He came without pause.
The blade cut through the air in a low line, aiming at my legs. I jumped back at the limit and felt the displacement of wind graze my skin. Before I touched the ground, he was already in front of me, sword rising in a short arc to strike my torso.
I blocked.
The impact made my arms tremble.
There was no more margin for prolonged exchange. Each clash drained energy I no longer had to spare.
I retreated diagonally, trying to pull him to less unstable ground. The slope behind us was marked by craters and deep grooves. The partially destroyed fortress remained above, like an irregular shadow against the sky.
He advanced again.
This time, I didn't block the first strike.
I dodged.
I let his blade pass and stepped into the short distance he had been avoiding.
My sword rose directly toward the shoulder that held his weapon.
The cut was clean.
Deep.
The blade pierced through armor and flesh.
I didn't stop.
I used all remaining momentum to turn and pull downward.
His arm separated from his body.
For a second, there was silence.
The limb fell to the ground with real weight.
Dark blood spread across the earth.
I stepped back two paces, breathing with difficulty.
He remained standing.
Without his right arm.
Without his sword.
His blade fell beside the severed arm.
He looked at his own shoulder.
Then at me.
No expression of pain.
No sign of desperation.
Only analysis.
The exposed flesh began to move.
First, muscle fibers stretched like living threads.
Then, bones slowly formed.
I watched.
Without blinking.
The structure rebuilt itself before my eyes.
Muscle.
Tendon.
Skin.
In less than ten seconds, a new arm was complete.
He flexed his fingers.
Closed and opened his hand.
Testing.
I felt the weight of that information.
Complete regeneration.
Not slow like before.
Not partial.
Total.
The arm on the ground began to dissolve, turning into dark energy that was absorbed back into his body.
He tilted his head slightly.
"Now you understand."
I kept my sword raised.
"I understand."
It wasn't enough to cut.
It wasn't enough to wound.
As long as he had sufficient energy, he would rebuild.
He extended his newly formed hand.
The sword on the ground trembled.
It rose on its own and returned to his grip.
It wasn't spectacle.
It was absolute control over his own energy.
He assumed his stance again.
As if nothing had happened.
The wear on my body, in contrast, was cumulative.
He knew.
I knew.
He advanced.
The speed was the same.
Maybe greater.
I blocked the first strike.
The second grazed my side.
The third struck my thigh and opened a deep cut.
My leg almost gave out.
I forced support.
I counterattacked, aiming at the same shoulder I had severed before.
He blocked.
The clash was brutal.
The impact pushed me several meters back.
I rolled across the ground and got up before he reached ideal distance for another attack.
My breathing was heavy.
My leg hurt.
My shoulder still wasn't fully stable.
He walked toward me with steady steps.
Without hurry.
"You are strong," he said. "But strength is not enough against immortality."
"It's not immortality."
He stopped.
"No?"
"It's regeneration."
He didn't respond.
But he attacked.
The sequence was more intense.
Alternating vertical and horizontal strikes.
I blocked two.
The third threw me back again.
This time, I couldn't keep hold of my sword.
It slipped from my hand and fell several meters away.
He advanced immediately.
Unarmed, I rolled to the side at the last second.
His blade struck the ground where my head had been.
I got up and recovered my sword before he could kick it away.
He tried to press again, but this time I was prepared not to absorb direct impact.
I dodged, spun, and attacked the base of his left leg.
The blade cut deeply.
He lost balance for half a second.
Enough.
I advanced and cut again, now at the same point.
His leg separated from his body.
He fell to his knees.
I didn't retreat.
I attacked directly at his neck.
He blocked with the regenerated arm.
The blade opened a deep cut across his clavicle.
But it didn't go all the way through.
The severed leg began to rebuild.
First bone.
Then muscle.
I watched with brutal clarity.
He could regenerate multiple parts.
As long as there was energy.
He raised his gaze to me.
"Now you see."
"Yes."
I needed something beyond isolated cuts.
Something that exceeded his capacity for simultaneous recovery.
He completed the regeneration of his leg and stood again.
His posture showed no instability.
The energy consumption didn't visibly affect him.
But I knew.
Nothing is infinite.
The question was how long he could sustain that.
And how long I could remain standing.
He advanced once more.
The next sequence was brutal.
One strike hit my already wounded side and deepened the cut.
Another struck my forearm, nearly knocking the sword away again.
I retreated, feeling my body nearing its functional limit.
He pushed with full force and threw me against a thick tree.
The wood shattered on impact.
I fell to my knees.
My vision wavered.
He approached slowly.
"You should have retreated when you realized."
"No."
He raised his sword for the final blow.
I forced my body to react before the blade descended.
I rolled forward, passing beneath the arc of the attack.
I rose behind him and struck again.
This time, not a single limb.
But a continuous sequence of cuts at vital points.
The arm.
The leg.
The flank.
The shoulder.
He fragmented partially under the series.
But began regenerating again.
Faster now.
Or perhaps my perception was slower.
I stepped back.
Breathing with difficulty.
He completed reconstruction once again.
Looked at me.
No provocation.
No arrogance.
Only cold acknowledgment.
"You need more."
I knew.
He advanced again.
And I understood that this was not the final phase.
It was only confirmation.
He could lose limbs.
He could be torn apart.
But as long as his source of energy remained active, he would return.
I steadied the sword with both hands, ignoring the pain coursing through my body.
If cuts were not enough, then I would need to exceed the level of damage he could repair.
He raised his blade.
I did the same.
His regeneration was confirmed.
Now I needed to find the limit.