Victory is now looking genuinely within my sight. I just need patience.

She shouted the same demand again, gesturing aggressively for him to descend.

"DEL KRESH! TOR!"

But Leon just continued his relentless ice spear bombardment, ignoring her completely.

However, just then, she stopped shouting and instead tilted her head—wistelled hard for something, as if she had lost her mind.

Why did she stop? What is she wiste—?

Leon was genuinely confused as to why she'd suddenly pause like that in the middle of active combat.

Then, just at that moment, he detected something absolutely terrifying approaching rapidly from directly behind him, because of his kilometer-wide spatial awareness spread around him since the start of the fight.

WHOOOOSH!

He felt something behind him exhale—no sound, just a furnace-hot gust of wind brushing his neck like a breath from hell.

His enhanced eyes barely caught a glimpse of a blazing ray of concentrated fire shooting toward his back at incredible speed.

SHIT!

Leon quickly teleported sideways to dodge—

FWOOSH!

Even though the attack didn't directly touch him, the sheer ambient temperature of it passing nearby had burned and blistered the exposed tissue of his hands and face. His body, protected by his invisible armor and defensive layers, remained intact. The burns healed almost instantly due to his natural regeneration.

SIZZLE... HEAL...

However, what was truly terrifying wasn't the attack itself—it was what had launched it.

A massive red creature—completely featureless as if constructed from solid burning metal, rough and angular—was now diving toward him.

The air around him turned acrid, thick with the reek of scorched metal and sulfur, as if the sky itself was burning.

It was many times larger than the flying mount he'd traveled on with Crimson earlier.

And it was fast. Much, much faster than that docile creature.

SCREECH! WHOOOOSH!

The thing was coming directly at him with clear hostile intent, wanting to tear him apart violently.

This has to be cheating! How is this even allowed?!

Leon looked around frantically toward the top step of the arena, seeking the monstrous man who was ultimately responsible for him being in this desperate position.

However, the man was just calmly watching with no visible reaction whatsoever. And the audience was producing thunderous cheers of excitement.

"KRESH! MANDOR! VEL SIKARA!"

Are they enjoying this? They think this is entertainment?!

Leon had no choice but to run as that enormous creature felt completely out of his league.

If that previous fire beam attack had actually connected directly, I would have been instantly erased by the sheer intensity of its power. It's absolutely terrifying!

The flying beast's speed—which made it look like a prehistoric dinosaur crossed with a dragon, all red scales and jagged edges with flames constantly wreathing its body—was faster than Leon could properly track with his eyes alone.

Wherever it flew, the air shimmered with heatwaves. Even a hundred meters away, Leon's exposed skin prickled like it was being cooked.

SCREECH! FWOOSH!

Just to escape and survive, Leon had to use a desperate combination of continuous teleportation and maximum-speed flight, putting his complete focus on evasion.

The creature's wingbeats slammed against the air like war drums, each thunderous flap echoing across the sky.

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

He didn't even bother trying to maintain his illusion anymore, as maintaining invisibility required concentration he couldn't spare. He needed every bit of focus just to avoid being caught in this terrifying creature's grasp.

Can't think about attacking the woman below anymore. Just survive! Just don't die!

It became like a deadly game of cat and mouse in the red sky—but an extremely lethal version. They appeared like two shooting stars: one massive, red, and terrifying; another smaller, bright, and desperately flickering.

Leon was barely able to escape its conscious, calculated attacks even with his full concentration focused entirely on evasion.

SCREECH! WHOOSH! FWOOSH!

This made him internally cry out in frustration and despair.

How is this even allowed?! This is completely unfair!

He'd genuinely had hope of winning against the woman through his admittedly cheap tactics, but now she wouldn't be getting tired anymore since he'd stopped attacking. Meanwhile, he had to dedicate his full focus to this creature's deadly pursuit just to survive.

This is a rigged slaughter, not a fight!

And worse, soon his Rank 8 temporary affinity boost from Elemental Surge would expire and drop back to Rank 7.

