He was standing in an open field, facing Mark. They clashed. Mark won.
He blinked. Now they were in a city. They fought. Mark won.
Another blink. An endless white void. They fought. He won this time.
Another. A forest. They fought. Mark won.
Another. Another. Another.
"What… what is this?!" Ken's voice echoed across countless simulations that all felt absolutely real.
Outside, in reality, Ken stood frozen inside his own shadow dome. The Nikegami had taken hold. His body was completely paralyzed, trapped between moving forward and defending, locked in indecision as his mind experienced infinite combat scenarios.
Mark walked calmly around the frozen dome. "Nikegami doesn't just trap your body, Ken. It traps your mind in endless possibility. Every fight you could imagine—you're living them all at once."
