Miss Dophl did not fall easily.
Even after Greshina's fans had struck her joints, throat, ribs and spine, she remained standing. Her durability was absurd.
Each slice from the ribs of Greshina's war fans were incredibly strong. The metal should have severed muscle. Instead, it left shallow lines. Miss Dophl wiped a streak of blood from the corner of her lip and examined it like a curiosity.
"You're holding back."
Greshina rotated one fan in her hand.
"I'm not using anything special. Just these. And yes, I'm holding back a lot. I don't need to do more."
Miss Dophl's smile faded. The next second, her stance changed. A straight punch went straight for Greshina. Greshina crossed her fans to intercept, causing a shockwave to fracture the infinite stone beneath them in a spider web pattern that extended for several meters. Before the debris even settled, Miss Dophl stepped in, using her left elbow to land a hit.
Greshina twisted aside but the follow-up knee drove upward, striking her abdomen. Greshina slid back several meters. She exhaled slowly as she touched her stomach.
She didn't feel a thing.
Miss Dophl did not relent. She did a spinning backfist that caught Greshina across the temple and launched her across the arena. When the dust cleared, Greshina stood upright in the center of a crater, completely unharmed. She rolled her shoulders once.
Miss Dophl vanished and reappeared directly behind her with axe kick. The strike landed. A fissure tore across part of the endless arena, dividing it in two. For a moment, the shockwave was all that existed.
When it faded, Greshina stood there, still unharmed. She brushed a piece of fractured stone from her sleeve.
"You're done warming up, I assume."
Miss Dophl's attacked again but faster this time. A barrage of strikes blurred into afterimages. Her fists hammered into Greshina's body. Her knees drove into ribs. Her elbows cut for joints. Each hit was strong enough to destroy a building and yet, Greshina only blocked. The fans never left her hands. She wasn't even serious.
Finally, she sighed.
"Alright."
Miss Dophl lunged again and froze. Thin lines appeared across her body. One appeared across her collarbone, three across her abdomen and dozens along her arms. More emerged across her thighs.
Miss Dophl staggered. Her legs buckled and she dropped to one knee, staring down at herself in disbelief. Greshina snapped one fan closed and rested it against her shoulder.
"I analyzed your technique. You alter your weight every third sequence. Your left shoulder moves before high-impact strikes. You're very predictable."
Miss Dophl coughed. Blood splattered across the stone.
"You—"
Greshina cracked her neck to one side.
"You really are dumb. What's your name, by the way?"
The question seemed to offend her more than the wounds. Miss Dophl's expression twisted in fury.
"My name is Dophl you dumb arrogant bitch!"
Her body convulsed. Flesh tore and reformed. Her frame expanded grotesquely, stretching upward until she towered nearly fifteen meters high. Three heads split from her shoulders, each crowned with black horns. Rows of serrated fangs lined each maw. Her skin hardened into scaled armor.
She was now a God-Ranked Creature.
The beast roared, causing all three voices to overlap in a sound that distorted the air itself.
"That's it?"
The creature charged. Each step collapsed the fractured terrain beneath its mass. A colossal clawed fist swung down. The impact generated a shockwave so violent that the entire arena shattered like glass beneath it. Dust swirled slowly downward. When visibility returned, Greshina stood exactly where she had been without a scratch or bruise.
She adjusted her grip on her fan.
"You're incredibly weak."
The three heads snarled and lunged again. One bit downward. Another glared at her. The third unleashed a concentrated blast of dark energy from its maw. However, she was fine. In fact, she looked mildly inconvenienced.
"The entire time, your hits felt like a child throwing a tantrum."
The beast roared in rage. Greshina glanced at her own hand as if reconsidering something.
"Honestly, I don't even know why I was angry."
She raised her fan.
All three heads separated cleanly from the massive body. The fifteen-meter creature did not fall.
It vaporized instantly the second all three heads were decapitated. It was reduced to nothing by the sheer force differential of the cut.
Above them, the Omniscient's voice resonated through the infinite realm.
"Victory acknowledged. Greshina Emberforge has fulfilled the conditions of the trial. She is hereby granted the title, Split of Death."
