The air shimmered violently.
A sun—no larger than a clenched fist—roared toward the clone, tearing through the underground cavern like a god's final judgment. Its glow swallowed shadows, turning the walls molten red and sending waves of heat rippling through the stone.
The clone's Copyeyes flickered rapidly, scanning every possible outcome. The sphere wasn't just heat. It was pressure, light, force—pure, condensed annihilation. There was no time to block. No space to dodge.
In that split second, he dove—not away, but down.
A blast of energy cracked the rocky floor as he drilled beneath it, burrowing like a missile through the layers of stone. Then—
BOOM!
The sun detonated.
The explosion turned the cavern into a furnace. White fire expanded outward, vaporizing the air itself. Jagged walls splintered into glassy shards. Pillars collapsed. A shockwave screamed through the corridors like a banshee.
Even Richard winced as the heat licked his skin.
He stood firm, arm shielding his face, flames licking around his body like armor.
Above, on a high ledge of fractured rock, Wisdom Wokata leaned forward, the shadows behind him trembling.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
Then—movement.
A blur shot upward, trailing smoke and blood. The clone—charred and broken—burst from the ground like a dying phoenix. His body was blackened, Copyeyes dimmed but still glowing faintly.
He landed on one knee, coughing violently, hunched and wheezing. Skin peeled in flakes. His breath came out in painful gasps.
Richard's eyes narrowed. "You survived that?"
The clone didn't answer. He couldn't. He was alive, but barely.
Richard rolled his shoulders, steam rising from his skin. "Not bad," he said. "But you're done now."
The air dropped in temperature. A fine mist hissed from Richard's palms—freezing fog and embers mixed into one.
Then he moved.
A flicker. A blur. One punch.
It cracked the air.
The clone raised an arm to block, but his broken body betrayed him. The punch connected with a thunderous snap.
CRACK!
He flew across the chamber and slammed into a jagged rock column. Blood sprayed from his mouth.
High above, Wisdom's grin returned. He reclined slightly, arms folding as the echoes of the crash faded into silence.
"Now that… was close."
Elsewhere in the prison.
Heavy silence filled the narrow corridor, broken only by the soft tap of footsteps. Monica Kwashi walked slowly, each step calm, graceful, echoing off the stone walls.
Golden light shimmered faintly around her, casting shifting shadows on the ground.
One of Saponu's clones waited ahead, Copyeyes glowing. He watched her carefully, tracking her heartbeat, breath, even the dilation of her pupils.
"You're not attacking," the clone said. His voice was low, wary. "Why?"
Monica tilted her head slightly. "I don't need to."
The clone's gaze sharpened. His fingers twitched. He blinked—once, then again. Something felt... wrong.
The lights in his mind flickered.
A fog crept into his thoughts.
His arms felt heavy. His chest tightened.
His body… was no longer his.
"What... what did you do?" he whispered.
Monica didn't respond. Her face was calm. Serene. But her eyes—her eyes glowed with absolute control.
The clone stepped back—or tried to.
His legs didn't move.
"You've already lost," Monica said, voice as soft as breath. "The moment you entered my field."
The clone's hands twitched. His jaw slackened. Even his breathing changed—subtle, uneven.
His thoughts began to slip. Like water through fingers.
He fought back. Forced energy into his limbs. The Copyeyes pulsed, scanning her aura, searching for weaknesses. There had to be something—anything—to break the control.
But Monica only smiled faintly.
"You can't copy what you don't understand," she said. "And you'll never understand this."
She raised one hand.
"Sit."
The clone's knees buckled. His body dropped like a puppet with cut strings.
He gritted his teeth, sweat dripping from his forehead. "N-no…"
Monica stepped closer. "I command the battlefield inside your skull," she said. "Not your fists. Not your feet. You."
The clone's Copyeyes surged in panic. He twisted his body violently, trying to break free—but the hold only grew stronger, like invisible chains wrapping around his mind.
She knelt beside him, her voice still soft.
"I could make you attack your own allies… even Saponu himself. Wouldn't that be beautiful?"
His fingers curled against his will, trembling—then aimed at his own chest.
"No—"
The breath hitched in his throat.
Then—
"Stop!"
The command echoed through the corridor like thunder.
Monica's hand froze mid-air.
She turned her head.
Up above, standing on a jagged outcrop where the shadows met the stone ceiling, Wisdom Wokata watched with glowing blue eyes.
He was grinning again.
"Let him struggle a little longer," Wisdom said, voice calm. "I want to see how much more he can take."
Monica blinked once… then smiled.
"As you wish."
She rose to her feet, stepping back.
"But next time," she said, looking down at the broken clone, "I won't be so gentle."
The clone collapsed entirely, body limp, chest heaving. Sweat soaked his back. His hands twitched weakly, still not fully his own.
Deeper in the prison—
BOOOOOOM!
A violent explosion ripped through one of the stone tunnels.
Dust filled the air, followed by a tremor that shook the walls.
Epson Nii Nortey stood in the center of it all, curse seals glowing across the ground around him. Each symbol pulsed with dark green light, warping the space around them.
One of Saponu's clones stood frozen—his limbs moving sluggishly, like trapped in jelly. The air itself had thickened, choking him with every breath.
"You're trapped," Epson growled, his voice like stone grinding. "This prison bends to my will."
The clone's muscles strained, every movement resisted by invisible force. His Copyeyes blinked rapidly, desperate to calculate a way out—but the curses pressed down like gravity.
The real Saponu appeared behind Epson with a punch aimed straight at his ribs. The force sent him flying.
Then, the real Saponu's eyes gleamed brighter.
A second clone appeared beside him—identical, sudden, silent.
Epson's eyes widened as he lifts himself off theground.
"What?"
Saponu's voice boomed,
"Help the other one. Don't let Monica win."
The clone vanished in a blur.
Epson scowled. "Splitting your strength under my seal? Are you stupid?"
The trapped clone smirked through the pain. "Or just too strong to care."
Then the real Saponu moved, it's time to die.
And once more, the prison rumbled with chaos.