We couldn’t interfere in this fight. Even if we wanted to, even if we had all drawn our powers at once, it wouldn’t matter. These weren’t just prodigies of the martial world—every one of us standing back was. No, these two... Leo and Tektite... they were something else entirely. Watching them was like standing at the edge of a storm, helpless, knowing it could swallow us whole at any moment.

  Hematite swung one of his wires lazily, the darksteel glinting faintly. His smirk seemed forced. “You got this, boss?”

  Tektite never broke eye contact with Leo. His eyes narrowed, calm and cold, and he waved Hematite off with a flick of his wrist. “Be quiet and watch.”

  The ground itself seemed to brace when Leo moved. His sword sliced the air, but to call it a slice was an insult. It vanished from my sight, the motion a blur so fast it erased itself from perception. The wind shrieked after it, a violent scream of displaced air. Not even Finn, fastest among us, could follow it.

  Tektite tilted his head at the last possible instant. The blade missed—but only just. Behind him, a cascade of compressed wind tore through the battlefield, carving the dead grass and dirt into a deep gouge.

  That was Leo’s style. His sword carried two forms of death. Up close, his strikes shredded flesh and bone before nerves could even register pain. At a distance, the air around him became a weapon, turned into slicing crescents sharp enough to cut darksteel with ease. Kaiguro bent wind like a hammer, but Leo’s wind was a guillotine.

  Leo slashed again. The air filled with silver streaks, too fast for my eyes, and for the first time, Tektite’s cheek split open. A crimson line cut across his face, blood dripping down his jaw. It looked like only one strike landed out of the barrage, but even that was enough to show the difference. Leo’s speed gave him the slightest, most terrifying edge.

  Another flurry. Ten cuts, maybe more, each faster than the last. The whistle of the blade blurred into one long scream. Tektite didn’t dodge. Instead, he rooted his stance, raised his arms, and bulged every muscle in his body. Reinforced Fist?

  And then—he was gone.

  My eyes lost him completely. The space in front of Leo emptied. In the next heartbeat, he was already behind him.

  Finn’s voice cracked with fury. “That’s my Flash!”

  Leo twisted, narrowly evading the elbow crashing backward toward his skull. He swung his sword in return, a lethal arc, but Tektite’s palm shot out. Veins swelled. It was Reinforced Fist. He caught the blade in his bare hand.

  Sparks sprayed as steel ground against flesh. Tektite yanked the blade closer, his other fist cocking back, veins trembling with power. He aimed it for Leo’s head.

  It would kill him.

  Leo was faster. He ripped the sword back, splitting Tektite’s palm open with a flash of blood. At the same moment, he kicked upward, shoe colliding with Tektite’s stomach. The impact cracked, blasting Tektite back several meters through the air.

  The ground shook when Tektite landed, but before the dust settled, his body blurred again. Flash. He was already back, reappearing at Leo’s side like a phantom. Another exchange of unseen strikes clashed between them, too fast for the human eye. Sparks. Wind. Blood. Noise like tearing fabric.

  Leo’s sword vanished again. Tektite crossed his arms in an X, skin hardening like a reflex at this point. The blade connected, but sparks scattered harmlessly. Only shallow lines marked his flesh.

  Caleb’s face drained of color. His voice was hoarse. “Even I bleed from lightsteel. Just how much did Tektite endure?”

  Tektite’s palms came together with a violent clap. The air twisted violently, spiraling into three miniature cyclones that exploded outward. Leo was blasted from his feet, hurled like a ragdoll. He stabbed his sword into the dirt to halt his flight, carving trenches as his body skidded. His chest heaved, blood streaking from his lips.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Still, he grinned, teeth red. “Even Toda couldn’t make me bleed this quickly.”

  Tektite didn’t hesitate. More cyclones barreled toward Leo, shredding the field into tatters. But this time, Leo was ready. His sword flashed, cutting them apart before they touched him.

  He laughed under his breath, eyes alight with bloodlust. “Negate this.”

  His body spun. His blade cut through the air in a single, monumental strike, momentum building. The wave of power shredded Tektite’s cyclone wall, splitting it. The blade bit deep into his chest, carving across muscle and skin.

  Blood spattered the earth.

  Tektite flexed his chest, forcing the wound to close, muscle fibers snapping together. He stood as if unscathed.

  Leo charged, sword thrusting like a lance aimed for his heart.

