The forest had already begun to break under the weight of their presence.
Trees leaned unnaturally.
The ground cracked in silent protest.
Space itself felt strained—like reality was being stretched between two opposing authorities.
Alzwalt stood with his light blade in hand.
Barak stood cloaked in void.
Neither moved.
Not yet.
Barak exhaled slowly.
"…Let's end this."
His body blurred.
No—
It didn't move through space.
It erased distance.
A void step.
In an instant, he appeared behind Alzwalt, his arm already mid-strike, wrapped in dense void energy capable of collapsing matter on contact.
But—
Alzwalt's blade moved first.
A clean arc of light.
Clang.
The collision didn't produce a normal sound.
It produced a distortion.
A ripple that bent nearby trees outward as if space itself recoiled.
Barak's eyes widened slightly.
"…You saw that?"
Alzwalt didn't turn around.
"Of course."
Another step.
Another clash.
Barak vanished again, reappearing above Alzwalt this time, driving a downward strike that carried the weight of compressed void pressure.
Alzwalt pivoted upward.
Their attacks met midair.
BOOM.
A shockwave blasted outward, flattening a wide radius of forest.
Leaves disintegrated.
Branches snapped.
The ground beneath them cratered.
Barak flipped backward, landing lightly on a fractured tree trunk.
His expression sharpened.
"…You're adapting."
Alzwalt rotated his wrist slightly, his blade reflecting faint starlight.
"No."
"I'm reading you."
Barak smirked.
"Then read this."
His hands formed another sequence of signs.
The void around him thickened.
Then—
It multiplied.
Clones.
Dozens of Baraks emerged, each one radiating the same void signature, each one moving independently.
They surrounded Alzwalt from all directions.
Alzwalt's eyes flickered once.
"…An interesting trick."
All the Baraks moved at once.
A synchronized assault.
From above.
From below.
From the sides.
From within blind angles.
Void attacks converged simultaneously, each strike aimed to destabilize space itself around Alzwalt.
For a moment—
Alzwalt was engulfed.
Silence.
Then—
A pulse of golden light erupted outward.
Not an explosion.
A reversal.
The void clones nearest to him began to distort.
Their forms flickered.
Then destabilized.
One by one, they collapsed into nothingness, as if their existence had been overwritten.
The real Barak's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…So that's how it is."
Alzwalt stood at the center, untouched.
His wings slightly expanded.
His presence heavier now.
"You're relying too much on replication."
He raised his blade slightly.
"Quantity doesn't matter…"
"…when quality is absolute."
Barak's remaining clones merged back into his original body.
The void around him condensed further.
His aura stopped spreading randomly.
Instead—
It became focused.
Controlled.
Dense.
"…You're right."
He nodded.
"I've been holding back."
His eyes darkened.
"Void Commandant: Absolute Restriction."
The space around Alzwalt suddenly tightened.
Invisible chains formed.
Not physical.
Conceptual.
Restrictions layered upon restrictions.
Movement.
Energy flow.
Perception.
All subtly interfered with.
Alzwalt's expression changed—just slightly.
"…So that's your true ability."
Barak stepped forward slowly.
"This is where it ends."
"I don't need to overpower you…"
"I just need to limit you."
He raised his hand.
Void gathered into a singular point.
Compressed into a devastating final strike.
"If you can't move…"
"…you can't defend."
He vanished.
Reappeared directly in front of Alzwalt.
And struck.
The void strike descended.
But—
Alzwalt smiled.
"…Too slow."
Golden light exploded from his body.
The restrictions shattered.
Not resisted.
Broken.
The chains of void fractured instantly under overwhelming authority.
Barak's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
Alzwalt's blade moved.
Not defensively.
Offensively.
A single, precise counter.
The light sword intercepted Barak's strike and redirected it upward, while Alzwalt stepped forward into the opening.
His free hand struck Barak's chest.
BOOM.
Barak's body was launched backward violently, carving a trench through the forest as he skipped across the ground before slamming into a distant rock formation.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone.
Dust rose into the air.
Barak slowly pushed himself up from the crater.
Breathing heavier now.
His expression… changed again.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
But something deeper.
Recognition.
"…So this is what they meant."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"You're not normal."
Alzwalt stood in the distance, blade lowered slightly.
Waiting.
Barak stood upright.
His void aura surged once more—but now more refined, more stable.
"…No."
He said quietly.
"You're not even close to normal."
He smiled.
A different kind of smile.
One filled with anticipation.
"…This is getting interesting."
The void around him began to spiral inward.
His energy reached a new threshold.
"Let's stop testing…"
"…and start fighting for real."
Alzwalt's golden wings expanded fully behind him.
His blade shimmered brighter.
The forest trembled under the pressure of both their powers reaching higher states.
Two forces.
Two evolving combatants.
No longer probing.
No longer testing.
Only escalation remained.