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Hanan collapsed into Queen Hania's arms, her body wracked with sobs that seemed to come from the very depths of her being.

"She remembered," she whispered through her tears. "At the end, she remembered who she was."

Krad felt the Moon Eater's essence stirring within him, responding to the display of defiance he had just witnessed. The corruption that had consumed Bruwa was the same force that sought to control him, and her choice to die rather than submit resonated with something primal in his transformed soul.

DING!

SYSTEM ALERT

The Moon Eater Bakunawa acknowledges Bruwa's sacrifice

Asteria rose slowly from where she had knelt, her divine form flickering like a candle in the wind. The effort of revealing her true nature and witnessing Bruwa's sacrifice had taken its toll. Her fifty swords were now reduced to twenty-three, the others having been destroyed or sacrificed in the battle.

"Let this be a lesson to all who would serve the Thirteen," she said, her voice carrying across the silent arena. "Power without choice is not power at all. It is merely slavery dressed in divine robes."

The demi-human announcer, a fox-eared woman with amber hair, approached the center of the arena with visible trepidation. Her usual enthusiasm had been replaced by something approaching reverence.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "we have witnessed something extraordinary today. The fallen fighter chose her own path, even in death."

The entire coliseum fell quiet. But the silence was broken by a slow, mocking clap that echoed through the arena like thunder.

"How touching," a voice said, dripping with false sentiment. "How absolutely pathetic."

All eyes turned to one of the VIP observation boxes, where a figure in a crimson cloak stood applauding. Even at a distance, his presence was unmistakable, this was Liyab, the Red God's chosen champion.

"She could have had everything," Liyab continued, his voice somehow carrying clearly despite the distance. "Power, immortality, the ability to reshape reality itself. Instead, she chose dust and memory. How wonderfully mortal."

Asteria's twenty-three remaining swords began to orbit faster, her divine fury barely contained. "Show yourself, puppet," she commanded. "If you have something to say, say it where we can all hear you properly."

Liyab laughed, a sound like breaking glass mixed with screaming metal. "Oh, I'll show myself soon enough, fallen goddess. But first, let's see who else wants to dance with divinity."

He gestured, and the arena's magical systems activated. The broken battlefield began to repair itself, the crater filling with smooth stone and the protective barriers reinforcing themselves. New teleportation circles appeared, ready to bring forth the next contestants.

The fox-eared announcer looked up at Liyab's box with barely concealed fear, but her professional training kicked in. "The... the tournament continues," she announced, her voice gaining strength. "The next battle will determine our second finalist for the Final Rage!"

The magical display screens around the arena flickered to life, showing the tournament bracket. Six names remained:

FINAL CONTESTANTS:

Moon Fist - Advanced to Finals

Sword Saint Lyra - Advanced to Finals

Liyab - Bye to Finals

REMAINING CONTESTANTS:

Lath, Ferah, Klaus, Hanan, Kael, Vera

"Wait," Krad said, studying the bracket. "Liyab has a bye to the finals? How is that possible? Where's his opponent?"

Miss Vice's face darkened. "Tournament manipulation. He's using his influence to guarantee a spot in the final battle. There's a rumor that Liyab's opponent was killed before the match even began."

"It's worse than that," Queen Hania said

Kira clenched her fists. "That's not fair competition."

"The Red God doesn't believe in fair competition," Asteria said, having overheard their conversation as she approached their section. Her divine form had stabilized somewhat, but she was clearly weakened. "He believes in domination through any means necessary."

TOURNAMENT BRACKET UPDATED

Next Battle:

Lath vs Klaus

Following Battles:

Kael vs Vera

Hanan vs Ferah

The announcer's voice boomed across the arena. "Our next battle features two titans of physical combat! In the eastern corner, we have Lath, the Berserker whose rage has never been contained! In the western corner, Titan Klaus, the man whose skin is harder than diamond!"

Two teleportation circles activated simultaneously, bringing forth the combatants.

Lath materialized in an explosion of crimson energy, his massive frame wreathed in the red aura of pure berserker fury. He stood nearly seven feet tall, his muscles rippling with supernatural strength. His weapon was a two-handed battle axe that seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat, the blade crackling with volatile energy.

DING!

Level: 198

Class: Berserker

Title: The Unstoppable Force

Health: 12,500/12,500

Rage: 1,000/10,000

Special: Berserker Rage, Endless Fury, Weapon Master

Titan Klaus appeared like a mountain given human form. His skin was literally composed of crystalline stone that reflected light like precious gems. He stood even taller than Lath, his body carved from living granite and marble. His fists were the size of boulders, and each step he took cracked the arena floor.

DING!

Level: 203

Class: Stone Titan

Title: The Immovable

Health: 18,000/18,000

Defense: 9,999/10,000

Special: Diamond Skin, Titan's Strength, Earthquake Fist

"This should be interesting," Ragnar observed. "The unstoppable force versus the immovable. Classic paradox."

"Except both of them are real," Mist replied. "Someone's going to give way."

"BEGIN!" the announcer called out.

The battle erupted immediately. Lath's berserker rage activated instantly, his already massive frame expanding even further as red energy coursed through his veins. His battle axe began to glow with the accumulated fury of a thousand battles.

"RAGE STRIKE!" Lath bellowed, bringing his weapon down in a devastating overhead blow.

Klaus didn't even try to dodge. He simply raised his stone fist and caught the axe blade with his bare hand. The impact created a shockwave that shattered every window in the arena, but Klaus remained unmoved.

