The first stage of the Great Tournament had already carved its name into the memory of the universe.
Six thousand candidates had entered.
Six thousand beings carrying the hopes of countless civilizations, each one chosen as the sole successor of a unique special physique.
They had been divided into one hundred battle groups.
Sixty candidates in each battlefield.
The rule had been simple.
Brutal.
Only the last one standing would advance.
From the chaos of those one hundred platforms, only one hundred remained.
William.
MARK .
Vladimir.
Merito.
And dozens of other monsters whose names had already begun to spread across Andimadoria.
But the tournament had never intended to let luck alone decide the fate of its candidates.
Some had fallen not because they were weak, but because they had encountered a monster too early.
For that reason, the second battlefield was created.
A platform unlike any before appeared in the void.
It was so large that it seemed less like an arena and more like a floating continent.
Its surface stretched across millions of kilometers, filled with mountains, valleys, oceans, and countless environments created by the laws of the universe themselves.
The creators of the tournament understood one thing.
If they placed one hundred exceptional candidates inside a small arena, the battle would end in moments.
The truly gifted needed space.
They needed a world where they could hunt, hide, plan, and unleash their abilities without restraint.
The other candidates entered this colossal battlefield.
They were the greatest among those who had lost the first stage.
Each one had demonstrated a level of strength that surpassed the majority of participants.
The woman of the Life-Thief Physique.
The candidate of the Crimson Blood Physique.
The bearer of the Celestial Muscular Physique.
The woman carrying the Forest Physique.
And many others who had been unfortunate enough to encounter impossible opponents during the first round.
The moment the signal was given—
the entire continent exploded into war.
Unlike the first stage, where overwhelming power often decided the battle, this one became a struggle of patience.
Some candidates disappeared into the forests, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Some formed temporary alliances only to betray one another moments later.
Some fought endlessly for days without rest.
Rivers turned red.
Mountains collapsed.
Entire forests were burned and then regrown by the abilities of the participants.
The candidate of the Crimson Blood Physique became a nightmare within the battlefield.
Every wound suffered by his opponents became a weapon against them.
The blood spilled across the ground rose like an army under his command.
Thousands of crimson spears chased his enemies through the skies.
Yet his greatest weakness remained the same.
Against opponents who could prevent themselves from being injured or possessed unusual bodies, his advantage greatly diminished.
On another part of the battlefield, the woman of the Life-Thief Physique moved like a walking disaster.
She did not seek direct combat.
She waited.
She watched.
Every prolonged battle became her territory.
The exhausted.
The injured.
The weakened.
All of them became nourishment.
Dark threads of life force extended from her body and silently absorbed the vitality of those who approached her.
Some candidates lost decades of their lifespan in seconds.
Others collapsed before they even understood they had been attacked.
The candidate of the Celestial Muscular Physique represented a completely different path.
He possessed no strange manipulation of laws.
No control over concepts.
No invisible techniques.
Only a body refined to an absurd degree.
Every muscle fiber inside him was like a sleeping star.
Every movement carried enough force to distort the atmosphere.
A single punch could produce pressure waves that shattered mountains kilometers away.
Against him, defense was meaningless.
One needed to avoid him.
Because receiving his strike directly was no different from being struck by a celestial body falling from the heavens.
Meanwhile, the woman of the Forest Physique transformed the battlefield itself into her weapon.
Where her feet touched the ground, life exploded.
Ancient trees rose toward the sky.
Roots thicker than mountains moved like living dragons.
Flowers released spores capable of disrupting senses.
The forest protected her.
Warned her.
Fought alongside her.
Any opponent who entered her domain was fighting not one enemy—
but an entire ecosystem.
Days passed.
The number of candidates slowly decreased.
Until finally—
only one hundred remained.
They had earned their right to stand beside the first hundred victors.
The true number of remaining candidates was now two hundred.
The strongest two hundred of an era.
And this time—
there would be no chaos.
No hunting.
No alliances.
No escaping.
Only a direct confrontation between two chosen beings.
The cosmic mechanism appeared once again.
A massive wheel of countless names rotated above Andimadoria.
Every candidate looked upward.
Some were calm.
Some were nervous.
Some were excited to test themselves against the strongest beings in existence.
The names began to pair themselves.
One after another.
Then—
William looked toward the sky.
His opponent appeared.
Robert.
Candidate of the Undying Physique.
A man who had become famous during the previous battle for a simple reason.
No matter how many times his body was destroyed—
he returned.
Bones.
Flesh.
Organs.
Everything reconstructed itself.
An existence that refused death.
At the same moment, other important matches appeared.
Mark versus the candidate of the Forest Physique.
Vladimir versus the candidate of the Celestial Muscular Physique.
Merito versus the candidate of the Crimson Blood Physique.
The Life-Thief Physique versus the Shadow Physique.
The spectators immediately became interested.
These were not ordinary battles.
They were clashes between beings who represented different truths of the universe.
Robert looked at William from the opposite side of the battlefield.
A relaxed smile appeared on his face.
"So, I am facing the candidate of the Immortal Body."
William stared at him calmly.
"And I am facing a man who does not know how to stay dead."
Robert laughed loudly.
"Then we have something in common."
For the first time, a faint smile appeared on William's face.
"Perhaps."
The cosmic voice finally echoed.
"The battle will begin in ten seconds."
The entire universe seemed to become quiet.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
The two warriors continued to stare at each other.
One represented a body that could endlessly rebuild itself.
The other possessed a power that could interfere with the very foundation of existence.
Their battle would answer a simple question.
What happens—
when an unstoppable regeneration meets someone who can erase the very thing that must regenerate?
Three.
Two.
One.
"Begin."
William disappeared.