ANASTASIA PENDRAGON.


    Crack... crack... The ground beneath his feet began to crack, sending vibrations through the air.


    My heart was beating at an impossible rate, as if it wanted to escape from my chest. It was an overwhelming sensation, witnessing what I was seeing.


    Huaaa! A blinding glow completely enveloped Arceus, turning him into a being of pure light. Power overflowed from every pore of his skin.


    Arceus raised his head, observing the battlefield with a new perspective.


    In an instant, he unleashed a terrifying repulsive force when he stepped on the ground with his left foot.


    Boom! An electric current surged from the soles of his feet, running up his legs and spreading throughout his body.


    Lightning crackled around his skin while a powerful reaction stirred in his body, his muscles and veins twisted and expanded.


    Suddenly, Arceus vanished before my eyes like a mirage. My heart skipped a beat as I frantically moved my head from side to side, desperately searching for his figure in the chaotic scene unfolding before me.


    A strange sensation ran down my back, like a premonition, forcing me to direct my gaze to where Enigma was.


    Enigma had his body bent forward as if he had crouched while Arceus''s kick split the air as it passed where Enigma''s head had once been.


    I watched fascinated as Arceus executed a flip in the air, his body moving with almost supernatural grace as he descended with his left hand extended toward the ground. My admiration turned to fear when Enigma''s fist seemed to connect directly with Arceus''s face.


    But my anguish dissipated as quickly as it had come when I realized that Enigma had only hit an afterimage. My heart leaped with excitement seeing Arceus spin on his own axis, counterattacking with his right fist. The clash between both fists resonated like thunder, causing an explosion that shook the air and raised a dense cloud of dust that made me squint.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    In a blink, Arceus had moved several meters back, and I could see how Enigma approached him with slow and calm steps that made my hair stand on end.


    —I''m going to see if this is your size— I heard Enigma say with a curious tone.


    I saw him lift his legs one by one, as if he were warming up, and before I could process what was happening, his fist was already over Arceus''s head. I held my breath as I watched Arceus tilt his head to the left, barely dodging the blow that tore off two locks of his hair.


    ?He''s too fast! How can he move like that??


    The exchange that followed had me hypnotized: Enigma swung his left fist from side to side at dizzying speed, as if testing Arceus''s reflexes, while the latter moved his torso with millimetric precision to dodge each blow.


    I saw how Arceus leaned back when a fist passed grazing his head, but immediately after, Enigma''s right kick was heading toward him like a missile. My heart stopped for an instant and sweat ran down my hands, but Arceus jumped upward with superhuman agility, doing a flip in the air with his arms back. Enigma''s kick swept through the air with such force that it created a half-moon on the ground.


    —Not bad, kid— Enigma''s words resonated in the air as Arceus landed and turned to face him.


    I barely had time to blink when Arceus appeared above Enigma, his fists turned into a blur as he struck toward his face at a speed my eyes could barely follow. Enigma defended each blow by moving his arms with the same supernatural speed, and behind him, the air itself seemed to split and tear with each impact.


    The most impressive thing was seeing how Enigma slowly retreated under Arceus''s rain of blows. Suddenly, both disappeared from my sight, and all I could distinguish were two lines that crisscrossed throughout the scene like lightning. The impacts resonated like explosions in every corner of the forest, and the earth cracked under the force of their confrontation.


    I managed to catch the exact moment when Arceus''s knee crashed into Enigma''s abdomen in the air, making his body arch backward. I saw Arceus raise his hands above his head and discharge a powerful blue pillar that impacted against Enigma, sending him backward with brutal force.


    Enigma landed on the ground, his legs tense as he tried to brake his backward movement. From the sky, Arceus descended like a meteor with his left arm raised, and in an instant, he was already over Enigma, launching his right arm toward his face.


    A huge cloud of dust rose with the impact, and when it began to dissipate, my heart skipped a beat seeing an intense crimson aura emanating from Enigma''s body, who had stopped Arceus''s blow with the extended palm of his left arm.


    ?No... this can''t be happening...?


    In less than a blink, Enigma grabbed Arceus by the face and slammed him against the ground with a force that seemed to shake the entire world. The impact was so devastating that the earth cracked like glass under my feet, forming a huge crater that expanded like a spider web. The dust rose in a dense cloud, momentarily hiding them from my view.