Even standing there, their powers were suppressed. Swallowed up by greater fire. A hail of white sparks sizzled up their skin, leaving smoking burn marks that wouldn’t heal. They took passive damage just existing.

***

“My word,” breathed Burnwater. “He's dominating them—even Kakorax! That lad’s a full Law-level above, isn't he?”

Noughtfire hummed. “No one in this Galaxy has fully grasped the Law in Zane’s fire.” He took a sip. “Even the closest of us have gotten mere glimpses. Its grade is unlike anything that exists in this world. Just a hint of it is… overwhelming.”

Burnwater shook his head. “I’ve only seen your domain consume like that...”

“Some things, fire may burn,” said Noughtfire. “And some things resist it. But Destruction… Destruction knows no limits. Soul. Flesh, essence, even the very fabric of reality—so long as it exists, it burns.”

The only defense against Destruction Noughtfire knew—if you could call it a defense—was to overpower it so much it could only burn slowly.

They watched as Zane’s domain rolled across the battlefield. Relentless. Unstoppable.

Burnwater dabbed a brow with a handkerchief—he’d worked up a little sweat seeing Zane wobbled there. Now he was just relieved. “How are you even meant to win a domain battle against him?” he marveled.

“Simple,” said Noughtfire. “You don’t.”

It was one of Noughtfire’s chief advantages in duels with his own foes. Why so very few—the most powerful existences in the Dragonspyre Galaxy—could hope to stand against him.

Win the domain battle, and your enemies would get a sharp debuff for the entire fight. While all your powers would get a sharp buff. One-on-one, that was usually a winning advantage.

He took another sip of tea.

But this was not one-on-one.

It was a strong start for Zane. But the battle wasn’t over.

He still faced a minor God—a God who also had powers Zane didn’t. And Lava Apes like Throck were known for their resilience of the flesh. He would hold up under Zane’s domain. Long enough to strike back, at least…

Noughtfire stroked his beard, eyes gleaming.

He was looking forward to seeing how Zane would deal with them.

***

Zane’s domain burned through everything.

Only Kakorax’s domain stood up to it by the end. It was denser, and thicker, and the True Dragon pumped in a sea of essence to hold off the onslaught.

But the rest of Zane’s foes were wilting.

Prince Yarrow’s perfectly manicured hair was on fire. His whole body was on fire. Even his own fire was on fire—in seconds he'd gone from looking like he’d just stepped off a movie set to looking like he’d just survived a car-crash.

Several of Zane’s foes looked at each other, wild-eyed—and you could see the panic setting in, especially for the weakest ones; they didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t just stand there.

In a shaking fit, Prince Yarrow drew his sword. The Steel lit up like the morning sun. Screaming a battle-cry, half-desperation, half-valiant, he charged straight for Zane—“Die, brute!”

As he charged he blurred to a streaking meteor. Stomping down some footwork Skill, each step blasting off of lily-pads of molten light.

His sword arched straight for Zane’s heart—aiming to run Zane through in a stroke.

It snapped a few of the others out of it. The Phoenix sisters screeched, flaring their wings, and shot for Zane too, riding spark-filled gusts. And the Drakes charged on foot, mouths glowing with a dark smoldering breath—

It was a panicked effort, true. But it was still five full-fledged Ascendants charging Zane, straight-up, and their madness gave their charge a dangerous chaos. Together they were driving a spear straight through Zane's domain.

Zane saw them, though. And narrowed his eyes.

He felt them very clearly in his domain. Moving through his space—he felt his own Laws too spread clean throughout, like charges in a magnetic field…

He ratcheted up the Stormfire around them.

And the charge crashed to a sudden halt.

The lily pads of light under Yarrow’s feet gave way in an instant, burning to nothing—consumed in destruction—and he fell spiraling, yelping, like an immense gravity had taken hold of him.

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At the same time the phoenixes’ wings began to burn, melt like wax, their gusts smoking away beneath them as they careened off course. The drakes slowed visibly too, as though moving underwater…

Zane held out his hands. And two massive burning chain-hammers leaped to his command.

He unleashed them with a bellow.

They tore through the air—through Zane’s domain—faster than such heavy things had any right to, faster than he could ever recall them moving.

It was like they were riding a jetstream. A jetstream of Zane’s raw powers. His domain, doing its work.

Prince Yarrow was up first, and as he saw what was coming for him, his sword suddenly quivered. He let out a high-pitched scream, tried skidding to a halt. The blood phoenix sisters had their wits about them a little more—they screeched, throwing out swirling bright-red colored shields—

Shields that shattered like glass as Zane’s hammers plowed straight through. Shattered with such force the two of them coughed blood.

The drakes were full-on panicking now. They could sense the raw essence, that terrifying Law, in those ultra-heavy torpedos.

In desperation they summoned all they had and spewed for all they were worth.

The fires they summoned had the density of Core Magma and the ferocity of the dragon’s Bloodline. Not True Dragon—but close enough. Still feared the galaxy over. And there were three of them, fusing to one great stream, a furious torrent rushing up to meet Zane’s hammers—

Which crashed through it like it didn't exist. Crashing all the way upstream, driving straight to the heart of the charge.

