Hours passed within the Lost Forest. Yet strangely, the sun never moved.
It remained suspended in exactly the same position above the colossal trees, bathing the forest in an endless golden afternoon. No sunset came. No night approached. Even the shadows seemed trapped within the same moment.
Across the forest, the members of the Black Sun Syndicate continued fighting.
Their opponents never tired. Neither did they. Every technique they unleashed was returned to them. Every transformation was mirrored. Every change in strategy was answered.
And because the copies possessed the same abilities, the same strength, and the same understanding of their powers, every battle carried the possibility of inflicting the exact same level of damage on the original.
The Lost Forest had become a battlefield where victory could not be achieved simply by becoming stronger. You had to become different. You had to understand something your own reflection did not. And Eryndor was beginning to understand that.
He stood several meters away from his copy, breathing heavily. His dark hair moved in the wind while small sparks of lightning traveled across his body. The fake Eryndor stood opposite him, looking almost identical.
Eryndor stared at him for several seconds before letting out a quiet breath.
"Of course this would be difficult. I'm fighting myself."
His copy said nothing. Its crimson eyes remained fixed upon him. Eryndor slowly straightened his posture.
"Okay."
His eyes narrowed.
"Let's change things up a bit."
The world seemed to slow. Eryndor closed his eyes. His breathing became quiet. His thoughts disappeared. That familiar trance-like state returned.
The state where his body moved before his mind could consciously command it.
The fake Eryndor suddenly dashed forward.
Lightning gathered around its right hand, concentrating around the fingers as it attempted to pierce straight through Eryndor's chest.
Eryndor's body moved before he consciously reacted.
His right hand snapped upward, striking the copy's wrist and redirecting the lightning-covered hand. At the same time, his left fist drove forward. The punch struck the copy directly in the throat.
Before it could recover, Eryndor's left hand shifted, two fingers pinching the side of its body while his right foot drove into its ribs.
The fake Eryndor slid sideways across the ground.
Eryndor immediately pursued. Lightning covered his body. The copy responded in exactly the same way. Lightning erupted around it as well. The two figures collided. Their fists crossed. Their shoulders turned.
Lightning flashed between every movement.
Eryndor ducked beneath a strike, rotated his torso and drove his elbow toward the copy's jaw, only for the copy to lean backward and answer with a lightning-infused knee.
Eryndor twisted away. The knee passed beside him. His palm struck the copy's chest. The copy answered with the exact same palm strike. Both were thrown backward. They landed almost simultaneously. Eryndor stared at the copy.
Something was different.
The copy could imitate his techniques. It could reproduce his elemental power. It could even survive his trance-like state. But it couldn't enter that state itself. Eryndor slowly ended the trance. His breathing became heavier.
It's no use wasting energy so fast without results.
He extended his right palm.
"Lightning Web."
Lightning erupted. The technique began forming across the battlefield, but the destructive force was so immense that the earth beneath it began breaking apart before the web had even completely formed.
Cracks raced through the ground. Eryndor looked down. His expression changed.
"I knew my magic power was destructive, but that's a whole new level of destruction."
He looked at the lightning spreading around him.
"Could it be…"
The thought remained unfinished. The lightning web suddenly expanded. It wrapped around the fake Eryndor from every direction. The copy immediately responded.
Lightning surged from its body and collided against the web. The two techniques fought against one another. Eryndor didn't wait. He disappeared. The copy saw him approaching and threw a punch.
Eryndor didn't dodge. The fist passed directly through his body.
The fake Eryndor froze. Eryndor's body dissolved into wind. The copy looked around. The wind disappeared. Then Eryndor reappeared several meters away.
He stared at his own hand.
"I was right."
His eyes widened slightly.
"My soul power is completely merged with my elements."
He slowly looked around the battlefield.
"Only then can I see the truth of the world and the structure of existence more easily."
His gaze returned to the copy. For the first time, he could see beyond its appearance.
The humanoid shape began fading in his perception. Beneath the imitation was something else. A mass of black liquid. It possessed no true human structure. It simply observed. Copied, Adapted and Recreated.
Eryndor's expression became thoughtful.
"I think I know why we're fighting ourselves."
He clenched his fist.
"It's to completely merge your soul power with your element."
Eryndor rose into the sky. The fake Eryndor looked upward Eryndor raised his right palm.
"Since you can regenerate from normal elemental attacks…"
Dark clouds gathered above the forest.
Lightning flashed inside them. The wind began circling beneath the clouds.
Then multiple transparent bubbles emerged from the darkness. They slowly floated downward. Each bubble contained three distinct forces.
