After witnessing the huge streak of lightning which interrupted their battle shortly, Jibril and Eunice returned their attention to their opponent, who was also distracted by the lightning bolt which struck several kilometres away from them.

Aran appeared momentarily worried, but soon regained his composure as he exhaled slowly, muttering inaudibly, "I should wrap this up quickly if I'm really that worried." Jibril and Eunice were first to act, as Jibril rushed forward without hesitation, launching a few rapid stabs at Aran with his lance coated with a darker shade of Mana armament.

To Aran's surprise, Jibril's attacks were not only faster than before, his consecutive attacks appeared to have no toll on his stamina, as Jibril continued piling pressure on Aran, leaving him no room to counterattack.

As Aran was distracted by Jibril, Eunice swiftly mobilised her dolls using her Enigma Ability, as they surrounded Aran instantly. Upon Eunice's cue which was only known between her and Jibril, Jibril backed off suddenly, catching Aran by surprise as Eunice immediately sprung her trap, activating her [Grid Formation]. Eunice's dolls shot sharp lightning bolts from all directions simultaneously, entrapping Aran within.

To their surprise, Aran emerged relatively unscathed, as he successfully positioned his body to avoid most of the beams, blocking solely the lethal ones that he couldn't avoid with his pole arm. Jibril wasn't surprised as he quickly leapt back into the fray, resuming his duel with Aran as Eunice played the support role to catch Aran off guard when the opportunity arose.

After surviving a few more ambushes from Eunice despite the tireless harassment from Jibril, Aran appeared relatively unfazed, countering Jibril's attacks with utmost precision while keeping an eye on Eunice.

Realising that he could no longer afford to hold back given that his opponent was as well suited to a battle of attrition as he is, Jibril declared, "Eunice, I'm going to raise the tempo further, continue to support me." Steam was released from Jibril's body as he activated his [Life Energy Conversion] technique, releasing its restraint on his stored energy and muscular strength while raising the rate of blood circulation around his body.

Aran was pleasantly surprised at Jibril's transformation, but he had to save his questions for later as Jibril vanished before him. Aran had barely redirected the tip of Jibril's lance from his face, before realising that another attack was already headed towards his back.

This was Jibril's new technique [Edgecliff Lance Style - Flash Rapid], an adapted technique from his [Flash Rush]. While [Flash Rush] merely relied on speed and power from the [Flash Step] technique to gradually wear down an opponent from all directions, [Flash Rapid] took things to an extreme, since agility and flexibility played a crucial role here.

After all, [Flash Rapid] kept Jibril extremely close to his opponent at all times unlike [Flash Rush], implying that sharp and rapid turns had to be made during [Flash Rapid] which required extreme dexterity in return for a shorter interval between strikes.

The intense frequency of Jibril's attacks compelled Aran to devote all of his attention to fending his immediate threat, as he barely dodged or parried the incoming assaults, even earning a few nicks in the process. Meanwhile, Eunice was given time and space to prepare her ultimate technique, her dolls all brimming intensely with electricity as they hovered menacingly above Aran.

When Eunice was ready, she sent the signal to Jibril to retreat, as she shot a [40mm Lightning Particle Cannon] towards one of her dolls, charging it further with electricity as it hovered to the centre of the formation created by the other dolls. Jibril recognised the signal immediately and pulled back instantly.

Before Aran could comprehend the situation, suddenly, all of the dolls encircling above him released their electrical charges, forming an electric ring field above him. The erratic discharges from the field wasn't damaging, but it served to numb his body such that he remained immobilised.

The doll in the centre then opened its mouth and released a huge stream of electricity towards Aran. The lightning blast, which was already fearsome in its own right, was further amplified as it passed through the lightning field, striking Aran squarely as electricity rippled erratically in a huge radius around him. Jibril had to cover his eyes in lieu of the brightness from Eunice's spell, before smoke enveloped the entire scene.

Eunice knew that though her spell was powerful enough to kill, she couldn't afford to lower her guard against an opponent as strong as Aran. Her forebodings proved to be accurate, as Aran dived out of the smoke towards her, ready to cleave her in half.

