Mythbird in a few minutes approaches the southern coast of the deserted island, from where the strong evil presence that he and Vektor are feeling comes from.

"What immense power for something so stable. I can't even imagine the full potential of this being..."

"Yeah... But I have no choice. Mythbird, drop me off near the coast and wait far away from here. I need to keep you safe in case I need to leave here alone."

"Understood."

Mythbird gradually drops in altitude until it lands in the treetops near the island's shoreline. Vektor carefully descends to the surface, then slowly walks towards the source of energy he is sensing.

As the giant bird flies out of his sight, Vektor finally finds a man with purple hair and eyes standing near the sea, waiting patiently for him. Although he is still weaker than Kards, the pressure exerted by this man is still strong enough to make him feel a certain level of discomfort.

Vektor remains silent until he is facing the man, when he swallows his nervousness and starts speaking:

"Are you the one generating all this energy around the island?"

"Yes... and you are Vektor Drenn, am I right?"

Vektor simply nods, unsure of when his opponent might strike.

"You surely are young... Much younger than I expected for someone as well known as you."

"Well known? By whom?"

"Lord Vak, that Maken kid, that Kards guy... they all have things to say about you. To tell you the truth though, I don't have much of a clue what's going on around here, so I don't know what they see as so special about you."

"So Kards really is one of you..."

"I'll be honest with you, even I can't say for sure whether he's on our side or not. He was the one who carried out most of Lord Vak's plan, but he doesn't seem to be a direct servant like me."

"Is it really okay for you to share all this information with me?"

"Considering our objective, transparency is important. Having full knowledge of what is happening, you will have nothing to distract your mind."

"Well, since you're willing to answer my questions, may I start by asking your name?"

"I'm sorry, kid, but I have no name. I was created by Lord Vak to be his weapon, an entity made of pure dark energy, which exists only to fight in the name of my lord. I'm not a person, so I don't have a name. However, in case you want a name to refer to me... everyone around me usually calls me Null."

"Null... What role do you have in Vak-Oh's plan?"

"I am responsible for the third and final condition. That is, testing your current power level. The moment I arrived on this island, I made sure to deactivate the locks on all the pods where our guarantees were being held, which means that everyone is now free to return home."

"So soon? Didn't you think about the possibility of me running away?"

"That wasn't necessary. The moment I got here, this was the guarantee that you wouldn't be able to escape anymore."

"What if they decide to help me? You'd be at a disadvantage, wouldn't you?"

"Not necessarily, but my goal is to fight you alone. If our battle is interrupted, I will consider that as your victory. However, I don't plan on dragging this out for much longer."

"And let me guess, if I don't win I die, right?"

"Don't worry, you will live. With your death, our entire plan would be considered a complete failure. However, the fate that would await you after a defeat, I honestly consider something even worse than death."

"So, all I can do is winning, right...?"

"Yes..."

Vektor materializes Senzoken in his hand while once again using his ancient transformation. With his increased power, he no longer feels Null's pressure with the same intensity. However, with his body more tired due to Kards' presence, he realizes better that the ancient power is demanding everything from his body, thus exerting a different type of pressure.

After positioning himself for combat, Vektor faces Null, who remains open to attack while saying firmly:

"Come with all you've got, Vektor Drenn. Your test... begins now!"

At the same moment, Vektor advances towards Null and attacks with a slash of his sword, but his opponent manages to dodge it without showing any effort. The boy does not have time to be surprised when his opponent's fist approaches his face. He manages to defend himself with his arm, but the blow is strong enough to push his body several meters back with the impact alone.

Without leaving his starting point, Null remains with his guard down without losing his calm.

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"Starting with a direct attack... Your inexperience seems quite obvious. Know that I'm also going all out from the start so I recommend being more cautious than that."

"Such speed... How is this possible...?"

"Your speed is superior to mine. However, that doesn't mean much when I can easily predict your attacks."

"You telling me to be more unpredictable? Okay, I can also do this...!"

Vektor slashes the ground as he runs in different directions, creating several walls of fire coming from different points. His opponent is able to read the attack pattern and dodge the attacks with relative ease, but he still needs to move around more this time.

The boy realizes that the attacks are not having much effect, but he continues to launch them in an attempt to find a blind spot. It is not an easy task, however, as his opponent can move in a way that prioritizes his vision.

He decides to stop attacking and starts running in circles around his opponent, waiting for the walls of fire to go out. Even if he is within his field of vision, the walls will make it difficult for his opponent to track his position in detail, or so he believes.

Furthermore, if his speed really surpasses Null's, there will come a point where his eyes will no longer be able to follow him. Keeping him out of the way, however, will be more difficult, as overdoing it would make him return to his field of vision.

However, Null still appears to be an intelligent enough entity to make spontaneous movements outside of a pattern, which means that he would still be able to detect his location again.

"Which means I'll have to be quick. The moment I lose him, I won't waste any time!"

