THE FALL OF THE DEMON WOLF

Radon unwedged himself from the wall, spitting out blood before using his hand to wipe his mouth as he said, "You mock me, boy. Dropping the offense when you had the advantage will be your last mistake in this tournament."

The crowd fell silent at his words—a warning from an alpha, spoken with such venom.

With that, he charged towards Shu faster than he ever had before, the force behind his speed causing the ground beneath him to shatter. The commentator's voice exploded across the arena: "Here we GO! Radon shifts into high gear—incredible acceleration!"

Shu, on the other hand, just smirked, channeling kantar to his eyes so he could see Radon's kantar flow. The moment Radon started channeling kantar to his left hand, Shu prepared himself to dodge to the right. But to his surprise, Radon switched attacks at the last moment, using his knee to hit Shu's side. The force of the attack knocked Shu away, and a collective gasp rippled through the stands.

"BRUTAL HIT!" the commentator bellowed. "Shu's taken damage—but look at his stance, he's still standing!"

Radon, seeing this, smirked, his sharp fangs on display as he circled around Shu on guard for any surprise attacks. "Did you really think I wouldn't catch on eventually?" he said, his voice carrying across the arena.

The crowd leaned forward, sensing a shift in the match.

"You see," Radon continued, "I was surprised when you could perfectly dodge my attacks when we were moving at relatively equal speeds. So I knew you had to have something giving you the heads up. At first, I thought you were like me—using your ears to hear the movement of my muscles. Then I remembered: you're no wolf. You don't have advanced hearing capabilities. So it had to be something else."

He paused, letting the tension build.

"And then it hit me. You've been reading my kantar flow throughout this whole match. And when I knew the method you used... the way to counter it became easy."

A murmur ran through the crowd—some impressed, some shocked that Radon had adapted so quickly.

Shu, barely standing, gripped his side in pain, putting on a smirk as he said to Radon, "I never thought you'd actually catch on."

Meanwhile, in his head, he thought to himself, *This is bad. Really bad. The whole failsafe thing strained my body. I'm already running low on kantar.*

He observed Radon as the werewolf continued his advance. *Damn it. One of the perks of being a werewolf, I guess—he still has enough kantar to keep fighting for hours on end.*

The commentator's voice crackled with urgency: "Ladies and gentlemen, the tide is TURNING! Radon has figured out Shu's strategy, and look at the energy difference—the young champion is visibly exhausted!"

Radon motioned to give Shu an uppercut. Shu dodged at the last moment on pure instinct, his mind racing. *Should I fuse with my staff?* He quickly dismissed the idea, muttering aloud, "No. I don't have enough kantar to even briefly use the Arcane State to manipulate the staff's properties. And even if I did, the transformation is too draining. At this stage, I won't be able to use it effectively."

Mid-thought, Radon charged at him, and Shu wasn't able to dodge in time. Radon's claws impaled him, piercing straight through his stomach. Shu coughed out blood, feeling the claws sink deep.

The crowd erupted in shocked screams.

"HE'S HIT! DIRECT HIT!" the commentator roared. "Shu's bleeding—this could be it, folks!"

Radon ripped his claws out from Shu's body, his hand drenched in blood as he grinned maniacally. "It's over for you, boy. You had your chance, and you wasted it."

He wiped his claws on the ground to remove some of the blood, turning to face the crowd as if already victorious. Cheers erupted from certain sections—Radon's supporters sensing an upset.

But then Shu's eyes glowed red.

Shu, gritting his teeth, used a portion of his already small kantar reserves to heal himself. He then used his staff to strike the ground, causing the arena to split in half. Extremely hot flames emerged from the cracks, taking humanoid forms as they dashed towards Radon.

"WAIT! HE'S NOT DOWN!" the commentator shouted, his voice rising with excitement. "Elemental constructs! Fire forms—Shu's switching tactics!"

The crowd gasped as the flames advanced on Radon, forcing him to abandon his cocky stance and react.

