate me.â
Safari smirked, blood trickling.
âGood.â
Legendâs voice echoed from the God Scope.
âUnbelievable⌠theyâre reading him. At seventy-five percent⌠Raven should be untouchable.â
Yet Safari and Angeleva werenât just dodging.
They were countering.
Raven unleashed a storm of blows.
Safari braced with Devil Shield.
Angeleva retaliated with Fairy Daggers.
They bled.
They fell.
But every timeâthey rose.
And with each exchange, Ravenâs frustration grew.
This was wrong.
He was supposed to dominate them.
But they were matching him.
For the first timeâ
Raven felt a sliver of doubt.
âImpossible,â he muttered.
Safari spat blood, smirking.
âNot impossible.â
Angelevaâs wings flared, her wand raised high.
âYouâre just not as unstoppable as you think.â
Ravenâs aura erupted, a storm of destruction swallowing the field. His claws crackled as he chargedâfaster, deadlier.
But Safari and Angeleva didnât flinch.
They moved as one.
Clash after clash shook the battlefield:
Safariâs Devil Hammer Shock collided with Ravenâs fistâBOOM!âa shockwave splitting the earth.
Angeleva spun mid-air, unleashing Blossom Kickâflowers detonating inside Ravenâs body.
Safari followed with Devil Hammer Swing, smashing Raven across the ruins.
He recovered instantly, snarling, firing waves of dark energyâ
Blocked by Angelevaâs Fairy Barrier.
Safari lunged from the blind spotâDevil Hammer Incineration! BOOM! Flames consumed Ravenâs chest.
Angeleva struck againâFairy Justice Beam! The blast blinded him, staggering his monstrous frame.
âSappy Meteor Crash!!â Safari descended like a meteorâCRASH! The ground shattered.
Ravenâs breathing grew heavier. His smirk faltered.
This wasnât a fluke.
They werenât surviving.
They were turning the tide.
Safari cracked his neck.
Angeleva twirled her wand.
Raven snarled, blood on his lips.
âEnough playing around.â
He erupted in a violent shockwave and movedâ
Faster than before.
CRACK!
His claws pierced Safariâs stomach, lifting him off the ground. The world blurred in pain as Safari coughed blood.
ThenâSLAM!âRaven spun and crushed him into the earth, shattering the battlefield.
Angeleva screamed, darting forwardâonly to be caught by the throat mid-flight.
âDid you really think you could defeat me?â Raven sneered, squeezing.
Safari staggered to rise, but a blast of dark energy hurled him across jagged stone.
Blood blinded his vision.
Raven laughed, slamming Angeleva into the ground.
Her cry split the air.
He brutalized Safari nextâjaw, ribs, gutâbefore smashing his face into the ground.
Dominance. Pure and absolute.
âYou thought you had a chance?â he taunted, his claws digging deep.
And once moreâ
BOOM!âSafariâs body was slammed into the earth.
Raven loomed, aura swelling into a nightmare storm.
âNow⌠letâs end this pathetic game.â
He raised his hand.
â Abyssal Wrath!
A black sphere erupted, a miniature black hole devouring the battlefield.
Safari staggered up, roaringâ
â Devil Hammer Blast!
But Ravenâs power swallowed it whole.
BOOM! Safari tumbled away.
Angeleva fought through agony.
â Blossom Strike!
Her radiant kick detonated flowers in his body, forcing him back an inch.
âAnnoying fairyâŚâ Raven snarled, unleashing â Dark Phantom Claw!
Angeleva dodgedâbarelyâbut her arm split open with blood.
Safari roared, hammer slashing wideâ
â Devil Hammer Swing!
But Raven was gone.
Behind him.
â Tenebris Blitz!
A barrage of dark punches crushed Safari into the dirt.
Angeleva screamed, blasting â Fairy Justice Beam!
Raven blockedâ
Only for Safari to seize the moment.
â Devil Hammer Incineration!
CRASH! Flames scorched Ravenâs arm, leaving it blackened.
He growled, aura swelling further.
âThen die.â
Both hands raisedâ
â Oblivion Storm!
Dark lightning poured from the heavens.
Safari and Angeleva weaved between strikes, but Raven was already thereâ
â Phantom Requiem!
Behind Angeleva.
A brutal knee shattered her spine.
Her scream broke the silence.
Safariâs rage exploded.
â Sappy Meteor Crash!
His skull cracked into Ravenâs nose. CRACK! Blood flew.
âDesperate?â Raven laughed. âGood.â
Safari roared, hammer blazingâ
â Devil Hammer Explosion!
BOOM! Raven engulfed in the blast.
Angeleva rose, summoning every last drop of energyâ
â Fairy Light Barrage!
Dozens of radiant orbs detonated against Raven.
He emerged, burned and bleedingâyet still grinning.
âNot badâŚâ
Thenâ
â Shadow Rupture!
Dark slashes ripped through them both.
âGAHH!â
Blood splattered the earth as they crashed down.
Raven stood tall, gaze sharp with finality.
âYou entertained me⌠but this is where it ends.â
He raised his hand for the killing blow.
Butâ
Safari wiped blood from his mouth.
Angeleva weakly smirked.
âNot yet.â
Their auras flared, rising once more.