The moment Maria and Javier stepped down from the battlefield, the atmosphere within the arena remained tense.
The previous clash had demonstrated the difference between a path forged through absolute dedication and a body capable of endless adaptation. However, the next battle was no less terrifying.
On one side stood Sarah, the candidate of the Void Destruction Physique.
Unlike ordinary destructive powers that relied on overwhelming force, Sarah's ability represented pure annihilation. Anything touched by her destructive energy would not merely break—it would lose its very structure, collapsing into nothingness.
On the other side stood Tiago, the candidate of the Celestial Gravity Body.
His mastery over gravity had reached a level where his domain could imitate the phenomenon known throughout the universe as the Cosmic Black Hole, a place from which even light and energy struggled to escape.
A force that erased.
A force that consumed.
Neither was willing to surrender.
The judge raised his hand.
"Begin."
Immediately, the battlefield transformed.
Sarah released a dark silver aura around herself. It spread like a storm of destruction, turning the surrounding space unstable. The particles around her began collapsing as if existence itself was rejecting her presence.
At the same time, Tiago extended his arms.
An immense gravitational field descended upon the arena.
The ground cracked.
The air bent.
Even the light around them curved as it was dragged toward the center of his influence.
Sarah attacked first.
A sphere of destructive energy condensed before her.
With a slight movement of her finger, the sphere shot forward.
It was not fast.
It did not need to be.
Everything in its path ceased to exist.
The space it crossed became a trail of emptiness.
Tiago's expression became serious.
He did not dodge.
Instead, the gravity around him increased thousands of times.
The destructive sphere slowed.
Its trajectory bent.
It began orbiting around him like a small dying star.
The spectators watched in amazement.
To control a force designed to destroy everything it touched was a feat only someone with Tiago's understanding of gravity could accomplish.
But Sarah was not surprised.
She had already experienced the danger of underestimating opponents.
Now, she fought with greater patience.
She extended her hand.
The sphere that was trapped in Tiago's gravity suddenly exploded.
Not outward.
Inward.
The destruction collapsed toward its own center, creating a momentary region where even gravity itself was damaged.
Tiago's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
For the first time, he moved.
He took a step forward.
The space around him darkened.
A miniature black hole appeared above his palm.
Unlike a natural black hole, this one obeyed his will completely.
Its gravitational pull focused entirely on Sarah.
Her body was dragged forward.
The ground beneath her disappeared as everything around her was pulled into the endless hunger of the singularity.
Sarah immediately created several layers of destructive barriers.
The barriers did not block the attraction.
They destroyed the gravitational pathways that connected the black hole to her position.
For a brief moment, she freed herself.
The battle entered a deadlock.
Tiago consumed every attack that came near him.
Sarah destroyed every force that tried to restrain her.
The spectators realized something.
This was not a battle of who possessed the stronger power.
It was a battle of understanding.
Who understood their ability more deeply.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
Neither of them showed signs of retreat.
However, the experienced candidates began to notice a difference.
Tiago's control became increasingly refined.
Each gravitational wave became more precise.
More efficient.
Sarah, despite her overwhelming destructive power, still relied too much on brute application.
Her lack of centuries of battle experience was becoming visible.
She understood it as well.
Her eyes became sharp.
"If I continue like this, I will lose."
So she made a decision.
She stopped defending.
She gathered every ounce of destructive energy she possessed into a single point.
The energy became so dense that even the spectators felt discomfort looking at it.
It was a power capable of destroying the very foundation of the battlefield.
Seeing this, Tiago did not retreat.
He smiled.
"Good."
His domain expanded.
The image of the Cosmic Black Hole appeared behind him.
A terrifying force capable of swallowing worlds emerged.
The two attacks collided.
For a moment, no one could tell what was happening.
The black hole attempted to consume the destruction.
The destruction attempted to erase the black hole.
Consumption and annihilation struggled against each other.
The arena began to collapse.
Even the protective formations around it started to tremble.
The judge prepared himself.
But before he intervened—
a small crack appeared within Sarah's technique.
A tiny imperfection.
An error that Tiago immediately recognized.
His understanding of gravity allowed him to concentrate all his force on that exact weakness.
The balance broke.
The black hole swallowed the remaining destructive energy and continued forward.
Sarah's expression changed.
She attempted to create another defense, but she was too late.
The gravitational force reached her.
Her body became unable to move.
Her destructive energy could not gather fast enough.
The black hole stopped only a few centimeters from her face.
A clear declaration of defeat.
Silence filled the arena.
Then the judge spoke.
"The winner: Tiago."
The audience was not surprised.
Sarah had displayed frightening potential.
Her destructive ability was among the most dangerous in the entire tournament.
However, everyone understood the reason for her loss.
It was not a difference in raw talent.
It was a difference in mastery.
As the battlefield restored itself, Tiago looked at Sarah.
"You possess a terrifying power."
Sarah smiled slightly.
"So do you."
She looked at the remains of the battlefield that had already been repaired.
"I lost because I still don't understand my own power completely ."
Tiago nodded.
"And I won because I have spent my entire life understanding gravity."
For a moment, neither spoke.
They both understood that if Sarah gained deeper insight into her power in the future, the result might be entirely different.
The tournament had not only revealed the strongest candidates.
It had revealed those with the greatest potential.
And Sarah was undoubtedly among them.
The judge raised his hand once again.
"Prepare for the next battle."
The atmosphere shifted.
Two new figures stepped toward the arena.
One carried the calm expression of a man who controlled space and time themselves.
The other walked with a cold gaze, surrounded by the faint heat of flames capable of burning the fabric of reality.
Daniel.
Vladimir.
The next clash was about to begin.