"What? Who entered my vortex?" thought Alaric, his gaze filled with anger, confused as to who had intruded.
Meanwhile, Saik, in the heart of his energy giant, fought desperately to maintain control. His body was weakening, and the vivid energy that formed the giant was starting to falter.
The clash between Alaric's immense internal energy and Saik's giant caused powerful energy rips, sending slashes across the city.
Saik was on the verge of collapse, his thoughts a chaotic mix of desperation.
"Damn it... I'm not getting out of this mess..." he thought, feeling too weak to go on.
Suddenly, a shout pierced through the chaos inside the vortex, reaching Saik's ears.
"SAIK! GET DOWN HERE! SAIK!"
The scream snapped Saik out of his crisis for a moment.
"Koji? Koji?" he murmured, trying to locate the source of the voice.
Looking down, Saik saw Koji, surrounded by his spheres, calling out to him desperately.
"GET DOWN NOW!" Koji kept yelling.
Saik, already drained of strength, abruptly reduced the use of his internal energy, letting his giant partially dissipate. He felt his body weaken further with the rapid drop in energy, like the dizziness that hits when standing up too quickly.
But he managed to move toward Koji.
When he finally reached the ground, he was exhausted, panting, and his vision was blurred.
"So, these are your spheres?" he asked, staggering a bit like a drunk.
"Come on! Stay by my side!" Koji called, extending his hand to pull him into the protection circle of the spheres.
"The spheres protect me at all costs and in any way. If you stay with me, nothing will hit us."
Spherea, watching the scene, couldn't help but comment.
"Look at that... I'm starting to feel proud of your stance."
Koji, losing patience with Spherea's taunts, responded quickly.
"Can you just shut up?"
"Who are you talking to?" Saik asked, still gasping for air.
"My demon," Koji replied, without much concern.
"Got it," Saik accepted the explanation without question.
"But I'm complimenting you," Spherea insisted, trying to soften the teasing.
"Shut up, Spherea!"
With Saik by his side, protected by the spheres, Koji felt a new surge of hope.
"Now let's get out of here."
Alaric's vortex still roared around them, but now, with the spheres repelling the cutting fragments, they had a chance. A chance to survive, to escape, and maybe even win.
Koji felt adrenaline pumping through his veins and said, "Saik, I want you to put all the strength you have into your legs and run non-stop. I'll run too, and if we want to survive, we need to keep moving, understand?"
"If you're saying it with such conviction... I'll run as hard as I can."
"Good... just follow my lead."
With a silent nod, Saik prepared himself. The vortex around them was starting to compress rapidly, oscillating with increasing intensity. It was clear that Alaric was in a hurry, trying to corner them once and for all.
"Bastards! I need to compress everything!" Alaric muttered through clenched teeth, his frustration evident.
In a swift motion, Koji started running. His legs burst with strength and endurance, while the spheres around him protected every inch of his and Saik's bodies like an impenetrable cloak of energy.
Struggling to keep up with Koji's frantic pace, Saik's body protested, but he knew he had to keep going.
"Will we know when we're out of the vortex?" Saik asked between heavy, labored breaths.
"No," Koji replied without even turning his head. "But it's better that way."
Each step seemed to take them closer to the compressing vortex.
Saik wanted to question, to understand what exactly Koji was planning, but he was too exhausted to think clearly. So, he simply kept running, trusting his friend's instincts. The spheres around them hummed, blocking every sharp fragment the vortex hurled at them.
But at one point, Saik looked down and noticed something.
"The spheres are concentrating a lot of energy on the ground..." Saik thought, watching the ground beneath them as they ran. He looked at Koji, worried, and said, "This will cause a shock. That's how I got thrown against Alaric before."
"Nothing like what you did will happen," Koji replied, giving Saik a quick glance. "My spheres don't need internal energy to move or be controlled. They're made of dead energy, dark energy... From what I know about the spheres, that's the answer."
Suddenly, they felt an impact. The spheres around them trembled slightly.
"We hit the vortex!" Saik exclaimed. "The spheres and the vortex are colliding!"
"Now we just need to run as fast as we can," Koji remained focused, determined not to lose his pace.
At first, Saik didn't understand.
"But the spheres are stationary. They're blocking the vortex. We don't need to run."
"The spheres protect me wherever I go. If I stop, they stop. And even though they're fully repelling the vortex now, who's to say there won't be others?"
Saik had no argument since he knew nothing about the spheres. So, he lowered his head and forced his legs to keep going, even though his body screamed in protest.
On the other hand, Koji was completely focused. Sweat dripped from his face, his muscles ached, but he refused to stop. Every movement of his legs was precise, quick, and his mind left no room for doubt.
"Come on... come on... don't stop," Koji thought.
The spheres continued to repel the vortex's fragments, but the friction between them and Alaric's force increased with each passing second. Saik, now almost at his limit, glanced at Koji, impressed by his resilience.
"He doesn't even break his focus…"
For a moment, Saik allowed himself to get lost in thought, admiring Koji's determination. That's when he heard Alaric's deafening scream.
"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! HAHAHA!"
Saik looked around, trying to locate Alaric, but all he could see were the spheres. When he turned his eyes back to Koji, he noticed something strange around his feet. A faint aura of energy began to emanate from them, gradually increasing in intensity.
"Koji?" Saik called out, confused.
The energy around Koji's feet continued to grow, becoming denser and more vibrant.
"Is that… external energy?"
Spherea, the sarcastic voice in Koji's mind, broke the silence.
"Haven't you realized yet, Koji?"
Koji, immersed in the run, paid no attention.
The aura around Koji expanded rapidly, enveloping his body in a wave of living energy. Saik could hardly believe what he was seeing. Koji's speed tripled suddenly, and before Saik could process what was happening, he felt a vertiginous sensation, as if the world around him had been pulled.
In an instant, Saik and Koji, along with the spheres that protected them, moved abruptly, almost as if they had been teleported.
"What... what was that?" Saik asked, breathing heavily.
The noise of the clashes between the vortex and the spheres had ceased. A strange calmness settled around them.
"Did we get out of the vortex?" Saik was confused, though he felt the tension easing.
Inside Koji's mind, Spherea spoke in an almost paternal tone.
"It's over, Koji. You can stop running."
Koji gradually slowed down until he came to a complete stop. He looked at Saik, panting and sweaty.
"Are you okay?" he asked Saik.
"Yeah..."
Spherea chuckled softly in Koji's mind.
"Seriously, you still haven't figured out what you did?"
Not understanding what he had done, Koji replied, "I know I did something... I just have no idea what it was or how I did it..."