Lightning. Small spirals of wind. And the flames of the Black Sun. An inextinguishable black fire burned quietly within each sphere. The fake Eryndor raised its hands.
Eryndor smiled.
"Try this."
His palm closed.
"Storm Explosion."
Every bubble detonated. The forest disappeared beneath a chain of explosions.
Lightning tore through the trees while violent winds ripped across the ground and the flames of the Black Sun consumed everything they touched. The fake Eryndor vanished. So did a massive section of the forest around it.
When the explosions finally ended, only destruction remained.
Eryndor floated above the devastated area. His eyes remained focused. He knew that even this might not be enough. But now he understood. The battle was teaching him something far more important than victory.
It was teaching him himself.
Elsewhere within the Lost Forest…Rein stood before his own copy. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and looked at the reflection standing several meters away.
"Fighting myself is indeed not easy."
His copy raised its fists. Rein's expression became amused.
"Unfortunately, you can't think like me."
His body suddenly vanished.
"Quick Step."
Dominion energy erupted.
A law manifested. Rein appeared directly in front of his copy.
His right fist drove forward.
The punch struck the copy in the face. The impact sent it backward. But before Rein could follow up, the copy twisted through the air and kicked him directly in the chest. Rein flew backward. He stabilized himself.
The copy immediately disappeared.
"Quick Step."
Rein's eyes widened.
The copy appeared directly before him.
Rein planted his feet.
"Gravity."
Dominion energy spread outward. A law descended upon the battlefield. Gravity intensified specifically around the copy. The fake Rein was forced downward. Its feet slammed against the earth. The ground cracked beneath it.
It struggled to stand.
Rein smiled.
"Got you."
The copy's expression remained calm.
"Cancel."
Its own Dominion energy erupted.
Another law manifested. The gravitational command imposed by Rein disappeared.
The pressure vanished. The copy stood straight again. Rein's smile remained. But his eyes were visibly irritated. He closed his right fist.
His knuckles tightened.
"I'm gonna rip you apart."
The copy raised its fists.
Rein stared at it.
"I need to find a way to kill this thing once."
He stepped forward.
"But what should I use?"
The answer wouldn't come from greater strength alone. The copy already possessed that. It wouldn't come from another technique. The copy already knew them. So Rein attacked.
The two Dominion Gods collided.
Rein's first punch traveled toward the copy's jaw.
The copy slipped beneath it and drove its shoulder into Rein's chest, forcing him backward. Rein immediately planted his foot, rotated his body and swung his left fist across the copy's ribs. The copy brought its forearm down to intercept, but the force still pushed it sideways.
Rein followed with a right hook.
The copy leaned away.
The fist passed inches from its face.
Instead of stopping, Rein allowed the momentum to carry his body forward and brought his knee upward. The copy caught the knee with both hands. Rein twisted. His other foot swept toward the copy's legs. It jumped.
Rein turned beneath it and threw another punch upward. The copy blocked with its palm. The impact shattered the ground beneath both of them. Rein pushed forward. The copy pushed back.
Their forearms collided repeatedly as they exchanged strikes at close range. A punch was redirected. An elbow was blocked. A knee was avoided. A shoulder was used to absorb a strike.
Rein caught the copy's wrist and attempted to pull it into a headbutt, but the copy rotated its arm, escaped the grip and slammed its palm against Rein's shoulder. Rein stumbled. The copy pursued. Rein ducked.
The copy's fist passed overhead. Rein twisted around and struck its side. The copy absorbed the impact and retaliated immediately.
Their bodies moved through the battlefield like two identical warriors who had memorized every possible response to one another. Neither could surprise the other.
Neither could maintain an advantage. And yet Rein continued smiling. Because somewhere inside the endless exchange, he was beginning to understand what he needed. Not another technique. Not another command. Something deeper. Something only he could create.
Far away from both battles, David remained seated before the golden orb. The images shifted constantly. He watched Eryndor. Then Rein. Then the others.
His golden eyes lingered on Eryndor's destroyed battlefield.
The First God of the Sun smiled faintly.
Then his attention shifted toward Rein, watching the two Dominion Gods continue their endless exchange. Sera stood nearby, quietly observing.
David's gaze eventually moved toward the remaining members of the Black Sun Syndicate.
Each of them was fighting their own reflection. Each battle was different. Each lesson was different. But they were all moving toward the same destination.
David rested his chin against one hand.
"They're beginning to understand."
Sera smiled.
"Themselves ?"
David looked back at the golden orb.
"Yes, Themselves."
The orb continued displaying the battles within the Lost Forest. And beneath the endless afternoon sun the Black Sun Syndicate continued fighting.