The Tournament of Gods raged on, a spectacle of power and ambition played out across a thousand deadly arenas.
Battles ended, champions rose and fell, and the trillions watching across the cosmos were glued to the live broadcast, their own hopes and fears mirrored in the struggles of the contestants.
After the first thousand matches, the second wave of matches had begun.
A hush fell over the audience as the name of the next contestant flashed on the cosmic screen: Thorn. But the majestic green dragon did not appear.
Sunny, observing from his high throne, shifted his gaze to his champion's stand. There, amidst the other victorious warriors of Veridia, Thorn remained.
He was still seated cross-legged, his humanoid form radiating an intense, shimmering aura.
The green scales that adorned his hands, chest, and legs pulsed with a light that grew brighter with each passing second, a sign of the profound transformation occurring within him.