Eunice immediately took a slight step backwards, as she commanded a few dolls to intercept Aran, putting some distance between them. Instead of having her dolls shoot lightning bolts at her target, she had them create lightning fields around themselves in order to serve as durable distractions as they hovered round Aran, shocking him when they got close.

Due to the intense electricity within each doll which shocked him pretty badly, Aran was forced to focus his attention on them, destroying them one by one. Instead of opting for a devastating ranged spell, which probably wouldn't be very effective given that Aran emerged relatively unscathed from her [Heaven Wheel Formation], Eunice decided to use a melee technique instead, as she focused a huge amount of electricity into her left hand.

When the opportunity arose as Aran was too busy dicing up her dolls, Eunice jumped right at his exposed flank, seeking to catch him off guard. However, Aran's reflexes, honed by his many years of combat experience, kicked in as he instinctively leapt back.

A smile crept up on Aran's face as he was bemused by Eunice's naïveté, though he was pleasantly surprised that a long range caster like her would resort to melee attacks to hurt him.

Just as it seemed that Eunice's [Lightning Blade] would miss its target, suddenly, Eunice extended the reach of her spell to the bare minimum, minimising the loss of its cutting edge as it tore through the flank of the unwary Aran, sinking deep into his skin.

Aran could only grimace in pain as he attempted to salvage the situation by slowing the advance of the blade with his internal mana armament. Nonetheless, Eunice's spell had already done considerable damage to Aran's side, which he bled profusely from.

In his panic, Aran hastily swung his pole arm towards Eunice, generating an immense air blade made conspicuous by its effects, since it tore through the ground while rushing towards its intended target.

Eunice instinctively protected herself by recalling a few remaining dolls, forming a sturdy [Lightning Shield] before her. The shockwave crashed against Eunice's shield, as she laboured in her refusal to concede, hanging on while she attempted to dig her [Lightning Blade] further into Aran.

Aran, now accustomed to the pain on top of realising that haste wasn't the solution, regained his cool as his eyes reflected the same cold yet focused tint they had before. Taking a deep breath, Aran refocused his Mana around his blade, as it materialised in a shiny black form, the highest level of refinement in Mana armament.

Aran then calmly slashed in front of him, the power clearly evident from the momentary sharp distortion in the air before the blade of wind surged forth drastically, creating a strong gust in its wake.

The extreme attack struck Eunice's shield instantly, just as she had barely weathered out Aran's previous attack. Her weakened shield gave in without much resistance, as Eunice's dolls were torn apart immediately. Eunice was fortunate that despite the inability of her dolls to halt Aran's attack, they had minimally reduced its power while redirecting it slightly away from her.

Consequently, Eunice avoided a narrow brush with death as Aran's attack failed to bisect her, as she was merely thrown back by its force, suffering a deep gash along her shoulder. Nonetheless, this achieved Aran's minimal aim of getting Eunice's attack off him, as he quickly chased after her, intending to finish the deed.

As Eunice crashed hard against the face of the mountain, she lost consciousness instantly, testament of the force behind Aran's attack. Just as Aran was about to execute his hapless prey, Jibril intercepted in the nick of time, as Aran's earlier attack had removed the smokescreen obscuring Jibril's vision.

Jibril countered Aran's overhead slash with a fierce stab, as the clash between their overbearing mana armaments yielded erratic sparks momentarily. Despite the immense power invested into the attack, Jibril couldn't achieve the upper hand. On the contrary, just as Jibril had observed earlier, Aran's expression remained deathly stoic as he eventually emerged victorious, brushing Jibril aside with a clean sweep.

Jibril skidded along the ground as he instinctively stabbed his lance onto the ground to halt his momentum. Upon inspecting his weapon, Jibril was shocked to discover a few cracks and chips along the tip of his lance, which had never occurred before due to his relatively sturdy Mana armament.

If this battle persisted in its current manner, Jibril was confident that his weapon wouldn't hold and his defeat would be certain. What puzzled Jibril was that despite using the extra stored power from his [Life Energy Conversion] technique, Aran could easily match his increase in power without a hint of effort being expended.

