Tami closed the distance in an instant, his movement collapsing the space between them like a snapped wire.

A vortex-wreathed punch drove straight into Yuto’s ribs.

Pain detonated through his side, sharp and immediate, stealing coherence from his breath. His body jerked sideways, boots scraping against polished black stone as he struggled to stabilize.

He barely regained balance before another strike hit him.

Then another.

Each impact came layered with that same distorted pressure, the air around Tami’s gauntlets bending and tightening like a storm compressed into a fist. Yuto tried to swing back, tried to force space between them with steel, but Tami was already inside his range.

Yuto slashed. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Tami caught the blade between both gauntlets.

Metal screamed as he twisted violently.

The force tore Yuto off his footing entirely.

He was thrown across the chamber, body spinning once before he hit the ground hard and rolled, friction burning along his shoulder and back as he slid to a stop.

For a brief moment, everything stilled.

Then pain caught up.

Yuto pushed himself up.

Barely.

Tami was already there.

A punch slammed into his stomach before he could fully rise.

Another hit his shoulder, jarring the joint with brutal precision.

A third drove into his back, forcing air out of him in a broken rush.

His breath vanished completely.

His knees buckled under him.

He dropped to one knee, head lowered, vision flickering at the edges.

Tami stepped in without hesitation, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him upward as if his weight meant nothing at all.

For a second, Yuto was eye level with him.

Close enough to see everything.

Tami’s face held no anger.

No hatred.

Only a heavy, unwavering resolve, something far more final than rage.

Then Tami slammed him down.

The stone cracked against Yuto’s skull.

Sound and sensation blurred together.

He groaned, forcing his arm to move, trying to push himself back up.

A kick caught his side and knocked him flat again.

Yuto coughed violently, breath ragged and unstable. His vision blurred in uneven waves, the chamber tilting slightly as if the world itself had lost alignment.

His body refused commands he was certain he was giving it.

Tami stepped over him.

Slow.

Deliberate.

He raised one gauntlet above Yuto’s head.

The air around it tightened.

A vortex began to form, spiraling inward at first, then expanding outward in tightening layers of pressure that distorted the space above him. Dust lifted from the floor despite the stillness of the room, pulled upward into the rotating force.

"I didn’t want to do this, Yuto," Tami said quietly.

His voice had changed.

Not stronger.

Not louder.

Stripped.

Genuinely regretful, in a way that made it worse.

"You could have just left. You would’ve been fine. Unscathed."

Yuto stared upward.

At the gauntlet.

At the spinning vortex.

At the ceiling of black stone far beyond it.

For the second time in only a few days, he was staring death in the face.

Certain death.

Again.

Ah...

The life of a boy blessed by two gods.

How blessed I am indeed.

The bitter thought drifted through his mind.

Then something clicked.

Blessed by two gods.

His eyes widened slightly.

Sadara’s blessing.

The notification resurfaced in his memory.

[Inextinguishable Flame]

The words echoed again.

The lamps drifted closer.

A figure existed behind them, hidden by endless darkness.

Yuto couldn’t make out its shape.

Couldn’t tell if it was human.

Couldn’t tell if it was a god.

Then a hand emerged from the darkness.

It reached toward him.

Toward his chest.

Toward his soul.

And touched him.

Fire erupted from Yuto’s hand.

Tami leapt backward instinctively.

The vortex around his gauntlet scattered.

Orange-gold flames swirled around Yuto’s arm.

Slowly, Yuto stood.

Both swords ignited.

Golden flames raced along their edges.

The room brightened.

The shadows retreated.

Yuto finally understood.

[The Inextinguishable Flame.]

Sadara had blessed him with divine fire.

Tami’s eyes widened.

For the first time since the fight began, something broke through his composure completely.

Shock.

"What—"

He did not finish.

Yuto moved.

Tami reacted instantly, surging forward with both gauntlets raised, vortexes already beginning to reform around his strikes.

Yuto met him.

A single slash.

Fire followed the blade like it had always been part of it.

A wave of golden flame cut through the air and met Tami’s attack head-on.

The vortex shattered on contact.

Tami was forced backward, boots scraping violently across stone as he absorbed the impact.

He countered immediately.

Another strike.

Then another.

Each punch formed distortion, pressure points in space meant to break defense and disrupt structure.

Yuto cut through them.

The flames did not resist the vortex.

They consumed it.

Tami’s eyes widened further.

Yuto advanced.

Step by step.

Strike by strike.

Each movement left burning trails suspended briefly in the air before fading, as if the space itself could not decide whether it should remember them.

Tami was no longer advancing.

Only retreating.

His boots dragged across the floor as he gave ground without being able to reclaim it.

He growled and surged forward with both gauntlets at once.

Yuto shifted sideways.

Clean.

Efficient.

One motion.

One opening.

One slash.

The flaming blade carved across Tami’s chest.

Fire erupted outward on contact.

Tami cried out, stumbling back as the force of the strike carried through him. Smoke rose from the wound in thin, dark streams, curling upward into the tower’s unnatural air.

He dropped to one knee.

Still breathing.

Still conscious.

Still refusing.

Even now.

With a roar that strained his voice raw, Tami pushed himself forward again.

Yuto did not hesitate.

They met at center.

Eyes locked.

For a brief moment, there was no movement.

Only recognition of what remained.

Then Yuto thrust.

The blade entered cleanly.

No resistance.

Straight through Tami’s chest.

Silence.

The sound of impact did not echo.

It absorbed itself.

Tami froze.

His body trembled once, as if trying to decide whether it had been permitted to continue existing in that state.

Slowly, he looked down.

At the sword.

At the fire still clinging to its edge.

A faint smile formed on his face.

Not defiant.

Not bitter.

Just... tired.

Then his knees gave out.

Yuto withdrew the blade.

Tami collapsed.

The chamber fell completely silent.

The flames along Yuto’s swords dimmed gradually, retreating as if their purpose had been fulfilled.

He stood there, breathing heavily.

Staring at the body on the floor.

A few moments ago, they had spoken like allies.

Now there was nothing left between them except stillness.

Then a notification appeared.

[Ethereal Slain]

[+1 Soul Core]