Before Ardyn could get a word out, another voice cut through the confusion.
"Get out of my way!"
A woman ran into the mix, her burning red dress trailing behind her. Her eyes were ablaze with determination as she charged forward, her fiery bird soaring overhead, flames licking at its crimson feathers.
"What the heck? Who are you?"
The woman ignored him, her fiery bird, letting out a shriek as it spiraled down toward the battlefield. Flames rained from its wings, forcing Umigis to step back momentarily.
The fiery bird collided with the monstrous bear, its flaming talons swiping at its face. For a moment, it seemed as though Umigis was on the defensive, its massive claws swiping at the fiery bird as it tried to keep it at bay.
Ardyn frowned, his rune flaring ominously.
Umigis let out a roar, flames leaping from its body in a sheet of heat. The fire bird screeched, barely avoiding the onslaught this time, but its movements were less precise now, strain from the battle biting.
The bird shrieked again, diving toward Umigis in a final, desperate attack. Both landed with a firestorm and silhouette explosion, and the arena shook under the impact. After the smoke had cleared, the fiery bird lay on the ground, its body now flickering with dwindling flames.
Ardyn stepped forward, his face calm yet cold. His ragged eye pulsed with the rune, which now cast an unpleasantly glowing aura on the battlefield.
"It was over the moment you interfered."
He lifted his hand. Umigis boomed loudly as violet flames grew into pillars swirling about the black bear, their intensity growing until the air was opaque with heat. Flames spread from the cracks in the ground beneath its great claws as it reached forward to cover the fallen bird.
With a swish of his hand, Umigis sent a foul wave of purple flames forth. The explosion hurtled towards the woman and her fallen friend, its heat scorching the air.
"COMPETITOR EMBER HAS BEEN ELIMINATED. ONLY FOUR REMAINS. THEREFORE THE FINAL ROUND WILL START."
"IT'S TIME FOR THE BATTLE ROYAL."
The announcer's bellowing voice filled the arena, quieting the cacophonous roar of the crowd.
"Battle royal?" Ren whispered, his fists crackling with pent-up energy. He turned toward Karina, his face furrowed with confusion. "What does that mean? I thought we were fighting as a team."
Karina narrowed her eyes, her gaze flicking down toward her rapier as she stepped back. She cast wary looks between Shin and Ardyn. Onyxia walked beside her, its crystalline spikes glowing faintly.
"It means," Karina said grimly, "that the alliance is over. Every man for themselves now."
From the side, Shin straightened her posture, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips.
"Finally, we get to settle this properly." She pointed her frosty blade at Karina, then shifted her gaze to Ren. "You two were fun distractions, but neither any of you are leaving this arena as champion."
Ardyn, standing calmly beside Umigis, tilted his head slightly, the eerie glow of his rune-covered eye piercing through the tension.
"You were all obstacles before. Now, you're simply smaller ones."
Karina raised her blade, her focus sharpening.
"Fine. If this is how it's going to be, I'll fight anyone who stands in my way."
Shin's white leopard, Boreas, growled low in its throat, stepping protectively in front of its tamer. Onyxia snarled back, its crystalline spikes crackling with energy. The tension in the air was palpable, the arena seemingly holding its breath as the four competitors faced off.
"BEGIN!"
The announcer's voice rang out, igniting the crowd into a frenzy.
In one smooth move, Shin launched herself at Karina, and their blades clashed in an explosion of sparks and ice. Ren gritted his teeth and turned to Ardyn, charging forward as electricity sparked from his fists.
Ren's electrified fist clashed with Ardyn's rune-shielded palm-the impact had the air vibrating with it, sparks and violet energy rolling out. Ardyn stepped backward a step but immediately issued a charge of dark energy that had Ren somersaulting out of its way to avoid it. Touching down on his feet, Ren clenched his fists, electricity coiling around him as he shot forward again, zigzagging to avoid Ardyn's precise energy blasts.
Karina lunched forward elegantly and charged toward Shin, her rapier flaring in energy as it clashed with the frost-covered blade of Shin. Ice and energy exploded from their weapons, forming a misty vapor that whirled around them. Onyxia and Boreas clashed at the same time as well, the crystalline beast punching its spiked tail into the leopard's slender form. Boreas sidestepped and struck back with a flurry of icy claws, frost spreading out across the arena floor underfoot.
Ardyn dodged another of Ren's punches, moving fluidly with the motion. A hand came up, commanding Umigis to come and aid him. The massive bear gave a deafening roar, its body still wreathed in violet flames. Umigis charged Ren, swinging claws that revelled in destruction. Sparks erupted as Ren blocked with an electrified arm, the force sending him sliding back.
Karina quickly pivoted, keeping Onyxia between herself as she regained her footing.
She charged forward with her rapier, releasing a wave of energy Shin barely avoided. Smiling, and now seeing her opportunity, she plunged headlong into a flurry of quick stabs. Her frost blade wove the elegant yet deadly dance as every swing she did whipped up chilling winds throughout the entire arena. Karina parried most of the attacks but was driven backward as a sharp slice clawed at her arm, freezing into frostbite.
Umigis roared once more, and a wave of dark flames rolled towards Ren. He leapt up high, making a vault over it with him, then charged down at Ardyn with his punch cracking to life. Ardyn raised up to catch this blow again but this time Ren's momentum sent him back several steps. Sparks flew as their energies clashed fiercely, cracking the ground itself beneath them.
Boreas leapt up onto Onyxia, the leopard's fangs sunk deep into the neck of the crystal beast. Onyxia charged and smashes Boreas back down to the earth, its crystalline spikes glowing bright as it charges an energy blast. The blast fired point blank sending Boreas sliding across the arena floor.
The icy leopard was still dazed from the assault but it bellowed and sprang to its feet to create frost on its body as it readied another assault.
The crowd erupted into cheers as the fighters clashed, again and again, their attacks growing more frequent with every ticking second of time.
Explosions of light, frost, and shadow seemed to fill the arena as each fighter grew stronger and more unrelenting in his chaotic symphony of power. The tension in the air was electric, and the battle's outcome could only be guessed by the four combatants as they fought with everything they had.