The space around them was infinite, an endless expanse of pure white extending in all directions. There were no shadows, no reflections—just an endless void. It was unsettling, as if reality itself had been stripped bare, leaving only the two of them in a world devoid of substance.
In this harsh emptiness, they stood face to face.
From a distance, Nullus appeared as a tall figure cloaked in dark attire, his black coat hanging loosely around him. His stance was firm yet cautious, his body slightly bent as if ready to move at any moment. His hair was dark black, slightly disheveled from the sudden transition. His eyes were sharp, scanning his surroundings as if searching for something—anything—he could exploit.
Opposite him stood Kara, a stark contrast. She was slender but tense, her tight purple outfit designed more for agility than protection. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back, flowing gently despite the lack of wind. Her eyes were fixed on Nullus, but they were not filled with hostility—instead, there was uncertainty. She looked ready to fight, yet her fingers trembled slightly, betraying a hidden hesitation.
Between them stretched the vast emptiness, a battleground devoid of cover, weapons, or any external factors—only their raw abilities and instincts for survival.
Nullus furrowed his brow slightly, resisting the urge to act instinctively. His mind was working quickly.
"Void. No bodies, no terrain, no elements to exploit… nothing."
His ability, whatever its true nature was, had always relied on adapting to the environment. Against the "Thought Killer," he exploited the very fabric of reality—the walls, shadows, obstacles—to his advantage. But here? There was nothing.
"I can't use my surroundings. That means I must rely solely on myself… and whatever's in her body."
His gaze shifted to Kara. She didn't seem openly hostile, but that meant little. He needed to understand how she fought.
"If she has an ability, I need to force her to reveal it first. If she doesn't… I'll need to end this quickly."
He clenched his hands slightly, feeling the energy within him begin to stir. He would have to be creative.
Kara's heart was pounding, not out of fear—but out of anger.
"Assassins' agency... Finally found it."
She had spent years searching. Sneaking into hidden networks, tracking cryptic whispers in the world of crime, finding a barely knowledgeable middleman—all of this had led her here. And now…
She clenched her jaw.
"Test? Of course, they wouldn't let anyone in easily. But... kill my opponent?"
Her hands tightened into fists. This was the problem.
She had sworn long ago: she would never kill.
"No matter what they've done to me, no matter how much I've suffered... I won't become like them."
But if she refused to fight, if she stood still...
She would die.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied Nullus.
"Is he really one of them? Or just another desperate recruit?"
Either way, she needed a plan.
And she needed it fast.
...
The white void... then a voice from nowhere
His voice pierced the space, Azrael's voice, coming from every direction… and from no direction at all.
"Kill... or be killed."
There was no emotion in his words, no cruelty nor pity, just an absolute truth.
Then the voice added slowly, as if savoring the shredding of any hope of escape:
"And there must be blood."
Nullus felt the air, which hadn't existed at all, grow heavy around him. This wasn't just a test of strength, but an imposition, a law that had embedded itself into this space. If neither fell, they would not leave.
Kara had stopped breathing for a moment. This was not supposed to be the test. Killing was not supposed to be a condition of entry.
But the voice continued, sealing the matter:
"And if you tie... time will be reset, along with your memories. The second round will begin, again, and again, until blood is spilled."
It was an eternal declaration—a sentence. No matter how Kara tried to escape this rule, she would find herself stuck once again, with the same memories, the same consequences, with only one possible result.
No exit without blood.
There was no time for doubt or hesitation.
The fight began.
Nullus activates his conceptual vision
Before moving, before starting the fight, Nullus took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them with a completely different gaze.
"Conceptual vision... Let's see what I'm up against."
As soon as he did, the world around him shifted. The white void remained the same, but it was no longer completely empty—words floated in the air around Kara, intangible yet clearly present.
"Human."
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Of course, she's human… This doesn't help me."
He tried to focus more, and other concepts began to emerge.
"Revenge."
"Despair."
"Justice."
Nullus froze for a moment, his eyes quickly scanning the words surrounding her.
"Revenge… Despair… Justice… Is this her essence? Are these her motives?"
Everyone has unique concepts, but there are often hidden connections between them. These three were not random—they told a story.
"Did she come here solely for revenge? And for what?"
Then, finally, another word appeared, changing everything.
"Superhuman."
Nullus narrowed his eyes.
"So, she's not just an ordinary human. She has a supernatural ability… but where?"
He focused harder, searching for any clue as to what her power might be, but he found nothing. There was no mention of its precise nature, no "teleportation," "time control," or "reality manipulation" as he had seen with previous opponents.
"Why can't I see it?"
He took a moment to think, then realized the reason.
"The ability only manifests when it's used in front of me."
That's what had happened against the Thought Killer. He couldn't see the ability clearly until he saw it in action, until there were enough signs of its nature.
"So, if I want to know how Kara fights, I'll have to force her to use it."
Nullus slowly lowered his hand, his golden eyes flashing with new realization.
No more waiting. No more caution.
It was time to show their cards.
Nullus rushes in
Without further hesitation, Nullus dashed towards Kara at tremendous speed, but he wasn't aiming for a killing blow right from the start. That wasn't his style.
