The battlefield had become almost unrecognizable.
Cracked stone stretched across the entire training court, dust drifted through the air, and countless sword marks scarred the ground. Every student had backed away instinctively, leaving only two figures standing at the center.
Kairo Kurosawa.
Oko Fujiwara.
Both breathed heavily.
Neither lowered their guard.
For several seconds...
Silence.
Then—
Oko smiled.
"...Let's finish this."
Dozens of glowing blue circles suddenly appeared throughout the battlefield.
One...
Three...
Ten...
Twenty...
Fifty.
The students' eyes widened.
The circles floated everywhere—above the arena, beneath broken stones, across the walls, even suspended high in the sky.
"...What are those?" Tyouro whispered.
Griffin's smile slowly disappeared.
"...His true movement technique."
Shougo narrowed his eyes.
"So you're finally using it."
Without warning—
Oko vanished.
A blue circle rippled beneath his feet.
Another opened behind Kairo.
Another above him.
Another to his left.
Another beneath his shadow.
BOOM!
Oko burst out from behind Kairo with a spinning kick.
Kairo barely turned in time, raising Black Spartan to block.
CLANG!
Before the clash even ended—
Oko disappeared again.
Another circle.
Another teleport.
Another attack.
A fist came from above.
An elbow from behind.
A knee from the right.
A kick from below.
The blue portals multiplied until they covered nearly the entire battlefield.
Each one became another possible attack.
Another possibility.
Another blind spot.
Kairo's crimson eyes darted from portal to portal.
"...Too many..."
Another punch.
He blocked.
Another portal opened.
Another strike.
He ducked.
Another portal.
Another attack.
His breathing grew heavier.
His vision blurred as the battlefield spun around him.
Every direction became a threat.
Every second demanded another calculation.
"...I can't predict all of them..."
Oko laughed, his voice echoing from every direction.
"Exactly!"
"You calculate everything!"
"So let's see if you can calculate hundreds of me!"
Blue circles erupted across the battlefield like stars filling the night sky.
One after another—
Oko continued teleporting faster and faster.
The spectators couldn't follow him anymore.
Only flashes of blue remained.
Tatsuo frowned.
"...I lost him."
Yuki narrowed her eyes.
"...Where is he?"
Even Kimimaru could only hear the impacts.
Shougo watched silently.
"...He's reaching his limit."
Another strike slammed into Kairo's shoulder.
Another hit his ribs.
Another nearly struck his head.
Kairo staggered backward.
His grip on Black Spartan weakened.
His heartbeat thundered inside his chest.
"...No..."
"...Not now..."
His thoughts began breaking apart beneath the endless attacks.
Then...
Everything became quiet.
Not outside.
Inside.
His heartbeat slowed.
His breathing steadied.
His crimson eyes closed.
"...If I can't chase him..."
"...Then..."
"...I'll make the shadows chase him."
A cold wave of black energy spread beneath Kairo's feet.
The sunlight around him dimmed.
The shadows across the battlefield stretched unnaturally.
Black Reikou flowed from his body like smoke before gathering behind him.
The students felt goosebumps.
"...What..."
Yura whispered.
"...is that?"
The darkness continued growing.
It twisted.
It breathed.
Then—
Two enormous shadow arms emerged from behind Kairo.
They were massive, covered in flowing darkness instead of flesh, their clawed fingers long enough to reach across the battlefield. Crimson eyes slowly opened within the darkness, followed by a faint, unsettling smile that wasn't fully visible.
The shadow didn't roar.
It simply watched.
As though it had been waiting for Kairo all along.
Shougo's eyes widened.
"...Advanced Energy..."
"...Yami."
Black mist rolled across the ground.
The giant shadow stood silently behind Kairo like an ancient guardian.
Kairo slowly opened his glowing red eyes.
"...So..."
"...this is Yami."
The giant shadow mirrored his movements.
When Kairo raised Black Spartan—
The shadow raised one enormous claw.
Oko appeared behind him through another portal.
"Too slow!"
He threw a punch—
Kairo didn't even turn.
The giant shadow arm swung backward.
BOOM!!
Oko crossed both arms just in time as the enormous claw slammed into him, sending him flying across the battlefield.
The students gasped.
"...It moved by itself?!"
Oko skidded across the broken ground before laughing.
"...HAHAHAHA!"
"So that's your new power!"
"I LOVE IT!"
More portals opened.
Hundreds.
Oko vanished once again.
This time, Kairo didn't chase him.
He stood perfectly still.
Every time Oko emerged—
The shadow reacted instantly.
A claw.
A sweep.
A grab.
A crushing strike.
The giant hands defended every blind spot around Kairo.
Oko's teleports were no longer enough to overwhelm him.
His movement remained unpredictable.
But the battlefield itself had changed.
The shadows answered Kairo's will.
Oko grinned wider.
"...Then let's see which reaches its limit first!"
He compressed every remaining portal into a single attack.
Hundreds of blue circles rotated around him.
His aura exploded.
"...Spatial Step..."
"...Infinity Circuit."
Every portal activated simultaneously.
Oko became countless afterimages attacking from every possible direction.
At the same moment—
Black Reikou surged into Black Spartan.
The blade hummed.
The shadow behind Kairo expanded, its enormous hands spreading across the battlefield like the wings of an ancient beast.
Kairo took one slow breath.
"...I understand now."
"I don't have to become someone else."
"I only have to become... myself."
He stepped forward.
One swing.
The shadow copied it.
A colossal black slash erupted across the battlefield, swallowing every blue portal in its path.
Silence.
The portals shattered one after another.
The light faded.
Dust filled the arena.
Nobody spoke.
Several seconds later...
A figure slowly emerged.
Oko.
He remained standing for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh.
"...Heh..."
"...Looks like..."
"...I lost."
His knees gave out.
He collapsed onto one knee, then finally fell backward onto the broken stone with a satisfied smile.
The arena remained silent.
Then Griffin raised one hand.
"The match is over!"
"The winner..."
"...Kairo Kurosawa!"
For a heartbeat, nobody reacted.
Then cheers erupted from every direction.
"KAIRO WON!"
"No way!"
"He actually beat Oko!"
Tyouro jumped into the air, shouting louder than anyone.
"I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT, BRO!"
Yura smiled—a small, genuine smile.
"...Good job."
Kimimaru crossed his arms, hiding the faint approval in his eyes.
"...Not bad."
Griffin laughed proudly.
"Now that's a Warrior PvP worthy of Reikosha."
Shougo walked toward Kairo, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You didn't win because your sword was stronger."
"You didn't win because your abilities were greater."
"You won because today..."
"...you finally believed in yourself."
Kairo looked down at Black Spartan.
The black aura around the blade slowly faded.
The giant shadow disappeared into the ground.
For the first time since entering Reikosha Academy...
He smiled without fear.
Without doubt.
Without pretending.
He had finally taken his first true step toward becoming a Divine Warrior.