The moment I caught sight of the instructors rising in incredulity, the whole caste of elites turning irrefutably locked in, I knew new shit was going down, I had felt the prickling rising heat, the sheen of sweat slowly building up, I'd credited it to just the young man's current form, but it wasn't, no, it was way worse.
The instructors were looking up for some reason, so I did the same.
I was just in time to see the sun above us flicker…and then deepen, its golden hue collapsing into a raging, white-gold inferno that swallowed the sky whole.
The sun….was descending…
The air warped.
Breathing became difficult.
Sound… faded.
What remained was heat.
And this one didn't merely seek to burn.
No.
It was the kind that sort out the extermination of its offender.
The arena groaned.
The reinforced runes lining the already reinforced barrier flared violently, then dimmed, struggling to keep form as molten streaks began to run along their edges.
