In an instant, the world shifted.
Gone was the sunlit Capriha they knew.
Gone were the bustling cities.
Instead, they found themselves on a desolate plateau beneath a velvet-blue night sky. Jagged mountain peaks pierced the horizon, their black silhouettes looming against the stars. A cold wind howled, carrying whispers older than memory, sweeping over cracked, lifeless earth that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Ingress blinked, trying to steady himself as the harsh reality settled in.
"Where the hell are we?!" His voice cracked with frustration and anger. "Did you teleport us to some godforsaken place? It was broad daylight back in Capriha — now we're stranded in the middle of nowhere!"
He scanned the emptiness ahead and growled, "You little shit! Answer me!" But all that greeted him was an eerie silence.
Up ahead, illuminated only by pale moonlight, stood Kazimir.
His figure was a blur of silver and lightning, and his violet-blue eyes burned with an otherworldly glow — like distant stars shining cold and bright in the night.
Without a word, Kazimir dashed forward — a streak of speed faster than thought.
Ingress reacted instantly, unsheathing his blade with a sharp hiss of steel.
Their swords met with a thunderous clash, unleashing a shockwave so violent it shattered the earth beneath them. Rocks and debris erupted into the air like cannon fire.
Miles away, Neve and Jessie felt the tremor deep in their bones. The land groaned, trees splintered, and the ground cracked open beneath their feet.
Neve's eyes snapped open, alarm flaring.
"What the hell was that?!"
Jessie tensed, eyes sharp as ever.
"Brace yourself!"
Neve conjured a dome of shimmering ice just in time as the force slammed into their position. Suddenly, Jessie's foot sank — the earth itself crumbled beneath them.
They leapt into the air, narrowly escaping the chaos as trees toppled like dominoes in the collapse.
From their vantage point above, they watched the devastation unfold.
Neve's voice was tight with urgency.
"That shockwave — it has to be Kazimir and Ingress. We need to get there. Now."
Jessie's face hardened.
"If Kazimir's in Void State… that means Ingress really pissed him off."
Neve's eyes clouded with worry.
"Dammit, Kaz… why won't you listen anymore?"
Jessie's voice dropped to a grim whisper.
"If we don't stop him, Ingress might not live to regret it."
Back on the shattered battlefield, Ingress lunged forward, aiming a precise jab at Kazimir's glowing eyes.
Kazimir saw it coming — but was just too slow.
He parried, then smashed his fist into Ingress's nose with brutal force.
Blood sprayed as Ingress staggered, dazed.
Kazimir grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the cracked earth, the impact rattling bones.
But Ingress refused to fall.
He flipped back to his feet and summoned three shadow clones — ghastly specters wielding cursed blades.
They surged forward like a vengeful tide.
Kazimir dodged the first strike, parried the second, then roundhouse-kicked the third clean into a jagged boulder.
Yet, it was a trap.
A fourth clone rose silently behind Kazimir, dark energy coiling like a serpent.
BOOM.
A volley of homing dark orbs streaked through the air.
Kazimir twisted sharply, slicing the orbs mid-flight with rapid strikes — crack!crack!crack! — but the effort left him vulnerable.
Ingress appeared at his blind spot, slashing a vicious gash across Kazimir's chest.
He dropped to one knee, blood dripping as Ingress stepped forward, a cruel grin on his lips.
"So this is the 'strongest Vandor'?" he spat. "What a joke. I'll make sure everyone knows — you're no hero, Kazimir. You're a fraud."
Then, a low, cold laugh escaped Kazimir's lips.
"You think… you got me? You're the bigger fool."
Ingress blinked, confused.
"What?"
Kazimir's eyes gleamed.
"If I'm so wounded… then why has the bleeding stopped?"
Ingress's expression froze in shock.
"You redirected your lightning… to stimulate your cells. You cheeky bastard—!"
He lunged to finish the strike but suddenly froze mid-step.
His muscles seized, refusing to obey.
He couldn't even blink.
Kazimir's voice was calm, but every word dripped with menace.
"World Clock. I activated it the moment you landed that hit. You never noticed."
Rising slowly, fists crackling with electric and spatial energy, Kazimir advanced.
"You thought you won? You thought I'd play fair? Idiot."
He slammed a brutal punch into Ingress's gut — ribs cracked.
Another blow shattered bones.
The final strike, infused with primal lightning, pierced Ingress's time-stop barrier like a meteor crashing through the sky.
Ingress was hurled into a jagged crag of rocks with a thunderous BOOM.
He lay broken, barely breathing, ribs shattered.
Kazimir was not finished.
With deadly precision, he hurled his katana — it pierced Ingress's arm, pinning him to the stone, steel sinking deep into bone.
Kazimir stepped forward, drawing from his back a long, curved nodachi — the sacred blade once wielded by Karah.
Its aura shimmered with fierce purity, untouched by corruption.
"I've never killed anyone with this sword," Kazimir said quietly, "Be honored… you'll be the first."
He raised the blade high — ready to strike.
Then, suddenly, ice gripped his legs.
Neve's scream cut through the chaos like a blade.
"KAZIMIR, STOP!"
He paused, blade humming with lethal intent.
Neve's silver hair whipped wildly as she soared forward.
"You're both Vandors! On the same damn team! Killing him — what the hell would that prove?!"
She reached out, ice cracking around her hands.
"Look at you — you're bleeding, exhausted. Let me heal you before you bleed out!"
Kazimir's energy flared violently as he struggled against the frozen bonds.
His blade rose again, lightning and spatial energy twisting around it, ready to obliterate.
Neve ran forward, voice desperate and raw.
"KAZIMIR, PLEASE!!"