CHAPTER 314: ARENA (2)

Adrian wiped sweat from his forehead. "I’m never fighting myself again."

Ethan pointed at the sky. "Someone better give us extra credit for surviving THAT."

Elara looked at Merlin.

"You predicted the clone’s reaction perfectly."

"It was just logic," Merlin replied.

But she shook her head.

"No. You understand yourself better than anyone here."

Her voice was quiet.

"Even the parts you don’t show."

Merlin looked away.

Nathan stretched his arms. "Alright, three battles left!"

Ethan choked. "WHY ARE YOU EXCITED?!"

A sigil lit beneath their feet.

The Mirror Hall shattered like glass—

And they were pulled into the next stage.

They landed on sand.

Hot, gold-tinted sand stretching out inside a massive indoor arena whose ceiling was so high it vanished into darkness. Stone pillars rose like ancient monoliths, cracked and worn by time. The air vibrated with mana so thick it was practically oppressive.

Nathan wheezed. "Can... can the school STOP with the trauma environments? Please?"

Ethan kicked the sand. "Why is this HOT?! It’s a simulation!"

Seraphina, unimpressed: "Simulations mimic heat. Try not to melt."

Liliana groaned. "I HATE sand. It gets everywhere."

Dorian, who rarely commented, actually nodded. "Sand is annoying."

Adrian pointed at a stone arch ahead. "Guys. Focus."

A deep... deep rumble shook the ground.

The pillars trembled.

Dust fell from the unseen ceiling.

Merlin’s golden eyes sharpened.

"It’s coming."

Elara’s spear lowered. "I hear it."

Nathan whispered, "You always hear everything—AAAAAH WHAT IS THAT?!"

The sand next to them burst upward like a geyser.

And from beneath emerged something massive.

Something ancient.

Something the size of a house.

A stone colossus.

Its body looked carved from unmoving mountain rock, etched with glowing runes that pulsed gold.

Four arms, each thick enough to crush a carriage.

A head without features except a single slit of blazing white light.

Ethan stared.

Adrian stared.

Liliana stared.

Nathan fell on his ass.

"O-Oooookay. We’re dead."

Dorian clicked his tongue. "A stone colossus. Physical-graded exam. This is unpleasant."

Seraphina summoned ice around her arms.

"It’s a test of raw power. The constructs learn from damage."

Elara’s voice sharpened.

"That means—"

"It gets harder every time we hit it," Merlin finished.

The colossus stepped forward.

BOOM.

The shockwave made the sand ripple like water.

Ethan trembled. "Why does that sound like a mountain falling every step?!"

Adrian lifted his massive axe. "Because IT IS ONE!"

The colossus lifted one arm—

And smashed it down.

CRAAAAASH!

Sand exploded around them.

Merlin grabbed Nathan by the collar, yanking him away before he got flattened.

Nathan wheezed. "THANK YOU BUT I ALMOST THREW UP!"

Elara rammed her spear into the colossus’s wrist, the impact cracking stone—

The colossus adapted instantly.

Its runes brightened.

The next time Elara struck, the stone shifted to become denser, halting her blow completely.

Seraphina fired a barrage of ice spikes.

They shattered on contact.

Liliana unleashed a burst of water, trying to flood its joints—

But the colossus rotated its torso, shielding the vulnerable area.

Nathan circled behind it, darkness swirling along his daggers.

He slashed at the runes along its spine—

For a moment, the light flickered.

Merlin’s eyes gleamed.

"That’s it! Nathan, again!"

Nathan nodded—

But the colossus moved faster.

Much faster.

It rotated with a grinding roar, catching Nathan with the back of its stone fist—

BAM!

Nathan was sent flying, skidding across the sand.

"NATHAN!" Liliana screamed.

Adrian sprinted forward, catching him before he hit a pillar.

Nathan coughed. "Okay. Ow."

Merlin flashed to Nathan’s side using wind-assisted footwork.

"You good?"

Nathan grinned painfully. "Define good."

Adrian snorted. "He’s alive."

The colossus charged.

Seraphina threw up an ice fortress—

SMASH!

It shattered.

She staggered back, dazed.

Dorian and Ethan leapt in, blades and flame forcing the colossus’s attention away before it hit her again.

But even their combined assault barely slowed the giant.

Ethan groaned. "This thing is BUILT DIFFERENT—!!"

The colossus’s runes flared again.

Stronger.

Faster.

Merlin clenched his jaw.

’We can’t beat it the normal way.’

He looked at the pillars.

Tall.

Cracked.

Old.

Then he noticed something else—

A faint shimmer connecting the tops of the pillars, like invisible threads of mana.

A support structure.

A mechanism.

"So that’s your game..." Merlin muttered.

Elara noticed his expression instantly.

"What did you find?"

"The colossus isn’t meant to be killed."

She blinked. "Then what—?"

"It’s meant to be contained."

Elara’s eyes widened in understanding.

"We collapse the arena."

Nathan, from where he half-lay on Adrian’s shoulder: "WE DO WHAT?!"

Adrian grinned.

"Oh, I like the sound of that."

Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "But if the pillars fall while we’re here—"

Merlin smirked.

"Then don’t be here when they do."

Liliana groaned. "Why does every plan end with RUN?!"

The colossus slammed its fists into the sand again—

BOOM.

Merlin pointed.

"Adrian! Ethan! Dorian! Attack that pillar!"

He pointed to another.

"Seraphina! Liliana! Nathan! Hit that one!"

"And Elara—"

He glanced at her.

"You’re with me."

Elara nodded, grip tightening on her spear.

"Always."

They split.

The colossus roared, a grinding metallic sound that shook the chamber.

It tried to follow the largest cluster—

Nathan’s group.

Merlin shouted, "DIVERT IT!"

He blasted a wave of wind into the colossus’s knee joint.

Elara followed, slamming a spear of hardened earth through a weak point.

The colossus staggered—

Turning toward Merlin.

Good.

"Make it chase us!"

The giant charged, throwing its body weight like a falling mountain.

Merlin and Elara darted between pillars, its attacks smashing stone behind them.

Meanwhile—

Adrian, Ethan, and Dorian struck their target pillar with everything they had.

Adrian’s axe cracked the base.

Dorian’s icy daggers found weak points.

Ethan melted fractures with heat.

It began to tilt.

Across the arena, Seraphina froze her pillar solid.

Liliana blasted the base with compressed water.

Nathan struck with a darkness-infused blow that detonated against the weakened structure.

That pillar cracked too.

Merlin shouted:

"EVERYONE OUT! NOW!"

The colossus lunged for him.

Elara threw her spear into its wrist so hard it embedded several inches.

"GO!" she yelled.

Merlin caught her wrist—

Pulled her with him—

Wind swirling under their feet.

They sprinted as the entire arena groaned.