The stacked dimensions shivered around them. Floating shards of fractured planes collided midair, rippling with the residual energy of their previous skirmish. Both fighters hovered, catching their breath, eyes glinting.
Lucien's smirk stretched wider. "Alright… enough horsing around. You've been showing off, Kaelith. Let's see what your real toys can do. Don't worry—I'll only use thirty percent. I wouldn't want to embarrass you too badly."
Kaelith tilted his head, blue hair flicking in the metaphysical light. "Thirty percent, huh? That's generous. But I suppose I can match that. Let's make this interesting—just enough to leave impressions that echo across the void."
The planes themselves reacted. Gravity twisted subtly, colors warped, and shards of shattered dimensions hovered like floating spectators. They were about to release abilities beyond pure martial arts, but even now, both held back—a mere fraction of the cosmic authority they commanded.
Lucien's aura flared faintly, shimmering with the light of collapsed stars and branching roots of the World Tree. Kaelith's aura pulsed crimson and sapphire, metaphysical authority bending around him like water in a storm.
Lucien twirled midair, blades of energy flickering along his arms. "I do enjoy a good fight, you know. Makes me wish I hadn't created all of this just for fun."
Kaelith smirked, shifting with uncanny speed. "You created it… but I get to mess with it. That's my kind of entertainment. Besides, I like seeing arrogant bastards smile before I punch them into oblivion."
Lucien arched a brow, voice low and dangerous. "Oblivion, you say? Be careful—you might find out my version of oblivion has ten new laws you didn't anticipate."
Kaelith laughed darkly. "Good. I hate being predictable."
Lucien flicked his hand, releasing "Eclipse Reversal Strike"—a pulse of condensed World Tree authority, twisting space and collapsing gravity midair around Kaelith.
Kaelith grinned, weaving through it effortlessly. "Cute… mine's called Metaphysical Crescendo." He unleashed a wave of metaphysical energy that bent reality, warping the stacked dimensions around them and sending shards spinning like comet trails.
Lucien quipped, sidestepping midair. "Nice move. Did it hurt when reality itself bent around your ego?"
Kaelith smirked, ducking under a retaliatory strike. "Funny you should ask—I think ego was never meant to be measured against omnipotence."
As they traded blows, the void seemed to hold its breath.
Lucien's aura flared again, blades of pure authority slicing through the air. "I don't break limits… I redefine them. You're just standing in the wrong equation."
Kaelith spun, energy trailing like ribbons of fire. "Limits are suggestions. I rewrite suggestions. Consider yourself footnotes."
A strike from Lucien shattered part of a dimensional plane, yet Kaelith's counter moved faster than perception. "You hit hard," Kaelith said, smirking midair, "but you're swinging at shadows… shadows I made myself."
Lucien's eyes glinted, amused. "Shadows are my favorite toys. Let's see if you can dance with them."
Lucien: "Your authority is loud—but sound alone cannot bend the law of all things." Kaelith: "All things bend… just not in my timing. Prepare to learn your patience." Lucien: "I am the root, the branch, the storm, and the void itself. And yet, here I am… entertaining your theatrics." Kaelith: "Then let's make them memorable theatrics—I want the void to remember the day it almost broke me."
The air—or rather, the void itself—vibrated with tension. Both fighters were holding back more than ninety percent of their true potential, but even at thirty percent, the stacked dimensions had warped and adapted around them, leaving trails of glowing energy, collapsing shards, and twisting gravity that no mortal eye could follow.
Lucien floated with calm arrogance, letting the World Tree's essence pulse faintly around him. Kaelith hovered opposite, smirking, energy coiling like snakes ready to strike.
"Shall we see what happens when we stop holding back… just a little more?" Lucien said, faintly amused.
Kaelith's grin widened. "About time. Let's turn this into a show the multiverse won't forget."
And with that, the real escalation began—two beings bending the very laws of space, time, and creation, exchanging blows and authority in a dance that was at once elegant, terrifying, and unmistakably chaotic.