The moment the gong echoed through the obsidian arena, Karnak vanished.
Not blinked. Not teleported.
Just... ceased to exist in the spot he'd stood.
Leon didn't hesitate. His body was already rotating with a full sweep of Shell Pulse — a technique that created a subtle wavefront of pressure detection around his skin.
Something whispered past his right ear.
Leon ducked, twisted, and his staff clashed against empty air — then was nearly ripped from his hands as Karnak reappeared behind him, pressing a palm of impossible force against Leon's spine.
Crack!
Leon shot forward like a missile, slamming into the arena wall, obsidian fracturing behind him. But his body rolled, adjusted mid-flight, and rebounded like a spring — Shell Reverb igniting as he turned the impact into a brutal spear-thrust of his staff aimed straight at Karnak's core.
Karnak was already gone.
Leon didn't even feel the dodge — it was like the Ant had never existed at all.