By the time the walls of fire are dismantled, even if with difficulty, Null manages to keep his opponent in sight, but a few seconds of confusion are more than enough to create an opening, which Vektor doesn't waste:

"Now...!"

Vektor attacks with Senzoken and surprisingly manages to make the blade go through Null's arm and slash halfway through his chest, but somehow without his body demonstrating the standard resistance that something would have when cut, as if his body was made of a not very dense plastic.

Still, the blade cannot go beyond a certain point on the opponent's chest, who reacts coldly by looking in Vektor's direction without showing any pain from the attack he received. Paralyzed by disbelief, the boy cannot react to the kick in the stomach that he receives from his opponent.

After knocking his opponent away with his kick, Null starts burning from the cut of the sword still stuck in his chest as his arm falls to the ground. After getting up, Vektor returns Senzoken to his hand after dissolving it in flames to remove it from the opponent's flesh.

As the flames die down, Null remains steady and comments on Vektor's attack:

"Your agility is truly remarkable, but it seems that your control of physical strength requires some improvement. Even with my guard down, you still weren't able to deliver a full slash through my body. But I must admit that it did hurt quite a bit..."

Null's body regenerates in the same way as Maken, but much faster and more efficiently, as if it were much more natural and automatic for him.

"He wasn't kidding when he said he was made of energy. What should I do now...?"

With his body completely restored, Null finally positions himself to attack.

"Time to test your endurance and reaction speed. Here I come."

"...!"

Null charges and punches Vektor, who easily manages to react by defending himself with Senzoken. However, the force of the attack is so great that it manages to destabilize the boy anyway, making him unable to react to the second punch, which hits his stomach and sends him flying backwards at high speed.

Vektor manages to land on his feet and cancel out the inertia with the strength of his feet. However, this single attack is strong enough to make him cough up blood for a few moments, before his opponent once again advances towards him.

The boy tries to counterattack with another slash, hoping to at least cut his opponent's arm, but unlike the other time, the blade doesn't go much further than the skin of the purple-haired man, who with a simple movement of his arm manages to throw the sword away, disarming Vektor, who only doesn't take another punch because he manages to dodge it this time.

Unarmed, the boy resorts to hand-to-hand combat. He kicks Null in the head, who easily defends himself and tries to counterattack with another kick. The boy dodges the kick with a jump and tries an aerial kick, but his opponent dodges it. Still under the effect of the inertia of the kick, Vektor throws another kick with his other leg, but his opponent manages to grab him by the heel and throw him into the air.

Vektor recovers Senzoken while still in the air and uses it to slash the ground where Null is, but Null manages to dodge it while jumping towards him.

Unable to dodge, the boy tries to defend himself with his arms, but the opponent's blows are strong enough to break his arms, nullifying any defense he could think of opening. Null ends his attacks with a powerful kick to the stomach.

They both fall to the ground. Despite not feeling much pain, Vektor succumbs to the damage to the point of undoing his transformation subconsciously. With his arms broken, the only things he is able to do are run and kick, but in his current condition where he can no longer count on his ancient power, his chance of victory is practically zero.

"Not yet...!"

Ignoring logic and the condition of his own body, Vektor runs towards Null and tries to attack him with a flying kick, but the opponent defends himself again. A sequence of kicks begins, each kick being faster and stronger than the last, but none of them reach the same level as when they were being amplified by the ancient power, thus making them very easy to block.

After realizing that his opponent has lost all sense of reason and is acting purely on impulse, Null decides to end the battle once and for all, with a single punch strong enough to break Vektor's pelvis, rendering his legs useless.

With all his limbs unable to move, Vektor falls to the ground, panting with exhaustion but still ignoring the pain running through his nerves. Null just looks at the ground, expressing disappointment:

"You may be a promising kid for your age, but you don't have what it takes to move forward. I'm sorry, but..."

He grabs the boy by the head and lifts it until his body is suspended in the air.

"You failed your test."

Vektor is still conscious. Even though the pain prevents him from speaking, his fixed and open eyes demonstrate his will to destroy Null at all costs.

"What a scary face you have. The fact that you keep your eyes open shows how strong your will is. However kid, I'm sorry to say this, but only with willpower..."

Moving just his hand, he throws Vektor's body upwards and catches him in mid-air by his heel.

"...you will not survive."

He pulls his arm back to give himself momentum, then throws Vektor's body to the ground with enough force to shatter the ground on impact.

Vektor finally loses consciousness, thus confirming his defeat...

"I'm sorry, kid. Everyone may have high expectations for you, but your current power is still not enough. If I could, I would kill you right here to free you from what awaits you, but Lord Vak's orders are absolute. I will possess your body and ensure that all damage suffered is nullified. That way, you will leave here unharmed. After that, all I can do is wish you luck..."

Null reaches out his hand to Vektor's chest, intending to possess his body by touching it. However, the moment he is about to touch him, the body disappears and dissolves into shadow.

"...!"

He looks around until he finds Vektor's body next to three young people: a blonde girl, a gray-haired girl, and a green-haired boy.

"The Etykiran apprentices..."