Caius dropped from above the next instant, descending with explosive force that rippled through the ground beneath me, the pressure alone enough to destabilize my footing. I reacted immediately, flipping backward in quick succession to create space, catching myself as I landed and resetting my stance just in time—

CLANG!

He was already there.

His blade crashed into [Gravefang], the impact driving downward with enough force to push me off balance, but instead of resisting it directly, I leaned into the momentum, letting my body follow through as I dropped onto my back, using the motion to redirect the force and disrupt his positioning.

It worked.

Caius was thrown off me, his footing broken for a split second—

But only for that.

In the next instant, he was already back on me, closing the gap again without hesitation, his assault as relentless as before.

We exchanged blows, the rhythm tightening as we moved, and the longer the fight went on, the less I felt the domain pressing against me. The resistance was still there, but it wasn’t as constant, not as overwhelming, and with every adjustment I made, every shift I aligned with instead of forcing, it loosened just enough to matter.

That change did two things at once.

It made me sharper.

And it made Caius desperate.

He swung left, then right, chaining his attacks together with increasing aggression, trying to overwhelm me before I could settle into it fully. I avoided the first cleanly, slipping past the arc with minimal movement, but the follow-up came faster, tighter—

And I didn’t react in time.

The blade struck my side.

Or at least, that was what Caius thought.

For a brief moment, his strike followed through exactly as intended—

And then it passed through me.

No resistance.

No impact.

Just empty contact, as if I wasn’t fully there.

Caius’ eyes widened, the shift immediate, and in that same instant, before he could process what had just happened, I moved.

My leg came up sharply, driving into his jaw with a clean, grounded kick that sent him off balance and tumbling away.

"That’s it," I muttered, the excitement slipping through before I could suppress it.

I hadn’t forced it.

I hadn’t activated it the way I normally would.

I had simply imagined it—his blade passing through me, my body giving way just enough to avoid the strike—and it had happened.

Because of it.

Because of the newly awakened class skill I had gained from advancing my class.

[Absolute Phase]

As both my legs hit the ground, the space in front of Caius tore again, and a series of rage-filled retaliatory slashes came at me in quick succession, layered and converging, leaving little room for error.

But this time, I didn’t move.

I stood my ground.

It wasn’t something I would have even considered earlier, not with the way his attacks had been landing, not with the way the domain had been correcting everything in his favor.

The slashes reached me, and they all connected.

Yet none of them did any real damage.

There was no bite, no force that carried through, just the faint sensation of contact passing over me without substance, like the attacks couldn’t fully anchor onto my existence anymore.

I grinned.

[Fractured Existence] hadn’t suddenly returned to full power on its own. The difference was that I had finally understood how to use it properly within this space—not as a passive safety net, but through conscious alignment, triggering the effect through intent rather than relying on the system to do it for me.

I turned toward Caius.

He was walking forward now, slow and deliberate, red and black energy fuming off him in thick waves, the pressure around him heavier than before.

"I didn’t want to believe it," he said, his voice lower this time, more controlled, "but it seems you weren’t bluffing."

"You were still doubting my words. You really are stubborn," I said, a hint of teasing slipping into my tone.

"What do you think now? Still fancy your chances of beating me in your own domain?"

Caius scoffed, the sound sharp, dismissive, though it didn’t carry the same certainty as before.

"You really are arrogant."

"The pot calling the kettle black," I replied without missing a beat, mirroring the words he had thrown at me earlier. "That’s the correct saying, by the way." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You piece of shit!" Caius snapped, the restraint he had been holding onto finally breaking.

"Finally," I said, unable to hide the satisfaction in my voice, "I’ve managed to make you angry."

Caius didn’t respond this time.

He simply raised his blade.

A white wisp began to seep from it, thin at first, then growing denser as it curled upward, the intensity behind it unmistakable. The air around him started to distort under the pressure, his energy rising steadily, pushing outward in waves that pressed against everything in range, heavier, sharper, more volatile than anything he had shown so far.

And while that was happening, I felt it—the restriction on my movement, the interference that had been dragging against every action—easing.

Not gone.

But lighter.

Enough for me to notice.

But that didn’t bring relief.

If anything, it made things clearer.

Caius had been right about one thing—regardless of the authority I possessed, I was still inside his domain, still operating under rules that were not mine, and that alone meant I was at a disadvantage.

I could feel it now, more than before.

My mana was dropping.

Not gradually.

Not subtly.

But fast enough to matter.

Using my abilities this way—forcing activation through intent, maintaining alignment instead of relying on the system—was costing me far more than normal. Every adjustment, every distortion, every instance of phasing or output was drawing directly from me, with none of the usual efficiency to cushion it.

If I kept fighting like this...

I would burn out first.

I didn’t know how much it cost him to maintain his domain. It had to be significant—something like this couldn’t be sustained without a price—but I wasn’t sure if it was enough. There was a chance I could outlast him.

But I wasn’t willing to gamble on that.

There was a more certain way to end this.

One I had been considering ever since I understood the flaw in his domain.

If his control came from imposing his will over the space—

Then the answer was simple.

Do the same.

Use my own.

[Sovereign’s Domain (Active) – SSS]