Veyra gave a half-smile but said nothing. She could feel the tension boiling across the stands.
And then it happened.
One figure leapt down into the arena, draped in emerald-scaled robes, his arms tattooed with burning dragon script. "I claim it! Let the fire in my veins rise again!"
But this time, the arena didn't wait long.
Not two, not three—but ten other World Rankers dropped down immediately. A storm of power surged, crashing across the viewing platforms. The barrier between the stands and the arena flared as it struggled to contain the force.
Each of them had some dragonic tie—horns, claws, scales, slitted eyes. Draconic cultivators, highblood beastkin, or legacy warriors seeking to push their evolution further.
A woman clad in black jade armor stepped forward, her wings unfolding. "It belongs to the Black Ash Flight!"
A thunder-lord with molten gold eyes pointed a spear at her. "Not before the Thundering Brood claims it!"
