Shikar felt a warm, sticky liquid soaking his clothes as he gasped for breath.

He whispered to himself, his trembling eyes watching Ghayb warily:

“I’ve never seen anything like this... What is this ability?”

He slowly raised his fingers, then focused his aura around them and wiped his eyes to regain his focus.

At that very moment, a faint aura enveloped his chest, pressing against the wound and preventing the bleeding from getting worse.

His mind was screaming with a single thought:

I have to figure out what his ability is as soon as possible... or I’ll be in real trouble.

Meanwhile

Ghaib raised his palms very slowly.

But this time, the five fingers on each hand glowed together.

Black sparks mixed with a deep blue danced around his fingers like a live electric current, while the air around him began to vibrate gradually.

Ghaib lowered his gaze toward the ground...

Then he clapped his hands in front of him.

Boom!

In an instant, the air exploded violently.

Cars shook, and the surrounding walls trembled, as terrifying waves surged through the space, crashing through the air like an invisible tornado.

They made Ghaib’s clothes and hair dance violently.

Shikar shouted as he tightened his grip on his sword:

“I see it now!”

The airwaves twisted and contorted, rushing toward him at tremendous speed.

Shikar’s eyes widened at their speed,

but he moved immediately, parrying the invisible air strikes with his sword. With every collision, the sound of metal against charged air rang out, sending terrifying blue sparks flying in every direction.

But the force behind those strikes was immense.

Every time he parried a wave, his body was violently pushed backward, until his feet began to dig into the ground from the sheer pressure.

Shikar’s veins bulged, his face flushed red, and his breath gradually grew labored.

“Hold on...”

The word came out between his teeth with difficulty, as he stared at the ripples with eyes filled with concentration and shock.

Hold on—not now.

The final blow was more terrifying than the previous ones.

The airwave collided with Shikar’s blade with tremendous force, and in the next instant,

his body was thrust backward with devastating force.

The ground cracked beneath his feet, and his feet sank into the shattered asphalt as he tried to hold his ground.

His eyes gradually turned red, and the veins around his neck bulged from the intense pressure.

But at the last second, Shikar twisted his body violently and deflected the blade of his sword, changing the wave’s course.

The attack swept past him like a hurricane and slammed into the building behind him.

It split the structure completely in half before exploding in a terrifying blast that violently shook the area; smoke rose slowly between them. “As the wind whipped his clothes.”

Shikar raised his sword again, staring at Ghaib with glowing eyes and said in a rough voice:

“Is that... all you’ve got?”

Ghaib sighed quietly.

Then he looked up at him and said in a cold tone:

“You know, Shekar...?” Black and blue sparks danced around his fingers again as he continued, “You really are strong.”

“No one has ever been able to stop my attacks like this before... but you did.”

“But... you know what?”

“I haven’t used... even one percent of my power.”

Shikar’s features froze for a moment as he gasped inwardly in shock:

Impossible... only one percent? That’s nonsense...

But despite the turmoil sweeping through his mind, his eyes remained fixed on Ghaib.

His cracked lips moved slowly, then his voice came out clear despite his panting:

“I don’t care.” He raised his sword higher, while the dark circles under his eyes grew more pronounced.

“Show me... what you’ve got.”

On the other side of Malisora,

inside the Academy of the Forbidden,

Kamal was staring at the live TV screen, his hand clenched tightly on the seat, his eyes never leaving the clock hanging on the wall... tick... tick... with every passing minute.

Shina turned to him and said in a low voice:

“It looks like Shekar is under a lot of pressure.”

Kamal replied without taking his eyes off the screen:

“I know... but no one can intervene now. Shikar asked me himself to let him fight one of the Six Lost.”

He paused for a moment, then added, clenching his teeth: “ I don’t know why... but he harbors a deep hatred for them.”

The commentator’s voice rose from the TV, coming from a live broadcast transmitted via a helicopter hovering above the battle site.

“We’re getting closer to the area... only 500 meters away... the fighting there is extremely fierce, and attempting to get closer would be dangerous.”

The camera shook above the helicopter, showing a devastated city, black smoke rising from between the buildings, and blue and black flashes of lightning wrapping around the structures.

Kamal whispered to himself, biting his lip: “Hang in there, Shikar...”

At the same time

On the other side of Malisura...

My father, Mahmoud, sat silently on the couch in front of the news screen while my mother stared down motionless. Ren gently took her arm and supported her as she led her quietly toward the room to rest.

I sat next to him; my limbs were trembling uncontrollably.

I turned to him; he was rubbing his chin with obvious nervousness and biting his nails with intense anxiety.

As for me... I was watching the entire scene unfold on the screen

Destruction, demolished houses, successive explosions, and thick smoke filling the sky... and streaks of blue and black lightning cutting through the air.

The reporter was aboard a reconnaissance helicopter, his voice tense as he said:

“So far, there has been no intervention from the Malisura government... and we are still waiting for any official action.”

And suddenly...

I caught a glimpse of something moving behind him.

A massive boulder was plummeting at terrifying speed, heading straight for the helicopter.

My heart sank, and I screamed inside: “Behind you!”

But before the words could escape my lips...

The reporter turned around suddenly.

The boulder struck the helicopter in an instant.

A massive crash tore through the air, followed by the violent shattering of bone and metal, and a scream cut off mid-word...

Then a terrifying explosion.

And the broadcast went dark.