The Glorious Evolution

Two nuclear-like explosions collided within the cramped prison, swallowing the remaining floor and everything resting upon it!

The shockwaves struck the bars and forced them outward until the prison’s shape changed from a cube to a sphere... and yet, the energy remained contained!

Meanwhile, destruction engulfed Levi and the Borrower from every direction, making it nearly impossible for anyone to see them.

The viewing screens turned white while the live audience instinctively squeezed their eyes shut as the blinding light flooded the entire map.

Arthur and the girls were stunned into silence while many Rifters instinctively reinforced their own defenses despite standing safely outside the prison.

The explosions were simply that terrifying, even from outside... as for those inside the prison? Their survival was a different story entirely.

Levi had already enclosed himself within a small, dark dome, no more than a meter in radius.

Void Insulation

It was his latest defensive technique, which he had learned using the 12% Resonance Access to the Ancestral Void Tree... it hadn’t been much of a fan of him lately, but the progress he had made in his evolution allowed him to retain the 12% Resonance Access from both other trees.

Thanks to this, Levi was able to create defensive sun and void techniques instead of waiting to unlock them.

The Void Insulation technique compressed layers of devouring dark energy around his body and kept replacing the outer ones whenever they reached their limit.

As the explosions raged outside, the layers consumed portions of the incoming heat and energy before allowing the weakened remainder to reach his inner aetheric defenses... By keeping the dome small, Levi could concentrate his protection instead of wasting energy covering an entire battlefield.

However, even then...

Crack! Crack!...

The outer layers broke apart in rapid succession, forcing him to replace them nonstop while a wave of heat penetrated far enough to burn his clothes!

’Fucking hell... the lengths he pushed me to.’

Levi gritted his teeth and reinforced the dome, feeling his skin blister before the heat was swallowed by the renewed darkness.

Unfortunately for the Borrower, his situation was much worse, as he had underestimated just how far Levi was willing to go to kill him!

His imitation had managed to counter Levi’s detonation, but its output remained slightly weaker.

After their first collision, the remaining force struck his defensive layers, erasing them one by one and shrinking his protected space as the gigantic manifestation attempted to form its own dark dome around him!

’Motherfucker... he went this far?!’

The Borrower poured more spiritual energy into his ultimate ability, restoring the cracks across its body before they spread any farther.

Yet, the moment one section recovered, another began breaking apart.

’This can’t be happening!’

He knew his imitations weren’t truly perfect, but he had always compensated for the difference through movement, additional attacks, or another defensive ability... Right now, none of those options were giving him enough room!

Even the destruction he successfully redirected remained inside the prison, striking his defenses again from another direction.

He realized at once that this had been Levi’s intention all along, as without the prison’s walls, he could easily have survived the explosions by distancing himself.

Instead...

BOOM!

The copied Void Dome kept cracking nonstop, allowing a golden eruption to burn through his clothes and scales before he could close the opening.

If even Levi was struggling to survive with his original technique, how could a mere copy fare any better?

”ARGH!”

The Borrower’s eyes widened in pain as he reinforced the damaged section... Alas, the interruption had already disrupted his control over the manifestation.

BOOM!

Its gigantic violin was the first to break apart, and then a black shockwave smashed through its chest, shattering the three fake celestial stars before the Borrower could save it!

The Perfect Imitation finally collapsed before the disbelieving eyes of the Rifters and the viewers.

’No...’

As for the Borrower? His arrogance from earlier was nowhere to be found as he stared at the scattered remains of Levi’s replica with a stunned expression.

Then, the scorching heat snapped him out of his shock, forcing him to abandon the Art and summon his previously borrowed defenses.

Whatever was necessary to save himself!

Thick golden scales covered his body while a translucent shield appeared around them, followed by a mist capable of absorbing heat.

The mist evaporated instantly while the shield endured the pressure only a little longer.

’No! No! No! No!’

The Borrower tried another defensive combination, then another... Within seconds, he had used dozens of defensive techniques and adaptations, desperately searching for anything capable of keeping him alive!

Alas, nothing lasted.

His body began burning faster than his borrowed regeneration could repair it.

”CELESTIAL...”

The Borrower roared as the serpentine scales across his chest peeled away, exposing flesh that blackened instantly.

He had survived so many games, fought so many opponents, and collected abilities specifically to avoid being helpless against any single power... Yet, he was being burned alive without the chance to reach his enemy!

”WHERE ARE YOU?!”

He spread his spiritual senses through the blinding destruction and managed to locate the void dome... Levi? Nowhere to be found.

At first, he thought that Levi might have died, but that wishful thinking burned away along with his flesh the moment he recalled that the battle was still ongoing.

Unbeknownst to him, Levi’s Abyssal Filtrum kept his presence perfectly hidden, making it impossible for anyone to detect him through spiritual vision!

