The sound of the battles around me did not diminish.
Each impact echoed through the forest as if we were in the middle of a war that only we could see. Trees fell. The ground split apart. The earth rose into the air in dry clouds with every collision.
The Fifth General gave me no space to think.
He advanced without stopping.
I dodged a strike that passed so close to my face that I felt the wind cut across my skin. Before I could regain my stance, he was already in front of me again.
I blocked.
The impact ran through my entire arm.
My sword vibrated.
I stepped back twice. He didn't.
"You're adapting," he said calmly. "That is rare."
I tried to counterattack. He dodged with a minimal movement, as if he already knew exactly where I was going to strike.
Behind me, an explosion of light illuminated the forest.
I glanced back.
Liriel had unleashed an intense spell. The light cut through the trees, striking the copy in front of her directly.
For a second, I thought it had worked.
But the figure merely took two steps back… and the part of its body that had been hit began to reform as if nothing had happened.
Liriel realized it immediately.
Her light, which had always been devastating against demons, was not having its usual effect.
"Takumi," I heard her voice in the distance. "He's regenerating."
The General heard it too.
"They cannot win," he repeated.
Elara's copy passed through a wall of fire she had created as if it were nothing but smoke. Vespera tried to pressure hers with speed. Rai'kanna and Lyannis fought together, but the figure in front of them showed no sign of fatigue.
I focused on the General again.
He came once more.
This time, faster.
His strike hit my defense with such force that the ground beneath my feet sank. My arm trembled.
I felt the accumulated exhaustion of the past days weigh down all at once.
It wasn't just the fight.
It was everything that came before it.
I needed to end this.
I advanced with more force, pushing a sequence of direct attacks. He stepped back twice, blocking them all.
I managed to push him several meters.
The final impact of my sword struck the ground, opening a fissure that extended several meters ahead.
He observed the trail in the earth.
"Impressive," he commented.
Then he disappeared from in front of me.
I felt the danger before I saw it.
I spun on instinct and managed to block the strike coming from behind.
Even so, I was thrown to the side.
I rolled across the ground and stopped several meters away.
The taste of blood rose in my mouth.
I stood up quickly.
He was already coming again.
I blocked. Dodged. Attacked.
Nothing landed.
Nothing got through.
It was like fighting someone who was always half a step ahead.
"Do you realize?" he asked while dodging another strike of mine. "You already understand."
Yes.
I understood.
There was no point in exchanging attacks with him.
There was no point in trying to win by strength.
I needed to land one strike.
Just one.
But for that, I needed to create the opportunity.
And he wouldn't allow it.
In the distance, I heard Elara shout Liriel's name.
I looked quickly.
The copy had broken through Liriel's defense and struck her, throwing her against a tree. She stood up almost immediately, but I saw the effort.
It was repeating with all of them.
The copies did not tire.
Did not slow down.
Did not hesitate.
The General smiled faintly.
"They will fall before you manage to strike me."
That hit me harder than any blow.
I advanced with everything I had.
This time, without holding back.
He blocked, but was forced to step back.
The pressure increased.
Each strike of mine now carried more weight. More intent.
He began to move more carefully.
"Now this is more like it," he said.
I tried to force an opening.
He didn't give one.
But I noticed something.
Even being extremely fast, he still reacted.
He did not predict.
He responded.
That was enough.
I stepped back twice on purpose.
He came at me.
I blocked at the last instant and used the impact itself to spin my body and strike from the side.
He barely dodged.
But for the first time, I saw it.
He had to make an effort.
That gave me the confirmation I needed.
I could force a mistake.
But for that, I would have to risk everything.
I took a deep breath.
Ignored the pain in my shoulder.
Ignored the exhaustion.
Ignored the noise around me.
Focused only on him.
The General watched me now with more attention.
"You've changed," he said.
Yes.
I had stopped trying to win.
And started trying to hit.
Because, in the end, that was all that mattered.
A single strike.