When that happens, my power level will have a massive drop. I'll be completely in this creature's grasp. I'll lose. And then I'll be executed.

Despair crept in as he analyzed his options.

There seems to be no way out. No other viable options to survive this.

His Black Hole technique—the devastating attack he believed would be genuinely effective against these powerful opponents—took far too long to properly cast and channel. He'd be caught and killed before completing it; that's why he never used it before.

Nothing else works! This creature seems to be tracking me like a cat hunting a moth trapped in a sealed room!

Sooner or later, he would be done for. His illusion wasn't working to hide him. Teleportation only bought seconds.

The roaring, thunderous cheering from the audience continued in the background, a dreadful soundtrack to his impending doom.

"KRESH! KRESH! KRESH!"

And soon, the inevitable moment arrived. The cooldown timer expired, and his temporary boost ended.

His affinity levels dropped from Rank 8 back to Rank 7 across all elements except Ice, which remained at its new permanent Rank 9.

All his abilities and techniques—his elemental raw power, his speed, his defenses—everything became noticeably weaker in an instant.

FIZZLE! CRACK!

No! Not now!

The creature immediately capitalized on his weakened state.

A concentrated ray of blazing fire erupted from the massive beast's mouth, tracking his movement perfectly.

FWOOOOSH!

This time, it connected directly.

Leon's entire right arm—from the shoulder joint down—was caught in the beam's path.

"AHHHHHHH!"

It was completely obliterated, vaporized by the deadly concentrated heat. His epic sword, which somehow didn't melt despite the intense temperature, fell away from his destroyed hand and dropped toward the arena floor far below.

CLANG! THUD!

The weapon hit the ground intact, resulting in a thunderous, booming cheer from everyone watching. The entire arena physically shook from the collective roar.

"KRESH! KRESH! KRESH!"

But only one person—the girl standing on the stair just below the highest step, Crimson—had a genuinely worried expression on her face. Her fists were clenched tightly and visibly shaking with anxiety and fear.

No... please not him...

Leon teleported again desperately, writhing in absolute agony while suspended in the Air. Intense screams were released continuously from his mouth as the pain overwhelmed his senses.

"AHHHHHH! FUCK!"

His mana worked at maximum capacity, channeling Life elemental energy to regrow his destroyed limb from nothing.

SHIMMER! CRACK! GROW!

Just as his arm had even regenerated halfway—bone forming, then muscle, then skin—the audience erupted with genuinely surprised gasps and even louder cheers. This was something completely unbelievable to witness.

"VEL MANDOR! SIKARA!"

He can regrow limbs?! What kind of monster is this outsider?! That might be thier thought behind their gasps.

However, Leon didn't have the luxury of even catching his breath or recovering properly.

The massive creature was on him again in milliseconds, giving him no respite. Its giant, razor-sharp claw came crashing down toward him with overwhelming force.

SCREECH! SLASH!

"AHHH!"

The claw plunged deep into his side, his ribs audibly cracking and breaking under the tremendous force of the creature's powerful muscles.

CRACK! CRUNCH!

Blood poured freely from the massive wound, streaming down his body.

Dying... I'm dying...

But he teleported away in desperation one more time before becoming a complete skewer.

FWOOSH!

However, his fate was clearly sealed. He was completely overpowered by this creature after losing his temporary affinity boost. And now there was only one inevitable outcome left for him.

Healing was consuming a humongous, unsustainable amount of mana. Soon his reserves would be completely depleted, his mana recovery would not be able to catch up with his demands, and then it would finally be over.

This is it. I'm going to die here. In this arena. In front of thousands of cheering spectators who are cheering my demise.

Leon's thought echoed desperately through his fading consciousness as blood loss and mana depletion took their toll.

"WHHHYYYYYYY!!!! WHY IS THIS ALWAYS HAPPENING TO MEEEEE?!"

His anguished scream was drowned out by another deafening cheer as the creature closed in for the final strike.

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