Jibril took another glance at his opponent, who was seemingly taunting him with his inaction. Examining his physique, Jibril eliminated muscular power as the reason for their vast difference in effort expended, for even though Aran was pretty solidly built, Jibril was no less inferior in this aspect.

Mana capacity was out of the window as well as the expenditure of more Mana should be positively correlated to effort, thus if Aran was really expending more Mana than Jibril, even with a greater Mana capacity, it should still take a toll on his stamina.

There was one thing Jibril couldn't remove from his mind, Aran's eyes. Normally, in a heated fight like theirs, duellists tend to express strong emotions in their eyes in an attempt to use emotions, especially anger, as a leverage to fuel their power and keep them going.

However, Aran appeared emotionally detached, as though he was merely an observer of the duel. His eyes reflected a surreal level of calmness and concentration... Suddenly, an inspiration struck Jibril, as the word concentration resonated strongly with his memories.

Jibril enquired hesitantly, "Y-You're using Zen right?" From the stories Jibril had often heard, Zen is the legendary state of extreme focus which allows the user to tap into 100% of their real potential in contrast to the 60-70% normally exhibited. In addition, people who had achieved Zen were also able to eliminate any inefficiencies and wastages in their movements, allowing them to maximise the conversion of Mana in their attacks.

However, it was insanely difficult to enter Zen, as it required extreme concentration to focus on "nothing". Only when there are no distracting thoughts, or any thoughts for that matter, would the body be able to bring out its true potential without the limits imposed by the mind.

Users of Zen are thus characterised by their almost instinctual behaviour, as they solely rely on procedural memories developed by countless years of training, eliminating their need to consider their next course of action as the optimal action had been "pre-programmed" into their internal circuitry.

Nonetheless, the level of focus required to enter Zen was near unattainable on a consistent basis, for even the most reputable fighters are only said to have entered Zen on extremely rare occasions. Many epic battles between world-renowned duellists like the Martial Duke Ken were rumoured to have been graced by the presence of Zen, the scintillating duels the perfect platform to call upon it.

Jibril remarked calmly, "However, you aren't using the authentic Zen, for you aren't simply reacting to my moves like normal Zen users would." Aran grinned at Jibril's keen observation, revealing, "Well done my boy. That's indeed a sharp eye you've got there. Indeed, I have discovered my own unique method of achieving a variant version of Zen. Though it may not be as strong as the original, it is able to compensate its lack of power with greater reliability."

Aran had achieved Zen to a small degree by immersing himself into a state devoid of emotions and unnecessary thoughts, essentially letting his body go on autopilot. Of course, Aran still maintained some degree of autonomy over his body, giving it general instructions before letting his body take over.

Jibril, who remained adamant in the face of absolute power, swiftly dived right into the fray moments after Aran had concluded his statement, as he unleashed his [Flash Rapid] which worked decently against Aran earlier. Unfortunately, Aran merely snickered, "I had already attuned to this tempo, so if that's all you got, it's the end of the line for you!" as he easily fended off all of Jibril's attacks, even managing to get a few cuts in.

Appalled, Jibril attempted to catch Aran off guard by suddenly switching to a ranged assault, as he launched his [Edgefield Lance Style - Cannon Lance] straight towards Aran's back. To his dismay, Aran easily tore right through his considerably powerful technique just before it reached him.

Jibril launched a few more powerful aerial jabs but Aran easily dispelled them with a few casual swings. Left with little choice, Jibril leapt into the air, increasing his momentum gradually with consecutive [Sky Leap] techniques as he gradually disappeared into a blur.

Aran looked on unfazed, even putting a hand to his mouth to disguise a yawn as Jibril continued building momentum. Finally, when Jibril was ready, he unleashed all his accumulated power into one charge as he dived straight towards Aran with his [Sky Descent] technique.

Remembering his last battle with Kai, Jibril made sure to cover his vital organs as well as his other arm with shiny black Mana armament as he soared towards Jibril. This way, even if Aran had dodged his lance, he would not be able to hurt him so easily on the counter.

