It was the same arena, the sunken area in the center of a lobby. It was the one where Hiroku almost died and Zayio got disfigured. The crowd, indistinguishable from the last, stood around the arena. Yet, the judges were no longer elderly Kayamas sitting on wooden chairs but the tribe master himself on his golden silk.

Inside the sunken dent, Loter stood on the spot where Hiroku used to stand, and Boruka stood where Zayio used to stand. Appearance-wise, Boruka was very similar to Zayio. The brothers shared the same wide and round face frame. The only difference was the hair. Boruka had it entirely shaved.

"Holy duels cleanse our conflict. It brings peace to the eager souls and differences. We may all gather around the flame of violence to celebrate the undeniable equality it provided. After all, the strong survive, and the survive rule. Let the strength be the law of us, and let the match begin in this present moment."

As Miyadaki finished the last syllable, Boruka charged toward Loter. Two streaks of light shot out from the side of his right fist, leaving behind a glowing blue staff. Its two ends were wrapped in a golden material with the silhouette of a wyrm carved on it.

He lunged and jabbed the staff forward.

Loter had pressed his mental button the moment Boruka began running. Yet, invisibility and flight only kicked in a mere instant before the attack arrived. If he were an instant slower, the duel would have ended there.

Fortunately, Hiroku was right when he said Boruka could not see invisible objects. Relieved, Loter floated in the air as he recalled what Hiroku taught him.

That is the Staff of Cosmos, named after its blue pole with white, star-like spots. Hiroku said it can easily shatter steel and harder metals, so I can't fight him up close. If I remember correctly, the plan is to keep stalling until the staff consumes too much of Boruka's energy that he turns it off himself.

Loter kept hovering in circles, watching Boruka cautiously look around and recurringly whip his head to the back.

He must be anticipating me to attack him, but I won't I will just wait here, comfortably.

Loter slowly and casually rotated in the air, like a chicken during spit-roasting.

Hiroku told me to tire him out with minimum contact, but I think I can give him a little tap. That won't hurt. Besides, he's not even looking upward. Maybe I can just kick his head once and fly away.

Loter changed the direction he was rotating.

Should I? Should I? Yeah, I'll just do it.

Loter plunged down at a 45-degree angle, pointing his right foot at Boruka's bald head. Yet, out of nowhere, in a blink of time, Loter saw a discreet flick in his opponent's ears.

Wait, what?

Boruka swiftly turned toward Loter and thrust his staff. The golden tip of the staff clashed with Loter's right sole. Invisibility was deactivated right on the spot. Along with it was flight.

Without his ability to fly, Loter was easily pushed meters away by the thrust. He landed with both feet but sprained the right one.

Giving him no time to react, Boruka launched a Flame Throw. Loter barely dodged the attack by dropping sideways to the ground.

Again turning invisible, he pushed the ground as he flew up. The next shot of fire almost scratched his palms.

Boruka then calmly mumbled something in Habanese. Unlike Zayio, he did not appear to be vindictive, schadenfreude, or even conceited. He was calm and focused. There was not a smile on his face that indicated any feeling toward his dominance in their first clash.

Loter, hovering invisibly, lifted and turned his right foot to see his sole. A melted hole was in the rubber bottom of his white sneaker. Even his right sock did not survive. Luckily, his foot was intact.

Loter looked back toward Boruka, who stood several meters away. He was whipping his head around, looking in all directions just as he had before the clash.

How did Boruka know I was attacking from above? I'm sure he can't see me, but he somehow sensed my location back then. How does this work? Is this a spell that can detect things at a certain distance? If that is the case, why did Hiroku not tell me anything about this spell? Anyway, my foot doesn't feel so good.

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Loter tugged the shoes and socks off his feet and tossed them away. The two objects became visible as they fell off Loter's hand. Boruka spotted them right away.

Immediately, several Flame Throws flitted in Loter's general direction. Most just flew past, but he did need to dodge twice.

Seeing nothing being achieved by his latest attack, Boruka deactivated The Staff of Cosmos. Two streaks of light emerged on the golden ends and erased the staff as they moved to the center. Boruka raised his clenching hands before his face.

Nice! He canceled the spell. Now is my chance.

Loter quickly plunged and charged toward Boruka, ready to throw out his fists. Right before they went into direct contact, Boruka's ears flicked again. He turned toward Loter and punched.

