Within a minute, Shin felt himself crossing into the mesosphere, yet he maintained his maximum speed. Only after another minute did he finally halt, preparing himself for the battle ahead. However, he wasn't given much time, as Endeavour had also arrived, stopping just a short distance away and locking eyes with him.
With a nod, Shin backed up, creating space between them. No signal was needed—the battle began instantly.
Shin raised both his Tempest rifles and unleashed a relentless barrage of bullets. They were merely level-two rounds, costing little of his force reserves, which he had replenished nearly to the brim by absorbing air resistance during his ascent. Endeavour deftly dodged, veering out of their trajectory while launching fireballs through his punches in retaliation.
Shin evaded the attacks while continuing his assault, carefully tracking his opponent's movements. He had no desire to allow Endeavour to close the distance, given his limited defences against such intense heat.
Maintaining his barrage, he subtly ceased firing from one rifle, instead expelling a controlled burst of force energy around himself, crafting an illusion using his Force Manifestation that he was still shooting with both. Simultaneously, he conjured illusions of his bullets, doubling their numbers to prevent Endeavour from noticing the slight decrease in projectiles. Since his opponent was merely dodging, there was no way for him to distinguish real bullets from illusions.
In the fleeting moment of reprieve, Shin charged the Tempest rifle in his left hand to level eight in safe mode. Without hesitation, he warped directly in front of Endeavour, whose eyes widened at the abrupt shift in pace.
Just as Shin was about to fire, his Force Pulse warned him of Endeavour's intent. His reflexes, however, weren't fast enough to completely evade the explosion of pure fire that erupted from Endeavour as its epicentre. Though he managed to warp away the moment the flames reached him, his left hand sustained second-degree burns. Nonetheless, he emerged nearly unscathed—his hero costume and Tempest rifle, built to withstand extreme conditions, remained entirely intact.
Clicking his tongue in irritation at being the first to take damage, Shin activated Force Regeneration. His burns began healing rapidly.
Endeavour smirked pridefully at the exchange, prompting an annoyed Shin to remark, "You may have gotten the first laugh, but I'll make sure I get the last." Then, he grinned and flexed his fully restored hand, watching as Endeavour's smirk faltered. "And as you can see, such an injury won't be a problem for me. Unlike you."
Endeavour's expression darkened into one of complete seriousness. Shaking his head, he muttered, "So, you have healing abilities as well. I knew this wouldn't be easy, but this just made things significantly harder."
Shin laughed a bit and launched himself toward Endeavour. Caught off guard by such a direct attack, Endeavour instinctively brought both hands forward, charged his flames, and fired them in the form of a laser toward his opponent. Shin, without hesitation, combined his Tempest rifles into one, forming a spear. The red glow at the blade tips signified its activation in Death Mode.
Facing the beam of fire, Shin swung his spear vertically, releasing a crimson blade of force that swiftly cut through the attack, splitting it in two. The blade continued its trajectory toward Endeavour, forcing him to dodge.
But Shin wasn't about to waste such an opportunity. While Endeavour was distracted, he warped behind him, instantly reverting his weapon back into rifle form, and fired a level-six bullet straight toward Endeavour's head. However, in that last second, Endeavour's battle-hardened instincts flared. Sensing the danger, he tilted his body just in time, causing the bullet to strike his shoulder instead. The force of the impact sent him hurtling backward, but his flames countered the motion, stopping him at a distance.
However, he wasn't given a moment of respite. The moment he had slowed down, another dozen bullets had already surrounded him—Shin had fired them without a single shred of mercy.
Endeavour realized that this could go on until he was completely out of commission if he didn't change his approach. His flames were powerful, yes, but if he kept this distance, it was to his disadvantage. Shin could simply keep pumping out bullets while barely using any energy, forcing Endeavour to tire himself out just by defending. Meanwhile, Shin would be able to hover there without a care in the world.
To turn the fight in his favor, Endeavour had to close the distance. While Shin could block his flames since they had physical properties, he had no real defence against the sheer heat they emitted.
But before he acted, Endeavour shot Shin an angry glare and shouted in frustration, "Hey! That thing earlier could have killed me! What were you thinking pulling something like that in the middle of a spar?"
Shin didn't waver. "This may be a spar, but that doesn't mean there's no possibility of death," he rebuked. "I never agreed to some half-hearted friendly battle. I took this fight because both you and I wanted to test our limits—and even go beyond them. That can't be achieved if we aren't pushed to the verge of death."
Not wasting another moment, Shin unleashed a relentless barrage of level-four force bullets, refusing to let useless chatter slow him down.
Surrounded by the translucent bullets, Endeavour gritted his teeth, feeling the immense pain from his injured shoulder, which was bleeding heavily. Without hesitation, he burned the wound shut, muffling his scream of pain.
However, this pain served a purpose—it snapped him out of his frustration over Shin's previous fatal attack and forced him to focus entirely on his current predicament.
