The moment the battle began—
William vanished.
There was no burst of light.
No distortion of space.
No explosion of energy.
He simply moved with a speed that surpassed the perception of most ordinary beings.
Robert's smile disappeared.
His instincts screamed.
But before his body could even react—
William was already standing before him.
A fist descended.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire battlefield shook.
Robert's chest collapsed inward as the force of the punch shattered his ribs, crushed his heart, and tore through his internal organs.
Before the shock could even reach his mind—
a second strike came.
A kick to his side.
His spine snapped.
His body flew across the arena like a broken doll, crashing into the ground and creating a massive crater.
The spectators watched calmly.
This level of destruction was expected at this stage of the tournament.
No one had reached the top two hundred by relying on ordinary methods.
But many eyes focused on Robert.
Because everyone knew the nature of the Undying Physique.
A body that rejected death itself.
For a moment—
there was silence.
The referee's mechanism began its countdown.
One second.
Robert's fingers moved.
Two seconds.
His shattered bones began reconnecting.
Three seconds.
His organs started reforming.
Four seconds.
The blood scattered across the battlefield returned to his body.
By the fifth second—
Robert stood once again.
His breathing was slightly heavier.
But his body was completely restored.
He looked at William and smiled.
"Is that all?"
William remained expressionless.
He had expected this.
During the previous battles, he had already analyzed the information available about the Undying Physique.
Its regeneration was not infinite.
It required energy.
It required a foundation.
Something remained that allowed the body to recognize itself and rebuild.
And everything that existed—
had a structure.
A connection.
A law.
Something that could be understood.
Something that could be manipulated.
William took a step forward.
Robert's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he felt danger.
Not because of the destruction William had shown.
Every candidate at this level could destroy him.
The danger was the calmness in William's eyes.
The feeling that he had already found the answer.
"Let's try another method."
William raised his hand.
Robert immediately attacked.
His fist carried tremendous force, attempting to interrupt whatever William intended to do.
But William did not dodge.
He simply cut the relationship between himself and the incoming force.
The attack passed by his face without affecting him.
In the next instant—
William's palm touched Robert's chest.
Silence.
Nothing happened.
For a brief moment, Robert believed he had stopped him.
Then—
his expression changed.
"What..."
He felt his body becoming unfamiliar.
Not injured.
Not destroyed.
Separated.
William's consciousness entered the deepest level of Robert's existence.
He saw the countless atoms that formed his body.
The bonds connecting them.
The invisible harmony that allowed those particles to remain as Robert.
Slowly—
William began separating them.
A finger disappeared.
Not burned.
Not cut.
Not destroyed.
It simply ceased being part of a body.
Then the hand.
The arm.
The shoulder.
Robert watched himself disappear piece by piece.
For the first time in the tournament—
fear appeared in his eyes.
His regeneration activated immediately.
New cells attempted to replace what had been lost.
But William continued separating the newly formed matter before it could reconnect.
It became a battle between restoration and separation.
The Undying Physique was trying to declare:
"I exist."
William's power answered:
"Then I will divide the very thing that allows you to exist."
The process continued.
Robert's legs disappeared.
His torso followed.
Only his head remained.
Even then—
his eyes did not show hatred.
Only understanding.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"So this... is the power of the Immortal Body."
William looked at him quietly.
"Your ability is incredible."
Robert laughed weakly.
"That almost sounds like a compliment."
"It is."
William answered honestly.
"If we were fighting to kill, this would have been decided much earlier."
The referee's voice echoed throughout the arena.
"The candidate has lost the ability to continue combat."
"Victory: William, candidate of the Immortal Body."
The battle was over.
The remaining part of Robert's body vanished completely.
Several moments later—
something began to move at the center of the battlefield.
Tiny particles gathered together.
The Undying Physique was still working.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Without enough remaining matter, the process was thousands of times harder.
A small fragment of flesh appeared.
Then bone.
Then nerves.
Robert's consciousness returned with unbearable agony.
Every nerve in his newly formed body screamed.
He was being recreated from almost nothing.
William watched silently.
He understood that although the battle had ended, Robert was still suffering.
He walked toward him.
Many spectators noticed.
Not with surprise.
Compassion was not unusual among beings who had lived for millions of years.
Power did not always remove empathy.
William placed his hand above the slowly forming body.
Robert's eyes opened slightly.
"What are you doing?"
"Fixing the damage I caused."
"You already won."
"I know."
"Then why?"
William was silent for a moment.
He remembered his own years of pain.
His own helplessness.
The moments when he wished someone had reached out a hand.
Then he answered.
"Because suffering that serves no purpose is meaningless."
His perception extended once again.
But this time—
he did not separate.
He connected.
He guided the countless atoms.
He repaired the broken relationships between matter.
He strengthened the pathways through which Robert's regenerative energy flowed.
The reconstruction accelerated.
Minutes of agony became seconds.
The body that was struggling to return finally regained its complete form.
Robert stood up.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he looked at William and laughed.
"I was defeated and healed by the same person."
William turned away.
"Do not make me regret helping you."
Robert laughed even harder.
"I think I like you, Immortal Body."
The audience quietly accepted the conclusion.
They had witnessed a clash between two extraordinary concepts.
An existence that refused death.
And a power that could dismantle existence itself.
But the tournament did not stop.
Another battlefield had already reached its conclusion.
A flash of light crossed the arena.
