Light cracked apart like shattering glass.
The white sphere that had swallowed Danny and the Wolf King imploded into itself, collapsing in fragments that fluttered away as motes of dying flame. Heat radiated outward in delayed waves, like echoes of a thunderstorm trapped inside crystal.
When the brightness finally receded, the crowd gasped.
The arena—no, the dimension—had changed shape again.
A crater sprawled across half the battlefield. Its edges glowed faintly, the crystalline floor melted into smooth, rippling hollows as though a meteor had landed and tried to keep going. Smoke rose in shimmering curtains from the deepest point, swirling like spirits.
At one edge of the crater stood the Wolf King.
At the opposite edge stood Danny.
Both fighters heaved breaths. Both dripped sweat and scattered sparks with each exhale. Both stood tall—unbroken, unbowed.
Julian leaned as close to his mic as he dared. "I believe we just witnessed a god-level collision… unshielded."
Jimmy shook uncontrollably beside him. "Julian… Julian, I can feel my teeth vibrating again—WHY ARE MY TEETH ALWAYS INVOLVED WHEN DANNY FIGHTS?!"
Julian fanned him. "Because you're soft and mortal, Jimmy."
"THAT DOESN'T HELP!"
The fight resumed.
Not with a shout.
Not with a roar.
Not even with a step.
It resumed because both fighters decided it would.
The Wolf King vanished.
Danny moved in the same heartbeat.
A thunderclap snapped through the dimension as the two forces collided mid-air above the crater, flames spiraling with golden arcs in a helix of violent beauty.
Danny's fist streaked toward the King's jaw—
Wolf King's claw intercepted, redirecting the blow and spinning Danny sideways—
Danny twisted in the air, wings flickering open to stabilize—
The King slammed a knee upward, aiming for Danny's ribs—
Danny blocked with both forearms—
CRACK—
Danny shot backward, landing in a skid that carved twin trenches into the crystalline floor.
The Wolf King landed lightly, barely disturbing the air.
Danny forced his arms down.
His forearms throbbed.
The block had been clean but brutal.
He grinned anyway.
"Wasn't ready for that."
Wolf King's eyes gleamed.
"You will need to be."
The King moved again.
This time Danny didn't try to match speed.
He read the King's angle—shoulder tilt, hip rotation, the faint flicker of aura at the King's left side—
Danny sidestepped just as a flaming hook tore through the air where his head had been.
Danny countered with a rising knee—
Wolf King flowed around it and drove a palm strike toward Danny's chest—
Danny dropped his weight and parried the palm with a golden-threaded forearm pulse that dispersed flame on contact—
The King's eyes widened a fraction.
"Interesting," he murmured. "You disrupt my flame. Instinctively, even."
Danny swallowed the rush of adrenaline. "Got surprises."
"Then show me more."
The exchange accelerated.
Danny ducked a spinning kick that would have snapped his spine.
He slammed his elbow into the King's ribs—sparks erupted, the King shifted a step.
The Wolf King caught Danny's wrist next, twisting—
Danny pivoted, rolled with it, lashed a back-kick into the King's knee—
The King's leg bent but didn't buckle.
A faint growl rumbled from the monarch's chest.
"Good form."
Danny panted. "Still learning."
"Then learn faster."
Heat burst around them as the King unleashed another surge of energy. Blue-gold fire expanded outward in a spinning ring, flattening the crater's edges and lifting Danny off the ground.
Danny crossed his arms and braced—
The ring slammed into him—
He shot backward, plowing into a crystalline ridge that shattered like glass.
Red-hot shards scattered through the air.
Danny slid down the broken wall, coughing, blood running from a cut at his temple. His vision blurred for a moment.
He blinked it clear.
The Wolf King didn't give him long.
He arrived in front of Danny in the next instant.
A claw descended toward Danny's collarbone—
Danny intercepted with both hands, golden aura flaring at the point of contact.
The two forces met—
Fire and creation—
King and dragon—
Pressure erupting outward in ripples that shook the dimension with soundless force.
Danny's knees trembled.
The King leaned heavier.
Danny pushed harder.
A thin cry escaped him as his power surged.
Golden light spiraled along his arms, forming bright veins that crawled up his neck, threatening to swallow his vision in luminous white.
His instincts surged like a rising tide.
Let go, something whispered.
Unleash everything.
Erase whatever stands before you.
Danny clenched his teeth.
"No."
He didn't unleash.
He didn't collapse.
He forced control.
The golden spiral snapped into place—tight, refined, smooth.
A perfectly channeled burst.
The energy blasted outward—
Throwing the King back a step.
The Wolf King slid, claws scraping the crystalline ground.
The crowd didn't breathe.
The Wolf King stared at Danny.
His expression had changed again.
There was no boredom.
No superiority.
No testing patience.
He was excited.
A predator of unmatched power had finally found prey that fought back hard enough to thrill him.
"You fought your instinct," Wolf King said. "Good. Dragons fall because they cannot."
Danny steadied his breathing. "I'm not falling."
Wolf King's flames tightened around him.
"Then rise."
The King lifted his hand.
Flame spiraled upward in controlled rings.
