The landscape that had once been an arena was now nothing more than a memory carved into devastation. Where tiered stone seating had stood for millennia, there were only fragments scattered across an area spanning half a mile.
The ground itself had been cleaved in multiple directions, creating chasms that dropped into darkness, revealing underground layers that hadn't seen light in eons.
It had become a huge pit, like a perfectly crafted well. River water seeping out of the crater walls, pooling down below.
The air around the combat zone was visibly distorted, warping like heat shimmer but far more extreme. Reality itself seemed uncertain in the space where their powers collided, creating afterimages and phantom echoes of movements that had already concluded.
Jorghan and El'ran stood perhaps fifty yards apart, both breathing heavily now, their forms still radiating power that made the space between them dangerous to occupy.
