Eldo wiped sweat from his brow, chest still heaving from the last round. Kishi grinned up at him from the glass, her tail thumping on the floor.
"Not bad, kid," she said, offering a thumbs up. "Next time, I won't go easy."
He managed a shaky laugh. "There's no way that was easy!"
Malachi's voice echoed through the chamber. "Enough rest. Bael awaits."
At the far end of the arena, Bael stepped forward. The three-headed demon moved with deliberate calm, each head watching from a different angle. In one outstretched palm, a sphere of dark purple energy pulsed and crackled.
"Step into my arena, young master," Bael intoned, his voices harmonizing. "I hope you enjoyed speed. Now, let's see how you handle strategy."
The ground shifted beneath Eldo's feet, the black glass fracturing and reforming into a wide, circular ring. Bael's energy orbs began to multiply, hovering in the air and on the ground, glinting like poisonous jewels. Each orb thrummed with barely contained power.
Eldo tensed, flames flickering around his hands. "Alright, let's go."
Bael's leftmost head smirked. "Let's begin."
With a flick of his wrist, Bael launched a pair of orbs, forcing Eldo to dive aside. The spheres exploded on contact with the ground, leaving shimmering, crackling residue behind—hazardous to the touch.
Eldo rolled up, narrowly dodging another orb that zipped past his ear. He countered with a jet of hellfire, but Bael was already repositioning, weaving between his own traps.
"You'll find brute force ineffective here," Bael's center head called. "Try to think beyond the obvious."
"Yeah?" Eldo shot back, frustration mounting. "Easy for you to say when you're not dodging death balls!"
Bael didn't respond. Instead, he conjured a shifting wall of orbs, boxing Eldo in. Each step threatened to send him into one of the volatile spheres. Eldo's heart hammered as he realized he was being herded.
"Too slow," the right head chided.
Eldo spun, blasting a path forward with a burst of flame, but the purple residue burned at his ankles, forcing him to leap back. Bael advanced, the orbs orbiting like satellites.
"How do you expect to lead if you can't adapt?" Bael's center head demanded, tone cool.
Eldo bristled. "Just watch me!"
He focused, letting hellfire surge through his veins. With a guttural yell, he sprinted, weaving between the orbs. The heat from his body caused the closest spheres to waver, destabilizing their path. Seeing an opening, Eldo slid low, narrowly missing a pair of crackling orbs that detonated behind him.
Bael's left head let out a low, impressed whistle. "Good. But not good enough."
Suddenly, Bael clapped his hands, sending a fresh volley of orbs raining down. Eldo whirled, flames spinning in his palms as he deflected a few—but one grazed his shoulder, sending jolts of numbing pain through his arm.
"Arggh!" Eldo staggered, biting back a curse.
Bael closed in, his three heads speaking in eerie unison. "You have strength. You have speed. Now show me your mind."
Gritting his teeth, Eldo scanned the arena. The orbs moved in patterns—patterns he could learn. He watched for a heartbeat, then darted forward, ducking under one, leaping over another, memorizing their rhythm. As Bael fired a trio directly at him, Eldo dove and rolled behind a scorched pillar, using it for cover.
"Using the field. Excellent," Bael's right head commented.
Eldo's breath came in ragged bursts. "You haven't seen anything yet."
He slipped into his hellfire form, body blazing. Instead of attacking, he focused on manipulating the heat, creating updrafts that pushed a few orbs off their paths. The sudden shift gave him a split-second opening.
Now!
Eldo burst forward, a comet of flame. The orbs converged, but he spiraled between them, his body instinctively following the pattern he'd observed. He closed the distance to Bael, flames swirling around his fists.
Bael's heads smiled as one. "Impressive. But this is only the beginning."
Without warning, Bael unleashed a final wave, the orbs spinning wildly. Eldo gritted his teeth and dove headlong into the chaos, trusting his training—and his instincts—to carry him through.
The arena became a minefield. Bael's energy orbs zipped through the air, crisscrossing in dizzying patterns, while others hovered ominously close to Eldo's ankles. Each movement had to be exact—one misstep, and he'd be blasted off his feet.
Bael's three heads tracked him relentlessly, each voice weaving over the others. "You're adapting... but you're still reactive. Prove you can take control."
Eldo's eyes narrowed. "Fine. You want control? Watch this!"
He let his hellfire flare, not as an attack, but as a shield—a wall of intense heat that warped the air around him. The nearest orbs, destabilized by the sudden surge, wobbled and drifted out of their patterns, creating a fleeting gap.
Bael seized the chance, launching two orbs straight down from above. Eldo dove, rolling hard. One orb grazed his arm, sending a cold shock of pain through his nerves, but he powered through, gritting his teeth.
"Pain is a teacher, young master," Bael's left head said. "But only if you listen."
The purple energy orbs began to spiral inwards, tightening the ring around Eldo. The floor sizzled where the residue landed—his margin for error was gone.
Eldo's mind raced. He watched the orbs' rhythm, the way Bael's hands flicked to control their movement. He realized: each head tracked a different set, but the center controlled the tempo. If he could break the rhythm, even for a second...
He bolted left, then feinted right—drawing the orbs with him. At the last second, he hurled a concentrated stream of hellfire not at Bael, but at the ground, blasting molten glass into the air and obscuring Bael's sightline.
Bael's heads blinked in unison, caught off guard. "What—?"
That was Eldo's chance. He leapt through the cloud of molten shards, enduring the sting, and came down hard in front of Bael. The demon's hands shot up, three voices barking, "Defend!"
Eldo spun, channeling all his hellfire into a single, focused punch. The strike crashed into Bael's chest with a thunderclap of heat and force, sending the demon skidding backwards across the arena. The purple orbs fizzled out, their energy dissipating.
Bael landed on one knee. The three heads looked up, wearing identical grins. "Well done, young master," they said together. "You saw the pattern, you broke the pattern, and you seized the moment. Tactics—adaptability—initiative. You have learned well."
Eldo stood panting, sweat and soot streaking his face, the last of his flames guttering out. "So... you yield?"
Bael straightened, dusting off his chest. "Yield? I am satisfied. You have earned it."
Malachi's applause echoed from the shadows. "Impressive, Eldo. Two of the three elite, bested. Prepare yourself—the final challenge awaits."
Bael gave a respectful nod. "Remember: Strength wins battles. But strategy wins wars."
Eldo managed a shaky smile, pride welling up inside him. "Thanks, Bael. I won't forget."
After a night spent tending bruises and downing bowls of spicy stew, Eldo finally found rest. The obsidian palace was quiet, save for the low crackle of distant fire. When Malachi roused him at dawn, Eldo's muscles ached, but his spirit burned with anticipation.
Only one opponent remained.