The white chamber remained silent.
The same endless white space.
The same cold atmosphere.
The same battlefield where William had once experienced complete defeat.
Only this time...
The man standing at its center was no longer the same.
His eyes were calm.
His breathing was stable.
There was no panic.
No fear.
No desperate attempt to prove himself.
The shadows of his past had been broken.
And for the first time in ten years...
William entered the battlefield not as someone running away from weakness.
But as someone who understood his own strength.
Outside the chamber, Andrew crossed his arms while the silver-haired woman watched with great interest.
A soft voice echoed through the room.
"Begin."
The instant the word was spoken—
Light exploded.
Mark moved.
The Celestial Light Physique transformed him into a being that existed almost as light itself. His attack arrived at a speed that ordinary perception could never follow.
The same attack that had severed William's shoulder during their previous encounter.
The same attack that had left him terrified.
But William did not move.
He simply looked forward.
And smiled.
"Too predictable."
Before Mark reached him, William's consciousness descended into the invisible network connecting reality.
Thousands of threads appeared before his eyes.
Among them was the connection between himself and the incoming attack.
The relationship that allowed force to transfer.
The relationship that allowed the attack to recognize its target.
With a single thought—
He severed it.
The attack passed through the space beside him.
Missing completely.
Mark's expression changed.
For the first time, surprise appeared on his face.
But William was already moving.
He cut countless other connections.
The connection between Mark and the surrounding light.
The connection between Mark and the reflected information his senses used to understand his environment.
Suddenly—
The world around Mark became distorted.
His perception collapsed.
William's existence became vague.
Unclear.
Like a shadow hidden behind a veil.
Mark attacked repeatedly.
Faster.
More violently.
Yet every strike landed on empty space.
For the first time, the being of light had lost his greatest advantage.
His ability to perceive.
But before William could finish him—
The temperature of the chamber changed.
The surroundings became silent.
Empty.
Merito stepped forward.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Every movement carried the terrifying authority of the Eternal Nullified Physique.
He did not need speed.
His very existence was a threat.
William remembered the moment he had lost his own identity under Merito's power.
The moment where his name, memories, and self had disappeared.
A fear that once controlled him.
Now, it was merely a memory.
"Your ability is terrifying."
William said calmly.
"But you still have a body."
Merito continued walking.
And William raised his hand.
He did not attack him.
He attacked the relationship between the atmosphere and life itself.
Within the space surrounding Merito—
The very possibility of breathing disappeared.
Oxygen remained.
Air remained.
But the conditions required for his body to use them were removed.
Merito stopped.
For the first time, his expression changed.
He attempted to cancel the phenomenon.
But every moment he spent resisting consumed more and more energy.
His movements became slower.
His control weakened.
His terrifying power could erase space and perception.
Yet it could not compensate for the constant exhaustion of fighting his own biological limits.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
Eventually—
His body began to fade.
The projection had exhausted its energy.
Merito disappeared.
The moment he vanished—
A flame appeared behind William.
A tiny spark.
Beautiful.
Silent.
But William immediately recognized the danger.
Vladimir.
The candidate whose fire could burn even time and space.
A flame capable of reducing concepts themselves to ashes.
The spark expanded.
The chamber trembled.
Reality itself seemed to distort around the terrifying fire.
But William merely observed.
Like he had observed the ocean.
The volcano.
The desert.
The forest.
He studied it.
Understood it.
Then acted.
"Fire requires a relationship."
The flames rushed toward him.
William manipulated the atomic interactions within them.
First—
He prevented oxygen from properly combining with the burning process.
The fire immediately became unstable.
Then he went even deeper.
Between the particles of that destructive flame existed a strange dormant energy—the same type of mysterious energy he had once discovered while creating the floating platforms leading toward the palace.
Instead of allowing it to remain balanced—
He disrupted the harmony between those energies.
The fire turned against itself.
The beautiful flame became a chaotic monster.
Vladimir's expression finally changed.
For the first time—
Fear appeared.
The flames that could burn reality began consuming their own master.
His body was swallowed by his own power.
And moments later—
He disappeared.
Only Mark remained.
The light surrounding him had become unstable.
Yet he was still dangerous.
A single successful strike was enough.
William knew that.
Andrew's words remained in his mind.
Never underestimate an opponent.
So he chose to finish the battle immediately.
He looked toward Mark's eyes.
And reached into the countless photons traveling through the chamber.
The light entering his eyes.
The light reflecting from the environment.
The information that formed vision itself.
William cut it all.
He prevented every particle of light from returning to Mark's eyes.
Darkness.
Absolute darkness.
Mark stopped.
His greatest strength had become his greatest weakness.
The master of light had become completely blind.
William appeared him.
There was no hesitation.
His fist moved.
But unlike before, it was not ordinary physical strength.
Within his punch was the strange energy he had discovered during the creation of the platforms.
A force that existed beyond ordinary matter.
The punch landed.
The entire chamber shook.
Another strike followed.
Then another.
Each one carried enough power to break mountains.
Mark's body began to crack.
His form of light scattered.
Until finally—
He vanished.
Silence returned.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then—
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The silver-haired woman applauded slowly.
Her multicolored eyes observed William with visible admiration.
"Impressive."
"A single time ago, you could not even comprehend their attacks."
"Now you defeated three extraordinary candidates without receiving a single injury."
William looked at his hands.
For the first time, he truly felt the results of the decade he had spent training.
However—
Andrew did not smile.
William noticed immediately.
"Something is wrong?"
The old man looked directly into his eyes.
"Everything."
William frowned.
The woman's expression also became serious.
Andrew stepped forward.
"Do not let this victory deceive you."
His voice was cold.
"What you fought were simulations based on the information we possess."
William remained silent.
"They are not dolls."
"They are not predictable enemies."
"They are candidates of the greatest physiques in existence."
His eyes narrowed.
"And they possess information about you as well."
The room became quiet.
William's expression slowly changed.
He understood.
In a real battle—
Mark would know his dependence on light.
And would create methods to overcome it.
Merito would search for ways to prevent his own limitations from becoming fatal.
Vladimir would alter the nature of his flames.
They were monsters.
Beings who had reached the peak of their respective paths.
They had weaknesses.
But they also had the intelligence and experience to adapt.
Andrew placed a hand on William's shoulder.
"Never enter the tournament believing you have already won."
His eyes became serious.
"Because every candidate standing there will have reached the same conclusion."
A small smile appeared on William's face.
Not one of arrogance.
But excitement.
For the first time—
The impossible challenge before him no longer felt like a nightmare.
It felt like a battlefield.
And he was ready to step onto it.