CHAPTER 27 — INSIDE THE KILL ZONE
Ragnar moved without warning.
One moment he stood still.
The next, he was already in front of Tokita.
His arm surged forward, flames coiling tightly around it, compressed into a single point of impact.
Tokita didn't move.
Their fists met.
"I like this," Ragnar said, a grin forming. "Hell yeah."
The explosion followed instantly.
Flames did not burst—they detonated. A violent surge of heat and pressure tore outward from the point of contact, swallowing everything in its path. The ground collapsed beneath them, forming a deep crater, while distant skyscrapers buckled and gave way under the shockwave.
For a moment, the battlefield vanished behind fire and smoke.
Ragnar laughed.
Then his expression shifted.
His arm had not moved.
He tried to pull back.
It didn't budge.
"…Huh?"
The smoke began to part.
Tokita stood exactly where he had been.
Unharmed.
His hand was already wrapped around Ragnar's wrist.
Not blocking.
Not reacting.
He had caught the strike before it could fully land.
Tokita's grip tightened slightly.
The flames around Ragnar's arm flickered—just for an instant.
Ragnar's eyes sharpened.
"So that's what you meant."
No answer came.
With a twist of force, Ragnar tore his arm free and leapt back, landing several meters away. His arm lowered slightly before he rolled his shoulder.
Then he smiled again.
"Good."
He vanished.
A burst of heat flared beneath him as he reappeared below Tokita, flames erupting from his legs to launch him upward at extreme speed. His hand shot forward, grabbing Tokita by the front of his clothing.
For a split second, it looked like Tokita would be thrown.
Instead, Tokita stepped in.
Not away.
Through him.
His body shifted with precision, redirecting the force. In a single motion, he seized Ragnar mid-lift and reversed the trajectory.
"Stay down."
Ragnar's body shot through the air instead.
He tore through one building, then another, then a third before crashing across the rooftop of a distant structure.
Silence held for half a second.
Then both of them disappeared.
They reappeared at the same time.
A fist and a kick collided mid-air.
The impact sent a shockwave tearing across the surrounding city. Buildings trembled. Windows shattered. The ground beneath them fractured, cracks spreading violently across streets and structures alike.
Far from the battlefield, Aoi stared, her voice low.
"…Are you seeing this?"
Nezuko didn't respond immediately.
Her eyes remained fixed.
"Is he… matching him?"
Back on the battlefield, the exchange intensified.
Their movements blurred into something almost impossible to follow. Punches collided mid-strike. Kicks were intercepted before completion. Every impact drove deeper fractures into the ground beneath them.
Ragnar broke the rhythm first.
His strike slipped through and connected cleanly with Tokita's face.
Tokita's head shifted slightly—
—and he vanished from sight.
In the next instant, he was lower.
His hand locked onto Ragnar's leg.
He pulled—and slammed him into the ground.
The impact cracked the surface beneath them.
Without pause, Tokita lifted him and threw him again.
Ragnar twisted mid-air, flames igniting along his legs as he corrected his trajectory.
"That won't work twice."
He angled himself sideways, crashing into the side of another skyscraper before landing upright.
Dust drifted between them.
Their eyes met again.
Ragnar's grin widened.
"I'm just getting started," he said lightly. "By the time I'm done with you… you'll wish we never met."
His arm shifted.
The flames changed.
They compressed into something denser. More violent. More unstable.
Not ordinary fire.
Something beyond it.
Tokita's gaze sharpened slightly.
"…That's dangerous."
A brief pause.
"I should end this before—"
"Too late."
Ragnar fired.
The blasts tore forward like projectiles—fast, unstable, and devastating. Each one detonated on contact, erasing sections of the battlefield in violent bursts of light and heat.
Tokita moved.
He stepped aside—then back—then twisted, narrowly avoiding the next wave. He flipped, redirected his momentum, and continued forward as explosions consumed everything behind him.
The battlefield was collapsing.
More attacks came from different angles.
Faster.
More precise.
