Four kilometers east, in a district that had been reduced to rubble by the sheer violence of their exchange, Karacus Drakemore and Gareth Ganesha faced each other across a crater that measured thirty meters across.

Both were Mana Heart Rank 3. But Karacus mana density and physical parameters noticeably superior to Gareth’s early stage cultivation. The Frost Dragon bloodline gave him an edge that went beyond raw numbers. Cold was not just his element. It was his biology. Every cell in his body was optimized for combat in ways that beast-kin physiology simply couldn’t match without centuries of refinement.

Karacus stood in his half-dragon form. White scales rippled across his arms, chest, and neck, each one a miniature shield capable of blocking Mana Heart Rank 3 attacks. His horns had grown longer since the start of the fight, curving backward like a crown of bone. His tail swept the ground behind him, leaving gouges in the stone. His eyes had shifted fully to the slitted, ice-blue pupils of his dragon heritage.

Gareth was covered in the Vajra Indestructible Body. His skin had transformed into a metallic gray surface that gleamed like polished steel, each square centimeter of his body reinforced to the point where ordinary Mana Heart Rank 3 attacks simply bounced off. The Royal Divine Elephant bloodline’s signature ability made him one of the most physically durable cultivators in the entire tournament.

But Karacus was still winning.

PAM.

A tail strike caught Gareth in the ribs. The Vajra Body absorbed most of the impact, but Gareth still slid backward two meters, his feet carving trenches in the stone. He countered with a straight punch that Karacus caught on his scaled forearm. The scales held. The force pushed Karacus back half a step.

PAM. PAM. PAM.

They exchanged blows in rapid succession. Gareth’s fists against Karacus’s scales. Karacus’s claws against Gareth’s metal skin. Each collision sent shockwaves rippling outward, toppling already-damaged buildings, cracking the crater’s edges wider.

Gareth was stronger in raw physical power. Each punch that landed cleanly made Karacus’s bones ache through the scale protection. But Karacus was faster, more agile, and his attacks targeted the same spots repeatedly. The joints. The knees. The elbows. Places where the Vajra Body’s reinforcement was thinnest.

"Your defense is impressive," Karacus said, his voice carrying a deep, resonant quality that was half-human, half-dragon. "But it has gaps."

Gareth spat blood from a split lip. "And your speed is annoying. But speed doesn’t matter if you can’t break through."

He planted his feet, drew a deep breath, and his chest expanded. The air around him vibrated.

"Idol’s Trumpet."

BOOOOOOM.

A soundwave erupted from Gareth’s mouth, a concentrated blast of sonic force that hit Karacus like a physical wall. The shockwave cracked the scales on his forearms where he raised them to block. The ground beneath him cratered. His ears rang with a high-pitched whine that temporarily scrambled his equilibrium.

Gareth pressed forward, fists cocked, sensing the opening. He threw a devastating uppercut toward Karacus’s jaw.

Karacus’s eyes refocused. He opened his mouth.

"Frost Blast."

A concentrated cone of sub-zero air erupted from Karacus’s throat, meeting Gareth’s ascending fist head-on. The temperature differential was catastrophic. The moisture in the air around Gareth’s fist flash-froze, creating a shell of ice that locked his arm in place for a critical half-second.

Karacus’s tail whipped around.

PAM.

The tail caught Gareth in the side of the head, snapping his neck to the right with a sickening crack. Gareth staggered, vision swimming, ice still clinging to his frozen fist. He shattered the ice with a flex of his Vajra Body, but the damage was done. His equilibrium was shot. His right arm was stiff from the residual cold.

They clashed again. And again. And again.

PAM. CLANG. BOOM. CRACK.

Karacus drove a clawed hand into Gareth’s guard, the dragon claws finding the gap at the inside of the elbow where the Vajra reinforcement thinned. Blood sprayed. Gareth roared and headbutted Karacus, metal forehead against dragon scales.

CRACK.

Karacus saw stars for a half-second. Then his tail swept Gareth’s legs. Gareth dropped to one knee. Karacus brought both hands together overhead, mana surging, and slammed them down in a double axe handle.

BOOM.

Gareth crossed both arms to block. The Vajra Body held. Barely. Hairline fractures appeared across both forearms, the metal skin splitting like cracked porcelain.

"You’re done," Karacus said.

Gareth looked up at him. Blood ran from his nose. But his eyes were clear. Unbroken.

"One more," he growled.

He launched himself upward with everything he had left. Hell Suppressing Force activated, the conceptual weight of a divine elephant pressing down on the surrounding space, making the air heavy, making every movement feel like wading through mud.

Karacus felt the weight settle on his shoulders. His movements slowed by a fraction. A fraction that Gareth exploited.

A punch caught Karacus in the chest. Scales cracked. A rib snapped. Karacus grunted but didn’t retreat. He grabbed Gareth’s arm with one clawed hand, holding him in place.

"This is over," Karacus said.

His free hand came up, fingers together, palm forward. Dragon scales rippled along his forearm, concentrating into a single point. Frost mana condensed at his fingertips, so cold it burned the air, so dense it warped light.

Gareth’s eyes widened. He tried to pull back, but Karacus’s grip was iron.

The palm strike drove through Gareth’s Vajra Body like a hot knife through butter. The concentrated frost mana punched through the metal skin at the center of his chest, cracking the defense, and then the clawed fingers followed, piercing flesh, muscle, and bone.

SHLCK.

Gareth’s eyes went wide. He looked down at Karacus’s hand buried in his chest, at the blood bubbling up around the wound.

"You..." he choked.

Karacus pulled his hand free. Gareth stood for one moment, Vajra Body flickering, trying to reinforce the wound, but the frost had already killed the local mana circulation. The defense couldn’t reform where it was frozen.

Gareth’s bracelet flared red.

[ELIMINATED]

His body vanished, transferred to the stadium.

Karacus stood in the crater, blood on his claws, frost steaming from his hand. He checked his bracelet.

[1,800 → 3,200 PTS]

1,400 points from the Iron Nexus captain.

In the stadium, the crowd erupted. The massive hologram showed Karacus standing over the space where Gareth had vanished, frost swirling around him like a cloak, dragon eyes gleaming in the gray light.

"FROST DRAGON! FROST DRAGON! FROST DRAGON!"

The chant spread through the colosseum like wildfire, tens of thousands of voices unified in a single roar. Gareth’s unconscious body appeared on the stage, exhausted but alive, medical staff already surrounding him.

The Commentator’s voice cut through the noise. "Gareth Ganesha, captain of Iron Nexus, ELIMINATED by Karacus Drakemore! The Frost Dragon proves why he is one of the highest-ranked cultivator in this tournament!"