Foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog—that was all the expression he could muster.
His body felt heavy, his vision blurred, his blood boiling with seething agony, yet he couldn't even let out a proper shriek.
So he tossed and turned and ravaged and clawed and fought, trying to cast away that pain.
It was only when his claws clashed against Ichiro's sword that he felt a momentary sense of relief.
Was this the true djinn metamorphosis he had sought? Far from it.
Incomplete. Grotesque. Filled with agony.
That was not evolution. Not even close.
He was driven back once again, and his foe looked at him with those eyes of contempt—as if he had already cast him aside in his mind completely.
Ryuji lashed out again and pounced.
Ichiro weaved past the incoming claw strike and watched as it tore the ground apart on impact. Debris burst into the air. He tightened his grip on his sword.
How had he allowed him to get driven this far? So close to the very people he was trying to protect.
But it was already done. Now all that remained was to stop him from pushing any further.
A violent gust swept through the field as Ryuji swung those large, crooked claws at him once again.
An air of conviction surrounded Ichiro.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he parried the incoming strikes exactly where he stood, enduring the monstrous force as the ground beneath him cracked and split apart.
The instant an opening revealed itself, he raised his sword high and brought it down.
Sparks erupted as the blade collided with Ryuji's Red Zone and was repelled. Even then, Ichiro persisted, forcing the sword forward with even greater strength.
Yuriko, Izumi, and Miyuki stood frozen, sweat pouring down their faces. The clash between those two overwhelming presences of source energy left them short of breath—to the point that even maintaining their footing became difficult.
Their bodies twitched in and out of stance as they desperately tried to force themselves to move. Slowly, they regained control, pushing against the pressure little by little.
Meanwhile, the battle only grew more violent. At times Ichiro disappeared completely beneath Ryuji's shadow as the beast launched itself high into the air.
From his body, several spheres of energized blood emerged, shaping themselves into large spikes that launched toward Ichiro even as his relentless melee assault continued.
Ichiro was beginning to slow down, barely managing to keep up anymore.
Then his swing faltered for a moment—
—and one of the spikes shot straight through his shoulder.
A sixth strike.
There was no way the binding could continue holding back the force of the technique any longer.
He was right.
The black, vein-like patterns from the mark began slipping past the bands, spreading further across his body. He felt himself growing weaker as they crawled onto his face, inching closer and closer toward his brain.
But the real danger was his spine.
If the patterns reached it, then death was certain.
Ryuji didn't slow down.
Instead, he swung his right claws at him with all the force he could muster.
Ichiro gritted his teeth and raised his sword to parry despite the weakness spreading through his arms.
The moment steel met claw, the claws shattered in a shocking turn of events, and the edge of Ichiro's blade chipped slightly.
Ryuji howled.
Then he curled his right hand into a fist and punched Ichiro with enough force to send him flying through the nearby trees.
"Father!!" Miyuki cried out in anguish, finally breaking from her stillness.
The crowd erupted into murmurs, and with that, Takae finally snapped back to reality.
Despite insisting she was fine, her breathing had become shallow.
She looked ahead at the three before her and made a decision. Turning toward the crowd, she prepared to erect a barrier.
"It's up to you now," she mumbled as she entered a casting stance. "Please don't die."
Her mind drifted briefly to Yuriko and how distant she had acted toward her.
"Please," she thought, "I still need to apologise to you."
A septa-circle formed at her feet and spread across the ground beneath the crowd.
For a moment, the murmuring stopped as everyone stared at the glowing yellow patterns beneath them.
At the eight outer points of the star, large columns erupted upward, connected by flowing streams that resembled water.
A sphere of clear liquid formed above the center of the circle before spreading outward toward the pillars, forming a massive hemispherical barrier.
Maintaining her stance with her eyes closed, she muttered:
"Tower Series, number 35: Eight Layered Sea Sphere."
A stray leaf drifted into the barrier and bounced harmlessly away, tiny ripples spreading across the watery surface before fading.
Izumi looked back at the sphere, then down at the arm holding his sword.
It felt stiff.
The strength in his grip was almost gone.
That was when he decided to sheath the blade instead.
He eased into a martial stance, his clenched fists glowing faintly gold.
"Don't worry, Miyuki," he said, catching her attention. "He won't lose from something like that. All we have to do is stall until he gets back on his feet."
Then a grin crept onto his face.
"Now let's show off that brand-new release of yours."
She lifted her head and nodded, raising her white blade as Ryuji's attention shifted toward them.
"Here we go!" Yuriko yelled as the two of them charged.
Her sword gathered violent winds around its blade while Izumi's fists left golden trails through the air.
Ryuji's howl sent those same dreadful shivers through their bodies, but they pushed forward regardless.
Their attacks collided with the Red Zone—
—and stopped dead in their tracks.
The greatest folly in battle was overestimating one's own abilities.
They knew that well.
Yet despite that, they had continued relying on that faint hope, forcing themselves onward through every encounter until now.
But no matter how brightly a fire burned, it was always destined to die out eventually.
The Red Zone remained unyielding, forcing them backward with overwhelming force.
And Ryuji didn't simply stand there and let them persist.
In his eyes, the world blurred in and out of focus with every breath he took.
Even so, his rage remained indiscriminate.
It didn't matter who stood before him anymore.
Yuriko was struck first.
A single punch launched her straight into the barrier Takae was desperately maintaining.
The ripples that spread across the sphere from the impact sent a crushing sensation through Takae's chest.
Yuriko slid down the barrier and collapsed motionless at its base without so much as a twitch.
The shock of seeing it happen threw Izumi off balance.
"How can he move so fast with that kind of size?"
But it was already too late.
The instant he turned back around, all he saw was the enormous shadow descending from above.
Ryuji's stomp crushed him into the ground with such force that he heard his own ribs crack.
And as if that wasn't enough, Ryuji pressed down harder before leaping away again, jerking Izumi upward violently as blood burst from his mouth.
Then he stopped moving too.
Izumi lay there motionless, his face turned weakly to the side, still barely conscious.
"No… please," Takae cried inwardly as she struggled to maintain the barrier. "Just stop… please."
Ryuji slowly tilted his head toward Miyuki.
The moment their eyes met—she broke.
Her stance collapsed.
Tears welled faintly in her eyes.
Then he lunged at her with terrifying speed.
She stumbled backward and slipped onto the ground.
Her body trembled violently as she squeezed her eyes shut.
And then, through Ryuji's blurred vision, he struck—
—and watched blood stain the black claws of his left hand.