Torace lifted one hand, and a translucent golden barrier unfolded outward like overlapping wings, sealing the arena from the rest of the hall. The sound dulled immediately, as if the world outside had been pushed a step farther away.
The young Griffin rolled his shoulders once and exhaled. His arms twisted, bones shifting audibly as fingers elongated into curved claws. Feathers surged up his forearms, layering thick and dense, each plume edged with faint gold. His wings spread partially, not fully unfurled, but wide enough to control balance and momentum.
Steve rested his sword loosely in one hand, lightning flickering along the blade in thin, lazy threads. Shadows clung to his boots and pooled beneath him, stretching and retracting with his breathing.
They looked at each other.
Then the Griffin moved.
He crossed the distance in a blur, claws flashing for Steve’s throat. Steve didn’t counter immediately. He leaned back just enough for the strike to miss by inches.
The Griffin followed through with a spinning backhand, claws screaming against Steve’s sword as metal met reinforced plumage. Sparks and lightning burst outward, swallowed instantly by the golden barrier.
The Griffin pressed hard, fast combinations meant to overwhelm. Claws struck high, then low. A wing snapped forward like a shield, feathers ringing as Steve’s blade slid across them without biting through. The Griffin’s knee came up sharply, catching Steve in the ribs and sending him skidding back a step.
A ripple of approval moved through the Ferans watching.
Steve smiled and then vanished.
A streak of lightning cracked across the floor, and Steve reappeared at the Griffin’s flank, sword cutting low for the leg. The Griffin twisted mid-motion, feathers deflecting the edge, but Steve’s follow-up kick slammed into his knee with a dull, wet impact. The joint buckled for a split second before the Griffin forced it straight again, snarling.
Darkness surged.
Steve’s shadow detached itself, stretching upward and striking from behind, forcing the Griffin to spin defensively. That hesitation was enough.
Steve stepped in close, pommel-first, driving the hilt into the Griffin’s chest. Air burst from his lungs as he stumbled back, wings flaring wide to catch his balance.
The Griffin roared and launched upward, claws raking downward in a wide arc meant to end it. Steve raised his sword. Lightning wrapped the blade, pulling the strike off-line just enough for Steve to slip inside the Griffin’s guard.
Steel flashed.
A line of blood appeared across the Griffin’s wing, feathers slicing away as the membrane tore. He grunted, momentum faltering as he crashed back to the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath his feet.
Steve didn’t give him time.
He was on him instantly. A knee to the gut. An elbow wrapped in shadow slammed into the Griffin’s jaw, snapping his head sideways. Steve’s sword struck again, not deep, but precise, another cut across the wing joint, this one burning with lightning that crawled through muscle and nerve.
The Griffin lashed out desperately, claws tearing at empty air as Steve ducked under and drove a shoulder into his back. They crashed together, Steve’s weight forcing the Griffin down to one knee.
Feathers fluttered across the floor.
The Griffin tried to rise.
Steve kicked the injured leg again, harder this time. The knee folded completely, the sound sharp enough to draw a hiss from the crowd. The Griffin collapsed forward, one wing dragging uselessly behind him, blood darkening the pale stone beneath.
Still, he swung.
A claw caught Steve’s shoulder, tearing fabric and skin. Steve barely reacted. Darkness surged over the wound, sealing it even as lightning flared brighter, harsher now.
Steve stepped in close, then he punched.
The blow drove straight into the Griffin’s chest, lifting him off the ground and slamming him backward into the golden barrier. The shield rippled but held. The Griffin slid down it slowly, claws scraping uselessly as he collapsed in a heap.
Steve planted the sword tip inches from the Griffin’s throat.
Silence.
The Griffin tried to move. His wings twitched weakly. One claw lifted, trembled, then dropped back to the floor. His chest heaved as he dragged air into burning lungs, eyes unfocused, dazed.
For a heartbeat, it looked finished.
Then gold flooded the space.
A warm, radiant glow wrapped around the Griffin’s broken body, feathers lifting as if caught in an unseen current. Torn wings sealed. Split flesh knit together. Blood evaporated into light. In less than a breath, the damage Steve had carved into him vanished as if it had never existed.
Before anyone could react, the Griffin was gone.
A sharp displacement rippled overhead.
He reappeared high above the arena, wings fully unfurled now, spanning wide and flawless, gold veins pulsing through every feather. His eyes burned brighter than before as he pointed one clawed hand downward.
"Golden Breath," he muttered.
Light tore free.
A concentrated beam of gold screamed through the air, compressing space as it raced straight toward Steve.
Steve moved.
Lightning cracked beneath his feet as he flashed into the beam’s path, raising his sword with deliberate calm and simply thrust.
The blade pierced the air.
A thin line of blue light erupted from the sword’s tip, sharp and absolute. It met the golden beam head-on and split it cleanly in two, the divided light peeling away to either side like torn fabric.
The blue line did not stop.
In the same instant, it punched through the Griffin’s chest.
A blue flash and Steve vanished.
He reappeared above the Griffin, already rotating, lightning coiling around his leg as he completed the motion. His heel slammed into the side of the Griffin’s head with brutal precision.
The impact sent the Griffin crashing downward.
Stone shattered. The floor cratered inward as his body smashed into it, the sound echoing through the hall even with Torace’s shield still standing.
Steve was already there.
He landed beside the fallen Griffin and drove the sword straight down.
Steel sank through the chest and back, pinning the Griffin to the broken ground beneath. Lightning surging through the sword into the young master’s body.
Steve remained standing above him with a smile.
"Let’s see if your regeneration can stop my lightning."