  Tektite gathered every ounce of strength into his arms, conjuring a wall of air thicker than steel. It was Kaiguro’s technique—but stronger, denser, refined to a terrifying degree.

  Leo’s blade cut it in half like wet paper.

  Too fast.

  Tektite folded his elbow, reinforcing bone and muscle, and surged forward with Flash. His speed multiplied, body vanishing in an instant. Even Leo couldn’t react in time. The elbow smashed into his nose with a brutal crack, blood spraying across the field.

  Leo rolled across the dirt, coughing, clothes ripped and filthy, blood dripping freely.

  Tektite turned, blood leaking from the cuts between his fingers. He scowled. “I’m being really careful, and you’re still just inches from killing me.”

  He tightened his fist, staunching the bleeding, but we all knew the truth.

  That hand couldn't be used anymore.

  Leo steadied himself. He grasped his sheath, eyes narrowing. “Sorry, Mr. Lion.”

  This time, he used the sheath as a shield, charging forward while his sword unleashed gust after gust of slicing wind. Each strike roared, tearing through the air, but Tektite’s Reinforced Fist brushed them aside, his skin taking shallow cuts that only carved the surface.

  Then his hand flattened, fingers pressed together into a deadly spear. My breath hitched. That was mine. Or... Zero’s.

  Leo drew near. His sword sheathed again. His body loosened, then—flash.

  The draw was instant, faster than any eye could perceive. Tektite’s palm shot to his neck, blocking at the last possible instant, but the blade still cut, slicing his palm and grazing his throat. Blood splattered in a crimson fan.

  “I’m using Reinforced Fist and Piercing Hand together,” Tektite growled, clutching the wound, “and you still almost beheaded me. That makes this win all the more cathartic.”

  My eyes fell. My heart sank.

  Finn roared, voice breaking. “Leo!”

  Tektite’s spear hand had rammed into Leo’s gut. It burst through his abdomen and out his back, crimson dripping from his fingertips. By some miracle it missed his organs, but blood poured out in rivers.

  Leo stumbled back as Tektite pulled his hand free, the wound gushing. Caleb’s face twisted, rage boiling over. “I can take him!”

  Leo threw his sword into the dirt, his voice raw, each word ragged between gasps. “Stay back. You won't win. Toda took no chances when raising this once.”

  Tektite ripped a strip of cloth from Leo’s shirt, wiped his bloodied hand as if cleansing himself of dirt, and spoke coldly. “They beat me every day to near death.” He flexed his arm, veins bulging grotesquely. “I beat Toda in fights years ago. He still wasn’t satisfied.”

  From his belt, he pulled a flask.

  Leo’s face twisted with pure horror.

  Tektite uncorked it, tilted his head back, and drank.

  His body swelled. Muscles tightened, shoulders broadening, veins spreading like dark roots across his arms. The change wasn’t just physical. His killing intent surged outward like a tidal wave, crushing us. Knees buckled. Soldiers dropped to the dirt. Breathing became hard. My chest felt heavy.

  If my analysis is correct, he's at least twice as strong as Leo.

  Hematite spread his wires wide, their shadows casting a black net across the dead grass. His voice was solemn, almost reverent. “The spider has the fly in his trap.”

  For the first time, even I felt it. Leo might not win.

  Tektite laughed, his voice booming, raw confidence rolling over us. “I’m glad Toda was so tough on me. I’m not going to let my guard down, but it really feels like I won already.”

  Leo bent low, ripped his sword from the dirt, and roared. The sound was guttural, primal, unlike any Leo I’d ever heard. Not the calm, royal commander. This was a man stripped to desperation, burning everything in one cry. Enemy or not, I didn’t want him to fall. Facing Tektite was scarier.

  Blood still seeped from his stomach, but he clenched every muscle in his core, forcing the wound closed. His eyes burned.

  He lifted his sword with both hands, voice echoing like a vow. “Let’s finish this. I’ll stake my life on the next strike. I’ll stake my friends on the next strike. I’ll stake the lives of my citizens. I’ll stake everything I’ve ever gained. I’ll stake my soul! Can you do the same?!”

  Tektite planted his feet, shoulders squared, his arms moving in wide arcs, gathering the world into his palms. His voice thundered like a god's. “I can and have since my birth. I’ll end you and your people decisively. Take every martial art in the world at once, with the force of every martial artist at once.”

  I couldn't take my eyes off it.

  This world is so... strong.