Neither of them moved.
The wind had returned to the arena.
It passed between the shattered rocks.
And carried with it the dust left behind by the previous attacks.
Anderson stood at one end of the arena.
The spear in his hand.
And his breathing was no longer as steady as it had been at the beginning of the battle.
As for Alji...
He stood on the opposite side.
His long black hair moved slowly.
And his eyes were fixed on his opponent.
But this time...
He was not looking at his body.
Nor at the spear.
He was looking at something Anderson could not see.
The future.
Only a few seconds.
Fragmented.
Incomplete.
But he saw enough.
He saw Anderson charge.
He saw the spear move.
He saw his own body retreat.
Then...
He saw something else.
A point.
A brief moment.
In which everything changed.
Alji opened his eyes fully.
And said:
"Your ability is over."
Anderson tightened his grip on the spear.
He did not deny it.
Nor did he appear panicked.
Instead, he smiled.
A small smile.
"It may be over."
He raised the spear.
"But I'm not."
Silence filled the arena.
Then...
He charged.
Anderson's foot tore into the ground.
And his body surged forward.
The spear moved.
But Alji did not retreat.
For the first time...
He advanced toward him.
The two crossed paths in the middle of the arena.
The first spear strike came toward his chest.
Alji shifted.
The blade passed beside his body.
At the same moment...
He extended his hand.
He grabbed the spear.
Anderson's expression changed.
He had not expected that.
But before he could pull his weapon away...
Alji moved.
He did not try to take the spear from him.
Instead, he pushed it.
He used Anderson's own strength.
The man's balance was disrupted for a moment.
And that moment...
Was enough.
Alji charged forward.
A direct kick toward his stomach.
Anderson raised his arm.
He took the blow.
But his body was pushed back several steps.
He stopped.
He raised his head.
There was no trace of the previous ability.
He felt the pain completely.
He breathed slowly.
Then laughed.
"So..."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I was right."
Alji did not answer.
Anderson looked at him.
"You didn't know the nature of my ability."
Alji remained silent.
"But you knew it was over."
Alji said:
"I didn't need to know everything."
He took a step forward.
"It was enough to know when it changed."
Anderson's smile stopped for a moment.
Then he said:
"Future vision."
He did not deny it.
Anderson said:
"A few seconds, right?"
Alji did not answer.
But Anderson was not waiting for an answer.
He had understood it.
Since the beginning of the battle.
Dodging the spear.
Dodging the arrows.
Even the attacks whose timing changed.
Everything had only one explanation.
Alji did not possess unnatural speed.
He simply knew what was going to happen.
Anderson said:
"That's why you were always moving before the attack."
Alji said:
"The future is not something fixed."
Anderson raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Alji answered:
"You saw my arrow."
Anderson continued.
"But your body wasn't capable of dodging it."
Alji looked at the wound on his arm.
Then returned his gaze to him.
"Knowing what will happen..."
"Doesn't mean you're capable of stopping it."
Silence.
Anderson smiled.
"So you have a weakness."
Alji said:
"Everyone has a weakness."
Then he added:
"The only difference..."
"Is that some people discover theirs before they die."
Anderson's expression changed.
The words were not a threat.
And that was what made them more dangerous.
Alji was not trying to frighten him.
He was speaking...
As if he were describing a fact.
Anderson raised his spear.
"We'll see."
In the next moment...
He disappeared from his position.
Alji saw the future.
Anderson in front of him.
The spear heading toward his shoulder.
Alji moved before the attack.
But Anderson had already changed his angle.
He lowered the spear.
A strike toward his leg.
Alji jumped.
But Anderson rotated the spear in the air.
The blade came back toward him.
Alji retreated.
The strike passed in front of his face.
Then...
The arrow appeared.
Alji's eyes widened.
Anderson had left the spear in the air for a moment.
And pulled out an arrow.
He fired it from close range.
Alji saw the future.
He saw the arrow arrive.
Then he saw himself dodging it.
He moved.
But at the moment the future changed...
The arrow changed as well.
It curved.
Toward his shoulder.
Alji raised his hand.
The aura spread.
The arrow collided with it.
The air between them exploded.
Alji was pushed backward.
Anderson reached him.
A strike with the butt of the spear.
Alji dodged it.
A second strike.
Then a third.
Anderson had understood something.
He could not hide the future from Alji.
But...
He could create more futures than Alji was capable of dealing with.
The more possibilities there were...
The more complicated the vision became.
And that was exactly what he was doing.
He gave Alji no time to think.
Consecutive strikes.
Attacks from different angles.
The spear.
The arrow.
The punches.
Everything.
Alji retreated.
But he did not lose his composure.
He saw the future.
Once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
But the images began to change.
The future he saw was no longer a single path.
