The clash shattered the center of the hall.
The energy of the red circle rose like an unstable column and dissipated into the dark ceiling. The ground beneath our feet gave way a few centimeters, forming cracks that spread toward the sides.
The Fourth General stepped back half a step.
So did I.
Neither of us fell.
The difference now was clear: there was no more testing. Every movement sought a real result.
He advanced first.
His blade came in a straight line, directly toward my chest. I blocked at the limit and felt the force travel through my arms like a dry shock. Before I could readjust my stance, he spun his body and delivered a lateral cut at waist height.
I barely dodged.
The blade passed so close that I felt the air displacement tear through my uniform.
I counterattacked immediately, aiming for the exposed flank after his rotation. He pulled back his leg and absorbed the impact with the side of his armor.
Metal against metal.
A dry sound.
No explosion.
No exaggerated glow.
Just force applied with precision.
He stepped back two paces, evaluating.
I stepped forward one.
I would not allow him to regain rhythm.
I exchanged short strikes, seeking to close the distance and reduce the advantage he had using the fortress as an amplifier.
He responded with a heavier sequence.
The third impact broke part of the floor beneath my feet.
The structure of the hall was beginning to suffer.
In the background, I heard the right barrier collapse under external pressure. Rai'kanna crossed the boundary and brought down one of the Rank S with a direct vertical strike into the ground. Scarlet appeared right behind, blocking another who tried to intercept.
Elara shouted something to Lyannis.
Liriel kept the purification field active, but it was clear she was pushing beyond what was comfortable.
The General realized the initial division was failing.
He intensified.
The energy around him condensed again, but this time it was not absorbed by the environment. It was directed into his blade.
The next strike came heavier.
I blocked with both hands and felt the impact travel through my entire body. The ground gave way beneath my feet, opening a shallow crater.
He advanced to press.
I sidestepped and slid along the edge of the broken circle. I attacked from below upward, aiming at the joint of the arm holding the sword.
The blade met resistance.
But this time it opened a deeper cut.
A dark line crossed his armor.
It did not regenerate.
Not yet.
He glanced briefly at his own arm.
Then focused back on me.
No anger.
No surprise.
Only acknowledgment.
"So you can."
"I can."
He vanished from my field of vision for an instant.
Not teleportation.
Speed.
He appeared behind me.
The strike came straight for the back of my neck.
I turned by instinct and blocked at the last second.
The impact threw me forward.
I rolled across the ground and stood before he could complete another attack.
The distance between us widened.
The hall was different now.
The walls showed larger cracks.
The ceiling began to shed small dark fragments.
The fortress would not withstand prolonged combat at this level.
He knew it.
So did I.
He advanced again, but this time he did not attack directly.
He circled me, seeking an angle.
I followed.
The silence between blows was heavy.
Behind us, the parallel confrontation diminished.
Rai'kanna finished the second Rank S.
Vespera emerged from the shadows and eliminated the third with a clean cut at the base of the neck.
Scarlet and Elara held the last one.
Lyannis assisted with precision.
They were winning.
The General noticed.
The next attack came with a different intent.
Not against me.
Against the ground.
He drove his blade into the center of the red circle.
The remaining energy of the fortress reacted.
A shockwave spread throughout the entire hall.
I was thrown backward.
My companions were pushed against the walls.
The last Rank S took advantage of the imbalance and tried to advance on Liriel.
I saw it.
I couldn't allow it.
I forced my body forward before fully regaining stability. I crossed the distance and intercepted the attack at the last second.
The demon's blade grazed my arm, opening a superficial cut.
Rai'kanna arrived right after and finished the opponent with a direct blow to the skull.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Only the General and I remained standing at the center.
No barriers.
No divisions.
My companions were alive.
Lightly wounded.
But steady.
He raised his blade again.
The fortress's energy was now unstable.
The red circle was slowly fragmenting.
He had used part of the core to try to unbalance everything at once.
"You do not protect only the forest," he said.
"I protect what is with me."
He gave a slight nod.
"That is weakness."
"It is reason."
He advanced once more.
This time, there was no restraint at all.
The next clash completely shattered what remained of the central circle.
The accumulated energy exploded into fragments of red light that rose and vanished into the ceiling.
The base of the hall gave way a few meters beneath us.
The fight was no longer just inside the fortress.
It was destroying it.
I unleashed a rapid sequence of strikes, pressing for the first time with a clear advantage in rhythm.
He blocked, but stepped back two paces.
It was little.
But real.
He counterattacked with concentrated force.
The impact hit my right shoulder and I felt something shift internally.
Immediate pain.
I ignored it.
I responded with a horizontal cut that struck again the already damaged flank.
His armor cracked further.
This time, a dark trickle flowed clearly.
Not instant regeneration.
But abnormal resilience still present.
He stepped back farther this time.
Took a deep breath.
The hall around us was in ruins.
Part of the ceiling had collapsed.
Fragments fell slowly.
The fortress would not hold much longer.
My companions approached, but kept a prudent distance.
It was my fight.
He raised his gaze to the opening in the ceiling.
Then back to me.
"You destroyed the base."
"It wasn't enough."
"No."
He slowly rotated his blade, assuming a different stance.
Lower.
More compact.
"Now the fight without support begins."
The energy around him changed.
Less amplified.
More concentrated within his own body.
I felt it clearly.
He was releasing part of his previous restraint.
The pressure increased directly, not through the environment.
He advanced at a speed greater than before.
I blocked the first strike.
The second grazed my flank.
The third hit my side and opened a deep cut.
I stepped back, feeling the blood run.
He did not stop.
He pressed with a continuous sequence.
The strength was greater.
The control, more refined.
He was serious now.
The first exchange had ended.
The phase of measurement was definitively over.
And the real fight was beginning.
I steadied my sword again, ignoring the growing pain.
The fortress crumbled around us.
The external war felt distant.
Only the two of us remained.
He advanced once more.
And this time, neither of us was holding anything back.