The question remained suspended in the silent white hall.
How do I defeat them?
William's voice had carried desperation.
Not anger.
Not determination.
Desperation.
And that alone was enough for Andrew to understand that his disciple still had not grasped the true problem.
The old man looked at him quietly.
For a long time, he said nothing.
The silence stretched.
Seconds became minutes.
Every moment that passed made William more uncomfortable.
His wounds had already disappeared.
Andrew had restored his flesh.
The broken shoulder was whole once again.
The blood was gone.
The pain had vanished.
Yet his hands continued trembling.
That was what terrified him.
Not Mark.
Not Merito.
Not the wounds.
But his own reaction.
Nine years.
Nine years of endless training.
Nine years of learning how to manipulate the smallest particles of existence.
Nine years of standing before impossible concepts.
He had learned to walk where even breathing was a challenge.
He had touched the threads of reality.
He had understood that the universe itself was woven from connections.
He had learned things that would make the strongest beings in existence kneel in shock.
And yet…
One attack.
One moment of overwhelming pressure.
One instant where his life was no longer under his control.
And everything collapsed.
His confidence.
His thoughts.
His composure.
For a brief second…
William had not been in the palace.
He had been back on Earth.
Back in that room.
Back in chains.
Back before Kate.
Finally, Andrew spoke.
"There is no answer."
William's head lifted.
"What?"
"There is no method."
The old man's voice was calm.
"No technique."
"No hidden power."
"No final lesson that will suddenly make you stronger."
William's expression darkened.
"What do you mean there is no answer?"
Andrew stepped closer.
"Because my role has ended."
The words struck William harder than Mark's attack.
His eyes widened.
"What?"
"For ten years, I taught you how to understand your ability."
"I showed you atoms."
"Energy."
"The laws behind existence."
"The threads connecting reality."
"How to destroy."
"How to create."
"You have learned everything I can teach."
William took a step back.
"No."
His answer came immediately.
"No, there has to be something else."
There had to be.
There had to be another technique.
Another secret.
Another level.
Something.
Anything.
Because the alternative was terrifying.
That he was responsible.
That his weakness was no longer due to ignorance.
Andrew saw the fear appearing once again.
And he smiled sadly.
"There."
William froze.
"What?"
The old man pointed at his chest.
"This."
The room became silent.
"You are afraid."
William wanted to deny it.
His lips moved.
But no words came out.
Because he knew it was true.
"I am not afraid of them."
Andrew's expression did not change.
"Then why did your hands shake?"
No response.
"Why did your breathing become unstable?"
Silence.
"Why did you forget how to exist for a moment?"
William clenched his fists.
"Because Merito's power—"
"No."
The interruption came immediately.
The room itself seemed to tremble with Andrew's voice.
"No."
For the first time in years, the old man looked angry.
Not disappointed.
Angry.
"Do not insult your own potential with excuses."
William went silent.
"Mark did not break you."
"Merito did not break you."
"Those candidates did not defeat you."
Andrew stepped closer.
Each word struck like a hammer.
"he defeated you."
The world stopped.
William's pupils contracted.
His body froze.
He knew who he meant.
Even before the name was spoken.
"No."
His voice was almost a whisper.
"Do not."
Andrew ignored him.
"Kaite."
The name became a blade.
And it tore open a wound that had never truly healed.
Suddenly—
The white room changed.
The floor disappeared.
The walls disappeared.
The palace disappeared.
William found himself standing in darkness.
A darkness he recognized.
His breathing stopped.
"No..."
The smell.
The cold.
The chains.
The feeling of helplessness.
Every detail returned.
His body remembered even when his mind wished to forget.
A door slowly opened.
Light entered the room.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Calm.
Unhurried.
William's heart started beating violently.
"No."
A figure appeared.
A man.
His face was hidden in the shadows.
But he already knew.
His entire body knew.
His muscles tightened.
His vision blurred.
His breathing became chaotic.
The same fear.
The same terror.
The same powerless rage.
The emotion that had controlled his entire life.
"Stop."
His voice shook.
The figure continued walking.
"STOP!"
William raised his hand.
Atoms moved.
Space distorted.
The threads of existence appeared around him.
A power capable of shaking the cosmos.
A power that could erase stars.
Yet…
He could not move.
Because the enemy in front of him was not Kaite.
It was the memory of weakness.
And for the first time in ten years—
William understood that no matter how powerful he became…
He was still chained.
Not by iron.
But by the past.
Outside the illusion, Andrew watched silently.
The silver-haired woman looked at him.
"Are you certain?"
Her voice carried a rare uncertainty.
"He may break."
Andrew looked at his student.
At the man who could touch the foundations of existence…
yet was still a prisoner of a single memory.
"Then he will never survive the tournament."
His eyes became cold.
"Because the enemies waiting for him are not merely stronger than Kaite."
Images of Mark and Merito appeared in his mind.
Then thousands of other candidates.
Monsters born from galaxies.
Beings who had never known defeat.
"If he sees every enemy as the person who once broke him..."
Andrew closed his eyes.
"He has already lost."
In the darkness, William fell to his knees.
His body trembled.
Not from injury.
Not from exhaustion.
But from a fear he had carried for too long.
And the true final battle…
had finally begun.