It became filled with possibilities.
A step to the right.
An injury.
A step to the left.
A strike.
Retreat.
The arrow.
Jumping.
The spear.
Alji clenched his teeth.
And then...
He made a decision.
He stopped.
Suddenly.
Anderson froze for a moment.
"What?"
Alji opened his arms slightly.
And the air around him began to vibrate.
A low sound.
Almost impossible to hear.
Then it began to grow.
It was not a scream.
Nor chanting.
It was simply...
A vibration.
Anderson looked around.
The small rocks began to rise from the ground.
The air became distorted.
He said:
"What are you doing?"
Alji did not answer.
He raised his hand.
And in the next moment...
The wall appeared.
Sound Barrier.
It was not completely visible.
But Anderson could feel it.
It stopped directly in front of Alji.
He raised his spear.
And struck.
The blade collided with the barrier.
A wave spread through the arena.
But the blade did not pierce it.
Anderson retreated.
Then attacked again.
A second strike.
A third.
A fourth.
With every strike...
The vibrations spread.
Alji stood behind the barrier.
His eyes closed.
He was seeing the future.
But he was not looking for the next attack.
He was looking for something else.
The weapon.
He saw Anderson.
He saw the spear.
He saw a moment.
A moment so brief...
In which the man lost control of his weapon.
Alji opened his eyes.
At the same moment...
He stopped seeing the future.
Anderson broke through the barrier.
For the first time.
He appeared in front of him.
He raised the spear.
But Alji did not move backward.
He advanced.
He entered inside the spear's range.
Anderson's eyes widened.
Before he could change the direction of the attack...
Alji grabbed his hand.
He turned his body.
And struck his wrist.
The spear fell.
It hit the ground.
But Alji did not take it.
Anderson looked at the ground for a moment.
And that was a mistake.
Alji moved.
He rushed toward one of the weapons lying near the edge of the arena.
It was a sword.
It did not belong to him.
Nor did it belong to Anderson.
An ordinary sword.
He grabbed it.
Then returned.
Anderson stopped.
He looked at him in confusion.
"A sword?"
Alji looked at the blade.
It was still.
Cold.
Ordinary.
Then...
He placed his fingers on it.
The sound began.
At first...
It was only a faint humming.
Anderson raised his head.
He felt the air vibrating.
Then the frequencies began entering the blade.
Once.
Then twice.
Then faster.
The sword began to tremble.
But Alji held it firmly.
The sound of the blade changed.
It became louder.
It was not a natural sound.
The sound was coming from inside the metal itself.
Anderson felt the danger.
He did not know the technique.
But he did not need to know it.
He charged.
Faster than before.
Alji saw the future.
Three seconds.
Anderson charging.
A strike.
Then a second movement.
Then...
The moment.
Alji raised the sword.
Anderson said:
"I won't let you use it."
Alji smiled.
A faint smile.
"I've already used it."
Anderson's foot stopped.
Not out of fear.
But because his body felt something.
The air.
Sound.
Vibration.
Then...
Alji disappeared from in front of him.
He moved.
Only one step.
To Anderson's side.
The vibrations surrounded the sword.
And Alji said:
"Tongue Cutter."
The sword moved.
The strike was not massive.
There was no enormous wave of energy.
No explosion.
Just...
One strike.
It passed.
Silence.
Anderson remained standing.
His eyes were open.
He looked forward.
Then at Alji.
At first, he felt nothing.
He opened his mouth.
He tried to say something.
But the words did not come out.
Alji was standing behind him.
The sword in his hand.
The vibrations disappeared.
He said in a calm voice:
"You knew I could see the future."
He paused for a moment.
"But you never asked..."
Anderson closed his eyes.
"...how many times I could see it."
Then...
Anderson's head fell.
His body followed.
It struck the ground.
Silence returned.
The wind passed over the arena.
Alji's hair moved.
He looked at the sword.
Then let it fall from his hand.
He did not celebrate.
He did not smile.
And he did not look at Anderson's body for long.
The battle...
Was over.
Quickly.
But inside Alji's mind...
The ending was not what occupied him.
He closed his eyes.
And remembered something.
A man.
Years ago.
On one of the missions.
A huge monster.
And the sound of a single strike.
The man who killed the monster.
In an instant.
Alji opened his eyes.
He looked at Anderson's body.
Then at the sky.
And said to himself:
"I'm still weak."
He had won.
He had gained.
And learned.
But...
This was not the level he was looking for.
He raised his head.
And began walking.
Behind him...
The battlefield remained silent.
And a man who did not know...
That ten seconds of pressure...
Were the last thing separating him from death.
As for Alji...
He did not look back.
He was thinking only...
About the next battle.
And the true monsters...
That he had not yet encountered.