The Abyssal Vortex's pull deepened, the air compressing in on itself. Snake's phantom form loomed over the stadium, its massive coils twisting in a spiral of black steel and green fire, eyes locked on Golem like prey about to be devoured.
But Gideon didn't flinch. If anything, the smirk returned to his lips.
Gideon eyes were sharp with focus. "Alright, rookie. Let's see how your serpent handles a mountain."
His voice snapped upward into a battle cry.
"Stonewall Impact!"
The shift was immediate. The moment the words left his mouth, Golem's spinning form slowed just slightly — not because it was losing power, but because something far heavier was awakening. A deep rumble rolled out from the stadium floor, like distant thunder trapped beneath the ground.
From the center of his bey's position, the phantom of Golem erupted upward.
The spirit was immense — a towering humanoid form forged entirely from jagged, dark-purple crystal and stone. Every edge gleamed with a razor-sharp sheen, shards jutting from its shoulders and arms like natural armor. Its head was crowned with angular spikes, the faceless visage exuding sheer weight and authority. As it took shape, tiny chips of stone broke off its body and crumbled into dust, only for new shards to grow instantly in their place.
A deep violet light pulsed from within its core, centered in the middle of its chest. The glow bled through the cracks in its crystal body, pulsing in time with Golem's rotation in the stadium.
The moment the spirit stood to its full height, the stadium floor seemed to groan under its imagined weight.
The vortex still pulled, but now, instead of being drawn helplessly inward, the Golem's stance widened, bracing itself against the unseen drag. Its arms lifted slowly, each movement deliberate, heavy, like the shifting of tectonic plates.
And then it moved.
One step forward — and the ground cracked beneath it.
Snake's phantom lowered its head, eyes narrowing into predatory slits, coils tightening their spin. With a sharp whip of its body, it lunged, massive jaws open, fangs glinting with green energy.
But the Golem met it head-on.
Its right arm shot upward in a brutal arc, colliding with Snake's phantom body. The impact didn't stop the serpent — instead, it wrapped around the crystal titan's arm, using its own momentum to coil upward along the length of the Golem's torso.
The visuals blurred with movement — snake and golem locked together, their respective powers grinding against each other. Snake's coils tightened like iron bands, each loop exuding the pull of the vortex, trying to crush inward. But with every tightening, jagged shards along Golem's body dug in, slicing against the serpent's shadowy form, slowing its constriction.
The green glow of Snake's eyes flared brighter, met by the deep violet pulse in Golem's core. For a moment, it looked like the two titans were locked in a perfect stalemate — predator and mountain, each unyielding.
Then, Gideon's voice rang out again, sharper than before.
"Now!"
The violet light within Golem's chest exploded in brightness, shooting lines of energy through every crack in its body. The crystal giant's arms locked around Snake's coiling body, its jagged hands gripping like a vice.
The phantom battle mirrored perfectly on the stadium floor — the real beyblades grinding in a storm of sparks, the sound of metal on metal ringing sharp and loud.
Snake's coils squeezed tighter, and the air pressure spiked — but Golem didn't try to break free. It planted its massive legs into the ground, its entire body bracing against the serpent's pull. And then, the core in its chest shifted.
A sudden wave of violet energy surged outward, compressing into a single point just above its chest. The glow condensed until it was almost blinding, the surrounding air trembling under the force gathering there.
And then, the world seemed to snap.
From the Golem's chest, a beam of pure violet light shot upward — thick, solid, and impossibly bright. It tore through the air like a pillar connecting the stadium to the sky itself, edged with jagged, crackling arcs of raw energy.
The light didn't just illuminate; it carved shadows into everything around it, the glare forcing even nearby spectators to shield their eyes.
Within the beam's glare, Snake's phantom form twisted, the black scales shimmering under the violet assault. The serpent's body arched high, almost lifting from the Golem's hold, but its coils refused to break, tightening even as the light scorched its edges.
The clash between them became a spectacle of raw energy — the black vortex spiraling upward into the green-eyed serpent's form, while the crystal titan stood locked in place, channeling the full force of the Stonewall Impact skyward.
For a heartbeat, neither side gave an inch. The vortex churned, dragging against the pull of the beam, while the beam split through the center of the maelstrom, refusing to be swallowed.
The air itself felt alive, electric, vibrating in time with the collision of forces. Dust from the stadium floor lifted and swirled around them, drawn into the violent currents of energy. The ground beneath both beys trembled with each passing second.
And still — neither moved back.
Snake's green eyes glowed brighter, fangs bared as if the phantom itself was resisting with every ounce of will. The Golem's violet core pulsed harder, sending arcs of energy ripping through the beam like cracks of lightning.
It wasn't just a battle of beyblades anymore. It was a struggle of two wills, neither willing to yield.
The beam roared louder, the vortex spun faster.
And then — just for a moment — the clash seemed to reach its peak.
The violet pillar flared to its brightest, stabbing into the clouds overhead. Snake's coils constricted to their tightest, the vortex narrowing into a pitch-black funnel around the Golem's crystal form.
The next second would decide everything.