Three perfect circles of blue-gold fire formed around his forearm, rotating in opposite directions.
The heat in the dimension surged instantly.
Jimmy felt his eyebrows curl. "WHAT TECHNIQUE IS THAT—JULIAN WHAT—WHY—WHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE MY SOUL IS SWEATING—?!"
Julian's voice cracked. "Noble Inferno… a forbidden royal technique. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh we are so doomed."
Jimmy grabbed his console. "WHY WOULD HE USE A FORBIDDEN FLAME TECHNIQUE IN A TOURNAMENT—?!"
Julian smiled weakly. "Artistry?"
The Wolf King finished shaping the rings.
Flame erupted outward in a spiraling inferno.
Danny's eyes widened.
He had no time to dodge.
He crossed his arms and braced—
Golden light surged around him—
His aura condensed into overlapping ripples—
Instinct screamed—
Power leapt to answer—
A creation surge burst from his core.
Raw.
Untamed.
Bright enough to cut through the Noble Inferno like a blade of morning sunlight tearing apart a storm.
The inferno split.
Danny tore through it, sprinting toward the King as flame collapsed into swirling motes behind him.
Julian nearly fainted. "HE—HE UNMADE ROYAL FIRE—"
Jimmy peeled himself from his chair. "WHAT IS DANNY—WHO IS DANNY—WHAT ARE WE—DO I EVEN EXIST—"
Wolf King didn't retreat.
He smiled.
"Good."
Danny crashed into him.
Their fists met—
A detonation cracked space—
Flame and gold spiraled outward—
The dimension shook like a drumhead—
The floor cratered beneath them—
And Danny felt something shift inside his chest.
A second wind.
No—
A second storm.
Strength poured into him, bright and fierce and burning.
He roared and pressed forward—
Wolf King met him blow for blow.
Danny's strikes grew sharper, faster, more precise—
His aura more stable—
His movements smoother—
His instincts bending to his will instead of consuming him.
It was intoxicating.
He felt alive.
He felt powerful.
He felt… right.
Wolf King's eyes gleamed.
"You rise quickly."
Danny grinned breathlessly. "Trying to keep up."
"You do more than that."
The King stepped in—
A perfect forward shift—
A perfect weight drop—
A perfect stance break—
Danny felt the shift—
He braced—
Too late.
The King struck.
A royal assault pattern—
Not fast—
Not flashy—
But perfect.
Danny barely blocked the first blow—
The second slipped through his guard—
The third caught his ribs—
The fourth swept his leg—
Danny tumbled backward.
He rolled, gasping.
Wolf King advanced, pressure building.
Danny blocked a claw.
Parried a strike.
Deflected a knee—
Barely—
The King's foot stamped beside his head.
Danny scrambled to his feet.
He gasped for air.
Sweat poured.
His arms trembled.
The King watched silently.
"You refuse to fall," he said.
Danny nodded, chest heaving. "Not today."
"I would not have accepted anything less."
Danny smiled faintly.
He lifted his fists again.
The King lowered into stance.
The crowd leaned forward as if pulled by gravity.
The bubble walls thickened, struggling.
The cameras flickered from heat.
Julian whispered, "This is it. He's going for a full pattern next. Danny won't last unless he—"
Jimmy pointed wildly. "LOOK!"
Danny's aura—
faltering—
fading—
shivering—
suddenly snapped into a solid column of light around him.
He had stabilized it.
Pure will.
Wolf King's posture changed.
Respect.
Dangerous respect.
"Good," he said. "Then continue to rise."
Danny lunged.
The clash that followed was the brutal heartbeat of the chapter.
Danny's fists moved like meteors.
Wolf King's claws like shaping tools of divine fire.
Danny struck—
Wolf King blocked—
Wolf King struck—
Danny redirected—
Danny dodged—
Wolf King grappled—
Danny slipped free—
Wolf King countered—
Back and forth.
Strike and strike and strike.
Flame and gold carved scars into the dimension.
The air warped with every movement.
Shockwaves tore cracks into the crystalline floor.
Sweat and sparks mingled in the air.
The crowd didn't breathe.
Julian didn't comment.
Jimmy didn't scream.
No one could speak as the fight reached a new plateau.
Danny's aura intensified again—
Wolf King's flame mantle expanded—
Both fighters roared—
And Danny landed a golden uppercut.
It connected.
The King slid back.
Not much.
But more than before.
Danny stumbled, gasping.
Wolf King wiped a thin line of soot from his jaw.
"Your father," he said quietly, "would have been proud."
Danny froze.
A sensation shot down his spine—
Not power.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Wolf King smiled.
"Do not lose yourself, Golden Dragon."
Danny clenched his fists.
He stepped forward.
"I won't."
They charged.
Their attacks collided—
Flame and creation spiraling into a sphere—
The dimension buckling—
The cameras detonating—
The bubble walls glowing red—
The crowd throwing itself backward—
Julian screamed, "IT'S GOING CRITICAL—"
Jimmy wailed, "WE'RE GONNA—"
The sphere imploded—
Light swallowed them.
Again.
A final explosion ended everything—