The street was eerily quiet, while the wind swept the dust that had accumulated on the cracked asphalt.

Shikar stood in the middle of the road...

His eyes were fixed straight ahead with cold determination, while the wind violently tossed his hair and clothes. The braid holding his hair loose came undone, and his black locks escaped, dancing around his face like restless shadows.

He held his sword in one hand, the curved blade resting with its tip on the ground, leaving a long scratch across the asphalt.

And on the other side...

Ghaib stood in silence.

He raised his hands slowly, then began to move them in a circular motion, as if forming a small ball between his palms.

Dark blue and black sparks gathered between his fingers, colliding and swirling around each other in chaos, and with every passing second, their glow and brightness gradually increased, until a terrifying sphere of black and blue took shape.

And suddenly

Enormous pressure waves surged around him.

The air shook violently, and winds whipped in every direction, sweeping up dust, debris, and everything that came near his body, while his clothes and hair danced wildly amid the explosive energy.

Ghaib raised the sphere above his finger in front of his eyes.

Its light reflected inside his dark eyes, which looked like an endless void swallowing everything.

Then...

In a single second, the sphere vanished.

And everything went dark.

A heavy silence reigned.

Ghaib slowly lowered his body into a crouch, his leg muscles tensing violently, veins bulging menacingly.

The ground beneath his feet gradually cracked under the intense pressure...

Ghaib shot into the air like a guided missile, closing the distance between him and Shikar in a flash.

Mid-flight, he enveloped his fist in a dark blue aura and drove it straight toward Shikar’s face.

Shikar quickly raised his blade to parry the attack...

But Ghaib was faster.

He spun through the air in a dangerous maneuver, redirecting his momentum into a counterpunch with his left hand.

Shikar ducked at the last moment, avoiding the blow by a few millimeters, then thrust his sword in a straight stab toward Ghaib’s chest.

But Ghaib leaned backward, giving Shikar no chance to catch his breath... He swung his sword in a swift circular motion, aiming directly for Ghaib’s neck.

Ghaib smiled coldly.

He raised his energy-wrapped palm, and the blade struck it with a sharp metallic clang that shook the room, as if the air itself trembled from the impact.

And in that very moment...

Ghaib’s other hand had moved without hesitation, landing on Shikar’s ribs.

Time froze for a split second.

Then pain exploded inside Shikar’s body, as if thousands of blades were tearing his insides apart from within.

His body recoiled violently, and blood spurted from his mouth, while his voice came out in gasps:

“Ugh...!”

Shikar placed his hand on his ribs, as a rush of thoughts flooded his mind.

Then he muttered to himself: How was he able to stop my sword so easily?

He tightened his grip further and whispered, I have no other choice...

He concentrated a dense aura into his fist and swept it across his blade; the sword’s color turned to pitch black, as if the aura had fused with it.

Ghaib looked at Shikar with dull eyes, while his chapped lips moved in a sinister voice: “This is truly a strange world... Tell me, why do you go to such lengths to protect people you don’t even know, and even fight a battle whose outcome you already know?”

Ghaib raised his hand toward Shikar and added:

“ Join us, Shikar... You are strong, and it would be a shame to kill you here.

Shikar raised his sword and rested it on his shoulder:

I don’t need to know them to protect them... That is something people like you will never understand.

Ghaib smiled a cold smile and said:

Very well... so you have chosen.

He raised his palm before his eyes, then extended his index finger. Blue and black sparks formed around it, coalescing into a sphere containing an infinite void. Then he extended his second finger, and another sphere appeared, then one after another, until all five fingers were complete, their light faint and rippling, reflecting in his eyes.

In a single moment, he clenched his fist.

Everything went dark, and with lightning speed, sharp energy waves shot out, slicing through the air like scythes.

Shikar whispered: Ha... there they are, I see them.

He raised his sword with tremendous speed and parried the successive attacks. Steel clashed with energy, and blue sparks exploded, lighting up the street. He gritted his teeth with every impact.

While repeating to himself, “Hold on, not now.”

He didn’t stop.

He planted his feet, then spun his body and launched a counterattack. A faint sound escaped his blood-stained lips:

The One-Sword Style... Soul Severer.

He unleashed three destructive waves charged with a concentrated aura that surged toward Ghaib.

Ghaib stared at them steadily, then waved his hand through the air. The first wave dissipated, and the second was deflected with a sideways movement, but the third was the fastest.

Ghaib’s eyes widened for a split second, then he ducked at the last moment, allowing the wave to pass behind him and split an entire building in half with a terrifying explosion, causing cars to shake and streetlights to shatter.

Ghaib ran at a terrifying speed, circling around Shikar, and raised his finger toward him, whispering:

Bang.

Shikar sensed the danger before the attack was launched, and he twisted his body with astonishing speed, dodging the blow.

But Ghaib’s smile suddenly widened.

Right behind Shikar, the split building was collapsing.

Shikar’s eyes froze for a moment, terror etched on his face, as half of the massive building came crashing down toward him.

He shouted: Damn it!

He leaped upward, then shouted: The One-Sword Style... Moon Split.

He swung his sword with tremendous force, slicing the building into hundreds of small pieces that scattered like a stone rain across the sky.

But...

While he was still in the air, Ghaib suddenly appeared before him.

A flaming fist shrouded in pitch-black darkness surged straight toward Shikar’s face.

There was no time.

The punch struck him violently, and a shockwave exploded around them, hurling Shikar

like a cannonball toward one of the buildings. He slam

med into the wall with crushing force, shattering several floors, and debris collapsed around him amid a thick cloud of dust.