The world felt strange.

Atticus's perception was working in complete overdrive, slowing everything, the world down to a crawl. And yet, no matter how fast he moved— at speeds most watching couldn't comprehend— the distance between him and Carius simply refused to close.

Before Atticus could process it, he felt something familiar. A feeling gotten from weeks of constantly standing at death's door.

The feeling of death.

Atticus's body acted before he could think. His mana surged, the ground quaking as he tried to dart backward.

That was the action he intended to take, but to his shock, the opposite occurred— his form instead lunged forward.

Atticus' expression darkened.

A sharp blade gleamed in the otherwise dark world, descending toward him with terrifying force.

Atticus's instincts blared like a warning siren, his body moving straight into the path of the falling sword.

His mind raced, his brain desperately trying to force his body to move. Yet, he was somehow locked in place.

'He compressed the space around me,' Atticus's thoughts were remarkably clear as he analyzed the situation.

He couldn't deny it—Carius had gotten him good. The Dimensari apex had trapped him in an unexpected loop, manipulating his senses. He surprised Atticus with a sneak attack, momentarily halting his movements.

Each step of the plan was ingenious, which revealed Carius's brilliance as a strategist.

This battle would be unlike any Atticus had fought before.

Even as Carius's blade hovered inches from Atticus's forehead, there was no excitement in his eyes.

His expression was as neutral as it could be. To him, Atticus was nothing more than a small bug to be squashed.

But unfortunately for him, Atticus was many things, but a bug was not one of them.

Atticus's eyes flared, igniting in a brilliant crimson. His will surged like a coming storm.

His muscles strained, veins snaking across his skin like a living snake. His gaze hardened, and with a sudden burst of strength, he shattered the space binding him, his katana flashing upward.

The two blades met in mid air with an earth shaking clash. The sound of metal striking metal reverberated through the air like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves and sparks in every direction.

The force of the impact was immense, cracking the ground beneath them and creating fissures that spread out like a spider's web.

Both weapons trembled violently, sparks flying as the two apexes fought for dominance, neither yielding an inch.

Atticus figure held firm, his muscles straining, veins bulging beneath his skin as he pushed back against the overwhelming force of Carius's attack.

Their eyes locked— Atticus's burning with crimson fire, while Carius's remained cold and calculating. But there was the slightest flicker of surprise in Carius's gaze, a subtle widening of his eyes.

Even he hadn't expected Atticus to block that attack.

The battle had truly begun.

In an instant, their gazes sharpened, the atmosphere shifting. Their auras exploded like a wildfire, clashing violently, creating the force of a blazing storm. Then they vanished, leaving behind only flickers of sparks illuminating the dark arena as they collided again, faster than most could fathom.

Each strike was fierce, their weapons slashing through the air at terrifying speeds, as if the world itself was bending to their will.

Atticus's mind raced, processing the battle like a supercomputer. He calculated every step, adjusting, adapting.

'He hasn't gotten serious yet, and he's already giving off grandmaster- level strength,' Atticus thought.

Carius was indeed powerful. Even without going all out, his strength and speed had already reached grandmaster levels. Atticus was struggling— not because of Carius's overwhelming power but due to the erratic space they were fighting in. It felt as though the laws of physics were constantly shifting.

'The space is warping,' Atticus realized. 'Up becomes left, then right… the laws keep changing. No wonder everything feels off.'

It was disorienting and maddening. Anyone else would have been dead— or at least panicking.

But despite the chaotic battlefield, Atticus's gaze remained calm.

He could sense the turbulent flow of space around him, and although it threw him off balance, his mind was already adapting.

He didn't panic. He couldn't afford to.

Clang! Another clash of their weapons sent them skidding across the cracked ground, their auras blazing like wild flames.

Each impact sent tremors through his arms. His body moved on instinct, parrying each strike with his katana, but his mind remained elsewhere— analyzing, calculating, adapting.