Their fists and arms scratched against each other. The invisibility and flight disappeared together, but the accumulated momentum kept Loter gliding forward. His attack missed completely, and Boruka's knuckles went directly into Loter's right cheek, below the eye.

Loter collided with Boruka, propelling him into the magic barrier. The back of Boruka's head hit hard in the barrier. He slumped onto the ground against the barrier. Loter slowly rolled off the top of him. For a short moment, both of them were in a daze, unaware of their surroundings.

Loter was the first to get back into his head. He felt the wetness and stickiness on his right hand and arm.

What?

He looked at his right arm, seeing fresh blood adhere to, flow through, and drip off it. Even some parts of his white hoodie, his neck, and patches of his hair were also stained red.

Loter turned to face Boruka as he got back on his feet.

Blood was streaming down Boruka's arm onto his dark brown skirt. His reddened right sleeve was ripped open. Half of his white robe appeared scarlet.

Did I do that? Wow.

As his mind became clear again, Loter felt a blunt pain coming from the bruise below his right eye. Meanwhile, Boruka had also awakened from the daze. He braced his right palm onto the invisible barrier and flinched in pain as he stretched his injured right arm.

Yet, he endured it instead of using the other hand. Boruka pushed that palm against the barrier and stood back up. He panted and said something calmly. Of course, Loter did not understand.

Finishing speaking, Boruka faced his open palms upward and crossed his wrists before his chest.

Wait, this gesture… is Lock Watching! Kirane can perform this without any gesture, but most Kayamas need the gesture to activate the ability. Why would he do this? Does he not know how Kirane was defeated by my invisibility?

As Loter disappeared again, Boruka covered his eyes with his open palms from the opposite side. After three seconds, he lowered his hands, and two shafts of violet light were already coming out of his pupils.

Hovering in the air, Loter stared at Boruka, trying to figure out what his plan was. For an instant, the world was silent. Then, Loter heard a drop of blood hitting the ground. A Flame Throw was already coming toward him.

Too late to dodge it, Loter punched the fireball back to Boruka. However, Boruka had seen how his brother was hit in the face. He stepped sideways, letting the fire pass right beside him while launching the next waves of flame.

Loter could tell Boruka was trying to overwhelm him with Flame Throw. It was the same strategy that Zayio had used against Hiroku. The original counterplan Hiroku had come up with was to just fly away invisibly. However, Boruka had already spotted Loter with the dripping of blood, and his burning barrage was simply too intense for Loter to stop punching and fly away. The only good news was that Boruka's attacks were mostly aligned at the same level with the same rhythm, so it was not too hard for Loter to hit them.

After about fifteen back-and-forths, Boruka held his fist for an extra instant and slightly lowered his aim before launching.

What?

Loter jabbed into the empty air and was hit in the stomach before he could draw his hand back. The fireball knocked Loter onto the magic barrier, scorched through his clothes, and its remaining heat had his belly flushing in sharp pain.

Loter plummeted to the ground with his invisibility deactivated. His hands scratched on the wooden floor as he attempted to soften the fall. Luckily, only two abrasions were made on the heels of his palms.

Likewise, Loter's chin landed hard on the ground. The shocking impact traveled through his jaw and bone, making his head all fuzzy. His knees were also aching after hitting the floor.

When Loter finally regathered the bare minimum of his consciousness to wake up, Boruka had already finished whatever gesture he was making. His open palms were held vertically before his midriff, facing each other.

Wait, what spell is that? I know Hiroku specifically mentioned this one before. It's just that I can't recall. Uh, I hate gestures.

Then, a white spark emerged between the fingers.

Oh, no… Judgment Beyond Clouds and Sky.

Loter tried to crawl up. He pushed his upper body up from the ground, but his knees were stuck to the floor. He just knelt there, unable to move away.

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Yesterday, Ramiron went to continue her meditation treatment while Hiroku trained Loter on dealing with magic. They used the lavender spheres to simulate projectiles fired by different spells.

Unfortunately, Hiroku only had limited control over the speed of his lavender sphere. Spells like Flame Throw were slightly faster than what Hiroku could perform. However, it was hardly a problem since Loter was already fast enough to dodge most of the spells, and he had his invisibility to bail him out.

Also, Hiroku said it was fine to be hit by undodgeable attacks like the lightning spell. These spells were often less effective, except that one spell: Judgment Beyond Clouds and Sky.

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It was too late for invisibility. The long white sword had penetrated Loter's right abdomen.