As the bullets neared him, he narrowed his eyes and moved. His fists and legs lashed out, each strike accompanied by an eruption of flames. Waves of fire engulfed the bullets, burning them to nothingness. Within a dozen seconds, he had completely wiped out every last one of them.
He immediately distanced himself from his position and shouted, "What if one of us actually dies? Won't that be a—"
"Really? Could you drop the damn act already? Do you think I don't know what you've prepared for this battle?"
Endeavour was cut off before he could even finish his sentence as Shin suddenly teleported right in front of him. With a slightly irritated expression, he continued, "I know about the Saintess you hired from Europe. Honestly, I was pretty surprised when I saw her here. But after you suggested this battle, I realized—she's your backup in case I get severely injured or even die while fighting you, isn't she?"
Endeavour's lips pressed into a deep frown the moment Shin brought up the real reason behind bringing the Saintess. However, before he could say anything, Shin continued, noticing his expression.
"I know about her because I've met her once before," Shin said, shaking his head. "And with her being inside the test stadium, it wasn't hard for me to detect and recognize her with my abilities."
As he spoke, he recalled why this European woman was so renowned. Her Quirk allowed her to heal anyone back to perfect condition, even if they were fatally injured. That was why she was known as the Saintess.
From his observations of her ability, he had realized that this healing wasn't simple regeneration—it was achieved by turning back time on the injured individual. What made her truly terrifying was how effortlessly she could do this, with very little of her ki being spent. Additionally, there were not many limitations to this ability, and it could even be used offensively. However, for some reason, that woman refused to consider using it that way, choosing only to heal people instead.
And that was before she awakened. Now, after reaching Tier 2, she had gained another ability—the power to resurrect. Of course, this ability came with strict limitations. The person had to have been dead for no more than one minute, along with several other restrictions. Still, it was an incredibly powerful ability. However, the fact that she could bring back the dead was a closely guarded secret, known only to a handful of top-level figures.
What truly shocked Shin was the fact that Endeavour knew about it. How he got his hands on that classified information was a mystery, but Shin wasn't particularly interested in the how. He turned to Endeavour, expecting a certain reaction. However, instead of a guilty or defensive expression, what he saw was confusion.
Seeing Shin's gaze, Endeavour asked, "What do you mean when you say I brought her as a backup in case you die? How could she even help in that situation?"
Shin blinked, momentarily stupefied. The emotions he sensed from Endeavour through his Force Pulse made it clear—he genuinely had no idea what Shin was talking about. That meant his earlier assumption had been completely wrong. Realizing this, Shin asked, "Then why did you bring her here?"
Endeavour narrowed his eyes, irritated that his question had been met with another question instead of the answer he was looking for. Still, he responded, "I brought the Saintess because I was worried that if we fought at full power, we might end up harming the onlookers and people nearby. Especially if I go all out and use my awakened ability."
Shin scrunched his face. "That doesn't make any sense. We're fighting way too far from anyone for them to be harmed."
"That might be true for you, considering how much control you have over your Quirk," Endeavour admitted. "But I don't have that level of control especially when I use my awakened ability. Even at this distance, the heat alone could be catastrophic—I could burn people alive just from the temperature my flames reach."
He then revealed, "That's why I also brought Crust with me. His shields can block heat, unlike yours, which can only stop the physical aspect of my flames. That's what I've observed, anyway."
"Oh… Oh!" Shin's expression shifted as realization dawned on him. What Endeavour had just revealed gave Shin a major hint about the nature of his awakened ability. If it was something that could still pose a threat to people this far away, then it had to be a ridiculously destructive power.
Seeing that Shin had understood his reasoning, Endeavour pressed, "Now that I've answered your question, you should answer mine."
Shin narrowed his eyes in contemplation, then decided to explain the truth to Endeavour. He recognised that his opponent needs to realise that the stakes weren't as high as he believed. Sure, one of them could die, but with the healer present, they could be revived. And so, Shin told Endeavour about the Saintess' awakened ability. Endeavour's eyes widened in sheer shock. It took him a moment to process the absurdity of what he had just heard, but soon, the realization of Shin's earlier words fully sank in.
Endeavour remained silent, processing the absurdity of what Shin had just revealed. The ability to resurrect the dead—it sounded like something out of myths. And yet, Shin spoke of it as if it were just another fact. Even knowing this, Endeavour hesitated. Fighting with true killing intent, even in a battle, was something he had never done.
Shin sighed, clearly irritated. "I just told you, even if I die, I'll come back. So, stop hesitating and actually try to kill me." Endeavour frowned, his flames flaring up slightly. Shin grinned. "And if you end up dying instead? I'll make sure to get you revived too. So just do the same for me."
A twitch of amusement flickered across Endeavour's face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. He exhaled, his stance shifting. He had accepted this fight to push his limits, to go beyond—and that wouldn't happen if he kept hesitating. His expression hardened.