'It's faint, but I can sense it,' Atticus thought, piecing together the puzzle.

'I'm in some kind of spatial loop… the space is wrapped.'

Space had been folded and warped into a repeating loop. The area was not bound by the usual laws of physics.

Carius's mastery over space was terrifying. The battlefield wasn't just a physical area— it was a distortion of reality shaped by Carius's will.

The elemental molecules in the air were thinning out, vanishing, making it harder for Atticus to tap into his powers. If this continued, he would be at a severe disadvantage.

Then his thoughts flickered back to a recent memory of his training with Magnus.

—"Every ability has a weakness," Magnus had said. "Your ability is versatile enough to exploit these weaknesses, but only after they've revealed themselves. You have to survive the first strike… then, the rest is a process."

Atticus's thoughts suddenly shifted to the light molecules in the air, his body radiating an intense light that illuminated the battlefield.

His hand parried a slash that threatened to split him in two, but his gaze remained steady.

In physics, light bend when encountering folded space, revealing the distortion of reality. If he could illuminate the battlefield, he could see the warped space and break free.

As the light illuminated the space around him, Atticus saw the folds and twists that Carius had created.

It was like looking at a distorted mirror— space itself bent and looped, creating an endless battlefield.

Atticus's gaze hardened.

He focused all his attention on the space element, tuning everything else out— the clash of blades, the heat of battle.

And a new world opened up to him.

The space element was bountiful in the air, so much so that Atticus felt like he was back in the space elemental sanctum at the academy.

His thoughts sharpened like a blade as he attempted to form a connection with the space molecules.

Unlike during bus training in the sanctums, Atticus didn't have the luxury of time. He focused everything— his entire being— on the folded space around him.

As he parried another sword strike from Carius, his eyes darted to the right, narrowing.

"There."

Carius's eyes narrowed, sensing Atticus's sudden focus. His expression darkened. 'How?' he wondered.

But it was too late.

Atticus moved with blinding speed, his body coiling like a spring before launching toward the his right.

His katana gleamed with fierce light as the space molecules around him converged, forming a drill like force in front of him.

With one swift strike, he slammed into the weak point in the fold.

It was like cutting through a knot, unraveling the twisted space with a single decisive blow. The entire battlefield trembled as the spatial loop shattered around them, breaking apart like fragile glass.

As the space loop disintegrated, Atticus shot upward into the dark sky, his mind swiftly shifting to the fire element.

His gaze sharpened as he extended his arm, fire molecules in the air swirling and converging in front of his outstretched hand, gathering with intense speed and force.

The heat was immense, light radiating from his palm like a newborn star. Atticus brought his arm down, and the inferno shot toward Carius like a meteor descending from the heavens.

Carius's eyes locked onto the incoming fire, his expression showing a flicker of irritation. The stoic mask he had worn throughout the battle cracked as a frown appeared on his lips.

"Annoying," Carius muttered, his voice cold and dismissive.

As the flames reached their destination, a blinding light burst forth, consuming everything in its path.

The ground erupted violently, shattering into molten debris as the shockwave tore through the battlefield like a rampaging beast. The air screamed, fire and smoke billowing in every direction.

The people of the human domain watched the battle unfold in utter silence. However, the excitement in the air was palpable. Their Apex was holding his own!

In the very next second, Atticus felt it again— that unmistakable sensation of impending death.

His mana surged, and his body reacted instinctively. He flickered to the side, narrowly evading a downward slash from Carius that tore the air apart with deadly precision.

Atticus countered immediately, his katana thrusting forward to pierce Carius's neck. But before the blade could reach its target, Carius was already gone, his form dissolving like smoke, leaving Atticus's katana striking nothing but empty air.

"You're a persistent nuisance, nothing more. It's time I crush you," Carius's icy voice echoed through the battlefield, devoid of emotion.

Then the feeling of death intensified, but this time, tenfold.