The arena had transformed into a war zone. Smoke and scorched earth filled the air. Dawson's lightning arced across the battlefield, tearing through any obstacle. Ard's dimensional rifts bent reality around them, creating corridors of space where their attacks could move faster than thought.
But the Sovereignties were no longer holding back.
Yuujin stepped forward, eyes gleaming like black eclipses. Water and shadows swirled around him, fusing into a dark vortex. Then, with a single motion, the vortex expanded, forming Eclipse Null—a sphere of absolute negation.
"All energy. Nullified. You won't escape it."
The ground cracked as Eclipse Null rolled forward, swallowing Dawson's lightning arcs midair. Sparks fizzled, reality itself seeming to bend as the sphere absorbed everything it touched. Even Ard's dimensional rifts shimmered uneasily.
"He's using the technique… now!" Ard shouted.
Simultaneously, Jayze's crimson eyes flashed, and his arms twisted into grotesque shapes as blood began to crawl out of his veins, weaving into sharp, sentient tendrils. His hands flexed, shaping the crimson weaponry with terrifying precision.
"You'll learn why I never held back," Jayze growled.
The tendrils lashed across the battlefield, seeking weaknesses in Dawson's lightning and Ard's space folds. Each strike sliced through craters and energy arcs alike, forcing Dawson to retreat, arcs of white lightning fizzling against the relentless blood blades.
Dawson's Awakening
Dawson's body crackled with raw authority, but Eclipse Null made it nearly impossible to sustain offensive strikes. He gritted his teeth, drawing deep into the essence of the Lightning Element. Sparks erupted violently around him, lightning twisting into jagged blades, electrifying the ground beneath Yuujin and Jayze.
Ard shouted beside him, folding space into a collapsing prism around Dawson, funneling every ounce of elemental power while keeping the Null sphere from completely consuming him.
"Push through it! This is the only way!" Ard yelled, his voice cutting through the storm.
The Phantom Pulse stirred in Dawson's mind, a delicate thread of control he had refined beyond Sage's mastery. He extended his hands, and invisible threads of targeted energy bypassed the Eclipse Null, striking Yuujin's sphere from within, destabilizing it in a flurry of chaotic arcs.
"Impossible… it's bypassing Eclipse Null?!" Yuujin's eyes widened, but his grin didn't falter.
Jayze, meanwhile, roared, sending a torrent of blood tendrils toward Dawson, slashing through the space prism. Ard intercepted, folding reality around the attacks and redirecting them harmlessly into the ground—but the effort caused the arena to quake violently.
Catastrophic Collision
Lightning, shadow, blood, and warped space collided in a single spot. The force shattered the arena floor, sending plumes of earth and debris into the air. Both Dawson and Ard were pushed to their limits, yet they continued to counter every strike with synchronized precision.
Yuujin's Eclipse Null pulsed, attempting to suppress all energy, but Dawson's Phantom Pulse threads weaved between the cracks, destabilizing the sphere and sending shockwaves through Yuujin's own defense.
Jayze's blood manipulation surged, now intelligent, shaping itself around Dawson's movements. Every attempt to strike Dawson was met with a precise counter from Ard's spatial folds, every tendril smashed or redirected.
"This… this can't be…" Jayze muttered, the blood around him quivering as if sensing a predator on par with him.
The Battlefield Reaction
Even as Dawson and Ard fought, the scale of destruction was evident. The other Sovereignties, though still standing, were forced to retreat, unsure if they could survive this new level of combat. The arena trembled under the combined might of elemental authority, dimensional manipulation, and the Phantom Pulse.
Every strike Dawson unleashed shattered rocks, tore through air, and bent shadows, leaving the Sovereignties reeling. Yuujin's Null sphere flickered like a dying star. Jayze's crimson tendrils thinned, forced back by Dawson and Ard's coordination.
And then—a voice cut through the chaos.
"You're… using that technique? So refined…"
It was Yuujin, shock mixed with awe.
"He's not holding back," Jayze added, his voice deep and dangerous, the blood tendrils twitching in preparation for another onslaught.
Lightning danced violently across the battlefield. Dimensional rifts cracked and closed. The Eclipse Null sphere destabilized, threatening to collapse on Yuujin himself. Blood tendrils hovered, ready to strike, but Ard and Dawson were already countering with full synchronization.
And then, from the corner of the arena, Jayze took a final step forward, preparing to unleash everything he had stored, while Yuujin braced for one more catastrophic surge.
The battlefield held its breath, a storm of power so intense it could rewrite the laws of the arena itself.
And in that instant—
Everything froze. The next move would determine who would truly survive the male test.