Greshina flicked her fan closed.
"This is seriously underwhelming."
The arena had barely settled from Greshina's display when Dilasyus leaned slightly toward his son.
"You noticed it?"
It wasn't a question.
Veneri didn't look away from the fading remnants of vapor where the three-headed beast had ceased to exist.
"Yes, I did."
Dilasyus folded his arms. "Hoh? Explain."
Veneri exhaled through his nose, almost amused.
"Spheraphasians are absurdly strong."
A few of the surrounding Splits glanced at him. He lifted his hand casually. A shard of sapphire materialized above his palm. He tossed it upward. The crystal rose but it fell slowly. It descended at roughly half the speed they were used to. Veneri watched it drop, then caught it easily.
"The gravity here is much lighter. Spheraphase's gravity is monstrously heavy. Everything there weighs more."
He flicked the sapphire again and let it hover before dissolving it into particles of light.
"That means our bones are denser. Our muscles adapt to constant resistance. So when one of us steps into a realm like this, it's basically a vacation. She probably didn't feel anything at all when fighting."
Across the infinite arena, Greshina snapped her fan closed and looked vaguely bored. She was teleported back to the other Splits.
The Omniscient's presence was felt once again.
"Vastarael, you are next. Dear Primordials, who among you would test him?"
The Primordials stood in their abstract thrones beyond form and dimension. To e everyone's amazement, none of them spoke. The Splits began murmuring quietly.
Even the Omniscient hesitated.
"No one?"
There was confusion among the thrones.
This had never happened before. That's when Veneri raised his hand. Everyone went silent as they see his motion. The Omniscient realized the intention behind it.
"You may speak."
Veneri stepped forward, clearing his throat lightly as if addressing a council meeting rather than beings who governed foundational forces of reality. He turned toward the Primordials.
"It's good to see you again. Earlier when we first met, I couldn't see all your faces. Well, except for you, Existence Primordial."
A few heads tilted. The Existence Primordial did not have a face at all. There was only a vast, shifting void where features should be. The others did possess faces. When Veneri's gaze landed on one in particular, he lifted a hand and waved at the Time Primordial.
"Did you really have to call me out like this? You all approved me after the First Epoch Cycle ended so why here?"
The Omniscient's tone dripped.
"It is disrespectful to address the Primordials in such a manner."
Veneri shrugged.
"It's fine. We go way back. Though I'm curious. Why does no one want to test me? Is it because I already surpassed your achievements?"
The Splits stared at him like he had just challenged the universe itself to a duel. One of the Primordials leaned forward. The Creation Primordial manifested fully.
He appeared as a tall, impossibly handsome male with white, glowing skin that radiated soft luminescence. Long, radiant blue hair moved even though there was no wind. When he spoke, his voice carried warmth and finality.
"He is correct."
The realm went dead quiet.
"He has already proven himself as a Split."
Murmurs broke out instantly. Creation raised his, silencing the noise without force.
"However, there is a matter of unprecedented nature."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the Time Primordial.
"There has never been a Time Split since the universe was born. Existence Splits have arisen across eons. Even when our sister grew distant, they continued to exist."
At that, the Existence Primordial turned slightly toward him. Creation didn't seem bothered.
"But Time has never chosen a Split. He is the first. Many below us desired that he be tested. They wanted validation and a public demonstration of worth. But we cannot the deny reality."
He gestured subtly toward the Time Primordial.
"The one who governs Time chose him correctly. In truth, they are quite similar in disposition. He was judged before. His case was presented at the end of the First Epoch Cycle and won."
A shockwave of disbelief rippled through the Splits. He won against Primordial judgment?
"There is no need to test him again. Vastarael is officially acknowledged as the Split of Time. And he always will be."
A subtle tremor ran through existence itself, as if the timeline had just solidified around that truth. Creation turned his gaze toward the Omniscient.
"Proceed."
The Omniscient inclined its presence in acknowledgment.
"Let it be recorded that all present candidates have been judged and affirmed. Every Split gathered here is now officially declared."