The crowd roared.
Not cheered.
Roared.
The whole Grand Amphistad shook under it.
Boots hit stone.
Hands slammed rails.
Voices stacked on voices until the Mercy Deck itself felt like it was breathing with them.
Up in the skybox, President Johnny Joah leaned forward with a small smile.
Below him, fire and art circled each other like two hungry gods.
"Looks like Magnara is loving this one," he said.
And down on the deck—
Reggie moved.
He roared as he blitzed straight at the beasts.
The wolves and cheetahs came for him at the same time.
Low.
Fast.
Hungry.
Zeus stayed behind them, shoulders rising, knuckles dragging stone.
Reggie's aura snapped harder around his body.
Orange-red.
Wild.
His feet hit once.
Then his left palm blasted downward.
A small burst.
Not much aura.
Not enough for another big technique.
But enough.
Pure will pushed through his arm and fire detonated behind him.
The propulsion launched him forward even faster.
The ground cracked.
Reggie gripped Flamberge with both hands.
Then he spun.
Hard.
Fast.
The flaming sword became a circle of heat around him.
"Fire Art: Flame Bearer's Cleaver!"
The first wolf didn't even see it.
Flamberge cut through its body and split the construct in half, fire eating through graphite and paper before both pieces hit the deck.
A cheetah leapt over the slash.
Too late.
Reggie's spin caught it across the ribs.
The beast blew apart in a streak of flame and blue-white aura.
The crowd lost it.
Reggie kept spinning.
Faster now.
Flames pulled around him.
His body became a burning wheel.
Then a column.
Then a storm.
"Fire Art: Fire Tornado!"
The wind around him screamed.
Fire climbed higher.
The last wolf dug its claws into the stone, but the pull took it anyway.
Its paws scraped.
Its body lifted.
Then the tornado swallowed it.
Graphite.
Fire.
Ash.
Gone.
Across the deck, Sofia watched with wide eyes.
The fire spun in front of her like a living sculpture.
Violent.
Messy.
Beautiful.
She smiled through the sweat on her face.
Then the tornado came closer.
Fast.
Too fast.
Heat rolled over her.
Her smile sharpened.
"But you're going to need more than beauty to compete with my art."
Zeus stepped forward.
One step.
Stone cracked under his knuckles.
Reggie kept spinning toward him, Fire Tornado screaming across the deck.
Zeus raised one massive arm.
The crowd leaned in.
Flamberge came around in a blazing arc.
Zeus caught it.
One hand.
The whole firestorm stopped.
Just stopped.
Flames collapsed outward in a violent burst.
Smoke blew across the deck.
The spinning died.
Reggie's eyes widened.
For a second all he saw was the gorilla's hand wrapped around his flaming sword.
Then Sofia smiled.
Exhausted.
Sweating.
Still elegant.
"Zeus, darling."
Her voice dropped.
"Smash."
Zeus moved.
Reggie barely had time to breathe.
The gorilla yanked him off balance and slammed him into the stone.
BOOM.
The deck cracked.
Smoke jumped.
The crowd gasped.
Reggie's vision flashed white.
Before he could understand where his body was, Zeus lifted him again.
Then slammed him down.
BOOM.
Reggie coughed blood.
His grip slipped.
Flamberge flickered.
Sofia's smile stayed soft.
"We're not done, darling."
Zeus lifted him by the arm.
Reggie hung there, half-limp, blood running from his mouth and shoulder, eyes barely focused.
Zeus brought him closer.
Face to face.
The gorilla's eyes were full of Sofia's art.
Reggie looked at him.
Breathing hard.
Then spat in his face.
The crowd screamed.
Zeus blinked once.
Then drove him into the floor.
BOOM.
Stone cracked under the impact.
Dust rose.
The front rows felt it in their ribs.
Reggie's aura flickered.
His fingers loosened.
Flamberge collapsed back into the battered dagger and clattered across the stone.
Reggie stopped moving.
Silence snapped through the arena for half a breath.
Hillary Black was already moving.
His hand shot up.
"Match!"
Zeus froze.
Sofia's beasts froze with him.
Hillary stepped between the fighters, gold-rank pressure firm enough to make even the realized constructs hold still.
He looked down at Reggie.
Then to the medics.
"Winner — Sofia Roses!"
The Amphistad erupted.
Sofia breathed out like she'd been holding the whole fight inside her chest.
Zeus stood behind her, massive and proud.
The last cheetah padded to her side, lean and graceful, blue-white aura tracing its form.
Sofia lifted one trembling hand.
Then posed.
Not loud.
Not wild.
A perfect House Roses finish.
Elegant.
Exhausted.
Victorious.
"SOFIA!"
"SOFIA!"
"SOFIA!"
She smiled.
Down in the tunnel, Reggie was carried in on a stretcher.
Blood on his face.
Bandages already being pressed to his shoulder.
Chest rising.
Barely.
Bonnie and Minerva were waiting.
Bonnie stepped forward before the medics could stop her.
Her eyes were wet but her face stayed firm.
She looked down at him.
Reggie was unconscious.
Still somehow smiling a little.
Bonnie let out a shaky breath.
"You don't gotta worry about nothing," she whispered.
She leaned down.
"You tried your best to me."
Then she kissed him.
Soft.
Right on the lips.
Reggie didn't wake up.
But his smile stayed.
Minerva looked away like she was giving them the moment.
Behind them, the Amphistad was still screaming Sofia's name.