“KADE!”Sofia’s voice tore through the smoke.She was reaching for him, she stretched her small fingers, her face wet with tears and her eyes were wide with terror.“KADE HELP ME!”He was running toward her.He was always running toward her.But hands grabbed him from behind. Thick, rough hands that seized his arms and yanked him backward. He fought against them, thrashing, twisting, but they held with a strength that didn’t feel human. He couldn’t see their faces. He could never see their faces — just dark shapes, outlines, figures that existed only to hold him back.“LET GO OF ME!”His fingers stretched toward her.Sofia reached back, straining, her small hand inches from his…“KADE PLEASE —”On the floor behind her, his parents lay still.His mother face down against the marble. His father beside her, one arm extended forward as though even in death he had been trying to reach his family. Dark pools spread slowly beneath them both, black in the low light, creeping between the tiles

Reign’s aura exploded outward.It wasn’t gradual. It detonated a violent pressure that swept across the arena like a shockwave, rattling the air itself. Several of the lower ranked members in the stands instinctively leaned back. Even some of the dragon guards straightened in their seats.“That aura…”“He’s not holding back at all.”“Hollow is finished.”Zia’s hand moved to her side. She had already made her decision. If it came to it, if Reign went for something lethal. She would move regardless of the consequences. Zucker had given her one task. She would not fail it in the first hour.Reign launched forward.The ground cracked beneath his first step. By the second he was already crossing the distance. By the third his fist was driving toward Kade’s face with enough force to cave stone.Kade moved his head.Barely. Just enough. The fist passed so close it disturbed his hair.A beat of silence.Then the crowd found its voice.“Lucky.”“Had to be luck.”“He won’t dodge the next one.”

The arena held its breath.Nobody moved or spoke. Every eye was fixed on Reign’s motionless body against the far wall, then on Kade standing at the center of the floor looking like he had just finished a light stretch.The announcer walked across the arena slowly. He crouched beside Reign, tapped his shoulder once, twice. No response. He straightened up and turned to face the crowd.“Ladies and gentlemen.” His voice was steady but carried a faint undercurrent of disbelief he couldn’t entirely suppress. “The winner — Kade Hollow.”The gasps that followed weren’t surprise exactly. More like the sound of a large group of people having their reality adjusted against their will.Then the elevated section moved.Chad didn’t use the stairs.He dropped directly from his seat onto the arena floor, the impact sending a shockwave outward that cracked the stone beneath him. His aura followed immediately, the full unrestrained pressure of a peak Dragon Lord with no intention of containing himself.