Mófar closed his eyes after the camera captured the final instant of the confrontation. He crossed his arms, thoughtful. The audience watched the presenter’s reaction with curiosity.

  Suddenly, he opened his eyes and said:

  “Yes… This will be perfect.” He snapped his fingers, changing the reactions of the cameras surrounding Nova.

  The image of the human boy on the screens slowly faded, now showing different angles and Heavy’s point of view.

  The spectators complained, raising their discordant voices. Mófar lifted his index finger, pointing at the ceiling.

  “Observe, creatures!”

  From the cameras, Heavy could be seen staring at the trees with a terrifying smile.

  On the other hand, Nova hadn’t expected the monstrosity to be so perceptive. Even so, Heavy was a warrior—just like Manto—so the experience of a combat veteran who had fought other species couldn’t be underestimated, especially after what Nova had endured in his first encounter.

  ‘Knowing where I am isn’t enough to protect you,’ Nova thought, frowning as his eye faintly glowed beneath his bangs.

  He pressed the sword’s first button, and it lit up with the ghostly plasma surrounding the blade. Then he pushed his Future Vision to the limit, regardless of how much more it would exhaust him, searching for the best possible decisions.

  “Why do you keep hiding, human?! I know where you are!” Heavy said, swinging his sword and cutting down a couple of nearby trees. “Come out already, or I’ll drag you out myself!”

  Nova exhaled.

  “No need,” he whispered. His body flashed and vanished.

  Fragile green leaves fell as the tree trunk trembled. Nova’s shadow darted back and forth between the treetops while Heavy’s five eyes danced across the arena. The smile on the monster’s mouth widened, as if it understood perfectly what was happening.

  Nova, however, locked his eye onto his target. He launched himself from one of the trees—bending both knees—and shot out from the foliage like a predator.

  He swung the sword clumsily in a downward slash aimed at Heavy’s neck, but the monster, whose back had been turned, twisted its head a grotesque one hundred and eighty degrees.

  Clang!

  The monstrosity’s body straightened instantly, blocking the blade with its own sword. The rebound of metal sent Nova flying upward with tremendous force.

  He tore through branches and leaves until the acceleration stopped dozens of meters above the ground.

  ‘Shit… He’s still too fast.’

  Suspended in the air for a brief moment, Nova’s eye searched for a near and possible future. At the same time, the eyes of countless aliens fixed on him—watching him appear out of nowhere, soaring above the forest after Mófar shut off his cameras, was overwhelmingly thrilling.

  ‘If I could just get one chance… But—!’

  With a serious expression, he dove toward one of the trees. He grabbed a branch with his free hand to slow himself, spinning to reduce the acceleration before launching himself once again toward Heavy.

  The Aberration laughed, raising its massive sword with both hands and preventing Nova from landing the next strike.

  Clang! Metal screeched against metal, forcing Nova back into the darkness of the treetops once more.

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  Regaining his footing, he hid like a ninja again and unleashed the next attack with thunderous speed.

  The giant screens showed that blazing aura of ghostly flames dancing among the branches, ricocheting in every direction as the clashing of metal echoed throughout the Arena.

  Metallic sparks flashed, tree trunks trembled, and leaves drifted down slowly. Beneath the ground, a faint cracking spread through the concrete—the roots were moving like serpents deep below.

  From the stands, two black-and-red eyes blinked a couple of times.

  “He’s good at improvising, I suppose,” said the red woman. “Something similar happened when I first met him. Do you remember, Mina?”

  Mina didn’t respond. Her bright, monochromatic blue eyes were hypnotized, staring at Nova with intense focus.

  The red woman made an awkward face.

  “Nova Asmodai attacks with spectacular speed! His sword is precise and powerful, but the strength behind Heavy Metal is immovable!” Mófar shouted to the four winds, his eyes blazing with excitement. “Can the unstoppable Nova keep up this back-and-forth?!”

  Clang! Clang!

  The exchange of blows wasn’t enough. Nova was losing ground to Heavy, who laughed while blocking with a speed utterly unfitting for his massive body. His huge barrel-like torso quivered like jelly with every clash, and his eyes bounced around in their sockets each time his opponent lunged forward.

  ‘I know this won’t get me anywhere if I keep attacking and wasting energy like an idiot,’ he jumped once more, getting sent flying again by the collision of swords. ‘Still, it’s only a matter of time before this entire forest moves at my command. I just need more time!’

  This was what Xiurah had seen before—the control over Sephiroth spreading throughout the Arena was no joke. It was almost ridiculous. He couldn’t understand how such a weak human, who had been captured by three idiots in a matter of seconds, could grow so strong in such a short time.

  “Hey, boss…” said the one whose hair covered his eyes. “I don’t know if you’re seeing the same thing I am, but—”

  “Don’t you dare say it,” Xiurah snapped.

  With amused, gleaming eyes, Taotao added:

  “I think Crimson Blood could kick all three of our asses together.”

  As a vein of irritation bulged on the reptilian leader’s forehead, Nova struck one last time.

  Clang! During the recoil of their swords, in a fraction of a second, Heavy said:

  “You’re getting tired way too fast, runt!”

  This time, when Nova came back down, he didn’t hide. He landed in front of the monstrosity, boots skidding across the ground. He stabbed the sword into the concrete to stop himself, then lifted his gaze, staring at Heavy with his single eye.

  “Yeah… There’s a reason for that,” he replied, out of breath.

  Crunch! Something echoed beneath Heavy’s feet. The very next instant, everyone gripped their seats as the battle reached its climax, because Nova pressed the sword’s second button, lifting it high with both hands.

  Heavy noticed immediately. He frowned, looking down and understanding what was about to happen, then charged at Nova with the clear intent to crush him. He swung his sword like a club and struck—but just a few centimeters before reaching Nova, he stopped dead.

  Nova exhaled in relief. He smiled confidently and said:

  “You fell for it.”

  Heavy’s entire body was wrapped in branches and roots, squeezing him like a slab of meat ready for the grill. The branches tightened, crunching eagerly and forcing heavy, labored breaths out of him.

  He thrashed violently, snapping a couple of branches. For every branch that broke, two new ones sprouted to replace it.

  “You… This whole time…” the monstrosity complained.

  Staggering, exhausted, sweat dripping down his forehead, the smile on Nova’s face was replaced by a completely emotionless expression.

  “If you could see through things, it would’ve been a real problem. But since you can’t, you lost.”

  High above, Mófar smiled like a madman. Now the entire audience understood why Nova’s cameras had been shut off. There was no way the human’s plan could have been revealed—Heavy could have simply looked up and seen on the screens exactly what his enemy was doing.

  It was a masterful move to preserve tension and drama. Now that everything had exploded, there was only one thing left for the show to reach its end.

  When Heavy let out his final scream, Nova brought the sword down. The blade shone intensely, and as the metal pierced the monstrosity’s head, the weapon’s ghostly aura burst forth like a radiant blade of wind.

  There was no blood; the screams faded away. Nova fell to his knees, exhausted. His Spectrums vanished, and the battle came to an end.