Raze and Safa now stood directly before the true Gizin, the core body from which every clone drew its energy and to which all of that power returned. The battlefield still flickered with the remnants of the clones' fading light, but all of Raze's attention narrowed onto the figure in front of them. This was the source; this was the foundation of everything they had been fighting through.

Safa tightened her grip on her spear. Light gathered along its length, forming a radiant edge that hummed with divine energy. With no hesitation, she drove the glowing spear straight through the center of Gizin's stomach. The blade passed through the light-wrapped body with a violent burst, and Gizin's expression twisted in shock as the attack forced his magic to recoil.

Raze had already knocked away the cane, leaving Gizin no means to block or parry. Safa withdrew her spear immediately, and as she did, she pulled with her the strand of light energy she had just pierced. That captured power swirled down her spear, spiraling into her arm and rushing toward her core.

Her special technique, one she had honed through grit, failure, and the combined teachings of Stoney's Qi and her divine affinity, allowed her to cultivate even in the middle of movement. She needed somewhere to put the energy she was tearing out of Gizin; her magic core became the storage vessel, absorbing every trace she could take.

But Gizin's body still swarmed with enormous amounts of light magic. Safa could only drain a fraction with each strike, so she had to attack again. And again. And again.

Gizin gathered power in his free hand, magic building rapidly, ready to blast her. But before he could release it, he jerked his head to the side, not by choice, but because Raze's sword was already swinging for his neck.

The blade passed through the shimmering outline of his form. Instinctively trying to avoid the killing blow, Gizin redirected the blast meant for Safa, releasing it wildly into the air. He landed the strike on nothing at all. That brief, panicked motion left him open again.

Safa took advantage immediately, carving across his side with consecutive slashes of her spear. Each cut carried her own Qi, Stoney's reinforcing strength, and the fresh flow of light energy she had taken. The mixture created a violent feedback that tore into Gizin's structure and forced more magic loose.

"AHHH!" Safa screamed through clenched teeth, not in pain but in raw exertion. She drove her body harder, slashing in quick, precise arcs, refusing to let him stabilize.

Behind her, Raze moved like a shadow. He cut outward with a sweeping motion, summoning the Nightmare Formation. Waves of dark magic surged forward, forming monstrous beasts that lunged at the remaining clones, not because they would win a direct clash, but because slowing the clones was enough. A single second mattered. A single interruption mattered.

Each time Safa's spear struck the true Gizin, the clones shuddered in unison. Their movements flickered, stuttering like distorted reflections. Pain echoed through all of them simultaneously, and their magic patterns destabilized.

Raze could see the results clearly now.

With every one of Safa's hits, the clones looked less defined. Their outlines wavered, their limbs trembled, and some dissolved outright.

Gizin's reserves were being drained too fast.

As Raze continued his assault, he spoke over the clash of magic.

"You're confused, right?" he said, eyes sharp. "You're wondering why she keeps landing clean hits. Why she never hesitates. Why she doesn't give you time to counter."

A bolt of lightning shot down as he summoned it from above, forcing Gizin to look up just to track it. Safa stabbed him again while he was distracted, ripping out another strand of light energy. More clones vanished like smoke hitting open air.

"You can't keep up," Raze said, stepping forward and redirecting another burst of magic. "Because you're frightened."

Gizin's gaze widened, stunned that someone like Raze would say something so boldly in the middle of a fight.

"Even when my attacks don't actually hurt you," Raze went on, "you still react to them. You can't just ignore the force I'm putting behind every strike. You flinch. You defend. You're trained to. It's instinct."

A series of dark and light energies erupted between the three as Safa broke another segment of his magic, and Raze collided blades again with the remnants of energy around Gizin's cane-hand.

"Before, when you believed you couldn't be harmed, maybe you could push that instinct down," Raze said. "But now? Now you know she can hurt you. So every time I swing at you, you hesitate, even if it's only for a breath."

Raze's grin sharpened.

"And that breath is all we need."

Gizin clutched his stomach, face contorting with something he had never expected to feel again, fear.

Where had everything gone wrong?

He had devoted everything to reaching this point. He had surpassed the limits of human cultivation, ascended beyond the thresholds known to the Grand Magus. He was supposed to be a god. He was supposed to rival the greatest in existence.

Yet here he was, unraveling in real time.

'All of this… all of it…' Gizin thought, rage boiling through him.

'Because of this damned woman! If not for her, if not for this impossible combination, none of this would be happening!'

He realized the terrible truth.

Of all the people across the world, across the universe itself, there might have been only two individuals capable of dismantling him so completely.

And both of them stood in front of him now.

Safa's barrage accelerated. Her spear cut through Gizin again and again, stripping away the remaining light energy inside his body. With each piece removed, his structure dimmed. His clones flickered uncontrollably, their forms collapsing like broken illusions.

One by one, the duplicates disappeared, unable to sustain themselves without Gizin's full reserves.

Raze immediately triggered his time magic. His strength restored, mana replenished, he dashed forward in a burst of lighting and shadow. His blade pierced directly into Gizin's center, and this time, this time, he felt resistance.

He felt flesh.

He felt bone.

Gizin's body had returned to physical form.

With a single heave, Raze lifted him off the ground by the sword impaled in his torso. Then he swung his arm and hurled Gizin downward. The Grand Magus crashed into the ground with a shattering impact, weakened, drained, and broken.

Raze planted his hand on Gizin's chest, pressing him down.

"It seems," Raze said calmly, "that another one has been removed from the list."

He leaned closer, eyes narrowing.

"And before you perish… I need to ask you a few questions."

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