[The Northern Mountain Stadium]
The clash of golden and purple auras was suddenly silenced by a roar that didn't come from a throat, but from the very atoms of the atmosphere igniting. Every person on the planet felt it—a mana spike so massive it registered as a heatwave across every sensor in the System.
"I know that signature," Gudmaro whispered, his smirk widening as he looked into the sky. "A mana level like a funeral pyre. The true phoenix has returned."
A streak of blinding, crimson fire tore through the clouds, descending with the weight of a falling moon. A Phoenix of pure, dense flame slammed into the obsidian arena directly in front of Gudmaro.
The impact was cataclysmic. The obsidian rock, designed to withstand God-tier strikes, began to glow and liquefy. The air turned into a shimmering wall of heat that forced Techyon to slide back, his arms crossed over his face just to protect his eyes from the radiance.
"Even my space warping can't reflect this!" Lapis yelled over the roar of the flames, his barriers flickering and cracking. "It's not just power... it's like we're standing inside the core of the sun!"
The flames condensed, swirling inward until they formed the silhouette of a woman. Cynthia stood there, her skin glowing, her eyes two miniature neutron stars.
"Cynthia," Gudmaro said calmly, the heat not even singeing his dark wings. "I appreciate the entrance, but you have to wait. I was just about to show Yoru the meaning of true perfection."
Cynthia didn't even look at him. She stared at Yoru. "Yoru, get back. I've reached a level beyond your thoughts. I'm going to deal with this monster fast. If I let him live any longer, he'll just find a way to adapt to this heat."
Gudmaro let out a dry chuckle. "Go back, little bird. Wait for your turn. I promise I will kill you too, but Yoru is the main course. I want to see her despair first."
Cynthia's hand ignited, the gravity around her fist beginning to warp. She was about to lung, but a cold, steady hand landed on her shoulder.
"Cynthia," Yoru said, stepping forward until she was between the Phoenix and the God. Her golden aura flared, pushing back against Cynthia's white-hot heat with the sheer force of her will. "Get back. This is my fight. I am one of the Z Elite, and I will be the one to break him."
Cynthia huffed, her red-hot aura dimming just enough to let the obsidian floor stop melting. "Fine. Step into your grave, Yoru. But try your best—if you can't beat him, I'm going to incinerate him until there isn't an atom left for him to adapt with."
She stepped out of the ring, her presence still vibrating the air. Techyon found himself staring at her, his heart hammering against his ribs. He wanted to reach out, to say the name they shared in another life, but the words felt like lead in his throat.
Cynthia caught his gaze and tilted her head arrogantly. "Young boy, why are you looking at me? I think it's obvious why—I am the only Z+ Rank adventurer on Earth now. But focus on the fight, not on me. You might learn something if you don't blink."
Techyon looked away, gritting his teeth. If only you knew...
Yoru lowered her center of gravity, her hands forming the claw-like grip of her signature style. "So. Let's start."
Gudmaro didn't even shift his stance. "I am not waiting."
[The Duel: Second 0.001]
The world vanished.
In just a single millisecond, the sound of a million thunderclaps merged into one continuous, deafening roar. They weren't just running; they were clashing millions of times in the space between heartbeats. The obsidian arena began to disintegrate into dust from the sheer friction of their movement.
"They... they're gone!" Alya gasped, her eyes darting wildly.
"They're just too fast," Lapis added, his sweat evaporating before it could even leave his skin. "We can't even see the afterimages anymore."
Cynthia stood with her arms crossed, her eyes tracking the invisible chaos. "Slow," she muttered under her breath.
In the center of the ring, space itself began to tear. Yoru and Gudmaro were using short-range Teleportation to hit each other from angles that shouldn't exist. Yoru flickered behind Gudmaro and drove a concentrated mana-punch directly into his stomach.
The shockwave sent a crack through the entire mountain.
Gudmaro didn't even flinch. He pivoted, his hand blurred into a deadly strike aimed at her throat. Yoru dropped instantly, falling toward the arena floor. Just as her back was about to touch the ground, she planted her palms, used the momentum of her fall to pivot, and launched a double-kick into Gudmaro's chest.
BOOM.
Gudmaro caught the kick, but the force pushed him back an inch. He countered with a heavy punch to Yoru's side, but simultaneously, Yoru's heel connected squarely with his jaw.
The two forces repelled each other, and both fighters skidded back to opposite sides of the arena, leaving deep trenches in the obsidian.
Yoru wiped a thin trail of blood from her lip, her golden aura burning brighter than ever. "If the warm-up is over... can we start the real fight?"
Gudmaro adjusted his neck, a dark, hungry light in his eyes. "Obviously."
Gudmaro looked down at the cracks spider-webbing through the obsidian floor. "I should make a barrier domain around here. I don't think this planet will survive even one of our serious clashes. It would be a shame to destroy the prize before the fight is won."
Yoru stood her ground, her golden aura humming like a high-voltage wire. "I was only using 2% of my power, and the entire world was still shaking. For once, we agree. Make the barrier."
Gudmaro raised his hand, his fingers twisting in the air as if pulling invisible strings. Space began to ripple and fold, turning translucent and hard as diamond. With a final surge of violet energy, a massive Space Warping Barrier slammed down, encasing the entire battlefield in a pocket dimension.
Lapis felt the air get pulled from his lungs. "That... that monster is using my ability!" he shouted, his eyes wide with horror. "He didn't just adapt to my space warping... he perfected it!"
"It's better now," Gudmaro said, his voice now echoing with a strange, metallic resonance inside the dome. "Now I can stop holding back."
He held out his palm. A single, tiny sphere of swirling orange light appeared above his fingertips. It didn't glow like fire; it seemed to eat the light around it, vibrating with a sound that made Techyon's teeth ache.
"Antimatter Technique: Orange."
The atmosphere inside the barrier screamed as the laws of physics began to break down.