Name: Armad

Tribe: Wilberforce

Djinn: Ji-Daime

Bend: Lightning

Bloodline Limit: Miyura

Cross over: Locust, Wilberforce Sword Dance

Pol: 51 years

***

Name: Ikenga

Tribe: Bayajidda

Djinn: Gal-Iyyu

Bends: Red lightning, water, ice

Bloodline Limit: King Steps (shaibal-shísu)

Cross over: Dawn

Pol: 100 years

***

Armad didn't waste any more time on the statues and left them with his flying sword attack while he attacked Ikenga directly.

The flying sword cut through the ice, the hot water, and the lightning in an instant and went straight to the statues. The statues continued to send attacks at the flying sword until they stopped it before it reached them. All three of them attacked Armad to prevent him from attacking Ikenga who was watching everything from the side.

They surrounded Armad from every side, and then fired hot water, lightning, and ice spears at him. Armad turned his sword around and struck the three statues before they could dodge, cutting their heads off at once. A hot wind blew out of his sword and hit the statues, turning them into ashes. Armad sped up with lightning armor to appeared in front of Ikenga and slashed down at him.

Ikenga realized he couldn't escape the blade without going all out, so he clapped his hands and called out, "Shaibal-shísu."

In a strange turn of events, the world stood still and allowed Ikenga to walk seven steps before Armad's sword connected with his blade. Placing his foot on the ground for the last step, darkness akin to night appeared to replace the light on the ring. For a moment, the audience wasn't able to see what was happening in the ring.

After about five seconds, the darkness disappeared and the light of dawn appeared. Ikenga appeared in a new dress. A golden robe and a shining silver sword.

Meanwhile, Armad was thrown back by some invisible force and was standing on the other side of the ring holding his drawn sword.

They didn't look hurt or fatigued. They both looked so serious that the audience felt it was now time to decide.

"Gravity manipulation, right?" Ikenga looked at Armad's sword carefully and continued, "It is indeed a great Bend. And you might have won if I wasn't here. But I go beyond your wildest imagination. The Dawn is upon you. If you have any secret plan, I'll advise you to bring it out now."

He slashed at Armad from the distance and a dark sword-shape light escaped from the steel and flew toward Armad. When the sword passed a place, the part of the ring there would suddenly wither and age as if it had been there for a thousand years. The ring turned from a glittering new to an old one as if it had been used for many years without care.

Armad quickly pierced his hand and smeared the blood on his sword. The star on the tip of the sword began to split in two. But before it could, Ikenga's flying sword had arrived. He used his blade to block it, successfully deflecting the attack but his hand swelled up. It became gray and old as if it had lived a hundred years in that instant. He'd to change hands immediately and hold his sword with the other hand.

The star hanging at the tip of the sword was finally divided into two. Armad's strength doubled. The air around him transformed into something much heavier than rock.

The part of the ring beneath his feet sunk into the ground as if it had been carved out. Ikenga felt his legs getting heavier because of the weight. But then he swung his sword, causing the weight to wear off instantly as if it had been there a thousand years.

"Hmmm." Ikenga narrowed his eyes. "So you can increase gravity and probably decrease it even. You got a nice cross over but you are still going to lose. Nothing can withstand the test of time. Anything I cut will age a hundred years. Even a child will grow old as if they were a hundred years old. If I cut you even once, and no matter how small the cut is, you will grow old and die from old age. That is power."

He lunged forward and attacked Armad from the left. Armad attacked from the other side to meet him at the center. Everywhere Armad passed would sink to the ground as if it had been dug by several feet. Ikenga, on the other hand, was causing the ring to age and wither away. It was like two calamities fighting each other.

They clashed and slashed at each other. Wind and dust covered the little light on the ring. The audience heard nothing but the sound of clashing swords and broken boulders. In a little over twenty seconds, the two delivered more than fifty attacks. Whenever Ikenga attacked, Armad would use gravity to push him away or to the ground and prevent him from reaching him. Ikenga, on the other hand, sped time up around Armad and his attacks thereby nullifying the attack before it reached him.

The battle lasted for another minute before it went silent. Everyone in the audience was silent, dumbstruck. Eagerly waiting for the dust to settle to see what happened. To see the winner.

The dust settled and the two finalists appeared lying in a pool of blood with none of them being able to move. They'd both ended up exhausting their pol to the extent they couldn't even move their thumbs. Yet they didn't stop looking at each other with hatred and pain. If they could stand, they would attack each other again.

Ghalee was confused about the winner. He seemed to be intentionally dragging the announcement for one of them to move. And then Armad saw a white-haired old man came to Ikenga. The old man touched him and his pol returned to normal.

He heard Ikenga said, "Bayajidda, please, don't let someone see you."

Then he heard the old man called Bayajidda answer, "even Uznu Ururu there can't see me. He's both not strong enough and even if he was, only someone with the blood of Bayajidda in their veins can see me."

Armad opened his mouth to tell the judge and the spectators that Ikenga was cheating, but he struggled to even move his lips due to extreme fatigue.

He could only think in his mind, 'Uznu Ururu is not strong enough to see you, what does that even mean? I'm not Bayajidda and I can see you. You will not win by cheating.'