Astonishment turns to sorrow in a fourth breath.
"Do you think I will lose to you while that person is watching this right now?" he says, leaving me confused.
He draws his leg back and creates distance. He shifts into another stance, using his other leg. He aims for my face. I guard my heart-line—I know he will change his line of attack. This time, I decide for myself, not guided by my sight.
But—SKLASH—my face, barely. I cannot evade it. Too fast. From face to heart, Loki strikes hard. I block with everything I have, pulling and then releasing his leg away from my chest.
"This is my stage. This is my proof," he says again.
SWISH—so fast and so powerful. I am thrown backward. Loki hangs in the air. There is no time left. My body burns, heat rising from within.
"I will end this," he says, his knee poised right in front of my face.
WUSH—I dodge sharply to the side, just as fast as his strike.
"Huh?" he mutters. Loki is still in the air; I am directly beneath him.
I clench my fist. SPLASH—I drive it into his face with blinding speed and crushing force.
He is thrown back and staggers, but he does not fall. He struggles to steady himself as he lands.
I push myself further, matching his speed—then sharpening my power to meet it.
He bends forward, sweat pouring from his body. I am no longer the only one drenched.
"As I told you before, bastard," I say between ragged breaths, touching my chin and the underside of my nose where fresh blood runs over dried stains. "Extreme speed does not create extreme power. I wield both—so do not pretend you do not envy it." I spit blood from my mouth.
"Is that so? You have startled and amazed me more than once," he says, his face flat, fear sealed away. "Enough surprises. This only convinces me that this will not end the way I want."
I take the stance he used.
"I saw it first in your face—and I should end this with honor." I surge forward and strike from the air. He blocks.
SCLASH—a brittle defense against power that now surpasses his, paired with speed I have matched. It breaks. My blow crashes into his ribs, the impact carrying through as it lands clean.
His face shows the faintest hint of pain; behind that blankness, fear whispers. "Terrifying," he murmurs.
The heart is the end of this fight. BLASH—I drive my strike into his abdomen to rob him of the strength to guard. He is hurled into the air, but—
"What?" I mutter. Blood pours from me as I press the attack.
His expression remains flat.
The heart—this ends it. FLASH—I strike with full force and twist him into the ground. He is thrown down, lands on his feet, and stands upright.
"HUH?!" I gasp, unable to believe my blow has no effect.
"That's it? Finished?" he says.
I land, my body on the brink. I vomit blood—not only from my mouth and nose; my eyes now weep red.
"Don't joke. Do you think you've won just because you're the one collapsing? Where's the entertainment?" he says, a thin smile forming at the end.
He smiles, sharp and cruel.
"Was what I said before wrong? Is this the moment of proof? This is my stage, HUH?!" His grin widens.
Loki walks toward me as I struggle to rise, my body refusing to obey.
"Is it over?" he says, standing before me.
I struggle to stand.
"Right. Get up. Stand—because that's what you're supposed to do," he says.
I refuse to bow before him, yet my body teeters on the brink—burning, trembling uncontrollably, collapsing again and again at his feet.
"Finished. That's it," Loki says, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.
Did what I wanted before end differently? Or does it end the same? I cannot change anything, can I?
The steady streams from my eyes, nose, and mouth dry. My body stops shaking. I rise slowly—without resistance. Loki opens his eyes.
But before they fully open—C-TAS—another strike to his heart staggers him and forces distance. His expression now—
"This is how it should be. THIS IS THE FIGHT IT WAS MEANT TO BE," he says, brimming with excitement, a wide smile on his face.
My body is healing? This absolute crystal power has fused completely with my soul. So am I invincible now?
"Hah. This feels good," he laughs. "It stirs my hunger and my envy—ha." His grin spreads freely.
"Delightful. Truly delightful. I will crush your skull right now, bastard." He lifts one leg, taking his earlier stance.
I close my eyes, yet my vision opens to something new. I see his soul—
Adrenaline. Inferiority. They are now fused into a single spirit; the sight is overwhelming.
"From sorrow to inferiority in a fifth breath, huh?" I ask.
"Hm?" he murmurs.
I will provoke him until his adrenaline and inferiority spiral out of control—then finish it with a strike that leaves him utterly exposed.
"Oh, yeah? Try it." I take the stance he is about to use next. His face fills with genuine astonishment.
So he no longer falters to the same feints as before.
He charges. I charge. We clash—my eyes read his lines of attack and I evade. There is no opening on his body, yet I strike the very places he guards, breaking through and absorbing half the impact.
His face is all smiles, feeling no pain—adrenaline.
"I feel nothing, boy."
"Is that so?" I strike his head. C-TUST—I twist him into the ground. Even then, the face that holds back laughter feels no pain.
The light in the darkened space grows dimmer. I no longer know how this fight will end. My body, pushed past its limits—my fatigue, everything—now heals slowly.
"Is that all you can do?" he says. He lands. I land.
At this point, a long fight holds nothing special. I will end it the way I choose. I do not expect him to falter—but I will try.
I use the Jiza technique—the one he calls his brother's. I use it now, and—
He freezes.
He freezes and leaves himself open. This is it.