自分's skill level is up to a transcendant level, barely dodging & parrying 相手's attacks even w/ just a human body However, each small victory was pyrrhic, & while 自分 is able to damage 相手, they are small, & while 相手 only ever grazed 自分, a mere graze broke bones He was fated to lose, Until, at the very end— By finding an opening on 相手's spiritual structure, 自分 glimpses [Apeiron], ascending