The collision shook the arena like a thunderclap from the heavens.
BOOOOOOM!
A wave of black wind and molten fire tore across the battlefield.
Smoke swallowed everything.
For several seconds, nobody could see Maris.
Nobody could see Melio.
Only the sound of crackling flames and violently spinning wind remained.
The students stood frozen.
Then— A silhouette emerged from the smoke.
Melio.
He stood motionless.
His head was lowered, his fists hanging beside him.
But something had changed.
A molten aura surrounded his entire body.
Lava-like fire flowed across his arms and shoulders, while flames crawled across the ground beneath his feet.
The stone beneath him glowed from the heat.
Every breath he took sent a wave of scorching air through the arena.
Foshi’s eyes widened.
“No way…” He stared at Melio in disbelief.
“Level 3 Fire…” His voice became quieter.
“Lava.” The students turned toward him.
Foshi swallowed.
“These children…” He looked at Maris.
Then at Melio.
“I’m getting jealous already.” Pinezoku’s eyes widened.
“Level 3…” Liberia clenched her fists.
“Melio reached it too?” Sophria didn’t answer.
Her eyes remained fixed on Melio.
Something about his aura felt different.
It wasn’t simply stronger.
It was heavier.
More dangerous.
Foshi’s expression became analytical.
“His body is releasing adrenaline at an extraordinary rate.” He watched Melio carefully.
“Fear.
Stress.
Pressure.
The instinct to survive…” His eyes narrowed.
“His body is forcing his power toward its absolute limit.” Melio slowly raised his head.
His eyes opened.
They burned with an intense orange glow.
He looked toward Maris.
No words.
No arrogance.
No hesitation.
Just determination.
Across the arena, Maris clenched his fists.
The black wind around him twisted tighter.
The aura crawled around his arms like living shadows.
Lightning occasionally flashed through the darkness.
Maris stared at Melio.
Then he smiled.
A small, almost dangerous smile.
“So you’re finally showing me everything.” The black wind surged.
Maris lowered his stance.
“Now…” His eyes sharpened.
“This will be fun.” He raised one hand.
“Go, Ryu!” The Black Wind Dragon roared.
ROOOOOAAAAAR!
Its enormous wings opened.
The arena shook beneath the force.
Then the dragon launched itself toward Melio.
It moved like a storm given a body.
Black currents spiraled around its enormous frame, swallowing the light around it.
Melio didn’t move.
The dragon approached.
Closer.
Closer.
Then— Melio raised his head.
His eyes flashed.
“Come.” His voice was quiet.
The next moment— WHOOOOOOOM!
A gigantic wave of molten fire erupted from his body.
The flames expanded across the battlefield like a living sun.
Ryu crashed directly into the inferno.
KRAAAAAAAAAASH!
Fire and black wind collided.
The sky above the arena seemed to split between darkness and orange light.
The shockwave exploded outward.
Maris was thrown backward.
He hit the ground and slid across the stone.
Dust surrounded him.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Then his fingers curled.
Maris pushed himself upward.
His hair fell over his eyes.
A grin slowly appeared.
He looked toward Melio.
“You’re at your peak now, huh?” Melio stood within the flames.
His molten aura continued to burn around him.
His lips curved upward.
“Maybe.” He tightened his fist.
“Can you keep up?” Maris’s grin widened.
“Try me.” The two disappeared.
BOOM!
They collided in the center of the arena.
Melio threw a flaming punch.
Maris blocked it.
The impact sent a shockwave across the ground.
Maris twisted.
His black wind gathered around his arm.
“Void Air.” He drove an uppercut upward.
Melio reacted instantly.
He twisted his body in mid-air.
The attack passed beneath him.
Melio’s flames spiraled around his body.
He descended with a blazing strike.
Maris crossed his arms.
BAAM!
The force drove him backward.
He stopped himself with a burst of wind.
Melio immediately followed.
Another punch.
Maris dodged.
Another.
Maris ducked.
A kick.
Maris jumped.
A wave of molten fire swept beneath him.
The ground blackened from the heat.
Maris landed several meters away.
He looked at Melio.
His breathing had become heavier.
Melio was breathing heavily too.
Neither looked away.
Neither wanted to.
Because both understood what this battle had become.
This wasn’t about proving who was stronger anymore.
It was about discovering who could endure longer.
Maris raised his hand.
The black wind began spiraling around him.
One rotation.
Two.
Three.
The air screamed.
Ryu circled above him.
Its enormous body moved through the storm like a predator searching for its next opening.
Melio’s eyes narrowed.
He thought, “He’s preparing something.” Maris’s aura intensified.
He thought, “Melio won’t fall to ordinary attacks anymore.” The black wind condensed around his arm.
A dark sphere formed.
Then compressed.
And compressed again.
The surrounding air distorted.
Sophria’s eyes widened.
“Maris…” Foshi stared.
“What is he doing?” The answer came from the battlefield.
Maris thrust his arm forward.
“Void Air…” The black energy condensed into a sharp, spiraling beam.
“…Release!” BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The attack tore through the arena.
Melio immediately raised both arms.
Lava erupted around him.
The two powers collided.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion illuminated the entire arena.
Liberia shielded her face.
Pinezoku took several steps backward.
“What is this fight?!” Liberia’s voice trembled.
“Whoever loses now…” She stared at the two silhouettes inside the storm.
“…will really be defeated.” The battlefield trembled.
Fire poured across the ground.
Black wind tore through the smoke.
The two forces twisted around each other like ancient monsters fighting for dominance.
Ryu screamed above them.
Melio’s flames answered.
The arena no longer looked like a school battlefield.
It looked like the remains of some forgotten war.
Maris stood within the darkness.
His black aura continued expanding.
Every movement of Melio’s fire was reflected in his eyes.
Every attack.
Every shift in stance.
Every change in breathing.
He was reading him.
Melio was doing the same.
The two had fought together.
They had trained together.
They knew each other’s habits.
They knew each other’s weaknesses.
And that knowledge had transformed their friendship into the most dangerous advantage either could possess.
Melio suddenly charged.
Maris charged too.
They collided.
BOOM!
Again.
BOOM!
Again.
BOOM!
Each collision shook the arena.
Neither surrendered even an inch.
Then Maris felt it.
A familiar presence.
His mother’s memory.
Manglet’s voice seemed to echo somewhere deep within him.
“One power mastered is better than three half-learned.” Maris’s eyes narrowed.
He thought, “Mom…” The black wind surged.
Then another memory surfaced.
Mangorak.
Guris.
The promise he had made to his sister.
Then Sophria.
Her trust.
Her support.
And finally— Melio.
His oldest friend.
The boy who had once stood beside him when nobody else did.
Maris clenched his fist.
He thought, “I can’t lose.” Across the battlefield, Melio’s flames intensified.
He remembered the same promise.
The promise they had made long ago.
Neither would abandon the other.
Neither would allow the other to stand alone.
Melio stared at Maris.
He thought, “Then I’ll make sure you give me everything.” His fire exploded outward.
Maris’s black wind answered.
The sky darkened.
The ground trembled.
Ryu descended from above.
Melio raised both fists.
Maris lowered his stance.
Two forces.
Two paths.
Two rivals.
One victory.
The students could only watch.
Because at this point, nobody could predict the winner.
Maris’s eyes burned with cold determination.
Melio’s eyes burned with molten fire.
Neither would surrender.
Neither would retreat.
And as the Black Wind Dragon roared above them— The final battle entered its most terrifying stage yet.