True enough, despite Jibril's breakneck descent which was much faster and more forceful than his [Flash Rapid] earlier, Aran easily saw through his attack and sidestepped away from the tip of his lance. However, Jibril anticipated this as he quickly accelerated mid-flight with a [Sky Leap], hoping to catch Aran unwary with a bash from his Mana shield instead.

Jibril's attack successfully connected, as he felt that his shield on his left arm had struck something. The resultant impact kicked up a pretty large dust cloud as the wind blew outwards strongly. To Jibril's horror, he realised that a single hand with a shiny black shade was pushing against his shield.

Before Jibril could react, a sudden downward slash caught him off guard as he was instantly buffeted by an immense shockwave. Jibril had to thank his Mana shield for being sturdy enough to absorb most of the power, or else he would have been sliced in two already.

Nonetheless, the attack was strong enough to propel him backwards while giving him a nasty gash on his left arm, effectively disabling it. As Jibril soared through the air uncontrollably, Aran gave him no respite as he quickly followed up with a fierce diagonal slash across Jibril's body after closing the distance.

Jibril attempted to intercept the blow with his lance, but it was futile as Aran easily knocked his lance out of his hands. Jibril's lance cracked further upon impact, as it spun through the air before crashing tip first into the ground, its cracks clearly visible not only at its tip but all over the weapon.

Jibril's lance wasn't the only thing badly damaged, as a large crimson line emerged on Jibril's chest before blood spewed out. Jibril quickly went down on his knees, the pain too much for even him to handle. Aran stared at Jibril with a bemused expression, before placing the blade of his axe just behind Jibril's nape.

Aran commended, "I've really got to admit, I didn't expect someone with such a tender age to last so long against me. It's indeed a pity that a young talent like you would meet his end in such an ignominious fashion. If only you were able to use Zen, the tables might have been turned against me instead given that you had far superior physique and Mana levels."

Aran's words landed on deaf ears, as Jibril became entirely oblivious to his surroundings, his inner world filled with an eerie silence. Memories started flashing across his vision, all those arduous training sessions since his childhood, his ambition of joining the Nirvanian Black Ops and even those joyous occasions he'd spent with his father and friends.

Everything that Jibril had strived so hard for was for naught in the face of certain doom. His dream of bringing pride to the Edgefield name, the desire to become stronger with each passing day...everything was coming to an end. As Jibril looked back at all his aspirations, a tinge of regret bubbled within him momentarily for not having a proper final farewell with his father, before it quickly subsided into the sea of nothingness.

After all, Jibril had come to the conclusion that there was no longer a need to offer futile resistance, to actively dig and tap into the last vestiges of his power when it merely slipped out of his hands like sand. It was as though the harder he wanted to win and survive, the more any chance of victory slipped out of his grasp. Thus, he concluded that acceptance of his fate was the only viable option remaining, though deep down he really wanted to live if he could.

As Aran's axe drew dangerously close to Jibril's nape, Jibril felt no fear, only an unnerving, surreal calm that accompanied his embrace of death. CLANG! To Jibril's surprise, his right arm was automatically raised to block Aran's blade from reaching his nape.

Jibril's body didn't stop there, as he swiftly performed a back flip with his uninjured right hand while simultaneously unleashing a fearsome [Wind Leg] that struck Aran squarely on the chest, pushing him back slightly.

Aran was a little stunned by the turn of events. Firstly, he hadn't underestimated the boy completely, as he did coat his axe blade with relatively sharp Mana armament. The fact that the boy stopped his attack with merely his forearm spoke volumes of the Mana armament condensed within the boy's forearm, which was far sturdier than before.

Next, the fact that the boy could smoothly transit from defence to attack so quickly, on top of actually managing to hurt him with that [Wind Leg] implied that the earlier phenomenon was no fluke. The boy's Mana armament has been raised to the next level, and his movements were far sleeker than before.

However, the crux of the matter was the reason for the boy's transformation. Aran didn't have much time to think though, as Jibril had seized his weapon back in an instant before striking fiercely at Aran, who barely held his ground from the might of Jibril's thrust.

