Benine, eyes sharp, launched himself with lightning speed toward his opponent.
Blade widened his eyes — a fraction of a second of astonishment crossed his face.
— What is he doing…? He's going to get shredded by my slashes! he thought, tense, frozen at the center of his own trap.
At that same moment, Benine's voice was lost in the rush of the wind:
— Compass… Electric marker.
The four voltaic bubbles lit up around him.
They positioned themselves in space like a celestial cross, each vibrating in a precise direction:
East
West
North
South
They pulsed rhythmically, like oriented heartbeats.
Fractal lines ran through the air, connecting the bubbles —
not like a path…
but like an invisible map of the sliced world.
Each time a slash crossed the space, one of the bubbles changed its tone, releasing a distinct electric vibration.
Benine understood.
These bubbles were not there to attack.
They revealed the lines of the cuts.
— You thought your torn world would chain me… murmured Benine internally.
His steps became precise.
He moved as if dancing between the wounds of the air, gliding along the edges of invisible cracks, never touching them.
Blade felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
— Impossible… he reads… the structure of my blades…
His gaze trembled.
Benine continued his ascent, step by step.
With each movement, the air vibrated, and Blade felt his heart tighten.
The closer Benine got…
the more fear crept into him.
He no longer understood.
His invisible blades, his slashes, his territory…
Nothing could stop him.
His breath grew short.
His fingers trembled slightly.
— Why… why does he keep coming closer? he thought, terrified.
Suddenly, Blade shouted:
— Don't come near me!!!
His scream tore through the air.
But it was no longer a simple scream…
The sound itself became sharp,
transforming into cutting waves that shredded the space around him.
The battlefield vibrated with a metallic shiver, as if each sound wave had become a suspended blade.
Benine paused for a moment.
His bubbles swirled calmly around him…
none burst.
He raised his head slightly, cold and confident.
Blade understood:
Even his voice…
could no longer reach him.
Blade trembled, almost collapsing.
His eyes followed each step of Benine… as if he were observing an entity he could no longer comprehend.
He wanted to speak… but no words came out.
Benine finally stopped.
Silence fell.
The voltaic bubbles turned slowly around him, tracing luminous circles in the air already torn by invisible slashes.
The world seemed suspended — as if two wills were confronting each other without moving.
Benine lowered his head slightly… then raised his gaze.
His red eyes pierced Blade.
His voice fell — cold, composed, relentless.
— Why are you running, Blade?
Blade's heart constricted.
He wanted to answer… but his throat remained tight.
Benine stared at him with unyielding hardness.
— You just understood… didn't you.
A shadow passed over Blade's face.
Benine took a step closer, and the air vibrated around him.
— Your blade…
Silence.
Benine's gaze became icy.
— has dulled.
Blade's breath caught.
For a moment, he felt his own power falter.
As if it was no longer Benine entering his territory…
…but his territory bending under Benine's presence.
Blade suddenly rose.
Panicked, he rushed at Benine, striking blow after blow —
rapid, violent, frenzied attacks.
Each movement shredded the air.
Each impact should have torn a human body apart.
But nothing.
Benine remained intact.
Immovable. Unshakable.
Blade stepped back, panting.
— H-how…? I… I just hit you… no…?
Benine sighed, exasperated.
— Ah… you're exhausting me. Watch closely.
Blade squinted.
Two bubbles with blue cores floated calmly around Benine.
A third, with a red core, hovered just above his head.
His heart tightened.
— Wait… there were four… right? Where's the fourth!?
Benine slowly raised a finger.
Not toward him…
But above Blade.
The fourth bubble hovered there.
Silent.
Ominous.
— There.
Benine continued, in a cold, instructive voice:
— Now you get it, don't you?
He paused.
— Each of my bubbles carries a charge.
And you know… two charges of the same nature cannot attract.
His red eyes shone.
— So it was enough… to give us the same charge, you and me.
Blade shivered.
He wanted to retreat.
But his body refused to move.
He understood.
His strikes had never touched Benine.
They had slid along the repulsive field.
As if their very existence refused contact.
Benine added calmly:
— Your blades cut everything that exists…
But I… I redefine what can reach me.
The wind vibrated.
The bubbles pulsed.
The world seemed to invert.
Blade eventually accepted, against his will, the outcome of the fight.
He had lost.
How could he defeat an opponent he could not touch?
Every attack avoided his body like an illusion, every movement broke his confidence a little more.
For the first time, Blade felt the real weight of helplessness — heavy, cold, inevitable.
Blade turned and fled with all his strength, muscles tense, eyes wide with terror.
Above his head, the voltaic bubble floated, immobile, relentless, like a suspended judge.
Benine sighed, almost amused:
— What doesn't he understand… seriously…
With a sharp gesture, he placed a blue-core bubble on a rubble stone.
His red eyes gleamed cold and sharp.
— Two charges of different natures… inevitably attract.
The bubble vibrated.
The rubble detached violently from the ground, launched like a projectile guided by the invisible gravity of the bubbles.
Blade felt his breath stop: the rubble charged at him, irresistible, inexorable.
He screamed, trying to dive aside…
But it was useless. The weight of the world fell upon him.
The rubble crashed onto him with a monstrous crash, shattering his footing and sending debris flying in all directions.
Blade fell to the ground, stifling a scream, buried under dust and rubble.
His eyes reflected pure terror: he realized Benine was no longer merely an opponent…
He was a force that could not be touched, bypassed, or stopped.
Benine, still calm, observed the scene.
Benine murmured in a low, calm voice:
— It's over now…
— 2 Days Later —
With a sudden movement, Umbrela sat up, as if awakening from an eternity of unconsciousness.
Even before thinking about how she had survived, she instinctively brought her hand to her chest.
A sigh of relief crossed her face.
— Really… your sword is too useful, Benine! she exclaimed, a smile of amusement and gratitude.
My chest… it's back to normal!
Benine, slightly perplexed but satisfied, nodded.
— I told you it wasn't just a sword.
Umbrela laughed, a mix of relief and lightness.
Thunder, standing with a dark and determined gaze, spoke:
— And now… what should we do, Umbrela? What's the way forward?
Umbrela smiled faintly, a mixture of mischief and confidence:
— Well… you don't waste any time, do you? That's what I like about you.
Benine, worried, stepped forward and added:
— Yes… Umbrela, how do you plan to save the world?
Umbrela fixed the horizon, her gaze growing serious.
— It's simple, she replied clearly.
To save the world, we must step where Man has never gone…
Where the oldest secrets still sleep…
She let her words linger for a moment.
— …that is… to the lost city of Atlantis.
Silence fell over the group.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, as if the name of this legendary city had awakened a millennia-old memory.
Thunder frowned, feeling the weight of the mission immediately on his shoulders.
Benine felt his heart beat a little faster.
Atlantis… the name alone sent shivers and promised a journey where every step would be a trial.
The End