The space between Max and Kaiden folded, and both of them vanished in the same instant.
For a breath, the central stage looked empty. There was no explosion, no flash of golden light, no sword cry, no thunder, and no roaring dragon aura. Yet every true expert watching felt their skin tighten, because the battlefield had not grown calm. It had grown far more dangerous.
The danger had simply left the visible surface of the world and slipped into the hidden layers of space itself.
Then a line appeared in the air. It was not a sword mark. It was a spatial fracture.
Max and Kaiden appeared on opposite sides of that fracture at almost the same moment. Each had one hand raised, and each was using the same basic rhythm of the Void Genesis Art to twist the folded space between them.
The fracture expanded and then collapsed inward, disappearing before it could tear the stage apart. In the next instant, both of them vanished again.
