Among all the battles of the second round, this was perhaps one of the most difficult to predict.
Daniel possessed one of the most mysterious Celestial Physiques in the tournament. His control over space and time allowed him to ignore ordinary concepts of distance, movement, and even the sequence of attacks.
Meanwhile, Maria, as the candidate of the Eternal Copy Physique, represented the frightening adaptability of the Eternal Physiques.
The moment the battle started, Daniel attacked.
Unlike his fight against Sarah, he did not waste time testing his opponent.
He understood that giving Maria too much time would be equivalent to handing her more tools to defeat him.
Space folded.
Time distorted.
A blade that had not existed a moment before appeared directly behind Maria.
But the attack never reached her.
A barrier of spatial distortion emerged around her body.
The exact same principle Daniel had used.
His expression changed slightly.
She had copied it.
Daniel immediately altered his strategy.
He began creating multiple layers of distorted space, separating himself from Maria through countless dimensions.
At the same time, attacks came from every possible angle.
Some were real.
Some were merely distortions created to confuse her.
But Maria's learning speed was terrifying.
Every second the battle continued gave her a deeper understanding of his ability.
Soon, she was not merely copying his techniques.
She was improving them.
She began altering the spatial pathways, creating traps capable of redirecting Daniel's own attacks back toward him.
For the first time, Daniel found himself fighting against a reflection of his own power.
Realizing that a prolonged battle meant certain defeat, Daniel attempted a decisive attack.
He compressed an enormous amount of space-time energy into a single point and launched it toward Maria.
The attack ignored the ordinary flow of reality.
It was a strike designed to erase the battlefield itself.
Maria answered by combining several copied abilities.
A layer of absolute zero surrounded the attack.
Gravitational pressure slowed it.
Spatial distortions redirected its path.
Finally, her own space-time manipulation dismantled what remained.
The attack disappeared.
Daniel smiled bitterly.
He understood.
The moment Maria had completely understood his power, the battle was already over.
After several more exchanges, his energy was exhausted while Maria continued drawing pure cosmic energy from the universe itself.
The judge raised his hand.
Victory: Maria.
Tiago vs JavierThe Force That Pulls Everything vs The Blade That Cuts Everything
The battle began with Tiago taking the initiative.
Having seen Javier's terrifying slash against Kashmir, he knew that allowing him to attack freely would be foolish.
An immense gravitational field covered the arena.
The ground collapsed.
Light bent.
Even the surrounding energy was dragged toward Tiago's position.
At the center of this domain, he became the embodiment of a cosmic black hole.
Everything moved toward him.
Everything was captured.
Everything except one thing.
Javier's sword.
He did not resist the gravity.
He did not attempt to escape it.
He simply drew his blade.
A simple movement.
A quiet motion.
Yet the result was catastrophic.
The gravitational field that controlled the entire arena was split apart.
Not weakened.
Not pushed away.
Cut.
The very concept of attraction was separated.
Tiago's eyes narrowed.
He had expected a terrifying attack.
But witnessing his gravity itself being severed was a different matter.
He increased the pressure.
Stars of compressed gravity formed around him and shot toward Javier.
Each one carried enough force to crush planets.
Javier cut them all.
His blade did not care whether the target was matter, energy, or a law of nature.
If it existed—
it could be cut.
However, Tiago was not a weak opponent.
He started changing the nature of his gravity.
Instead of simply pulling Javier, he created conflicting fields of attraction and repulsion, trying to disturb the path of his sword.
For the first time in the battle, Javier's attacks lost some precision.
Seeing this, Tiago launched a giant gravitational collapse.
A miniature cosmic disaster.
A black sphere that sought to consume Javier completely.
The battlefield became silent.
Javier looked at the approaching destruction.
Then—
for the second time after his battle with Kashmir, he prepared a true strike.
The spectators focused their attention.
They remembered the sword that had split the heavens.
The sword that had nearly cut Kashmir in two.
A shadow of a gigantic swordsman appeared behind Javier.
His blade was raised.
The sky itself seemed to separate.
The slash descended.
The black hole was cut in half.
The gravitational collapse disappeared.
And the attack continued.
Tiago immediately surrendered.
He understood that defending against that strike would cost him far more than the match was worth.
The slash stopped only a few centimeters from his face.
Javier returned his sword to its sheath.
The judge announced:
Victory: Javier.
With the second round concluded, the candidates had once again witnessed the frightening difference between their powers.
Yet the next round promised something even more dangerous.
A round where old opponents would face new strategies
A round that would include perhaps the most anticipated battle so far—
But before that, other monsters would first clash once again.