The punches were erratic.
Fast, surprising, irregular in rhythm.
They weren't real attacks so much as provocations, tests, an attempt to get her to act.
"Use your ability, let me see it."
But he didn't expect that Kara was thinking something completely different.
Kara tries to speak... then pulls back
When Nullus began his attack, Kara's eyes widened for a moment, but instead of directly countering, she started thinking quickly.
"This isn't a fair fight, this isn't where I'm supposed to be."
She quickly opened her mouth, trying to speak, trying to explain her situation, to stop this fight before it was too late.
"Wait! I'm not—"
Then she stopped.
She remembered.
They were watching.
She froze for just a second, but it was enough to realize the truth.
"I can't say anything here… Any word might reveal me, any hesitation might expose my true goal."
She had to fight now. It was the only way to survive.
She closed her eyes for just a moment, then...
Everything changed.
Her speed began to double.
At first, she moved a little faster, barely faster than Nullus' first punch.
Then faster.
Every dodge, every movement, every shift from the path of his blows made her accelerate more and more.
Then faster.
Within moments, she had almost disappeared from his sight, no longer just a fighter—she was a fleeting light moving through the white void.
Then faster.
It was as if the whole world slowed down around her, time itself began to lose its usual rhythm.
The white void became... heavy.
Everything seemed almost frozen.
Nullus, who had initially been dodging her blows, now noticed something extremely strange.
Nullus realizes the problem
At first, he thought he was still dodging her successfully.
But then… he noticed his hand.
A stiff hand.
It wasn't moving. It wasn't responding.
As if it were no longer under his control.
His gaze quickly shifted to his other arm—same thing. The limbs that had been struck by her blows were starting to lose speed.
Something was wrong.
"What's happening?"
Her punches and kicks weren't leaving any visible damage, but his body was starting to lose its functionality little by little.
The faster she moved… the more of himself he lost.
Kara was now faster than could be seen.
Nullus, despite all his attempts to dodge, began to feel the constraints tightening around his body.
The fight, which had seemed like an even confrontation, had now turned into a race against time itself.
And time… was against Nullus.
Nullus realizes the truth
"If she wanted to kill me, I would be dead already."
This realization crept into Nullus' mind as he struggled to dodge Kara's increasingly difficult blows. She was too fast, faster than he could deal with, but still, his body wasn't torn apart, there were no broken bones or fatal bleeding.
Every time she struck him, it wasn't the force that affected him, but something else…
"She's hitting my neural signals, not my body."
That explained why her attacks weren't lethal despite her unnatural speed. She was impairing his ability to fight without actually killing him.
"I can use this against her."
He suddenly retreated, creating distance between them.
---
He suddenly stepped back, putting some distance between him and her. Kara, whose speed had now almost gotten out of control, stopped abruptly, eyeing him cautiously.
"Wait."
Noliss's voice pierced the silence, different from anything he had said during the fight. It wasn't a challenge, nor was it a provocation—it was a genuine request.
Kara, despite her suspicion, halted.
She was still in a combat stance, ready to react at any moment, but the thought that he wanted to speak caught her off guard for a moment.
In that brief second of hesitation, Noliss moved.
He removed his black coat.
And threw it towards her.
---
Kara Falls into the Trap
Kara stared at the coat flying towards her. It wasn't anything dangerous, it wasn't a weapon, it wasn't even an attack.
But why?
She extended her hand, grabbed it without thinking, and then—
"What is this…?"
---
The White Void Becomes Dark
As soon as her fingers touched the black fabric, the light around her collapsed.
It wasn't just darkness, it wasn't just an obstruction of vision—it was as though the entire world had plunged into absolute darkness.
There was no light, there was no time, there was nothing but the living darkness.
---
Noliss Moves
"The concept of shadow… I will make it absolute."
He amplified the concept stored in his coat, the tiny shadow that had been a part of it, and made everything drown in impossible darkness.
Kara, who had relied entirely on her visual perception and her precise calculations of time and distance, was rendered completely helpless.
"Now."
Noliss moved in total silence.
He jumped quickly—
And kicked her jaw with all his strength.
"It's over."
---
They Moved in the Same Moment
Kara's hand was freed—but not before Noliss managed to land a direct hit to the side of her jaw.
Her head jerked, her body staggered, but while Noliss was preparing to follow up, she struck his injured ribs with double the force.
Both of them were thrown back.
Noliss slid on nothingness, Kara flipped through the air...
Then...
A drop of blood fell to the white ground.
A crimson color, dark amidst the absolute whiteness.
Noliss felt warmth seep from his lip, where the side had been torn by Kara's final attack.
Kara touched her cheek where Noliss's strike still pained her. Red on the tips of her fingers.
The first blood spilled in the white void.
But... there was no victor.
---
They Both Died in This Fight.
---
Time... Repeats Itself
Just as Kara gasped, just as Noliss moved to respond—
Everything stopped.
The falling blood... rose back up.
The wounds disappeared.
The pain evaporated.
Noliss was still standing. Kara was still in her combat stance. But in a tiny part of their minds, in the barely conscious corner...
They remembered everything.
Then, Azrael's voice came from the void.
"Draw."
"The second round begins now."