"AM I DREAMING!? KYOYA'S MADE A STATEMENT, HE TOOK LYRIC'S FINISHER LIKE A CHAMP, CATCHING HER STAFF BETWEEN HIS TEETH! I'M LOSING IT!" Rory shattered the silence that befell them, eruptions of cheer booming from every last seat in the arena.

"I TOLD YOU LOT THIS KID WAS NO JOKE! HERE'S TO A BRAWL FOR THE BOOKS, BABY!" Ryder wasted no time in tailing him, now quite possibly even more excited than the Peaceful Pacifier. Alexandria and Altar maintained their losses of words, but Solitaire's face spelled something entirely different.

"There's no doubt about it..."

The Miscreant's eyes locked onto her, this comment being one he'd have to see for himself.

"He's up there with her, alright."

Kyoya then flipped his gaze to a stupefied Seraph, who's wavering grip and mile-wide eyes gave him all he needed to know that the momentum was his to take.

Now, he had to put on a show of his own.

The sensation of his teeth sharpening and grinding against honed metal was unmistakable. With a gut-wrenching crunch, he snapped off whatever of the staff was in his mouth, a vicious shockwave coming from such powerful magic being severed. Once that was gone, he spat the shards of metal to his side.

Lyric quickly broke away with the wave and returned to a neutral stance some ten meters back.

"To think you'd pull something so stupid... And have it work." She rattled the weapon his way as though waving a stick at a dog, ripped and ravaged tears in the frame restoring from materialized lightning. "That just makes my blood boil."

A fang peeked from his smirk, the Miscreant's defiance a hallmark of tenacity.

"My blood might not be boiling..." He shook out his knuckles, then cracked his neck. "But I know sure as hell it's pumping, now."

A looming shadow of roaring cerulean flames manifested, slowly shaping into his form. It found the shape of free-flying embers, dancing into place as a burning mural painted itself in his wake.

Amidst the boy was the smoldering visage of a Dragon, glorious blazes testifying to the likeness of a beast long forgotten.

"What's this about? It looks like some sort of Drake has manifested around Kyoya! Is this a party trick, or something bigger!?" Shouted the towering knight. The Miscreant in question was more than happy to correct that mistake.

"Not quite." The fire that made up the image burned out and surged back into Kyoya's body, re-forming his claws and morphing the rest into a single forward-facing horn where the blue section of his hair laid. "Just like you've got your staff, I've also got a little buddy who tags in when the going gets tough. Mine's called the Outburst Dragon."

Lyric dug her heels in.

"Y-you... You're bluffing! The Dragons died out ages ago!"

"That might be right, but who's to say some don't linger?" Kyoya cast a look to Alexandria, the princess offering her take on the events unfolding.

"As much as I want to be a skeptic, I can't find any other explanation..."

She trailed off, but Ryder was very clearly too invested to let her leave anything unsaid.

"An explanation for what? That was a pretty serious claim he just made-"

"It was a claim that he knows can't be refuted."

There was no way to have known that King Altar would be the next to speak. His statement put any doubts to rest, following with an observation of his own. "The energy flowing through him at this very moment carries an unquestionable presence... There's no mistaking it: his flame heralds magic imbued with traces of a Dragon."

Attention was then re-focused on the pair of combatants.

"No freakin' way..." The Seraph clutched her staff. Though, not a single bit of her said fright or nervousness to the boy. She was something more than excited, now.

He found it fitting.

"Whaddya say we do one more... Winner takes all."

"Dragon or not... I'd say you're barkin' up the wrong tree."

"I've made it this far, haven't I?"

"Big freakin' whoop..." Lyric gritted her teeth, a thousand-yard stare preluding the inevitable climax. "NOW GIMME ALL YOU GOT, BLUE!"

The Seraph initiated her assault first, speed outclassing her previous numbers by miles as a flurry of swings ensued. His scorching guard fought off her frenzy one hit after the next, a continuous battery against his forearms leaving absolutely zero room to withdraw from the exchange.

Kyoya's evasion of one particular attempt put her in a perfect position to follow with a downward diagonal swipe, leaving him no room to try any cards. She made her move and took a ferocious swing, but a grinning Miscreant let the staff graze the length of his arm and returned a punch with meteoric force to her shoulder, finally knocking the weapon out of her grasp.

He followed up with a dashing uppercut, but the staff reappeared in her hands and allowed a hasty block that blew them both back several feet.

"Dunno what I expected, I couldn't keep that thing off you if it meant life and death."

"The Advent Glaive isn't something that I can just lose, newbie. It's a Masterwork: weapons unique to the Legends that choose their suitors and stick with them for life. Don't treat it like some kind of stick!" Lyric re-engaged with a spiraling kick, nailing his forearm in an attempted block. The recoil allowed her to bounce back and spring off the staff again, this time warping it back to her hands and breaking his guard, sending him reeling backward.

She stabbed her weapon into the ground once more, then swung back off of it and rocketed toward a nigh-defenseless Miscreant. But, this position was one he knew all too well.

"I SAID I WASN'T KIDDIN' AROUND, EITHER!" Kyoya charged forward and grabbed hold of her attacking foot, reversing the momentum and throwing his whole body to slam the Seraph into the ground. She sprung out of the rubble, but a stomp from the young Dragon sent pillars of flame to chase her into the air. "HELLRAISER ROAR!" On command, the pillars were joined by a net of flaming cores, which erupted into massive geysers that traced her attempts to evade, all hitting their mark.