[Defeat your future self from fifty years later. Time remaining: 8 years 58 days.]2

Didn’t he? Was I mistaken?0

For an instant, I wondered whether my mind had gone awry, creating a fleeting hallucination that had slipped into my awareness. My eyes flew open in shock, but the other version of myself still wore the same cold, unreadable expression he always had. Not a single line of that face had changed.0

No. That couldn’t be the case.0

I told myself not to dwell on it. Unfortunately, that brief smile had caused me to slip from the realm of no-self I was barely maintaining. At such a pivotal moment, perhaps he had intended for that to happen. Truth be told, it had unsettled me for quite the simple reason—I had faced that unchanging expression for more than fifteen years.0

Whatever.0

Still feeling at ease, I allowed myself to sink back into my inner world. My realization wasn’t some sort of fleeting spark, and I could return to it as often as needed. Also, I hadn’t fallen completely out of the state of no-self. My inner world still emitted a steady glow born from the realization embedded deep within me. I exhaled, clearing my thoughts and focusing back on the task at hand. The blue-gold radiance that faintly illuminated the darkness surrounding my consciousness gradually drew inward.0

Battle resumed the moment my last thought faded. We closed...0