The night air at the Tanaka beach camp was thick with the smell of roasting meat and the sharp tang of sake. Hundreds of makeshift tents littered the sand, illuminated by the orange flicker of dozens of campfires.
The atmosphere was one of triumphant joy; they had dismantled the Mizunori Clan in a single day. Groups of apprentices boasted loudly of their exploits, while squires sat in circles, sharing neurological refinements and laughing about the "drooling husks" they had left behind on the battlefield.
Suddenly, the laughter died in the throat of a man sitting near the largest fire.
Matsunaga Hide, the strongest Martial Squire in the Tanaka Clan, as well as in the entirety of the clan, stood up abruptly. His eyes were fixed on the dark treeline leading to the village. The rest of the camp followed his gaze, a wave of instinctual unease ripple through the crowd as their danger senses triggered one by one.
Out of the shadows emerged a nightmare.
A masked demon in a weighted white cape walked steadily onto the sand. He wasn't alone. Behind him, he dragged a long, heavy rope, and tied to it were the unconscious, bruised forms of the Tanaka scouting party.
"Wait... that's my brother!"
"And the Captain! Who the hell is that?"
"How dare you! Unhand them!"
The army of apprentices and squires surged forward, a chorus of bloodthirsty jeers filling the salt air. Several apprentices secretly launched long-range Hypnotic Pain and Dread Pulses, attempting to seize Merun's heart from a distance. While dozens rushed him to save their comrades. Merun didn't even break his stride; the mental attacks were far too weak due to the difference of power.
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM
The crowd fell into an eerie silence as Merun easily dismantled the reckless apprentices and stopped just a few paces from the front line. The sheer intensity radiating from the mask was suffocating.
Hide immediately sent a telepathic message to the nearest squire. "Run. Get to the cliffside. Inform the Seniors."
"But Commander—"
"JUST GO!" Hide hissed in his mind. As the squire scampered away into the darkness, seemingly out of nowhere, Hide turned back to the demon.
"Who are you?" Hide asked, his voice forced into a calm he didn't feel. "What do you want with the Tanaka?"
The demon's head tilted slightly, the red eyes of the mask gleaming in the firelight. "You're more observant than these little shits," the masked figure rumbled. "Are you a noble?"
The camp exploded in fury.
"What did you say, you masked freak?"
"Say that again and I'll melt your brain into soup!"
The demon ignored them entirely, his gaze locked on Hide. "So?"
Hide took a slow, steadying breath. "...I am Matsunaga Hide, from house Matsunaga."
The demon suddenly clapped his hands and offered a shallow, mocking bow. "I request an honorable duel. One of me versus twenty of you. If I win, you all pack up and leave this village immediately—excluding these tied-up scum, of course. If you win, I will accept any condition you ask. Unconditionally."
The request was so arrogant, so utterly detached from reality, that the Tanaka warriors roared in derision. "Twenty of us? I'll kill you myself!" a squire screamed, but Hide remained deathly still.
A bead of sweat traced a path down Hide's neck.
Every fiber of his being wanted to say yes to the twenty-on-one advantage. Hide's pride was high, but his survival instinct was higher. He was secretly the sole host of the 'Viper-Gnat of Malice', a legendary grade-10 symbiote fused to his brainstem. The creature didn't see or hear; it fed on the "Bloodlust" of others. It interpreted the neurological spikes of aggression in the environment, making him almost 100x times more sensitive to danger than others... and right now, the Gnat was screaming.
The legendary symbiote was not only difficult to procure, but also had an almost guaranteed fatality rate. It had something to do with the host suddenly experiencing a world-ending sense of fear during the first time they bond, which resulted almost always ended in suicides or their brain turning into soup.
If not for Hide's prodigious mental strength, he would be part of the statistic. Even then he still only barely able to push back the fear using layered self-hypnosis.
After countless hours of mental training and self-hypnosis had he finally become numb to the greatest hurdle. Part of his training was also quantifying what each realm's danger level felt like.
To Hide, the Demon didn't look like a Martial Squire. Despite Merun's ki suppression, the Viper-Gnat perceived his true strength.
He's at the level of a Martial Senior.
The Gnat was telling Hide that he would definitely die.
But Hide was a Matsunaga. If he accepted a twenty-on-one duel, his family name would be besmirched forever. And because the request was so one-sided, the same goes if he declined. His honor as a noble stood as a fragile barrier against the absolute terror his symbiote was feeding him.
He leaned on a 'Forced Calm' self-hypnosis technique, as his whole body relaxed to an almost unnaturally calm state to hide his trembling frame.
"No need," Hide said, his voice ringing out across the beach. "I can handle you myself. Give us space."
The Tanaka warriors cheered, impressed by their leader's courage. Hide looked at his tied-up clansmen, his anger flickering. To think he was being forced to fight this monster over a few power-hungry pigs who wanted fun with dirty peasants.
He made a mental note to banish those fools out of the clan.
Merun smiled behind his mask, his scouter clicking as it analyzed the man before him.
[MATSUNAGA HIDE: 5000 PEAK MARTIAL SQUIRE]
"A brave choice," Merun whispered. "I hope you honor your words, noble."