Hanz, watching from the contestants' block, muttered to himself, "This Radon fellow really makes the werewolves live up to their reputation. I've never seen Shu rely on the elemental powers of the staff before until now. I can't deny I underestimated Radon. I can't even say for sure if Shu's going to win this fight."

Meanwhile, in the arena, while Radon was busy fighting off the fire constructs, Shu had transformed his staff into a hunting knife. He channeled just enough kantar to move fast enough to close the gap between him and Radon. While Radon was still distracted, Shu used the knife to pierce directly through Radon's chest—straight to his heart. Blood splattered everywhere.

"THERE!" Shu yanked out the knife, using it to control the flames. He turned the inferno into a massive ball of fire and hurled it towards Radon, causing a furious explosion that sent Shu himself flying several meters back.

The crowd fell silent. Even the commentator seemed to hold his breath.

When the smoke cleared, Radon was on his left knee, gripping his chest. His body was partially burned, and the wound in his chest was healing slower than usual.

Shu, on the other hand, was barely on his feet. Covered in bruises, he clutched his side, still in pain from Radon's knee attack earlier.

The commentator's voice came through, measured and awed: "Did he... did he just target the heart? The kantar source? This match just shifted DRAMATICALLY!"

Hanz, seeing this, gave a small smile and crossed his arms as he muttered, "The kid's smarter than I give him credit for. He targeted Radon's heart—the kantar source of everything. He's basically evened the playing field. Shu's almost out of kantar, and Radon... since his heart has been stabbed, he can't use kantar efficiently anymore. It all boils down to who will last longer in pure hand-to-hand combat. Shu will have to finish this fast, or Radon will heal again and we'll be back to square one."

The crowd, realizing the stakes, erupted into conflicted cheers—some rooting for Radon's comeback, others electrified by Shu's cunning.

Radon slowly got back up to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth as he made an angry scowl. Shu, seeing this, turned the knife in his hand back into a staff and entered a fighting stance. A smirk formed on his face as he said, "I did good, if I say so myself. Cut off your kantar flow while dealing a mortal wound. So now neither of us has the upper hand."

"BOLD WORDS FROM A BOY BARELY STANDING!" the commentator yelled. "But he's RIGHT! This is a battle of WILL and ENDURANCE now!"

Radon charged towards Shu with punches and kicks, but Shu dodged every single one, landing counter attacks to Radon's sides. He reinforced his legs with kantar and kicked him away, then fired kantar construct spikes at Radon. But Radon, with brute force and precision, deflected all of them.

The two locked into close quarters combat—a desperate, savage exchange. The crowd roared with each exchange, each near-miss, each blocked strike.

Shu eventually leaped away to catch his breath, but Radon, already enraged, pushed forward with offensive fury, leaving Shu only able to block and dodge. Radon then landed a powerful punch on Shu that sent him staggering towards the direction of the kantar spikes scattered across the floor.

"HE'S BEING PUSHED BACK!" the commentator cried. "Can Shu recover?!"

Radon, seeing Shu stumbling, grinned a menacing grin. He quickly grabbed one of the spikes and lunged it towards Shu with killing intent.

But Shu's eyes gleamed with recognition. He grinned as he muttered, "That's a rookie mistake."

He manipulated the kantar construct to turn into dust and controlled the particles, slipping them away from Radon's grasp, Radon's face quickly turned into a face of shock when this happens and In one fluid motion, Shu quickly grabbed another spike from the floor and used it to stab Radon's neck, causing him to fall to the floor in critical condition.

The arena went completely silent.

The crowd, seeing Radon—the great alpha—on the floor with blood gushing from his neck and unable to get up, was in absolute shock. Even the commentator was speechless for several long seconds before he quickly regained himself. He rushed over to Shu, lifting Shu's hand up high as he shouted into the microphone with triumph in his voice:

"THERE YOU HAVE IT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE WINNER OF THIS ROUND OF THE GREAT KALI TOURNAMENT GOES TO... SHUUUUU!"

The crowd EXPLODED. Some in disbelief, some in celebration, but all of them on their feet, the roar shaking the arena itself.