"Most opponents panic when they realize this," Richard said conversationally, walking calmly through his own decay field without any apparent discomfort. "They try to rush me, to end the fight quickly before I can contaminate the entire battlefield. That desperation makes them sloppy. Makes them take risks. Makes them easier to kill."

"Good thing I'm not most opponents," Satou replied.

He activated Dragonfire Manipulation, channeling flames hot enough to melt steel through Void Fang. The blade ignited with fire that burned white-hot, reality-warping heat combined with void-cutting edge.

Then he dove.

Not at Richard directly, but at the decayed sections of floor. The dragonfire touched the corrupted obsidian and something unexpected happened—the decay was burned away. Not just stopped, but reversed. The corrupted matter was incinerated so thoroughly that it was reduced to its base components, which then fused back into clean obsidian under the intense heat.

"You can cleanse my decay," Richard observed. "Impressive. That fire must be extraordinarily hot. Dragon essence combined with void power—a potent combination."

He moved suddenly, faster than before, his hand shooting out toward Satou's diving form.

Satou activated Phase Step, his Void Body making him partially intangible. Richard's decay-infused touch passed through him harmlessly, unable to affect something that only partially existed in reality.

But Richard had anticipated that. His other hand, still wrapped in cloth, snapped forward and grabbed. The cloth began to glow with sickly gray light, and suddenly Satou felt the Phase Step ability failing—the cloth was infused with something that could affect even intangible beings.

Conceptual binding, Satou realized. That cloth isn't normal fabric. It's enchanted to affect concepts, not just physical matter.

He activated Void Manipulation instead, creating a pocket of absolute nothingness between himself and Richard's grasping hand. The cloth-wrapped fingers entered the void and simply stopped, unable to proceed through space that didn't exist.

Satou used that moment to swing Void Fang in a vicious arc aimed at Richard's extended arm.

The blade cut.

But Richard twisted at the last instant, centuries of combat experience allowing him to minimize the damage. Instead of severing his arm, the blade only grazed his shoulder, cutting through his clothing and the outer layer of skin.

Black blood welled from the wound—not normal blood, but something corrupted by centuries of wielding Decay.

And the wound wasn't healing.

Richard's eyes widened as he looked at his shoulder. The cut wasn't deep, but it also wasn't closing. The edges of the wound were... uncertain, as if reality couldn't quite decide if the flesh was there or not.

"Existence Erasure," Richard breathed, understanding flooding his features. "Your blade doesn't just cut—it erases. That's why the wound won't heal naturally. You've deleted the concept of 'intact flesh' from that area. It has to be rewritten back into existence, which takes time even with accelerated healing."

"Now you understand," Satou said, landing on a clean section of floor and immediately launching himself into another attack.

What followed next was total chaos.

The two fighters moved across the arena at speeds that made them blur to normal vision. Even the demon lords had to focus to track their movements.

Satou's Void Fang carved arcs through the air, each swing leaving hairline fractures in reality that sealed themselves a moment later. His dragonfire cleansed sections of decay, creating safe zones he could fight from. His Shadow Mastery allowed him to use the darkness cast by the lava channels, teleporting through shadows to attack from unexpected angles.

Richard's Decay spread constantly, contaminating more and more of the arena. His movements were efficient and deadly, each gesture calculated to force Satou into positions where he'd have to choose between being hit by Decay or being forced into already-corrupted zones. His centuries of experience showed in every feint, every counter, every trap he set.

They were evenly matched—or appeared to be.

Satou would land a hit with Void Fang, carving another wound that wouldn't heal naturally. But Richard would force him to dodge, to use stamina-draining abilities like Phase Step and Void Step, gradually wearing him down.

Richard would contaminate another section of arena, forcing Satou to spend mana cleansing it with dragonfire. But Satou's attacks would force Richard to dodge faster, to move more, gradually accumulating small cuts and wounds that refused to close properly.

The fight looked even. Balanced. Two powerful combatants pushing each other to their limits.

But it wasn't.

Satou was holding back.

He'd been using only a fraction of his abilities—the most obvious ones, the ones that would be expected from someone who'd cleared the Dungeon of Eternal Nightmares. He'd shown flight, sword skills, fire, shadow manipulation, void stepping.

Thirty minutes into the fight, with both combatants breathing harder and the arena half-covered in decay, Satou decided it was time to stop playing.

"You're strong, Richard," Satou said, landing on a platform of earth he'd created with Earth Manipulation—raising clean obsidian from beneath the decayed layer. "Chronus chose his champion well. But I think we're done testing each other now."

"Oh?" Richard's gray eyes narrowed. "You think you've seen all my techniques?"

"No," Satou replied. "But you've definitely seen all of yours. Every attack pattern, every feint, every trap—you've been cycling through them, refining them, perfecting them. You fight like someone who's spent centuries mastering a limited set of techniques to absolute perfection."

He smiled, sharp and dangerous. "I fight like someone who spent seventy days devouring everything he encountered and absorbing their abilities. Do you understand the difference, Richard? You've perfected what you have. I've accumulated everything."

Then Satou stopped holding back.

He activated Blood Frenzy and Berserker Rage simultaneously, his wounded state from the small cuts Richard had inflicted making him faster, stronger, more dangerous. His eyes blazed with crimson light, and his aura exploded outward.

Richard actually took a step back, his instincts screaming danger.

Satou launched forward with speed that made his previous movements look sluggish. Lightning Manipulation crackled around his body, enhancing his velocity even further. His sword moved in patterns that incorporated Master Swordsmanship .

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