Atticus's eyes snapped open, his aura calm.
His right hand gripped his katana tightly as his piercing blue eyes scanned his surroundings.
He found himself standing at the edge of… nowhere.
'This is the next arena.' Atticus thought.
The land was barren, with jagged cracks running through the parched earth. There were no obstacles— no mountains, no hills, no hovering platforms. The entire area was completely flat, and the skies were clear.
As always, Atticus performed a brief inspection of himself.
'Nothing is missing.'
His mana was stable and unrestricted. All his elements were intact, and the same went for his flags. Atticus was already clad in his exo suit, his guard raised.
'The superior race apexes are dangerous.'
After his fight with Carius, Atticus had quickly come to this conclusion. He had won due to certain favorable circumstances, but the same might not apply with others.
If he hadn't been certain before, he was now. Only the superior race apexes remained in the competition. Which meant this battle was sure to be intense.
Just as Atticus was about to move, he paused as a holographic screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
Its words were shocking.
"Welcome to the Final Round, Atticus Ravenstein."
'Final?'
Atticus was baffled. 'This should have been the semi-final. Did both pairs draw?'
If his assumption was correct, it changed everything significantly.
It meant that this was the final battle— the battle that would determine the true apex of this Verietega Nexus.
It was a battle sure to be bloody.
'I wonder who it will be.'
There was something about finals that made people try harder than ever to win. The effort one put into a semi final couldn't compare to a final. To most, this was the last obstacle before victory, and they would do everything in their power to overcome it.
It was this effort that Atticus was already anticipating.
He exhaled deeply, squinting his eyes as he stared into the distance. There, he saw a figure standing in the middle of the arena.
'It just had to be him.'
Atticus took in a deep breath before shooting forward with incredible speed. His movements were utterly silent, his steps making no sound as he reached the middle in seconds.
Atticus stood exactly 101 meters away from the figure, observing him silently.
Of every single race that Magnus had taught him about, there was one Atticus had dreaded to face. One he hoped he wouldn't have to battle— a bad matchup for him.
And for the final of the Verietega Nexus, he was battling their apex.
The universe had to despise him, right? That had to be the only explanation.
A figure stood motionless in front of him, towering yet eerily calm. His skin was pale, and he had black, raven-like hair.
Resting loosely in his hand was a massive hammer that seemed to absorb all light around it.
Karn Voss. The apex of the Nullite race.
Karn's eyes, akin to twin abysses, gazed at Atticus—cold and unfeeling. His expression was one of complete indifference, as if what he was staring at wasn't even worthy of being called an opponent.
"Your mana is filthy,"
Karn's voice was cold yet clear. Despite his words, his expression didn't change, but his disgust was apparent.
The Nullite race harbored a deep-rooted hatred toward mana. This hatred was written into their very being. From birth, every member of the Nullite race possessed the ability to negate mana, rendering it inoperable in the air or in anything that relied on it.
Before the war, they had been enemies of all races on Eldoralth, their goal always to rid the planet of mana-wielding filth.
However, the advent of the Zorvans changed many things, enabling them to join the alliance.
Four words. Those were the only words Karn Voss had spoken.
He hadn't acknowledged the fact that they were both reincarnators. He hadn't tried to advise Atticus to give up. He hadn't even tried to speak further with him.
He'd spoken those four words not as a conversation with Atticus, but as a declaration—a declaration he completed with action.
Karn's expression remained stone cold as he suddenly hoisted his massive hammer onto his shoulder, the air around him shifting.
His eyes locked onto Atticus, the world slowing as if every ounce of his being was committed to one single purpose:
Purging the filth.
"Null Field."
As the words left Karn's lips, a wave of dark energy instantly radiated outward, expanding in every direction with astonishing speed.
The field rapidly expanded to encompass a massive 95-meter radius with Karn at its center. The air within the field felt surreal and dead, as if it were devoid of the very force that breathes life into the world.
Karn's gaze met Atticus, who stood just beyond the field's reach, as though he had anticipated the move.
"Futile," Karn muttered, his dark aura abruptly flaring.
In a burst of speed, he rocketed toward Atticus, the ground beneath him cracking under the sheer force of his takeoff.
However, his gaze suddenly narrowed as he realized Atticus had vanished.
Karn's eyes flickered in every direction, scanning for Atticus. His gaze then shifted high into the sky, locking onto Atticus hovering above.
But his attention was instantly drawn elsewhere. Just above Atticus, an army of colossal, meteor-like rocks hovered in the air, each one as imposing as the next.
Atticus's cold eyes gazed down at Karn. Without a word, he extended his hand, and with a single motion, the massive boulders hurtled down, plummeting with terrifying force.
The crowd in the human domain and several others erupted in cheers, their voices thundering and shaking the earth.
This was how a final should start—explosive, a show of absolute power!
As the massive rocks descended, Karn's aura only seemed to intensify.
The air around him grew heavy as he shifted his stance, planting his right foot forward.
The ground buckled and cracked beneath his weight as he reared back and hurled his hammer with tremendous force.