The three of them vanished at once, leaving behind a distortion so deep it carved a wound across the universe. When they reappeared, their clash sent shockwaves through everything holding reality together. Even the void seemed afraid.
Striver barely had time to breathe before a strike hit him, sending him spiraling. His vision rang with pain, but he forced his focus back just as Layla flashed across the battlefield. Her blades sliced three controlled arcs across Ultimate's back, bending space around him just enough to slow the regeneration he always relied on.
Ultimate slid back a few steps. Not out of weakness — more like surprise.
A silent acknowledgment.
His gaze sharpened, analyzing their improvement with cold efficiency.
They're evolving too quickly.
Then he moved — without warning, without mercy.
Striver went for him from behind, but Ultimate shifted like he'd already predicted it. One subtle sidestep, and Striver was pushed directly into Layla's path. The impact knocked the breath out of him. Layla froze, realizing what she had done, and that single heartbeat of hesitation cost her.
Ultimate swept her legs out, fluid and precise. She blocked the follow-up, but he altered the attack mid-motion, grabbed a nearby planet, and hurled it with monstrous force. The impact wasn't brutal — just overwhelming — and sent her tumbling through the void.
Before she could recover, he seized her by the hair, pulling her through collapsing space and slamming her toward the burning surface of a star. The light flared, drowning them both, and a chain of rapid strikes shook the star until it destabilized and exploded. The shockwave sent her flying.
Striver caught her, arms trembling. Layla's body was already healing, but seeing her fall pushed something sharp through his chest — anger and fear mixing until they almost felt the same.
Then the battlefield shifted.
Dozens… no, hundreds… then thousands of black and white holes bloomed around Ultimate in a perfectly controlled sphere. Striver didn't hesitate. A star ignited in his hand, hotter and brighter than anything he'd formed before — a reflection of his desperation — and he hurled it.
It vanished into a black hole.
Re-emerged from a white hole behind Ultimate.
He dodged.
So it came from another angle.
Then another.
Then another — each attack faster, smarter, adapting to every movement he made.
The hits finally landed, rapid and clean. Even Ultimate's regeneration struggled to keep up as the barrage surrounded him.
Still… he didn't look worried.
"Better," he said quietly. "But not good enough."
The words chilled Striver more than the attack itself.
Then Ultimate shrank — condensed — folding his own form into a black hole with impossible precision. He slipped through space, reappearing through a light hole behind Striver, and the entire attack cycle collapsed.
Striver froze.
He shouldn't be able to do that… he shouldn't…
Instinct screamed at him, but so did something deeper — the part of him that refused to give up. His power surged on its own, flowing through his body like liquid fire, repairing the damage and urging him to stand.
He charged again.
He created a black hole designed to explode into new worlds, but Ultimate simply caught it, strengthened it, and turned it against him in a single motion that defied reaction. The explosion wiped out everything around them. Striver drifted in silence, struggling to remain conscious.
Layla forced herself up, one hand on her head, her breathing uneven.
"Why are you doing this?" she shouted into the darkness. "What's your purpose?"
Ultimate stopped moving.
For a brief second, something flickered in his eyes — a shadow of memory, of humanity, of something he used to be.
"I don't remember."
Layla's heart clenched.
He's drowning in his own power… and losing himself…
Then he vanished again.
His voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
"Next time, I won't hold back."
Silence fell — thick, cold, endless.
The stars were gone. The planets gone. Their entire battleground erased.
Layla drifted downward onto her knees, exhaustion overtaking her, strength slipping from her hands.
"I'm tired…" she whispered, letting herself fall into the dark.