Upon gazing into Jibril's eyes as both duellists were held to a standstill, Aran obtained his answer immediately, as he merely smirked, remarking, "You've really gone and done it, haven't you? Attaining Zen at the very last minute, interesting!" As the pair continued to exchange blows faster than the naked eye could follow despite the weight of their respective weapons, Aran could see clearly that Jibril's eyes lacked the fire of emotion, evidence of his achievement of Zen.

Aran postulated that Jibril had probably entered Zen after embracing death fully, no longer fearing it. This was after all, the most common method which people use to enter Zen, as they give their bodies free reign without bothering about their safety. Ironically, this seemingly daredevil approach maximises their survival, as they are more inclined to take necessary risks to avoid the certainty of eventual death.

Meanwhile, Jibril felt as though he was in a trance, his body moving automatically as if it was hooked by the strings of a puppeteer. He felt no emotion, particularly fear and even wondered if he was still within his body, for he felt so detached from it, allowing him to see things from an observer's vantage point.

Jibril came to the realisation that he had probably attained Zen at the brink of death, tapping onto his body's hidden potential upon his embrace of death. Jibril could only laugh at the irony of his situation; all these years he had actively sought power through arduous training, but the final step to true greatness was not something that could be found.

It was something that finds him. All he had to do was open his heart and take a leap of faith, trusting that the fruits borne from his training would carry him to victory. This was the truth behind Zen; it is not characterised by merely the absence of thoughts, but rather absolute confidence in one's abilities to the extent that no fine discretionary control is required.

Back to the present, Aran was beginning to feel the pressure as Jibril's power surpassed his own, cracking his pole arm gradually. After all, as Aran had predicted earlier, if it boiled down to a clash between 2 equally adept Zen users, the one with superior physical ability would come out on top. It was very clear to Aran who the victor would be if he didn't act now.

Fortunately for Aran, he was the more experienced Zen user, not to mention that his Zen was unique. Not only could Aran control its activation at will, he could also vary the level of activation through a technique he called "Immersion". Basically, "Immersion" entailed sinking his mind deeper into the void, losing more conscious control of his body in return for more power.

Of course, the drawbacks were clear, as a greater loss of control spelled greater risks in terms of unpredictability, both of his actions and his ability to regain control after the battle. Not that it mattered if it spelled certain doom were he not to use it. Without hesitation, Aran took a deep breath and turned off his conscious will, letting his instincts and muscle memory take over.

Jibril shuddered slightly upon the sudden outburst of power from Aran, whose tempo and style changed radically from before. As Jibril withstood Aran's overwhelming barrage of attacks, he refused to be intimidated, focusing on his breathing as he let his body do its work.

True enough, Jibril's body was able to adapt to Aran's onslaught after a while, though Jibril could start to feel fatigue setting in as his body was reaching its limit. After all, Zen wasn't a panacea for power, for it is still restrained by the body's biological limits, merely removing the mental restraints and physical inefficiencies that reduced one's power output.

Realising that he could no longer drag things any further, Jibril leapt into the sky, avoiding Aran's fearsome horizontal slash which cut deeply into the cliff behind him. Once again, Jibril performed multiple [Sky Leap] techniques to increase his momentum, while Aran instinctively began to build up power as though he was aware that the finale had arrived.

When Jibril deemed his momentum sufficient, he took one last powerful leap towards Aran, this time twisting his body vigorously as he spiralled through the air like a bullet towards Aran. This was Jibril's most formidable technique, the [Garuda Descent], which power was clearly seen by the sparks created by the intense friction between his rotation and the air around him.

Though [Garuda Descent] was fearsome, Aran remained unfazed as he merely stood his ground, ready to end things once and for all as he gripped his pole arm with both hands, something he had not done throughout the battle. Like a batter, Aran took up his stance quickly, ready to slice right through Jibril when he got near enough.

