Magma swallowed the lower half of the arena.
Purple-gold meteors screamed down from above.
The spatial barrier trembled so violently that even the spectators felt the distortion in their bones.
Natalia raised both arms.
Her remaining instruments multiplied again, but this time the formation was unstable. The rain of meteors detonated against layered harmonics, each impact splintering sound-waves and sending shards of resonance scattering like broken glass.
One meteor slipped through.
It exploded against her flank.
She spun violently through the air, coat torn further, blood flickering before golden sound sealed it again.
Above, Kayla carved through a descending inferno, branch extensions rotating in tight arcs as decay energy stripped flame of its vitality. But Eggplant Shit had shifted again. His violet fire darkened, turning denser, heavier, laced with gravitational compression.
He clapped both hands.
The meteors stopped mid-fall.
Then reversed direction.
