With a muffled boom, Jordan slammed into the ground, sending dust flying.
Gritting through the pain, he swiftly reached back for Solomon, trying to break free and counterattack at close range.
Solomon moved cleanly, locking down his neck with one hand and precisely catching his retaliating arm with the other. A textbook restraint took shape in an instant, pinning Jordan firmly to the ground without the slightest room to move.
Golden Boy, who had been driven back two steps by the energy pulse, immediately rushed to help. Flames roiled around his hands, and a torrent of scorching fire erupted, sweeping toward Solomon in a sea of flames in an attempt to force him back and rescue his teammate.
Blazing waves of heat surged, but Solomon never budged, letting the flames burn his body and completely ignoring the attack.
He held Jordan firmly until oxygen deprivation sapped his strength and left him utterly unable to struggle. Only then did he casually fling Jordan straight out of the arena.
At that point, the noisy battlefield finally fell quiet, leaving only Golden Boy Luke and Solomon facing each other.
Luke gazed at the gap amid the sea of flames, his eyes filled with helplessness and shock.
The flames he unleashed with all his strength were like an itch to his opponent. They could not even breach his defenses, much less inflict any meaningful damage.
Left with no other choice, he withdrew his ranged flames, gritted his teeth, and accelerated into a charge, intending to stake everything on his physical strength in close combat.
But the gulf between their strengths was already vast.
In fewer than three moves, Solomon had taken complete control of the fight. Luke was caught firmly in a chokehold, and as his brain was deprived of oxygen, his vision went