While the fiery apparition vacillated before it, Leviathan shrank back from the searing heat and curled in on itself. Its immense, azure, slick body prepared to strike. The unbelievable sinews of its neck stretched as the moment neared. A low howl emanated from its cavernous gullet while its jaw opened to reveal huge, hideous teeth, capable of cleaving the flesh of even the largest whales. Noxious breath wafted from its mouth and dissipated into the open stadium. Venomoth burned on above the arena, like a fallen angel…

The attack came quickly. Without any warning, the entire wave of power cascaded off the moth and into a rushing channel of raw energy. The raging beam flashed from its source and erupted with unimaginable force toward Leviathan. The attack coursed through the air like a dying comet and detonated an area of the battle stage the size of a basketball court.

A deafening roar accompanied a shock wave which knocked Danvers, the referee, and myself off our feet and made the audience in the lowest section spill their drinks. The terrible blast threw a massive, blinding blanket of dirt and debris into the sky, obscuring any view of the battle. I couldn’t see what had happened, and Leviathan hadn’t made a sound. I hoped this had worked…

Venomoth hovered nervously above the opaque cloud of sand. The crowd was silent. No banners waved, no signs were thrust forward. Flags, blown backward from the shock wave, hung motionless. Nothing moved. The sinking sun refracted off the curtain of debris and rippled in waves of light. The stadium was deathly still.

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