And making contact.

Prince Yarrow let out a whiny screech.

Then all was lost to the explosion.

It lit up half the arena—a circle of vicious purple shot through with white, rocking the entirety of the battlefield…

When it vanished at last, and they all blinked the light out of their eyes and peered into that purple storm—they saw nothing. Not even ashes.

As though five Ascendants had been wiped out of existence. Just like that.

***

The crowd had leaped on their feet in their millions. Holding their heads in uproar. The phoenix sections and the drake sections in particular were beside themselves.

Even down in the arena the three brothers Kane were just about ready to lose it.

Only Throck and Kakorax weren’t outright panicking. But they considered themselves a tier above the rest of the riffraff.

Even Throck was red-eyed—the hairs on his burly arms had melted to a fine wax.

“Kanes!” he roared, teeth clenched. “Kakorax! We’ve got to get him now—before he crushes us all!”

The monks were still in shock. Everything had happened so fast. But maybe it was his tone of voice that jerked them to action. “Y-yes!” they shouted in unison.

“He—he’s got that devil-fire,” snarled Throck, struggling to be heard over the crackling. The Lava-ape’s heart was pounding quite fast; he was barely keeping it together in truth.

“But if I get my hands on him… I will put him down.”

He clenched fists big enough to crush cars like tin cans. And bowling-ball muscles bulged all over his arms, teeming with mighty Lava Ape Bloodline.

In that, at least, he could still be confident.

Meanwhile—

“Bastard!” bellowed Kakorax. He was still struggling just to hold his domain. “What is this—this dirty human trick—?!” he gritted out.

You could see plain on his face that he simply didn't accept being dominated like this. His pride showed clear in that snarl.

“No time!” shouted Throck through the din.

Besides—something was dawning on all of them, even through their shock—even for Kakorax.

When they’d first heard of Zane, each of them had felt an indignation, a resentment deep-down. But they’d also wondered what that #1 Rising Dragon rank really meant. If there really was something that set Zane apart—something that made him one-in-a-billion, among the one-on-a-billion…

They felt it then as they saw Zane reloading his hammers. Calmly. Yet somehow burning with an incredible intensity too... Something about his eyes scared them. The focus there—like nothing could shake him now.

That man had taken on a dark and frightening shape in their hearts. Even Kakorax had grown unsure.

Before they could falter—“CHARGE!” roared Throck. It was a sound tinged with madness.

Then came the second wave of the fight. The final wave.

The Kane brothers started barreling at Zane first, half-panicked, staffs raised high overhead, ready to crush in Zane’s head—

His hammer roared out to greet them. A hammer that shot out like a cannonball—and caught them one by one—three splatters, three explosions, going up in a mushroom-cloud of sheer white—crushed utterly.

But the Lava Ape had been running right behind; he leaped straight over the explosions. He’d been using their bodies as a shield.

He descended on Zane in a screeching fury.

He’d manifested two enormous burning gauntlets. Gauntlets loaded thick with Core Magma. And though the ape-man looked half-melted under the weight of Zane’s domain, and the bulk of his powers were blunted—he still wielded two massive chunks of dense Magma with the full heft of a half-step Minor god.

And he still had his Bloodline—his greatest strength. A Bloodline he burned with abandon then.

He figured Zane’s powers were ranged. Zane had only shown his axes, and his Chains, after all—up close the stronger body would dominate.

His eyes widened—He looked like he almost couldn't believe his luck, making it this close. He figured Zane would’ve run for it. He crashed screeching into the big man.

But to his surprise, Zane bares his teeth.

Zane welcomed this fight.

Two mountains of muscle slammed into each other. Throck brought his gauntlets down with monstrous force, as though aiming to knock Zane’s head clean off his head, deep into the stands….

Zane threw up his Chains and caught it firm.

The explosion shivered the Arena. Blew out a few hundred thousand eardrums, and blinded more sets of eyes still—but when the light faded they found the two of them deadlocked. Throck still screeching, burning up his Bloodline as fast as he possibly could, bowling-ball muscles bulging so huge, purple veins stark against the skin, it looked like they might pop at any moment—

He could not move Zane, no matter how hard he tried. He shoved, and shoved harder—to his very limits, screeching with the exertion—and felt a dawning horror.

Physical power was the trump card of his Godbeast Bloodline—

“It’s—not—possible!” he wheezed.

Then he felt something huge and hard coil around his arm like a snake. And almost keeled over—it took a whole-body effort just to steady himself.

It was a purple-black chain. A chain Zane held with ease—yet when it weighed down on Throck it felt like it held a hidden universe of mass…

Before he knew what he was happening a second Chain lashed around his leg. A third, his chest—and now he was bucking wildly, straining against the links—

He was stuck. He couldn’t help but sink down to a knee, gasping. This weight—nothing about it made any sense.

A shadow fell across him.

The horror in Throck grew far stronger then. He looked up, and saw Zane’s frowning face.

“I thought you would be stronger,” said Zane. He looked disappointed.

Then the chains lit on Stormfire. All at once.

Throck screamed.