Nolan then ran toward him, his boots grinding the sand as arcs of light trailed behind every step. The air itself seemed to quake under the pressure of his intent. All the human life force Luthar had absorbed now blazed through his monstrous frame, pulsing like molten fire under his skin.
As Nolan reached him, he threw a punch, a strike that could crack the earth, but Luthar blocked it with both hands. He didn't move an inch. The sound of impact roared like an explosion, a shockwave blasting through the arena.
Everything behind them shattered.
The dungeon walls trembled, the arena's protective shield, forged by royal mages and said to withstand dragonfire, split into glowing fragments that burst apart in streaks of light. The sand blasted outward in violent gusts, engulfing the audience in a storm of grit. People screamed, shielding their faces as mana rippled through the air.
"Impossible!" someone shouted. "He blocked that?!"
