The sky was gray.
Rain fell quietly over the arena.
The audience held their breath.
Kashikari walked forward—silent. His steps echoed like fractured time, each one heavy, deliberate.
His opponent, Zeyrion Ardent, known as the "Illusion Monarch," legend of light and time manipulation, controlled both simultaneously. His power bent reality itself.
Zeyrion smiled, mocking.
"Kashikari Lior… the child who shakes balance."
Kashikari didn't respond.
"Today, everyone will watch you. And when you fall… your name will leave a mark in history."
Kashikari raised his eyes slightly.
"History will remember silence, not me."
Zeyrion vanished instantly.
Screams erupted from the stands.
A flash of light shattered the arena, scattering illusions.
Hundreds of Zeyrions appeared around Kashikari—all illusions, attacking from every angle.
Kashikari closed his eyes.
"Slowing."
Time itself seemed to choke.
Every movement dragged, twisted, stalled.
The illusions wavered, then shattered.
Only the real Zeyrion remained.
Kashikari drew his sword.
Voidblade pulsed with gray light, as if feeding on the veins of time itself.
With a single strike, half the arena split apart.
Zeyrion leapt back, fear flashing across his face for the first time.
"This… this blade… what is this!?"
"Silence that cuts everything."
Zeyrion gritted his teeth.
He raised his hands.
The sky cracked above them.
Hundreds of light chains hurled toward Kashikari.
His aura shimmered, gray and protective.
Bodyguard Aura activated.
The chains struck the aura—and shattered into nothing.
But a smile remained on Zeyrion's face.
"I'll break that aura too!"
Kashikari planted the blade in the ground.
"Jinwi… guide me."
"The path is yours, Kashikari."
In a blink, he vanished.
The walls of dimension bent and fractured.
At a speed even Zeyrion's eyes couldn't follow, Kashikari appeared behind him.
"Momentum Fold."
A gray flash struck the back of Zeyrion's neck.
But Kashikari didn't kill him.
The sword withdrew, leaving only the scent of blood.
Zeyrion dropped to his knees.
But light suddenly erupted around him—a trap.
"I will obliterate you, Lior!" he shouted.
Kashikari whispered calmly.
"You are wrong."
His hand rose.
Annihilation Pulse Plus activated.
All light stopped for a heartbeat.
Then withdrew.
Vanishing into nothingness.
No explosion—only silence.
So quiet the audience could hear their own hearts.
Zeyrion's attack was gone.
But gray energy leaked from Kashikari's shoulder—mana erosion.
Jinwi's voice cautioned:
"You've used too much."
"Then I must finish it."
Zeyrion rose again, bloodshot eyes blazing.
"I won't yield so easily!"
Voidblade pulsed in Kashikari's hand.
The sky darkened.
Gray symbols spread across the ground.
Omni-Dimensional Strike.
Reality fractured into three planes at once.
Zeyrion was forced to fight in three different dimensions simultaneously.
One echoing the past.
One echoing the present.
One echoing the silence of the future.
Kashikari fought in all three simultaneously.
Three Kashikaris.
One breath.
Empty eyes stared at him.
"This… what power is this…"
Kashikari whispered.
"The echo of Jinwi."
Voidblade flared one last time.
Zeyrion's illusions vanished.
The arena floor collapsed with a flash of light.
Kashikari fell to his knees.
Rain hit his face.
Zeyrion lay on the ground, unconscious but alive.
The referee could barely announce.
Silence had become the voice of victory.
Then a shout erupted from the stands:
"WINNER: KAI LIOR!"
The crowd rose to their feet, cheering.
But Kashikari didn't react.
Only lifted his eyes, searching for Nyari.
Their gazes met.
She was crying.
Kashikari whispered a single word:
"Not finished."
After leaving the arena, Jinwi spoke again.
This time, a deep, echoing, icy tone.
"Balance… has changed."
Kashikari continued walking.
Through the rain.
For the first time, even Jinwi remained silent.