The arena burned.

  Cracked stone smoked under golden flames, and the air itself trembled with heat. What once looked like a battlefield now resembled the surface of a dying star.

  Lee could barely stand.

  His breathing was uneven, each inhale cutting through his chest like glass. Burns covered his body, his clothes torn, blood dripping from his lips onto the scorched ground beneath his feet.

  Across from him, áris walked forward calmly.

  His flames were steady.

  Untouched.

  Dominant.

  “Is this the famous ‘King Lee’?” áris said, his voice echoing across the silent arena. “What a disappointment.”

  In an instant he moved.

  A single punch struck Lee’s abdomen.

  The impact shattered the ground beneath them. Lee’s body slammed into the arena floor, stone exploding upward. Before he could even rise, áris grabbed him and hurled him again — this time across the battlefield.

  Lee rolled across the broken earth and tried to push himself up.

  He failed.

  The Crowd

  The stadium was silent.

  No cheers.

  No screams.

  Only the sound of impacts.

  “LEE!!” Lara cried from the stands, her voice breaking.

  Laura collapsed to her knees, trembling.

  “My son… please… please get up…”

  Vharon held her shoulders, his jaw clenched in rage.

  Leon didn’t speak.

  His eyes shook.

  The blue in them flickered… slowly shifting toward a golden, lupine glow.

  “…No,” he whispered.

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  The Mockery

  áris lifted Lee by the hair.

  Lee’s arms hung weakly. His strength was nearly gone.

  “You were their hope?” áris laughed. “This is the hero of the universe?”

  He threw him to the ground like discarded armor.

  The entire arena froze.

  áris raised his blazing sword.

  “This ends now.”

  The Final Strike

  Time slowed.

  The sword descended.

  It pierced Lee’s chest.

  The sound echoed like thunder.

  For a moment, nothing moved.

  Blood fell onto the arena floor and evaporated into steam under the heat.

  Across the universe, millions watched in silence.

  And then—

  Lee moved.

  With the last strength remaining in his body, his flaming claws slashed forward.

  áris’s right arm was severed.

  At the same moment, Lee drove his claws into áris’s leg, forcing the king to stumble back in shock.

  “YOU—!” áris roared, fury erupting from his voice.

  Lee collapsed.

  His eyes dimmed.

  Goodbye

  Leon landed beside him, sliding across the ground and catching his brother before his body hit the floor.

  “Lee! Stay with me!” Leon shouted.

  Lee’s vision blurred.

  “…Leon…” he whispered weakly.

  Blood filled his mouth as he coughed.

  “I’m… sorry… I failed…”

  Leon shook his head violently. “Don’t talk! You’re fine! You hear me?!”

  Lee’s fading eyes softened.

  “Take care… of mom… and Lara…”

  His hand trembled as he grabbed Leon’s arm.

  “…and Kira…”

  Lara’s scream echoed through the arena.

  Laura collapsed in Vharon’s arms.

  “My son… my son is gone…”

  Across distant planets, warriors, civilians, and giants alike watched in grief.

  Lee’s hand slowly fell.

  His heart stopped.

  The Awakening

  Leon didn’t move.

  He stared at Lee’s body in his arms.

  Something inside him broke.

  His eyes turned completely black — a deep void with a crimson glow.

  The ground beneath him cracked.

  De costas—

  Asas negras irromperam para fora, enormes, sombrias, cobrindo a arena em escurid?o.

  Cinco caudas negras se formaram atrás dele, chicoteando o ar como chicotes vivos.

  Um rosnado baixo ecoou de sua garganta, já n?o mais humano.

  áris recuou.

  Pela primeira vez…

  O rei hesitou.

  Leon levantou-se lentamente, colocando o corpo de Lee delicadamente no ch?o.

  Ele se virou.

  Seu olhar monstruoso fixou-se em áris.

  “áááRIIISSS!!!”

  O rugido fez o céu tremer.

  "EU VOU TE MATAR."

  As chamas da arena diminuíram sob a escurid?o que o envolvia.

  A batalha havia terminado.

  A guerra havia come?ado.

  Continua…