The instant Judas disappeared, the entire battlefield erupted.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Yoshiro's body was thrown backward as Judas's attack collided with him at impossible speed, the force of the impact tearing through the ground beneath them and sending enormous waves of pressure across the ruined landscape. Yoshiro stopped himself in midair, his feet hovering above the broken ground as he slowly raised his head. Judas was already gone again. There was no warning, no sound of footsteps, and barely even a trace of movement. Yoshiro's eyes shifted upward just as Judas appeared above him, her fist already descending toward his head.
Yoshiro raised his arm.
CRAAAAAAACK!
The collision produced another violent shockwave, but Judas immediately followed with another strike. Yoshiro blocked it, then another, then another, each impact pushing him farther backward. Judas wasn't giving him the opportunity to counterattack. Her movements were incredibly precise, and every time Yoshiro attempted to create distance, she altered the space around herself and closed it almost instantly.
Yoshiro suddenly vanished.
Judas's fist passed through empty air.
A black distortion appeared behind her.
"You're getting predictable," Yoshiro said as he appeared behind her, his hand already extended toward her back. "You keep relying on your speed because you think I can't react to it."
Judas turned her head slightly.
"And you're getting arrogant because you think reacting to me is enough."
She disappeared before Yoshiro's hand could touch her.
Yoshiro's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
WHOOSH!
Judas appeared several meters away, but instead of attacking immediately, she stood still. The energy around her continued moving like a massive storm, while Yoshiro remained in the center of the ruined battlefield.
For the first time, they weren't attacking.
They were studying each other.
Yoshiro looked at Judas carefully before speaking. "Your Restoration isn't what changed the most, is it?"
Judas didn't answer immediately.
Yoshiro continued, his voice becoming more serious. "Back then, your Restoration was already difficult to deal with, but there was a clear limitation. If I completely removed you, there was nothing left for you to restore. That's still true now. So why does your presence feel completely different?"
Judas slowly smiled.
"Because you're finally paying attention."
She raised one hand, and the air around her fingers began bending.
"You already know that my Restoration allows me to return from almost nothing. You also know that if absolutely nothing remains, I can't come back. That limitation hasn't disappeared." Her eyes sharpened as the space around her distorted. "What changed is everything surrounding that ability."
Yoshiro watched carefully.
Judas continued, "Before, Restoration was something I used after you destroyed something. Now, I don't have to wait for destruction to happen."
She moved her fingers.
The battlefield bent.
A section of the ground suddenly curved upward, folding toward the sky like reality itself had become a sheet of paper.
"I can manipulate reality before you erase it."
Yoshiro's expression became colder.
"Reality Bending."
"Yes."
The words had barely left Judas's mouth before Yoshiro disappeared.
WHOOSH!
He appeared directly in front of her and released an Erasure attack at point-blank range.
Judas didn't dodge.
Instead, the space between them bent.
Yoshiro's attack passed beside her body as if the direction of reality had suddenly changed.
Judas immediately struck him across the chest, sending him flying.
BOOM!
Yoshiro crashed through the ground, but before the dust could even settle, he stood back up.
"So that's your new trick," he said.
Judas walked slowly toward him. "It's not a trick."
She raised her hand again.
"It's the reason this fight won't end the way you expect."
Yoshiro laughed.
"You still think you can decide how this ends?"
Judas stopped walking.
"No."
Her expression became completely serious.
"I think you finally understand that neither of us can decide that alone."
Yoshiro's smile disappeared.
The pressure between them increased.
Then Yoshiro lifted his hand.
"Fine."
The surrounding area immediately began to darken.
"Let's find out."
A black distortion appeared above his palm.
"How much can you actually restore?"
Judas's eyes narrowed.
"And I'll find out..."
Her energy exploded outward.
"...how much you can actually erase."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The two forces collided again.
Yoshiro released a massive wave of Erasure, but Judas bent reality around herself, causing the attack to curve around her body. Yoshiro immediately changed the direction of his attack, attempting to erase the distorted space itself. Judas responded by restoring the space before the Erasure could completely consume it.
The battlefield began breaking apart.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Mountains disappeared and returned.
The ground vanished and reconstructed itself.
The sky warped before returning to normal.
Neither fighter was simply attacking the other anymore.
They were fighting over the state of reality itself.
Yoshiro suddenly extended both hands.
"Then let's increase the scale."
A gigantic black sphere formed above him.
Judas looked upward.
Her expression finally changed.
"What are you planning?"
Yoshiro looked at her with a cold smile.
"Everything inside that sphere."
He paused.
"Will disappear."
Judas stared at the enormous sphere.
"You'd erase yourself too."
