Richard tried to dodge, but Satou's Ancient Dragon's Wisdom predicted the movement. Shadow Mastery placed a tendril of darkness exactly where Richard would be a half-second later. The champion's foot caught on the shadow, throwing off his balance by a fraction.

A fraction was enough.

Void Fang carved through Richard's side, a deep cut that sprayed black blood across the obsidian. The wound was substantial—easily fatal to a normal person. And because of Existence Erasure, it wouldn't heal naturally.

Richard's hand shot out in desperation, Decay radiating from his palm at maximum intensity. The air itself began to die, molecules ceasing to exist in a spreading cone of absolute death.

Satou activated Void Body, his form becoming partially translucent. The Decay touched him but couldn't fully affect something that was only forty percent present in reality. He took damage and his HP dropped by several hundred points, but he didn't die, didn't rot away into nothing.

And his Mythical Regeneration immediately began healing what damage had gotten through, pulling matter from the void itself to replace decayed flesh.

[HP: 7,847/8,500] [Regenerating: +50 HP/second]

Richard's eyes widened in disbelief. "You can regenerate through Decay? That's—that's not possible! Decay prevents regeneration! It's a fundamental property of the ability!"

"Your Decay prevents normal regeneration," Satou corrected, pressing his advantage. "But my regeneration isn't normal. It's Abyssal Regeneration—I pull matter directly from the void to replace damaged tissue. Your Decay deletes existing matter, but I just create new matter to replace it. We're caught in a feedback loop, except..."

He swung Void Fang again, this time aiming for Richard's legs. The champion tried to dodge but he was slower now, his wounded side limiting his mobility.

The blade cut deep into Richard's thigh, nearly severing the leg entirely. More black blood sprayed across the arena floor.

"...except my attacks prevent your healing, while your attacks only slow mine. Which means this fight has a timer, Richard. And it's counting down to your death."

What followed was brutalization.

Satou unleashed ability after ability in overwhelming combination. Metal Manipulation pulled iron from Richard's own blood, using it to create restraining chains. Magma Manipulation heated sections of the floor until they glowed red-hot, forcing Richard to dodge into positions where Satou wanted him. Sound Manipulation created disorienting pulses that threw off Richard's sense of balance.

Crystal Manipulation created jagged spikes that erupted from the floor. Lightning Manipulation called down bolts that Richard had to dodge, each one leaving him more exposed. Shadow Manipulation created clones that attacked from multiple angles simultaneously.

Richard fought back desperately. His Decay intensified, spreading faster, contaminating more of the arena. He pulled out techniques he'd been saving—a pulse of pure Decay that spread in all directions, forcing Satou to retreat; a focused beam of concentrated death that carved through Satou's earth barriers like they were paper; a field of accelerated decay that aged everything in a ten-foot radius by centuries in seconds.

But it wasn't enough.

For every wound Richard inflicted, Satou's regeneration healed it. For every section he contaminated with Decay, Satou cleansed it with dragonfire or simply created new platforms with Earth Manipulation. For every trap he set, Satou's Ancient Dragon's Wisdom predicted it and adjusted.

The fight had turned completely in Satou's favor.

Ten minutes in, Richard was covered in wounds that wouldn't heal. His left arm hung useless, nearly severed by a devastating cut from Void Fang. His leg barely supported his weight. Black blood covered most of his body.

Satou, by contrast, was breathing hard but largely intact. His Regeneration had kept pace with the damage, and his massive stamina reserves enhanced by Dragon's Heart meant he could maintain this pace for hours if needed.

"How?" Richard gasped, backing away from another flurry of strikes. "How are you this strong? The dungeon shouldn't, it's impossible to gain this much power in such short time"

Satou gave Richard no reply and then He activated Dragon's Roar.

The sound that emerged from Satou's throat wasn't human, wasn't even mortal. It was the primal scream of something ancient and terrible, reality-shaking force given voice. The air vibrated with power. The obsidian floor cracked in spreading patterns. Even the lava channels seemed to recoil from the sound.

Richard was caught in the direct blast. His Decay tried to defend him, tried to rot away the sound itself, but sonic force was conceptual, it couldn't be decayed because it wasn't matter, just energy traveling through air.\

Richard was thrown backward, crashing into one of the lava channels. He screamed as the molten rock touched his back, burning through clothing and flesh. He rolled away, desperately pulling himself out, but the damage was severe.

Richard tried to stand and failed. His leg gave out, the wounds too severe. He collapsed onto the decayed section of floor, black blood pooling beneath him.

Satou walked forward slowly, Void Fang held ready. The legendary blade hummed with power, eager to finish this.

"It's over," Satou said. "You fought well, Richard Clay. You are everything Chronus said you were, a master of Decay, a killer of heroes, a champion worthy of respect. But I'm something you've never fought before. I'm someone who refused to accept limits"

He raised Void Fang for the killing blow.

Richard looked up at him with those dead gray eyes, and for the first time, Satou saw actual emotion in them. Not fear, but something like acceptance. "Do it quickly. A warrior's death, at least."

Satou nodded. "You deserve that much."

The blade began to descend—

And then the arena exploded.

An enormous blast of temporal energy erupted from the spectator platforms, hitting Satou like a physical wall. Time itself seemed to fracture around him—he was simultaneously being accelerated forward and slowed down, aged and de-aged, existing in multiple moments at once.

The force of the temporal disruption sent Satou flying backward, his body tumbling through the air before crashing into the far side of the arena hard enough to crack the obsidian beneath him.

[HP: 7,234/8,500] [Status: Temporal Disruption - All abilities reduced by 30% for 10 seconds]

Satou struggled to his feet, his head spinning from the temporal effect. Through blurred vision, he saw a figure descending onto the arena floor, walking calmly toward Richard's fallen form.

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