Anthony's eyes shifted from Reynold to Kingsley as he spoke in a calm tone, "Any rules?"

Kingsley shook his head slowly. Although it was a spar, there were no established rules between them. The two understood one another perfectly, bound by mutual respect and unspoken agreement. Neither intended to kill the other or inflict life-threatening injuries. They would unleash deadly attacks, yes, but both would halt at the final moment if the other could not block or evade in time.

"But I have a request," Kingsley said, his voice even and resolute.

Anthony arched an eyebrow, his expression mildly intrigued. "What request?"

Kingsley inhaled softly before answering, "I want to see the gap between us." He paused for a brief moment, his golden eyes unwavering. "I won't deny it, I know that for now, you're stronger. Far stronger. But I'm certain I can close that distance someday. And to do that, I first need to see it for myself." His tone grew firmer as he continued, "So I want to see the gap. I want… no, I need you to show me the difference between us." Kingsley's words were calm, his expression steady and unflinching.

Anthony studied him for a long moment, his expression unreadable. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or take the man seriously. Close the gap between us? To Anthony, that was nothing short of wishful thinking. Kingsley trained even in his sleep, yes, but effort alone could not bridge the abyss that separated them.

To Anthony, the difference between their strengths wasn't a mere gap, nor even a chasm, it was an expanse as vast as the distance between stars.

Light-years apart. Galaxies apart.

He wasn't being arrogant; at least, not in his eyes. It was simply the truth. And yet, to many, truth spoken plainly often sounded like arrogance.

"No problem then," Anthony replied, his voice as expressionless as his face. "But I'll only use martial arts, nothing else."

Even as he said that, Anthony had no intention of going all out. If he truly unleashed his full strength, Kingsley, a man well over a century old, would not survive the exchange. Although Anthony possessed the ability to resurrect him, he had no desire to kill a friend merely to prove a point.

His sky-blue eyes drifted toward Vega. "Count to three. On the third count, we begin."

Vega gave a silent nod, her face calm and composed.

Anthony turned back to Kingsley, their eyes locking, blue against gold, as the air grew heavy between them. The two stood perfectly still, waiting for Vega's signal. Nearby, Seraphim, Dale, and Reynold quietly slipped on their specialized glasses, aware that the battle they were about to witness would exceed the limits of human perception.

"One," Vega began, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

"Two…" At that sound, time itself seemed to slow. The galaxy appeared to stretch like molten glass, every second dragging into eternity, as though the cosmos itself held its breath in anticipation of the clash between these two anomalies.

"Three."

At that word, reality snapped back into place.

Without hesitation, Kingsley willed his body to move, but before he could even take a single step, a cataclysmic explosion of cosmic air erupted. The force struck him with unimaginable weight, hurling him backward as though the galaxy had decided to erase him from existence.

The cosmic air shrieked and howled, torn apart by the violence of the impact. Kingsley's body shot across the void like a blazing comet. In the next heartbeat, his back crashed into the surface of a distant planet with titanic force. The planet's crust caved inward like a stretched trampoline before shattering under the sheer pressure. A blinding flash of energy followed, consuming the planet in a storm of brilliant light and annihilating destruction.

Fragments of the broken planet scattered through the cosmos, debris drifting in every direction like ashes of a dying sun. Amid the chaos, Kingsley's figure emerged, bloodied, battered, his chest grotesquely caved in. A single footprint was imprinted deep into his torso, evidence of the unfathomable power behind the strike.

'He kicked me,' Kingsley realized through ragged breaths. 'I didn't even see it.' One moment, he had been preparing to move, then the next, he had been sent hurtling through space.

The cosmic winds screamed past his ears. His instincts flared. 'He's coming.' Kingsley's golden eyes snapped upward, searching for Anthony's form, but there was nothing. Not a shadow. Not a flicker of movement. The air itself trembled, still echoing from the sheer velocity of Anthony's motion. The sound he had heard earlier was nothing but the delayed echo of a speed the cosmos couldn't comprehend.

Before he could react, pain erupted through his skull, sharp, piercing, unbearable. It was as if his brain had been split open and dissected while he remained fully conscious, denied even the mercy of anesthesia. The agony was indescribable, yet Kingsley found little time to dwell on it before another impact sent him spiraling.

He was flung sideways, crashing violently into the surface of a massive star. His ribs shattered to dust under the force of the collision, blood erupting from his mouth, only to vaporize instantly in the unbearable heat.

Kingsley's mind spun, his consciousness flickering like a candle struggling against a storm. Darkness beckoned, whispering of release from the pain, but Kingsley's will clung desperately to the light. He refused to faint, refused to surrender. He had asked to see the gap, and now, he would see it, no matter the cost.

His thoughts raced. 'If I can't find him… I'll force him to reveal himself.' With trembling hands and shattered bones, Kingsley straightened his back. His breathing was shallow, his body trembling, yet his resolve burned with blinding intensity.

Summoning every ounce of strength he could muster, he pressed his feet into the molten surface of the star. His body screamed in agony, but he ignored it. His stance shifted, his aura flaring weakly around him as he prepared to unleash an omnidirectional assault, a desperate, all-encompassing attack meant to strike in every direction at once.

But just as he was about to move, the world around him warped. Time seemed to bend and fracture, his perception stretching unnaturally. The flow of existence slowed until even the pulse of starlight seemed still.

And then, he saw him.

Anthony stood literally beside him, serene and composed, as though untouched by the chaos surrounding them. His hands were clasped behind his back, his expression unreadable, his hair flowing perfectly despite the collapsing void around them. There was no malice in his gaze, only calm, detached control, like a god observing a mortal's futile struggle.

For the briefest of moments, Kingsley felt a spark of hope. 'I see you now.' But before he could move, before he could act upon that fractured moment of clarity, the galaxy blurred.

A burst of unimaginable force struck his chin, snapping his head upward. His mind exploded in pain as he felt his body rocket skyward. His thoughts lagged behind his body's movement, as though reality itself had failed to process what had just occurred.

Only after the impact did his consciousness register the truth, it had been a single punch. One simple, unaugmented strike. Yet the power behind it was enough to shatter worlds.

As he soared through the void, Kingsley's vision dimmed. His will screamed at his body to stay awake, to keep fighting, but even the strongest will could not override biology. The darkness crept in, cold and absolute.

The last thing he saw before his mind went blank was Anthony, still standing on the star's surface, calm and collected.

Then; silence.

The vastness of space swallowed Kingsley whole, leaving only the faint echo of a battle that had never truly been one.

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