Eldric still stood in place, his body pulsing with energy, and a strange glint appeared in his eyes. There was no hesitation—only cold determination. Suddenly, his aura began to change: the pulsation of power took on a rhythmic, controlled pattern, as if activating a hidden ability. The space around us suddenly felt different, more unstable, and I felt my senses beginning to go haywire.

Suddenly, everything changed. My perception shattered like a broken mirror, and the world lost its depth. Shapes became blurred; the space around me began stretching and contracting in ways I couldn’t comprehend. My Chaos Eye—once so reliable—showed me nothing: no energy, no patterns that could help me predict my opponent’s moves.

I realized that Eldric had used something that cut me off from my way of perceiving reality. Not only had he deprived me of my greatest asset, but he made me feel almost blind.

My heart began pounding in my chest, and a cold sweat broke out along the back of my neck. Panic crept into my thoughts—for the first time in ages, I felt completely defenseless and truly blind.

I heard a quiet, amused laugh from Eldric.

"Well, well, I thought the Lord of Chaos would be more resistant to such tricks," he said with feigned pity, tilting his head slightly. "But I suppose you're out of luck, because it only took me a few moments to figure out your way of seeing. Now you're like a child in a fog."

I wanted to answer him, but before I could open my mouth, his attack came.

Before I could fully orient myself, his fist struck my face with a forceful impact. A sharp pain exploded in my skull, and the world around me blurred as the force of the blow sent me flying through the air. I tumbled several meters, rolling on the ground, before I managed to regain some balance. I barely had time to catch my breath before he was upon me again.

There was no pause. There was no moment of respite. Another strike—a knee to the stomach—robbed me of my breath, and pain shot through my entire body. Before I could recover, a powerful kick to the side sent me spinning, and an open hand landed on my back, forcing me to drop to my knees.

Damn it. I was on the defensive, and he was showing no mercy.

"He was supposed to be support," I thought, trying to catch my breath. "He was meant to have the power of nature. How in the world is he so good at close combat?!"

I couldn’t give up. I had to find a way to break this deadlock. I began to retreat, dodging his successive blows, but my movements were less precise without the ability to see energy.

I had to come up with something.

Then it hit me—I couldn’t rely on sight. If I couldn’t see energy, I could feel it. I closed my eyes for a split second and focused on my other senses—the sound of his footsteps, the tremor of the air, the shifts in pressure around me.

Eldric kept pressing forward. He unleashed blow after blow, and I desperately tried to dodge them.

I attempted to adapt to the fight, ignoring the loss of my energetic perception. I analyzed each of his moves based on the sound, the gusts of air, the tension in his muscles. But it wasn’t easy—Eldric was fast. One of his strikes hit my arm, forcing me to step back. Another almost caught my jaw, but at the last moment I managed to dodge.

I gritted my teeth. I had to adjust—and quickly. The fight didn’t slow down.

His blows came relentlessly, forcing me to continually retreat and evade. Every move was precise, almost perfect, as if Eldric had been fighting for centuries. I tried to discern patterns in his attacks, but he seemed unpredictable—sometimes striking directly and brutally, other times varying his tempo with deceptive maneuvers.

Another attack forced me into a sudden sidestep. I barely avoided his fist, but I didn’t have time to position myself for a counter when he suddenly changed direction, striking me with an elbow to the side. I hissed in pain, yet forced my body to keep moving. I had to stop relying on sight—trust my instincts.

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I sensed his presence in the space around me—the soft whoosh of air with every blow, the tension in the ground with each step. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to synchronize with his rhythm. Slowly, I began to notice his patterns. I still took hits, but less frequently now; I began to dodge his attacks more effectively.

Finally, the moment came.