Focusing his Mana into his weapon, Aran's eyes widened when Jibril entered his range, as he instantly swung his axe with such force that Jibril couldn't see it coming. The 2 weapons clashed with such intensity that the ground and air were instantly scarred with cracks and sparks respectively, before a vehement gust of wind blew outwards.

The clash didn't just stop there, as both contestants continued pushing to gain the upper hand, the ground cracking further in response to the display of strength from both duellists.

Eunice slowly stirred as she was awakened by the epic showdown between Jibril and Aran, which constantly blew wind outwards while sparks flew erratically. After taking a moment to understand the situation, Eunice was about to intervene when she was blinded by an explosion, marking the end of the clash between the two.

Before the explosion occurred between Jibril and Aran, there were visible symptoms on their weapons which foretold the conclusion, as cracks intensified on both of their weapons. Finally, when their weapons could endure it no more, they shattered into innumerable pieces, releasing the enormous energy channelled through them in the form of an explosion.

The explosion signalled the end of their clash, but by no means did it signal the end of their battle. Both duellists, despite being heavily bruised and battered, not to mention unarmed, dragged themselves onto their feet weakly. Relying on pure grit alone as both could no longer use Zen, with a seemingly synchronised battle cry, they leapt at each other, resolving to terminate their foe with all their remaining strength.

Jibril focused his remaining Mana into his right hand as he thrust it forward, directing his [Edgecliff Lance Style Unarmed- Bullet Lance] towards the heart of his adversary. Aran, on the other hand, had his Mana armament concentrated on his right foot before he leapt into the air slightly, twisting his body vigorously to increase the momentum of his sweeping kick before lashing out at Jibril when he entered his range.

Blood spattered as both attacks connected with their respective targets. Aran's foot slammed into Jibril's left temple with a sickening crack but not before Jibril had blew a small hole in Aran's chest. Jibril was sent reeling a considerable distance before finally crashing against the side of a cliff unconscious, his head bleeding profusely.

The damage Aran sustained was not light either, as he narrowly avoided certain death with his own attack that redirected Jibril's thrust away from his heart, albeit slightly. Recognising that in his current state, he was no longer a match for his remaining opponent Eunice, Aran attempted to flee the scene, having managed to subdue the boy at least.

As Aran struggled to put some distance between his opponents and him, he was too preoccupied with stretching the distance between him and Eunice that he failed to notice what lay in front of him. When Aran turned to face his front after reassuring himself that Eunice wasn't in pursuit, he could only see a glimpse of blue hair before he felt an intense cold spreading throughout his body.

Aran lost consciousness before he could even identify his assailant, as the chill had penetrated through his bones, ending his life swiftly. The frozen corpse of Aran was shattered instantly with a quick swing, as Adeline swiftly disposed of her incapacitated enemy before rushing towards her charge.

Meanwhile, Eunice was more preoccupied with trying to keep Jibril alive than hunting down the weakened Aran as she performed some rudimentary first aid to curb his blood loss from his severe head injury. Eunice could only curse the fact that she didn't have a Light nor Water affinity which would allow her to perform better healing magic to treat Jibril's rather grievous injuries.

The only viable option for Eunice was to stem Jibril's blood loss and send an SOS signal to alert Headquarters. Before Eunice could send the signal however, she sensed someone approaching and swiftly turned around, ready to engage. To her pleasant surprise, it was Adeline, who quickly took over the situation as she immediately performed healing magic to close up Jibril's immediate and urgent wounds.

After treating Jibril, Adeline turned to Eunice to treat her more serious injuries, before using her medical ointments on both her charges. Adeline apologised, "I'm sorry for not being able to completely treat your injuries even though it's possible, for I have to conserve my Mana if I'm to go to Kai's aid. I have a bad premonition that the foe there is far stronger than I can imagine."

Eunice nodded in acknowledgement before assuring, "Thanks for your help, Adeline, I can take over from here. I promise to escort Jibril back to base camp safely, you have my word." Adeline smiled gently, wishing them both the best of luck before rushing towards the mountains, where smoke from the aftermath of the humongous lightning bolt still billowed, the ominous and heart-wrenching pressure remaining intact…