"I don't care."
"You'll erase the battlefield."
"I don't care."
"You'll erase the space you're standing in."
Yoshiro's smile widened.
"I already told you."
The sphere grew larger.
"I don't care."
Judas remained silent for several seconds.
Then she smiled.
"Then you're still the same."
Yoshiro's eyes narrowed.
Judas raised both hands.
"But you made one mistake."
Reality began bending around the entire battlefield.
"You think I'm trying to survive your Erasure."
The sphere descended.
Judas's eyes became brighter.
"I'm not."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire battlefield disappeared.
There was no ground.
No sky.
No debris.
No sound.
Everything inside Yoshiro's attack had been erased.
Yoshiro floated inside the emptiness, completely still.
His eyes searched the darkness.
"Judas?"
Nothing answered.
He smiled.
"That's it?"
For several seconds, there was absolutely nothing.
Then Yoshiro felt something.
A tiny disturbance.
His smile disappeared.
A small crack appeared in the empty space.
CRACK.
Another.
CRACK.
Then dozens.
The emptiness began splitting apart.
Yoshiro stared as reality started reconstructing itself.
A tiny fragment appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Those fragments began connecting.
Judas's existence returned piece by piece, restoring itself at a speed so absurd that Yoshiro barely had time to understand what he was seeing.
WHOOSH!
Judas stood before him again.
Completely restored.
Yoshiro stared at her.
"You..."
Judas looked at her own hand before closing it into a fist.
"I told you."
She looked directly at him.
"If even the smallest part of my existence remains, I can return."
Yoshiro's expression became increasingly irritated.
"But I erased everything."
"I know."
"There was nothing left."
"I know."
"Then how?"
Judas looked at him calmly.
"Because your Erasure removed what existed in that moment."
She placed her hand against her chest.
"My Restoration doesn't simply repair my body. It restores my existence."
Yoshiro's eyes widened slightly.
Judas continued explaining, her voice calm despite the overwhelming pressure surrounding them. "That's the difference between us. You remove something from reality. I force reality to recognize that something should still exist. As long as even a fragment of my existence survives somewhere, Restoration can bring everything back."
Yoshiro stared at her.
Then he laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because he finally understood how annoying this fight was going to become.
"So that's your answer."
Judas nodded.
"Yes."
Yoshiro's laughter stopped.
"But you still have a limit."
Judas's expression remained calm.
"If absolutely nothing remains, you can't restore."
"Correct."
"Then that's all I need."
Yoshiro raised his hand again.
Judas immediately prepared herself.
"But there's another problem," she said.
Yoshiro looked at her.
Judas slowly pointed toward him.
"You keep thinking my Restoration is the only thing you have to worry about."
The space around her twisted.
"You haven't even seen what Reality Bending can really do."
Yoshiro's eyes narrowed.
The battlefield suddenly disappeared beneath them.
Not because Yoshiro erased it.
Because Judas changed it.
The world stretched infinitely in every direction, turning the battlefield into a strange dimension where distance no longer behaved normally. Yoshiro looked around, then noticed something strange.
Judas was standing directly in front of him.
He attacked.
His fist passed through her.
Yoshiro immediately turned.
She was behind him.
He attacked again.
She was suddenly above him.
Then beside him.
Then in front of him.
Not teleportation.
Not speed.
The distance itself was changing.
Yoshiro finally understood.
"You're bending the relationship between us."
Judas smiled.
"Exactly."
She raised her hand.
"If you move ten meters toward me, I can make those ten meters become ten thousand."
She lowered her hand.
"Or I can make ten thousand meters become one."
Yoshiro's expression became serious.
"And if I erase the distance?"
"Then I'll restore it."
"And if I erase the space you're standing in?"
"I'll bend reality somewhere else."
"And if I erase everything?"
Judas smiled.
"Then I'll restore everything you erased."
Yoshiro stared at her.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Yoshiro slowly smiled again.
"You're annoying."
Judas laughed quietly.
"And you're predictable."
Yoshiro suddenly vanished.
Judas's eyes widened.
He appeared directly behind her.
But this time, he wasn't attacking her.
He touched the distorted space surrounding her.
"Then I'll stop attacking you."
Judas's expression changed.
Yoshiro looked at her.
"I'll erase the rules you're using."
The space around Judas suddenly began disappearing.
Her smile vanished.
CRAAAAAAAAACK!
Reality itself began to fracture.
For the first time since the battle began, Judas took a step backward.
Yoshiro smiled.
"Let's see if you can restore that."
Judas looked at the collapsing reality around her.
Then she slowly smiled again.
"Try me."
The battlefield erupted once more.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!