As Sarah and Tiago left the battlefield, the atmosphere of the arena reached an even greater level of anticipation.
Every battle among the ten strongest candidates had proven a different truth about the universe.
Some powers dominated through overwhelming speed.
Some through absolute destruction.
Others through adaptation, nullification, or control over the very foundations of existence.
Now, two candidates whose abilities directly affected the structure of reality itself stepped forward.
Daniel, the candidate of the Celestial Space-Time Body.
A genius capable of bending distance, twisting dimensions, separating locations, and manipulating the flow of space around him.
His understanding of space had reached such an extraordinary level that attacks could arrive without crossing any distance at all.
Across from him stood Vladimir.
The candidate whose flames did not merely produce heat.
They were a cosmic phenomenon capable of burning the fabric of space and time themselves.
Against ordinary opponents, Vladimir's flames were almost impossible to defend against. A barrier could be burned. Space could be burned. Even time could be scarred by their existence.
The confrontation was simple.
Would space control the fire—
or would the fire destroy space itself?
The judge looked between them.
"Begin."
The instant his voice disappeared, Daniel vanished.
Not through speed.
Not through teleportation.
He had simply removed the distance between himself and Vladimir.
His fist appeared directly before Vladimir's face.
However, the latter had prepared for this exact possibility.
A curtain of pale golden flames erupted around his body.
Daniel's fist entered the fire.
Immediately, he felt a terrifying sensation.
The space surrounding his hand was being consumed.
The connection between his arm and the location it occupied was collapsing.
Daniel withdrew instantly.
A fraction of a second later, the area where his hand had been disappeared into a crack of black emptiness.
The spectators narrowed their eyes.
If Daniel had hesitated for even a moment, his arm would have been lost.
"Your flames have become stronger," Daniel said calmly.
Vladimir smiled.
"So has your ability to escape."
Without another word, the battlefield exploded into motion.
Vladimir waved his arm.
Thousands of streams of fire shot in every direction.
They did not aim at Daniel.
They aimed at the battlefield itself.
The spectators quickly understood his intention.
Daniel needed space to control.
He needed dimensions to bend.
So Vladimir intended to turn every inch of that space into a region of destruction.
Daniel's eyes sharpened.
The surrounding space fractured like a mirror.
Sections of the battlefield folded upon themselves.
The rivers of flame entered those folds and disappeared.
Moments later, the same flames emerged from different locations and flew back toward Vladimir.
The crowd reacted with interest.
He had redirected the attack itself.
Vladimir did not panic.
Instead, he closed his hand.
The flames instantly exploded.
The surrounding space shattered once more.
For several moments, the battlefield became a storm where flames burned the cracks in reality while those same cracks tried to swallow the flames.
Neither side gained an advantage.
Daniel could redirect the fire.
Vladimir could destroy the pathways Daniel created.
The battle reached a perfect stalemate.
Then Daniel changed his strategy.
He raised his hand.
A transparent cube appeared around Vladimir.
It looked ordinary.
Almost harmless.
But every being with sufficient understanding immediately realized its horror.
Inside the cube, every point in space had been separated.
Forward no longer led forward.
Up no longer led upward.
Distance had become meaningless.
A prison where all directions betrayed the one trapped inside.
For the first time, Vladimir stopped smiling.
He touched the invisible wall.
His fingers were instantly redirected to another side of the prison.
"A clever technique."
His voice remained calm.
"But a cage is still a place."
The next moment, his flames exploded.
The entire cube became engulfed in a sea of fire.
The audience expected the prison to resist.
It did not.
The very coordinates maintaining its existence began to burn away.
Cracks appeared.
Then more.
Until the entire spatial prison shattered.
Vladimir emerged.
However, his expression was no longer relaxed.
The amount of fire required to destroy Daniel's technique had been enormous.
Daniel noticed.
A small advantage had appeared.
But Vladimir noticed Daniel's own problem.
The spatial manipulations were consuming tremendous concentration.
Neither of them could maintain their current methods forever.
The battle entered its second phase.
Daniel no longer attempted to imprison Vladimir.
Instead, he attacked.
Hundreds of spatial cuts appeared around Vladimir from impossible angles.
Each one represented a separation between two regions of existence.
A normal opponent would have been torn apart instantly.
But Vladimir's body transformed into a moving inferno.
His flames collided with the spatial fractures.
Some were burned away.
Others passed through, leaving wounds across his body.
Blood appeared.
The audience became silent.
It was the first time many had seen Vladimir injured.
Vladimir looked at the blood on his hand.
Then he laughed.
A genuine laugh filled with excitement.
"Good."
His aura suddenly changed.
The fire around him disappeared.
The battlefield became quiet.
That silence was more terrifying than the flames.
Daniel's expression became serious.
He remembered their previous battle.
He knew what was coming.
Vladimir's strongest technique.
The flame that could burn through the foundation of reality.
A tiny spark appeared on Vladimir's fingertip.
It was insignificant.
Almost beautiful.
Yet every candidate felt danger from it.
Mark's eyes narrowed.
Merito observed silently.
Even William looked more carefully.
They all knew.
That tiny flame possessed enough destructive potential to threaten any of them.
Daniel took a deep breath.
He extended both hands.
The entire battlefield became covered with countless layers of overlapping dimensions.
Each layer had a different flow of time.
Different distances.
Different physical rules.
A labyrinth of space and time designed to delay the inevitable.
The tiny flame moved forward.
Slowly.
Silently.
It entered the first layer.
The first dimension burned.
Then the second.
Then the third.
It continued advancing.
Daniel remained calm.
He did not intend to stop it.
He intended to understand it.
Every layer destroyed revealed another piece of information.
Another pattern.
Another weakness.
As the flame crossed the final dimension, Daniel's eyes suddenly opened.
He had found his chance.
A small flaw.
A single moment where Vladimir's control over the flame was weakest.
He moved.
The distance between them disappeared.
His hand reached Vladimir's chest.
A spatial spear formed.
A weapon that did not travel.
A weapon that appeared directly at the destination it was meant to destroy.
Vladimir's eyes widened.
For the first time in the battle—
he was unable to evade.
The spear pierced his body.
The arena fell silent.
Vladimir looked down at the wound.
Then he smiled.
"Looks like this one is yours."
The judge appeared immediately.
The injury was repaired within moments.
He looked at both candidates.
"The winner..."
His voice echoed through the entire arena.
"Daniel."
Applause spread throughout the audience.
This battle had shown something different from the previous ones.
Vladimir's power possessed greater destructive potential.
But Daniel's understanding of space and time, combined with his ability to analyze during battle, allowed him to discover the single path to victory.
Vladimir looked at him and extended his hand.
"You have become even more troublesome than before."
Daniel accepted it.
"And your flames are still terrifying."
They both smiled.
There was no resentment.
Only respect between two warriors who had pushed each other to their limits.
As they left the battlefield, everyone knew that still only one battle
The battle between unmatched speed and endless darkness.
The one whose became light itself—
against the one who ruled the shadows.
MARK
KASHMIR