The final eight bronze hounds in Floor One were launching their end-post assault against the surviving students at the northern gate.
The potion-made fire bowls flared with dying green flame as the arena reached its climactic execution cycle. High above the chamber, the hundred-ring bronze pocket watch ticked with an ear-splitting chime, signaling that the first trial tier was about to conclude its active execution window. The air was choking with greasy soot and sulfur.
FRAME CYCLE: 23 [T-MINUS 12 MS TO REFRESH HITCH]
“Get ready, Tie Shan!” Lin Tao called out from the void, his test eye locked onto the dropping frame timer. “Three... Two... One... JUMP!”
Tie Shan exploded backward.
With four hundred pounds of dense muscle and hardened bone behind the leap, the big man drove his boots down and hurled his entire physical mass backward into the unrendered corner seam.
At that exact heartbeat, Lin Tao threw his entire weight onto the outside posture wedge, applying over five hundred foot-pounds of turning force to the protruding pry-bar.
SCREEECH!
