Chapter 17
The wind howled through the fractured sky as the masked man soared backward, his cloak whipping violently behind him.
One punch.
Just one brutal punch from Logan had sent him hurtling through the shattered remains of the mana-bursting chamber.
Debris floated mid-air, suspended in warped space, flickering like glass in a slow explosion.
But before the masked man could hit the ground, he vanished—space twisting unnaturally around him like a broken mirror.
Logan's red cloak flared as he advanced, eyes glowing with grim resolve.
Without hesitation, he slammed his palm into the air, a glowing glyph flaring beneath it.
{Spatial Spell: Lock-On Chain}
The world distorted.
In a single blink, both men vanished.
They reappeared miles from the city, standing atop jagged cliffs floating over a sea of chaotic space Element.
Below, the fabric of space cracked and sparked like lightning caught in a whirlpool.
The masked man was already standing still—waiting.
"You haven't lost your edge, Logan," the masked voice said, calm and unreadable.
"But you're still too slow."
Logan clenched his fists. "You know my name... Who are you?"
The man didn't answer.
How could he not know?
The master who taught him how to harness the space element—who sharpened his gifts, guided him when his magic was a whisper.
But the bond between master and student had long been severed.
Now, the only thing burning behind the masked man's clover-shaped pupils... was hatred.
His eyes shimmered, space rippling in their depths. Four leaves twisted.
{Spatial spell: Graviton Rift}
The space between them exploded—air bending, gravity warping sideways.
Logan leapt, but the world itself shifted. Gravity pulled at an angle, wrenching him midair into a sideways spiral. Before he could be crushed, he struck his shoulder.
A rune flared to life.
{Spatial Mark: Phase Shift}
With a crack of light, Logan vanished—reappearing behind the masked man in a spin, sword glowing with mana.
He slashed through the air—
But the masked man was already gone, blinking through space like a ghost.
A spinning kick came from above—Logan raised his bracer, blocking the blow with a pulse of hardened mana.
Seals flickered across his arms.
He countered with a brutal palm strike to the ribs, forcing the masked man back.
"You…" Logan stopped mid-sentence.
The masked man tilted his head. "What's wrong, Logan?"
No reply.
Their bodies moved again—blurs of motion.
Logan slammed both palms into the ground.
{Seal of Collapse: Shattered Border}
The sky cracked open. Space ruptured like glass—blades of mirrored shards exploded upward. The masked man vanished to the side in a blur, reappearing behind Logan with a warped dagger.
{Spatial Spell: Dimensional Slide}
The dagger shimmered with condensed space distortion.
Logan twisted, catching the blade with his gauntlet.
"Why do you feel so familiar?" Logan growled. "Who are you?"
The masked man hesitated—a half-second pause.
Then a smirk.
"That's what you're wondering?"
He slashed.
Logan's hand moved swiftly—faster than human reflex.
{Spatial Mark: Call}
His hand shimmered, and a sword appeared instantly—blocking the shorting blade.
The impact cracked the air between them.
Both were flung backward—landing atop the distorted water that hovered between shattered cliff shelves.
They dashed forward again—Quick Step and Flash Step techniques entwined.
They collided mid-air.
Ting. Ting. Ting. Ting.
The masked man's short sword screamed through space, deflecting Logan's strikes.
Then he blinked—appearing behind Logan and slashing toward his head.
Logan turned—barely—his blue eyes locking with the masked man's shimmering clover-shaped irises.
Logan ducked under the blade, but the pressure of the strike alone sliced a shallow cut into his cheek.
The masked man jumped back, both hands rising.
He chanted with a whisper, eyes glowing.
{Spatial Spell: Collapse Field}
The world around Logan compressed.
Air twisted into a crushing vortex—space compressed into a funnel of death.
Bones cracked under the pressure. The sound of imploding energy rang in his ears.
But Logan slammed a glowing mark into his chest.
{Spatial Mark: Void Armor}
A field of invisible force burst around him—absorbing the weight of a collapsing world.
His breath was heavy. His body groaned under the strain.
But he still stood.
Logan gripped his longsword, veins of light pulsing along its edge.
With a roar, he charged.
The ground beneath him shattered as he accelerated.
Steel howled through the air.
The masked man met him head-on, shorting sword raised—its jagged edge shimmering with unstable space magic.
It didn't just cut. It tried to erase whatever it touched.
When their blades met, time itself flickered.
The collision rang like thunder—sparks erupting in distorted arcs.
Logan's body shimmered, teleporting in microbursts mid-strike.
A blur of flickers.
His sword came from every direction.
The masked man stood still—his eyes twisting space, bending the path of attacks, countering with impossible angles.
His blade struck from directions that should not exist.
A gust of wind carved a deep trench in the cliffside as Logan launched a wide arc—only for the masked man to phase behind him and swing down.
Logan turned just in time—blades collided, blasting a shockwave that leveled the surroundings.
They traded more strikes—vicious, unrelenting.
A knee to Logan's gut. An elbow to the jaw.
Logan's sword slashed through the masked man's shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
But a dagger caught Logan just beneath the ribs in return.
Both men stumbled—cloaks torn, skin bloodied.
Their battlefield was wreckage—craters, splintered rock, shattered gravity fields.
This wasn't a duel.
This was war.
Then—disaster.
Logan feinted a teleportation slash.
But the masked man was one step ahead.
Space fractured around Logan's hand. The shorting sword stabbed forward—not to pierce, but to distort.
It struck Logan's blade at the hilt.
Reality bent.
And his sword cracked then Snapped.
It shattered into fragments of light and steel.
The hilt fell, ringing against the stone.
Logan froze, exposed.
The masked man stepped forward, blade still humming.
Each step tore the air—leaves and wind vanishing before touching him.
Logan's body trembled, not from fear—but from exhaustion.
His knuckles were raw. His vision swam. Mana surged through his body desperately, keeping him barely standing.
Still—he refused to fall.
He slammed his palm into the ground.
{Spatial Mark: Echo Rift}
Time snapped.
The masked man flickered—repeating his last five seconds of motion involuntarily.
Logan charged, fist blazing—
But the masked man whispered calmly:
{Space Eye Technique: Return Inversion}
The moment twisted. Logan's own movement bent backward. He flipped in midair, his momentum turning against him.
He crashed hard—skidding across broken stone.
Both men stood, breathing heavily.
Logan wiped blood from his lip. "Your strong.... who the heck are you"
"You don't need to know who I am," the masked man cut in. "Not yet."
Silence fell between them.
Even the air trembled.
They both understood—neither could kill the other.
The masked man turned.
"We have knew each other and We'll meet again. And maybe then… I'll rip off this mask."
Logan's eyes widened. "What did you say?!"
But the masked man vanished—blinking from existence.
Logan stared, trembling.
"…Who the hell are you?"