Mark's battle had begun.
Sophia, the candidate of the Forest Body had barely managed to take a single step before—
Mark appeared before her.
No technique.
No long battle.
Only absolute speed.
His fist touched her abdomen.
The force behind it traveled throughout her entire body, shutting down her consciousness instantly.
Her forest never had the opportunity to grow.
Her abilities never had the opportunity to activate.
The referee immediately announced:
"Victory: Mark, Candidate of the Celestial Light Body."
A battle that lasted less than a second.
On another battlefield, two figures stood facing each other.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
Yet the pressure spreading from their bodies caused the very space around them to tremble.
On one side stood Vladimir.
The candidate of the Flame body
His expression remained cold and indifferent.
His eyes were like two ancient flames that had witnessed the destruction of countless worlds.
On the opposite side stood a giant of a man.
His body seemed to be carved from celestial metal.
Every movement of his muscles created a deep vibration in the atmosphere.
the candidate of the Celestial Muscular Body
Unlike many other special physiques, his ability did not rely on mysterious laws.
He did not manipulate life.
He did not control concepts.
He did not distort reality.
His body itself was his greatest weapon.
Every muscle fiber contained a terrifying amount of energy.
Every strike was the result of absolute physical perfection.
A body that had reached the limits of what pure strength could achieve.
The two looked at each other.
Then the giant smiled.
"I have always wanted to know."
He clenched his fist.
"Whether a flame that claims to burn everything can overcome a body that can destroy everything with a single punch."
Vladimir looked at him quietly.
"There is no need to wonder."
His finger slowly rose.
"You will have your answer."
The judge's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Begin."
The moment the battle started—
the candidate of the Celestial Muscular body disappeared.
The platform beneath his feet exploded.
A massive crater formed from the force of his acceleration.
He did not use techniques.
He did not use energy.
He simply moved with a body powerful enough to break the laws of ordinary motion.
His fist flew toward Vladimir.
Before the punch even arrived, the pressure behind it traveled forward.
The air compressed.
The atmosphere screamed.
Then—
he punched empty space.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The air exploded.
An enormous fist-shaped shockwave was born.
It crossed the battlefield like a celestial beast, carrying enough force to crush mountains and split oceans.
Many spectators nodded.
A simple attack.
Yet terrifying in its simplicity.
Raw power refined to its ultimate form.
However—
Vladimir remained motionless.
A tiny spark appeared on the tip of his finger.
Something so small that it seemed ridiculous compared to the giant wave of destruction approaching him.
Then the two forces collided.
For a moment—
the entire battlefield became silent.
The enormous fist of compressed air touched the crimson spark.
And it disappeared.
Like fog meeting the morning sun.
The pressure.
The force.
The terrifying physical power.
Everything vanished.
Yet the spark was not untouched.
Its flames flickered.
Its power had been greatly weakened before finally disappearing.
The muscular candidate narrowed his eyes.
He understood immediately.
The flame was not invincible.
His power could resist it.
A smile appeared on his face.
"Interesting."
He raised both fists.
"Then let us see whose limit comes first."
He attacked again.
This time his movements became even faster.
Every punch shattered the atmosphere.
Thousands of fist-shaped shockwaves covered the battlefield from every direction.
They descended upon Vladimir like a storm capable of destroying a planet.
For the first time—
Vladimir moved.
His eyes became brighter.
His fingers opened.
Another spark appeared.
This one was different.
More stable.
More concentrated.
More terrifying.
A flame that did not simply burn.
It erased .
It consumed the foundation that allowed things to continue existing.
The spectators understood.
The first spark had merely been a test.
This was his true attack.
Vladimir released it.
The tiny flame moved forward slowly.
Almost gently.
But every shockwave that touched it disappeared without leaving a trace.
The giant fists of air collapsed one after another.
The Celestial Muscular candidate's expression changed.
He launched his strongest punch.
His entire body twisted.
Every muscle in his frame released its maximum potential.
The final fist was many times greater than all the previous ones combined.
The battlefield trembled.
The barriers surrounding it shone intensely.
The giant fist met the crimson flame.
For a brief moment—
they stood against each other.
Power against destruction.
Force against annihilation.
Then the fist began to break apart.
The candidate's eyes widened.
He understood.
His power was no longer enough.
The flame continued moving.
Slowly.
Inevitably.
Until it stopped directly in front of his face.
Only a few centimeters away.
The heat did not touch him.
Vladimir had complete control over it.
But the message was clear.
If he wished—
the battle would end instantly.
Silence filled the arena.
The muscular candidate stared at the flame.
Then he laughed.
Not with anger.
Not with shame.
But with respect.
"I understand."
He lowered his fists.
"I surrender."
The crimson flame disappeared immediately.
The judge's voice echoed throughout Andimadoria.
"Victory: Vladimir, Candidate of the Flame Body."
The battle had ended.
A confrontation between absolute physical strength and a flame capable of destroying the deepest layers of existence.
The stronger body had not been enough.
Because there were some powers that could not be overcome through strength alone.
As Vladimir walked away from the battlefield, he did not celebrate.
His expression remained as cold as ever.
Because like William and Mark—
he understood the same truth.
These battles were only the beginning.
The true monsters of the tournament had not yet revealed their full power.
And somewhere among the remaining candidates—
beings existed who were already searching for ways to defeat them.
The road to the final trial was still stained with countless battles waiting to be fought.