After the conclusion of the previous stage, the ten selected candidates stood alone upon the stabilized battlefield of Andimadoria.
For a brief moment, there was no hostility.
Only silence.
Then—
Vladimir stepped forward.
His gaze swept across the remaining nine candidates.
"We request permission," he said calmly, "to establish a platform for controlled, friendly challenges among the top ten."
A subtle shift occurred in the atmosphere.
The idea was unusual.
Not a test of ranking.
Not an elimination.
But a space for refinement.
A place to understand each other's abilities before the final stage of the tournament.
One by one, the others began to show interest.
Mark remained expressionless.
William looked thoughtful.
Merito observed in silence.
Kashmir's eyes narrowed slightly.
Even Daniel showed faint curiosity.
After a short deliberation, the judge raised his hand.
"The request is approved."
A vast secondary arena formed beside the main structure.
Stable.
Contained.
Designed specifically for high-level exchanges without lethal consequence.
The Challenge Arrangements
Without delay, the pairings were decided.
Each candidate selected an opponent.
A silent agreement passed between them:
no holding back.
Not for victory.
But for understanding.
For adaptation.
For survival in the battles to come.
The matches were set:
Vladimir challenges William
Merito challenges Mark
KASHMIR challenges Javier
Sarah challenges Daniel
Maria challenges Tiago
A brief pause followed as the participants confirmed their opponents.
Vladimir vs William
The first arena activated.
William and Vladimir stood facing each other inside a sealed combat field.
No external interference.
No escape.
Only two existences confronting one another.
Vladimir's crimson flames flickered silently around his body.
William stood calmly, his gaze fixed on his opponent.
Neither spoke.
The air itself became heavy with anticipation.
Outside the battlefield, the remaining candidates did not leave to prepare for their own matches.
No one was impatient.
No one was arrogant enough to believe that this battle had nothing to teach them.
Mark stood silently, his golden eyes following every movement.
Merito remained motionless, his expression as empty as the void he controlled.
KASHMIR observed the shadows beneath the arena, analyzing every interaction between William's manipulation of existence and Vladimir's destructive flames.
Daniel, Xavier, Sarah, Maria, and Tiago all watched with the same seriousness.
Because they understood one thing.
This was not merely a friendly duel.
It was a preview of the wars they would soon have to fight.
The battle began.
Vladimir was the first to move.
A crimson spark appeared at his fingertips.
An instant later—
it crossed the battlefield.
There was no travel time.
No visible trajectory.
The flame did not move through space.
It burned through the barriers of space and time themselves, appearing directly before William.
His eyes widened.
For a brief moment, even he was caught off guard.
He immediately extended his perception toward the countless connections surrounding the attack.
The links between the flame and himself.
The pathways through which its destructive nature could reach him.
With immense effort, he severed them.
The flame passed beside his face, tearing apart the distant edge of the arena.
Even after avoiding it, a thin line of blood appeared on William's cheek.
A reminder of how close he had come to failure.
He did not hesitate.
His hand moved forward.
A cluster of atoms compressed together appeared before him.
Between them flowed the mysterious energy he had discovered years ago while constructing the platforms leading to Andrew's palace.
The same energy that allowed matter to maintain a higher order of stability.
But now—
he reversed its purpose.
He forced instability into the structure.
The moment the compressed sphere reached Vladimir—
it exploded.
A terrifying force capable of shattering celestial bodies erupted.
But Vladimir was already prepared.
Flames surrounded both his hands.
He struck the incoming explosions one after another.
Each strike caused the fire to consume the destructive energy before it reached him.
William appeared above him.
A kick descended.
His leg was covered in a dense layer of the same mysterious energy.
The pressure alone caused cracks to spread throughout the battlefield.
Vladimir raised both arms.
A massive amount of crimson fire erupted around him.
The collision shook the entire arena.
The force pushed Vladimir backward dozens of meters.
For the first time—
his expression became serious.
Without wasting a second, Vladimir brought his hands together.
Between them, a small crimson flame appeared.
Then it grew.
And grew.
And grew.
The surrounding space began to distort.