Hide readied his martial stance, hiding the fear in his heart... or brainstem, "I hope you honor yours."
"Don't worry about that." Merun said as he tossed aside the rope tied to the clansmen. "I'll let you have the first strike."
The army was about to jeer when Hide spoke up. "Quiet." He then focused. " I'll take you up on that offer."
If he had the first hit, he might have a chance. He closed his eyes and peered into his mind. He kneeled on one leg and whispered, "Resonance Broadcast."
The surrounding martial artists felt a slight electric spark wash over them. Hide anchored his mind to the thirty Tanaka Squires nearby, converting them into resonance anchors. Then he moved to the next step. "Borrowed Focus." His mind relaxed as he linked to his anchors, borrowing their senses and utilizing their collective brain processing power.
Hide Matsunaga's martial path was called Harmonious Mind. He believed his mind was 'not his alone'. He created a shared cognitive field by syncing the unconscious breathing, movement, and neural signals of everyone around him. He turned everyone chosen in his radius into a temporary processing network.
He was a monster during wars where he could tap into dozens of martial artists at once. But on his own, he was only half as strong.
Some might say he's technically not fighting a one on one, but in his defense, his enemy was a Martial Senior. He could easily just say that the duel was dishonorable due to the realm difference, but he'd have to convince his peers, as well as reveal the Viper Gnat of Malice.
Which the Viper Gnat of Malice will never, ever let him do. There was something more dangerous than the Martial Senior in front of it, and the Viper knew that. It would have no qualms hiding its existence no matter how much he begged.
He ran at Merun. His martial body was surprisingly muscular for a mental specialist. He pulled his arm back, readying his most powerful blow. The Demon didn't bother moving. He truly meant what he said.
Hide wanted him to regret that arrogance. At the last second, his other hand blasted open as he whispered "Mind-Crushing Symphony".
Merun wasn't even bracing himself. This was just a Martial Squire, after all.
His true goal was waiting for the eventual Martial Senior. Defeat them in a duel next, and then he could go home a few days sooner.
Then he heard the whisper.
Huh?
All of a sudden, it felt like someone had kicked in the door to Merun's mind and left it wide open for everyone to enter.
It felt like the whole world had rushed inside.
—HOW DID—DO YOU—ALL—HOW DID——
TOO WEAK too weak TOO WEAK too weak TOO WEAK too weak
wrong—wrong—wrong—wrong—wrong—wrong—wrong—
𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡 𝔡i҉𝔢——𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡 𝔡i҉𝔢——𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡𝔡i҉𝔢——𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡 𝔡i҉𝔢
—move—MOVE—move-moooooove—move—MOVE—
don't—don't—don't—don't run—we fight—we fight—we fight
FIGHTEATSLEEPFIGHTEATSLEEPFIGHTEATSLEEPHAHAHAHAHHAHA
What the fuck is happening to me?
In less than a second, a tsunami of varying intents that came from the thirty squires ravaged his brain. Words overlapped until language smeared into noise. Merun couldn't even hear his own thoughts.
—WHY CAN YOU—
—HOW—HOW—HOW—
thin too thin TOO FRAGILE too thin TOO FRAGILE
wrong—wrong—wrong—WRONG—
back—go back—
LEFT—NO—NOW—
Is this his mind technique?
The voices came in waves, but the waves stacked instead of receding, climbing over each other until they clawed at the ceiling of his skull.
cut him—cut him—cut him—
he won't hold—
t̷h̷i̷s̷ ̷m̷i̷n̷d̷ ̷i̷s̷ ̷o̷p̷e̷n̷
t̷a̷k̷e̷ ̷i̷t̷ t̷a̷k̷e̷ ̷i̷t̷ t̷a̷k̷e̷ ̷i̷t̷ t̷a̷k̷e̷ ̷i̷t̷ t̷a̷k̷e̷ ̷i̷t̷
—STOP——STOP—
HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT
—LISTEN—LISTEN—LISTEN—
What the fuck, did my luck run out?! how can I make this stop???
His thoughts slipped under the pressure, flattened and smeared, like trying to read ink while someone kept pouring more ink over the page.
MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE
stand—no—strike—
hold—hold—HOLD—
we don't retreatwe don't retreatwe don't retreat
FIGHTBREATHBLEEDFIGHTBREATHBLEEDFIGHT—
Overwhelming... Supp... I... I can't...
we/don't/retreatwe/don't/retreatwe/don't/retreatwe/don't/retreat
𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡 𝔡i҉𝔢 𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡 𝔡i҉𝔢 𝔥e҉ s҉𝔥o҉𝔲l҉𝔡 𝔡i҉𝔢
...!
His Saiyan body might be near-invincible in this scenario but he truly messed up. Not only did he underestimate his opponent, he truly was caught off guard.
Unfortunately for him, his sole weakness at the moment was his mind. Peak martial squires stood at the peak for a reason.
Something finally snapped and his mind went white.
There was finally peace and quiet.
Hide's devastating haymaker landed on Merun's defenseless jaw.
BOOOOOOOOOM.