Shin saw the shift in his opponent's stance and smirked. Without another word, he teleported away just as Endeavour lunged forward, fire bursting from his fists. But Shin wasn't done. Even as he vanished, a fresh volley of force bullets rained down toward Endeavour, cutting off any chance to follow. Endeavour's eyes narrowed as he twisted mid-air, launching a wave of flames to counter. The bullets and fire clashed, most bullets getting burned away while others slipped through, forcing him to dodge at the last second.
Shin reappeared high above Endeavour, rifles aimed down. He fired one another round of force bullets, this time though he made each shot invisible to the eye until it distorted the air around it. The air filled with projectiles, forcing Endeavour to twist and turn, bursts of fire from his hands and feet keeping him mobile.
Endeavour clenched his teeth as he had a realisation while dodging these bullets. They weren't just coming at him randomly. Each one pushed him into a worse position, making it harder for him to close the distance between himself and shin. Worse, his opponent barely seemed to be putting in much effort.
Then, suddenly—Shin's body multiplied shocking Endeavour as he realised another ability held by his opponent. He had been thinking as to why some of the bullets that had seemingly hit didn't cause any harm. But now it all makes sense because many of these bullets were simply illusions meant to fool him. And he had absolutely fell for that tactic.
Endeavour roared in anger and shot himself forward with a burst of fire, cutting through the illusions, but just as he reached Shin, which he thought was the real one, his fist passed through air. His senses screamed, and he barely managed to twist to the side before a real punch came from behind. The strike landed against his ribs, the force behind it sending him reeling. The sheer power was different from before—Shin had utilised the stored force directly into his attack, making it almost impossible to simply tank.
Endeavour retaliated with a sweeping arc of fire, forcing Shin to teleport back. But the moment he did, another red crescent wave of energy came slicing toward him. He barely twisted in time, feeling its force cut through space where he had been. He fired a concentrated beam of fire in response, but Shin warped, appearing at his side, spear spinning.
Shin's attacks came like a storm. Each blow carried immense power which were heavy enough to shake the very fabric of space. Endeavour barely managed to dodge, using bursts of fire to manoeuvre. However, it was taking all of his speed and reflexes to stay ahead of Shin's movements. With every second, the fight grew more intense, their figures clashing midair, fists meeting in rapid succession, the force of their battle sending shockwaves through the sky.
Endeavour gritted his teeth and decided to change tactics. He brought his hands forward together, concentrated all his flames into his palms and shouted, "PROMINENCE BURN!"
A humongous laser of fire, incomparable to the ones he had used before erupted from his palms, cutting through the sky straight at Shin.
Shin summoned a force shield just in time. The laser struck, shaking the air around them, but the shield held. However, the heat poured through, searing all his skin and even his flesh. Even his bones were feeling the extreme heat. Shin grimaced but endured as he activated his Force Regeneration at its full capacity, waiting for the moment the blast faded. The beam of fire lasted longer than he had calculated causing even some of his bones to melt as his body deformed. Thankfully his overclocked regeneration skill was keeping him alive while repairing the damage as quickly as it could.
Once the attack ended, he instantly teleported away and focused on healing himself. However, Endeavour was hot on his heels and didn't want to allow Shin to completely. Therefore, he had to keep teleporting again and again. This game of cat and mouse continued until his bone and flesh had been mostly healed. Once that happened, he stopped the warping and lunged forward towards Endeavour.
Endeavour met him, a flaming fist crashing into Shin's arm. This time, however, Shin didn't dodge or teleport away. Instead, a sleek armor of translucent energy formed over his body, absorbing the impact. The flames still burned him, but the sheer force behind the attack was nullified. Taking advantage of the moment, Shin slammed a punch into Endeavour's chest, sending him hurtling backward.
Not willing to let him recover, Shin chased after him. His illusions flickered around them again, making it impossible for Endeavour to tell which Shin was real. He struck out, trying to land a hit, but every time he thought he found the real one, an attack from an unexpected angle sent him staggering. A knee crashed into his stomach, followed by an elbow strike to his back.
Endeavour had no choice but to explode flames outward in all directions, dispersing the illusions and forcing Shin to retreat a few paces. Both of them hovered in the air, catching their breath. Endeavour's body was aching from the repeated blows. Shin had landed several solid hits, yet—
Shin's eyes narrowed as he observed something strange. The wounds Endeavour had taken should have been showing. But there was nothing. He needed to be sure. In a split second, Shin reappeared behind Endeavour. He struck with a punch, sending Endeavour spiralling. Before he could recover however, Shin followed up with a full-powered spear strike, the red crescent slicing deep into Endeavour's side.
Endeavour coughed out, feeling the pain. This one was serious. He hovered in place, hand clutching his side, but then—
Shin's eyes widened. The flames around Endeavour flickered unnaturally, shifting toward the wound. It wasn't just an effect of his quirk. The flames were doing something else. Slowly, the injury began to close. Not instantly, but little by little, repairing itself with the heat.
Shin exhaled sharply. He had been right. "You're healing," he said, voice steady.
Endeavour, still catching his breath, looked up at him, confused. "What?"
"Your flames," Shin motioned to the spot where his attack had landed. "They're fixing your wounds."