Time around the flame became unstable.
Everyone watching understood .
He was preparing a decisive attack.
But William did not wait.
He immediately started separating the oxygen atoms around the growing fire.
Without fuel, even the most terrifying flames could weaken.
At the same time, he attempted to interfere with Vladimir's fire itself, trying to provoke the same internal collapse that had defeated Vladimir's simulation during his training.
But Vladimir took the right choice
His eyes flashed.
The unfinished flame disappeared.
He extinguished it himself before William could exploit it.
Then—
an ocean of crimson fire exploded from his body.
The entire arena became a sea of flames.
There was no longer any clear atmosphere for William to manipulate.
No isolated source of oxygen to remove.
The battlefield itself had become Vladimir's domain.
William remained calm.
A sphere of energy formed around him.
A perfect barrier.
The flames struck it endlessly.
The barrier trembled.
Cracked.
Repaired.
Cracked again.
Inside it, William waited.
Studied.
Calculated.
Then suddenly—
a small opening appeared in the barrier.
A single moment.
A single opportunity.
William released a concentrated burst of force.
It struck the flames directly, scattering them apart.
Another opening appeared.
Another attack followed.
Again.
And again.
Slowly, Vladimir's sea of fire began shrinking.
His reserves were running dry.
The final flames disappeared.
William immediately rushed forward.
His fist shot toward Vladimir's chest.
At the last moment, Vladimir used the remaining traces of his fire to propel himself away.
The attack barely missed.
A deep scar was left across the battlefield where the strike passed.
Vladimir landed in the distance.
He was Breathing heavily.
His flames flickered weakly.
But his eyes remained bright.
A smile appeared on his face.
"So you forced me this far."
William looked at him silently.
He understood.
The next attack would decide everything.
Vladimir raised both arms toward the sky.
Every remaining fragment of his power gathered together.
The crimson flames condensed.
Their shape changed.
A gigantic dragon emerged.
Its scales were made of burning laws.
Its breath tore through the boundaries of space and time, leaving scars in reality itself.
The mere existence of the dragon made the arena shake violently.
At the same time—
William extended both hands.
The countless atomic connections around him began gathering.
The strange cosmic energy between them condensed into a single point.
Matter and energy merged.
Compressed.
Sharpened.
Until a gigantic spear appeared.
Its tip possessed an unimaginable degree of stability and destructive potential.
For a moment—
the universe itself seemed to hold its breath.
The spectators watched without blinking.
Even Mark's expression changed slightly.
Even Merito's empty eyes focused more deeply.
Because they knew.
This was a collision between two powers capable of reaching the highest realms.
"Go."
The two spoke at the same time.
The crimson dragon roared.
The cosmic spear flew.
They crossed the battlefield.
And collided.
Silence.
For one impossible second—
nothing happened.
Then—
the world exploded.
A blinding wave of destruction swallowed the entire arena.
The ground shattered.
The protective barriers broke apart.
The fabric of the battlefield became unstable, revealing chaotic cracks of distorted space.
The arena that had been specially designed for these monsters was reduced to complete ruin.
When the light finally disappeared—
there was no battlefield left.
Only destruction.
Only emptiness.
The ancient judge stepped forward.
With a single movement of his hand, the damaged space began repairing itself.
Broken laws returned to their original state.
The shattered arena was restored as if nothing had happened.
But the result remained.
At the center of the restored battlefield stood William.
Breathing heavily.
Exhausted.
Yet still standing.
A short distance away was Vladimir.
His body was severely damaged.
The remains of William's spear had broken through the dragon, continued forward, and struck him directly.
The damage was so severe that his own regenerative abilities were insufficient.
The judge personally intervened to heal him.
When Vladimir finally opened his eyes, he looked at William.
There was no anger.
Only respect.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You won."
William lowered his hand.
"Only this time."
The two exchanged a silent look.
Both understood.
In a real battle where both had time to adapt and prepare, the outcome could have been entirely different.
And the candidates watching from outside understood something even more terrifying.
The top ten were not merely competitors.
They were disasters waiting to happen.