Both of them staggered backward.

  Rain fell harder now, almost violently, as if the sky itself felt the strain of the battle.

  Samye could barely stand.

  His body trembled violently.

  Blood ran from reopened wounds.

  His vision blurred at the edges.

  One minute.

  That was all that remained of his Enhancement.

  Across from him, the telekinetic enemy stood upright, injured for the first time. His breathing was heavier now, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth — but his eyes still held calculation.

  “…You’re slowing,” the enemy observed.

  Samye laughed weakly.

  “Yeah… I noticed.”

  He steadied his spear against the ground to keep from collapsing.

  Then, quietly—

  “If I’m going to die here…”

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  He looked at the burning village behind him.

  “…then I’ll die here.”

  His voice dropped softer.

  “Not like anyone’s waiting for me anyway.”

  For a brief second—

  Kayal’s son’s face flashed in his mind.

  The monk’s warning.

  His brother’s grave.

  He swallowed.

  Then lifted his head again.

  “Secret Arts — First Form.”

  Lightning cracked violently across the sky.

  “Elemental Boost.”

  This time—

  The sky answered with fury.

  A massive bolt struck his spear, electricity spiraling wildly around it like a living storm. The rain vaporized near him, steam rising in hissing waves.

  But something was wrong.

  His heart rate spiked unnaturally fast.

  Pain stabbed through his chest.

  He coughed.

  Blood spilled from his mouth onto the mud.

  The lightning wasn’t stabilizing.

  It was overwhelming him.

  The enemy’s eyes widened slightly.

  “You’ll kill yourself.”

  Samye smiled.

  “…Maybe.”

  He adjusted his stance.

  “Then I’m coming.”

  He launched forward.

  The ground shattered beneath his feet.

  The spear transformed into a beam of concentrated lightning, tearing through rain and air in a deafening explosion of white-blue light.

  The enemy raised both hands, telekinetic force condensing like an invisible wall.

  The spear broke through it.

  Metal twisted.

  Air screamed.

  Energy collided.

  The impact detonated the battlefield.

  For a moment—

  Everything went silent.

  When the smoke cleared—

  The enemy was on his knees.

  Chest torn open.

  Blood flooding the ground.

  Critically wounded.

  But alive.

  Barely.

  Samye stood ten meters away—

  Then his legs gave out.

  The Enhancement expired.

  The lightning faded instantly.

  His body collapsed forward into the mud.

  Unconscious.

  Rain washed over both of them.

  One barely alive.

  The other barely breathing.

  And somewhere—

  Far beyond the battlefield—

  Something stirred.