"I will not let this happen!"

  Kazuha leaped downward and landed on the horizontally growing block, then dashed forward with the clear intention of rescuing Azura, who was trapped.

  As he ran toward the ever-extending end of the block, a new purple block suddenly surged upward at incredible speed right behind him.

  Realizing he wasn't fast enough, Kazuha summoned a fresh dagger and hurled it ahead, preparing to activate his teleportation technique.

  Once he judged the dagger had reached the limit of its flight, Kazuha transformed himself into black smoke and vanished instantly. The massive purple block smashed straight into the dark cloud he had left behind.

  Still not close enough to reach the block pushing Azura, Kazuha poured all his strength into the next move. He threw dozens of daggers forward. "Focus, Kazuha. Focus."

  With dozens of daggers flying ahead, Kazuha closed his eyes and pushed his teleportation technique to its absolute limit—teleporting repeatedly while mentally mapping the path to his target.

  The daggers served as stepping stones; Kazuha was the traveler racing across them. The end of the daggers are like broken bridges that Kazuha must cross by jumping as far as possible to land on the other side.

  In the depths of his concentration, Kazuha remembered the days he first trained this teleportation technique under Master Guround.

  Back when he was still a teenager, Kazuha had repeatedly failed at high-level chain-teleportation moves like this one.

  In truth, the technique itself was simple and basic, but when used correctly it became extremely dangerous—its side effects minor compared to its overwhelming advantages.

  If he failed during training, the worst that happened was temporary dizziness. But in this situation, failure meant more than that. One misstep and he would plummet thousands of feet to his death—and Azura would fall with him.

  Kazuha turned into black smoke again, stepping onto one small dagger after another, advancing foot by foot in the pattern he had drilled countless times.

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  But now the stakes were crushing. He had to move faster than ever before—faster than the blocks chasing him from behind and the one shoving Azura farther away.

  Step by step, he passed them. When he mentally counted to the fifteenth dagger, he knew the next jump would be the big one. He braced himself, took a deep breath, and lunged forward while exhaling sharply.

  Kazuha could only hope this leap would carry him far enough to reach the end of the block. He kept his eyes shut, embracing the familiar darkness he had long accepted.

  With his well-trained hearing, he listened for any sound from the outside world to guide him. Focusing hard, he caught the sound of Azura's breathing—that was his signal to release the smoke form and reappear.

  Kazuha opened his eyes and glanced back. There was Azura, dangling from the block's edge by the green sword still embedded in his hand.

  "Kazuha!?"

  Quickly, Kazuha summoned three more daggers and threw them to Azura's left, right, and above. The daggers glowed dark red before releasing thick black smoke that enveloped Azura's body entirely—then he vanished.

  Azura reappeared safely on a tall, stable orange block that had stopped growing, positioned right in the middle between the highest blocks.

  Just as Kazuha prepared to summon another dagger, the block that had been chasing him suddenly slammed into him without warning.

  Azura's eyes widened in horror. "Kazuha! Damn it! Wait for me!" A pang of regret hit him—he was the one who had asked Kazuha to save him, and now the situation had completely reversed.

  While Azura panicked, the block that had just struck Kazuha abruptly changed direction and shot vertically upward at an insane speed.

  "This is my chance!" Azura said under his breath. He quickly reverted both hands to normal.

  With swift preparation, he transformed both arms into long, razor-sharp scythes that extended upward. When they reached sufficient length, he reshaped the handles into hard chains.

  Kazuha hurled the chain-scythe toward the rapidly rising block.

  The curved blade pierced the block perfectly, yanking Azura upward along with its growth. Now he dangled from the side of the ascending block, clinging tightly.

  "I won't leave you alone, Kazuha," Azura said, enduring the fierce wind whipping against him.

  They had already passed through dozens of clouds. Kazuha fought to steady his body against the constant swaying, determined not to fall.

  He looked upward toward the highest block, where Jeffy Vinton—the iron bull—stood.

  At this impossible growth speed, the block Kazuha was on needed only seconds to reach the same height as Jeffy's.

  Azura also looked up. He realized they had reached the predetermined height Jeffy had chosen—but Jeffy still hadn't noticed Azura hanging below him.

  "Kamihojo Kazuha. Finally, we can talk face to face, it's been a long time," Jeffy said in his robotic voice.

  "You're such a coward for jumping straight to your second phase. I haven't even gotten serious yet, but you're already panicking and using Phase Two," Kazuha replied with a small, mocking smile.

  "You think I'm stupid, Kazuha? I won't let you reach your second phase first. I've learned from my mistakes."

  "The last time we fought, you won, Kazuha. But this time, I've prepared the perfect arena just for the two of us. The city of Stellhaven is ready to be destroyed."

  "Kazuha. I can see the doubt in your eyes about using your own second phase. I can see her shadow in your gaze."

  Kazuha clenched both fists so tightly, gritting his teeth.

  "DON'T YOU DARE MENTION HER!"

  "You have no idea how pure she was before you ruined both of us. She died in my arms. You don't know anything about her!"

  Unintentionally, Azura overheard every word. It seemed there was a dark story hidden behind Kazuha's usual cheerful and happy demeanor with him and Aeko.

  Even though Azura didn't want to eavesdrop, he needed this information to understand Kazuha better. Kazuha was his party companion—he had to know everything.