How could you see what was erased?

The Borrower’s expression twisted as he realized that the prick had prepared a shelter before setting off both explosions.

Meanwhile, he had willingly helped Levi fill the prison with enough destruction to overwhelm his own weaker defenses!

There was no time left to regret it.

’Dominion!’

He didn’t need to survive the entire explosion if he could drag Levi into another battlefield!

Multiple spiritual tendrils shot toward the dome, reaching it before another wave of heat burned through the Borrower’s protection.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

They struck Levi’s spiritual barriers and stopped... Seeing this, the Borrower’s pupils thinned before he concentrated the tendrils against one section, attempting to break through with force... Two barriers shattered, only to reveal dozens more behind them!

Levi had anticipated his desperate decision.

’You think I’d let you drag me inside your Dominion after all this?’

Levi scoffed inwardly as he reinforced the damaged barriers while maintaining Void Insulation, preventing even the slightest spiritual contact!

”Damn you!”

The Borrower withdrew his spiritual tendrils after another failed attempt, focusing his remaining protection around his body.

If he couldn’t make spiritual contact with Levi, he would have to touch him physically!

There was no other way.

The Borrower pushed forward, wrapping himself in hardened armor while a borrowed force-dispersing ability weakened the pressure ahead of him.

He managed to walk several steps before the armor broke... he replaced it without stopping, sacrificing the protection around his tail to reinforce his chest and head.

Only protecting his vitals mattered at this stage!

A split second later, the exposed tail burned away, making his entire body shudder in agony.

Yet, he kept moving despite seeing parts of his own bones through the ruined flesh of his arms; as long as his hand remained intact, he could still reach Levi and force the Dominion!

’Just one touch...’

His earlier maniac episode was nowhere to be found... he no longer cared about showing the viewers that his imitations could match Levi, nor was he thinking about many powers he could steal from Levi.

He simply didn’t want to die here.

The Borrower stumbled, nearly falling as the protection around his legs failed... However, instead of stopping to repair it, he concentrated almost everything he had left around his right arm.

The dome was within reach!

Levi sensed him approaching and swiftly compressed Void Insulation further, bringing the innermost layer close to his body.

’What a persistent lizard...’

He couldn’t afford to open the sphere and attack... With the explosion still raging outside, even a brief opening would expose him to the same destruction killing the Borrower.

All he could do was keep the darkness between them as the Borrower drove his protected hand into it.

The outer layers consumed the energy around his claws, but he continued pushing, allowing the flesh along his forearm to burn as his remaining reinforcement forced its way deeper!

The spiritual barriers couldn’t prevent his physical approach... Only the Void Dome remained.

For a moment, the Borrower’s fingertips penetrated far enough for him to sense Levi directly behind the innermost layer.

His remaining eye widened with desperate excitement.

’There!’

He threw his body forward and stretched his arm as far as possible, intending to grab whatever part of Levi he could reach... Even a brush of his fingertips would be enough!

Levi leaned back while manifesting hundreds of thin aetheric chains that gripped the Borrower’s arm, chaining his claws a few centimeters from Levi’s face.

Just as the Borrower tried to take another step, the last defensive layer around his torso collapsed... the heat and force struck his exposed body while the pressure tore through what remained of his reinforcement.

The Borrower’s expression froze for a split second, his arm still inside the dome... he could feel it; Levi was right there.

So close, yet... so far.

”Celestia...”

Before he could utter his last words, the outstretched hand crumbled into ash with the rest of his body.

Levi swiftly closed the damaged layers and remained still, his attention fixed on the spot where the claws had nearly touched his forehead.

’Holy... what are these disgusting aspects...’

He exhaled shakily before pouring his remaining energy into the dome, refusing to lower his defenses while the explosions continued raging outside.

Only after a few moments passed did the blinding light begin fading away.

Akira, Mournful Spirit, the Taxman, and the rest of the Rifters searched the ruined prison for the two madmen.

However, there was no longer a battlefield, no gigantic imitation, and no sign of the Borrower.

Everything inside had been reduced to ashes, and the prison regained its cubic shape as a pillar of smoke continued rising above its ceiling.

In the far corner, a small dark dome slowly opened as Levi emerged from within it, dropping to one knee while the remaining Void layers peeled away from his battered body.

His clothes were scorched, blood dripped from his hands, and his arm trembled from the strain... but he was alive.

Levi swept the ruined prison with his Harmonic Spine... he found no heartbeat or spiritual presence... only black ash scattered across the destroyed floor.

’That was too close for comfort...’

Ding!

[MANDATORY DUEL CONCLUDED]

[WINNER: THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM]

The silence lasted for a heartbeat before the stunned viewers exploded into deafening, crazed chants.

CELESTIAL! CELESTIAL! CELESTIAL!...