"Is that all?" Klaus asked, his voice like grinding stone. "I've been hit harder by falling pebbles."

DING!

LATH'S SYSTEM ALERT

Rage Strike: 2,500 damage dealt

Enemy damage reduction: 2,499

Actual damage: 1

Rage level increased: 1,000 → 2,500

Lath's fury exploded exponentially. His muscles bulged to inhuman proportions, and his axe began to burn with the intensity of a star. "ENDLESS FURY!"

He launched into a devastating combination attack, his axe moving faster than the eye could follow. Each strike would have split mountains, each blow carried the weight of tectonic force. The arena floor cracked and splintered under the sheer pressure of his assault.

But Klaus stood like a statue, absorbing every impact with his diamond skin. Each blow that would have killed lesser opponents simply bounced off his crystalline surface, creating showers of sparks but no real damage.

"You're strong," Klaus acknowledged, his voice completely calm despite the earth-shaking battle. "But strength means nothing against absolute defense."

He retaliated with a single punch, moving with deceptive speed for his massive size. His boulder-sized fist struck Lath in the chest, sending the berserker flying across the arena.

DING!

KLAUS'S SYSTEM ALERT

Titan's Fist: 3,000 damage dealt

Enemy resistance: 500

Actual damage: 2,500

Status: Enemy health reduced to 10,000/12,500

Lath crashed into the arena wall, the impact creating a crater the size of a house. But instead of being defeated, he began to laugh. His rage level spiked to 4,000, and his entire body began to glow with crimson light.

"Finally!" he roared, pulling himself from the wall. "Someone who can actually hurt me!"

His berserker rage entered a new phase. His axe began to change, transforming from a simple weapon into something that seemed to exist partially in another dimension. The blade flickered between states of matter, sometimes solid, sometimes energy, sometimes something else entirely.

"DIMENSIONAL CLEAVE!" Lath shouted, swinging his transformed weapon.

The attack didn't just cut through space, it cut through the concept of space itself. The dimensional blade passed through Klaus's diamond skin as if it were made of water, striking directly at the titan's essence.

DING!

LATH'S SYSTEM ALERT

Dimensional Cleave: Bypasses physical defense

Essence damage: 4,000

Warning: Ability consumes massive amounts of rage

Enemy health reduced to 14,000/18,000

Klaus staggered for the first time in the battle, his stone features showing something approaching surprise.

"Interesting," he said, examining the ethereal wound that had appeared in his chest. "You've found a way to bypass my defenses. Impressive."

He slammed his fists together, and the entire arena shook. "EARTHQUAKE FIST!"

The attack wasn't directed at Lath, but at the ground itself. The arena floor liquefied, creating a massive sinkhole that threatened to swallow both combatants. Klaus, being made of stone, simply sank into the earth and began to move through it like water.

Lath found himself falling into the pit, his rage-enhanced strength useless against the shifting terrain. But his berserker instincts kicked in, and he drove his dimensional axe into the wall of the pit, using it as an anchor.

"RAGE ERUPTION!" he bellowed, channeling all his accumulated fury into a single, devastating attack.

The explosion of berserker energy turned the sinkhole into a crater, but more importantly, it forced Klaus to emerge from the liquefied stone. The stone titan rose like a mountain being born, his crystalline skin now glowing with accumulated heat.

"You're beginning to annoy me," Klaus said, his calm demeanor finally cracking. "Perhaps it's time to end this."

He began to change, his stone form becoming more refined, more perfect. His diamond skin took on new properties, reflecting not just light but energy itself. He was transforming into something beyond a mere stone titan.

"PERFECT CRYSTAL FORM!" Klaus announced.

His body became a living diamond, each facet reflecting a different aspect of reality. He was no longer just physically invulnerable, he was metaphysically untouchable. Attacks would simply be refracted away, their force scattered into harmless light.

Lath's rage level hit its maximum of 10,000 as he saw his opponent's transformation. His berserker fury reached such intensity that it began to affect reality itself. The air around him caught fire, and his axe became a conduit for pure destructive force.

"ULTIMATE BERSERKER TECHNIQUE: CUTTER!" Lath roared.

The attack was beyond dimensional cleaving, beyond physical force, beyond even the concept of attack itself. It was pure berserker will given form, the absolute refusal to be stopped or contained. The cutter struck Klaus's perfect crystal form...

And shattered it.

Not because the attack was stronger than absolute defense, but because Lath's berserker rage had reached such intensity that it simply refused to acknowledge the concept of defense. His fury had become so pure that it existed outside the normal rules of reality.

Klaus's crystalline body cracked and crumbled, his perfect form unable to maintain itself against an attack that existed outside the laws of physics. But he didn't seem angry or disappointed. Instead, he smiled as his body began to dissolve.

"Well fought," he said, his voice now carrying the sound of wind through mountain peaks. "You've achieved something I thought impossible. You've made me feel... mortality."

"You fought with honor," Lath replied, his rage finally beginning to subside. "I'll remember this battle."

The announcer's voice cut through the arena's stunned silence. "INCREDIBLE! The Unstoppable Force has shattered the Immovable! Lath advances to the Final Rage!"

As Klaus's remains were cleared from the arena, the next battle was prepared. The magical systems worked overtime to repair the massive damage caused by the previous fight, reconstructing the arena floor and reinforcing the barriers.