With a last-second dodge, his fist missed my head by a hair’s breadth. I seized his momentum—grabbing his wrist and twisting it, forcing him to step back. In that same moment, I channeled the energy of chaos and unleashed a disruptive wave that surged into his body. Eldric reacted instantly—fear flashed in his eyes, and his body tensed in a defensive gesture.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he leapt a considerable distance away, deactivating his abilities. He immediately began to expel chaos energy in an intense burst, and I felt my Chaos Eye suddenly regain its acuity. The world around me regained its depth, shapes sharpened, and Eldric's energy no longer overwhelmed my perception.

He was breathing heavily, but his stance made it clear he wasn’t about to give up—in fact, he now appeared even more alert.

"Do you really want to continue like this?" I asked, slowly straightening up and trying to catch my breath. "Tell me, Eldric... what is it that you really want?"

He didn’t respond immediately. He still looked ready for battle, but something in his gaze had changed. There was less raw fury and more calculation.

"You're a threat," he finally said.

"A threat to whom?" I raised an eyebrow, watching him carefully. "Because for someone who wants nothing more than to kill me, you sure seem damn indecisive."

His hand twitched, but he made no move. He clenched his jaw.

"You're the Lord of Chaos," he repeated, as if that explained everything.

"So what?" I snapped. "Do you see me here wreaking havoc? Burning the world to ashes? Or am I simply someone who got a power I don’t yet understand? Just like you."

He fell silent; his breathing was still rapid, yet he did not attack. That was the opening I’d been waiting for.

"Tell me, Eldric..." I began, never taking my eyes off him. "Do you really think that chaos is the only threat? That what I am is enough to destroy me?"

His gaze did not waver, but I could see that my words had struck him.

"It’s not about what I think," he replied coolly. "It’s about what I know. Chaos is unstable—it destroys everything it touches. I cannot allow you to become another force of destruction."

"And what if I’m not what you expect?" I countered, stepping toward him. "What if you’re mistaken? Maybe chaos doesn’t destroy everything—it might just be that you don’t understand what it is."

Eldric did not reply immediately. His hand tightened into a fist, but he made no move.

"Nothing in this world is black and white, Eldric," I said firmly. "It’s not the kind of power you possess, nor who you are, that determines whether you’re a threat. What matters is how you use it and what purpose you serve."

I took a deep breath, letting my words resonate in the tense silence.

"All I’m doing is fighting to survive in this cursed world. Nothing more, nothing less. If that makes me your enemy, then perhaps it’s not I who fails to understand reality."

"So instead of fighting in the dark," I continued, "maybe you should find out before you make a decision. Because if you’re wrong, then right now you’re the one acting like a blind man."

Eldric said nothing. For the first time since the beginning of this battle, he had no ready retort. He looked at me, but the icy certainty in his eyes was gone.

I did not look away. If I was going to reach him, this was the moment.

"So I have a proposal for you," I said calmly. "Join me. See up close who the damned Lord of Chaos really is—the one who’s supposedly a threat to the world. See with your own eyes whether I really need to be destroyed."

Eldric narrowed his eyes but remained silent, and I continued:

"If after all of this you still believe that I’m a threat... I won’t have any problem with you trying to kill me. But before you decide, find out if your judgment is truly correct."

Eldric sighed, his shoulders relaxing as if this whole conversation had begun to wear on him.

"I still don’t trust you," he finally said, his voice now less cold but still filled with caution. "But if you truly believe you can convince me... you have one chance."

"There is, however, one condition." His gaze became steely, and his voice took on a sharp edge. "If it turns out that you're a threat... then I won't hesitate to kill you."

I smiled slightly, tilting my head.

"And that's a comforting thought," I retorted cheekily. "You know, Eldric, it's almost like a promise of protection—just in the opposite direction. I feel particularly special."

Slowly approaching him, I raised my hand and extended it toward him.

"So, do we have a deal?" I asked challengingly.

Eldric looked at my hand, then back at me. For a moment, he stood still, as if hesitating whether this was just another game. Finally, he sighed softly and, with visible reluctance, shook my hand. His grip was strong, sure, but still tense.

"You have one chance," he warned. "Don't waste it."