A hush fell over the arena, as if time itself had paused. Only a gentle breeze whispered around Sylphia.
"Wo... WOW!" the commentator broke the silence. "What... what is this? One of the participants has entered the arena and stopped the match!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BITCH?!" Velissa yelled, her face flushed with fury.
The referee snapped to attention, eyes sharp on Sylphia. "Verin! What is the meaning of this? Aren't you afraid of being eliminated?!"
Sylphia hopped down from the spear and bowed slowly toward the referee. "I apologize for this violation. I will—"
The referee raised his hand, interrupting calmly. "Not that. Look at my leg. Can you thaw it?"
Sylphia glanced at the referee's frozen left leg, expression unmoved. "Oh, right. Sorry." She withdrew her spear.
In an instant, the ice freezing part of the arena receded, absorbed back into the spear as if it were the source all along.
Meanwhile, Velissa lowered her head, fists clenched, body trembling.