Tokita slid low, one blast tearing through the air just above him. He rose instantly, shifting direction again as another detonated where he had been.
"I need to close the distance."
He leapt—
—and caught one.
The energy burned against his hand, violent and unstable, but he did not react. He twisted mid-air, redirected it away, and landed without slowing.
He kept moving.
Forward.
Then—
a flash.
Too sudden.
Too close.
The ground beneath him detonated.
A chain reaction followed instantly. Explosions erupted in sequence, surrounding him from every direction. The entire battlefield collapsed into fire and debris.
Ragnar's laughter echoed through the destruction.
"Gotcha."
The trap had already been set.
Layered beneath the battlefield.
Waiting.
Tokita had been inside it from the beginning.
Ragnar stood amidst the chaos, flames dancing lightly around his body as the explosions faded.
Smoke filled the air.
Debris fell in slow intervals.
"…So where'd you go?" he muttered, scanning the destruction.
Then—
movement.
A figure.
Far off.
Moving across the tops of collapsing buildings.
Ragnar's eyes narrowed.
The figure ran at full speed, leaping from one structure to another, body low, one arm raised slightly as if shielding against the heat and debris.
Fast.
Precise.
Closing distance.
Ragnar's grin returned.
"…There you are."
The figure didn't slow.
Didn't hesitate.
As it drew closer, the outline became clear.
Tokita.
His expression calm. Focused.
His fist clenched.
Then—
he struck.
Not Ragnar—
The building beneath him.
The impact alone sent a violent shockwave tearing through the structure, shattering it from the inside. The collapse surged outward, forcing Ragnar to shift position as debris rained down around him.
For a brief moment—
Tokita disappeared again.
Ragnar's gaze sharpened.
"…Where—"
Above.
Tokita was already there.
"You were saying something," Tokita said quietly.
Ragnar looked up—
Too late.
Tokita's leg came down.
It connected with Ragnar's head with crushing force, driving him straight into the ground.
The impact carved a massive crater into the street below.
Before Ragnar could recover, Tokita was already there.
His hand slammed down, gripping Ragnar's head and forcing it deeper into the cracked surface.
The ground splintered further under the pressure.
Tokita drew his fist back.
Then drove it down—
But Ragnar's hand moved first.
Two fingers touched Tokita's face.
"Gotcha."
The explosion followed instantly.
At this range, it wasn't just fire.
It was concentrated heat—compressed, violent, and overwhelming.
The blast sent Tokita upward, tearing him away from Ragnar's grip.
But even as he was launched—
Tokita held on.
His grip didn't break.
Mid-air, he adjusted, pulling Ragnar with him.
He raised his fist again—
Ragnar reacted.
His leg ignited, swinging upward and connecting with Tokita's face in a sharp, precise counter.
The impact forced Tokita's head back slightly.
Ragnar twisted free, landing cleanly as flames flickered along his limbs.
He didn't pause.
He stepped in, grabbing Tokita's face with one hand—
And unleashed another burst of force at point-blank range.
The blast sent Tokita skidding backward across broken ground.
Ragnar straightened, smiling.
Then raised his arm again.
The plasma-like energy returned—denser, brighter, more unstable than before.
He aimed.
Prepared to fire—
Tokita shifted to move—
Then something caught his attention.
To the side.
At the edge of the ruined battlefield.
Figures.
Not one.
Not two.
A group.
At least fifteen.
Civilians.
Frozen. Watching. Trying to escape.
For a fraction of a second—
Tokita's focus broke.
That was all it took.
Ragnar fired.
The blast connected mid-air.
Then another.
And another.
Explosions overlapped, stacking violently into one massive detonation that swallowed Tokita completely.
Light consumed the battlefield.
Heat surged outward.
Debris scattered in all directions.
Ragnar lowered his arm slowly.
A satisfied grin spread across his face.
"Bullseye, baby."
He laughed, the sound echoing through the разрушed city.
"Man… I can't believe you got distracted in a fight like that."
Smoke rose.
Flames crackled.
And where Tokita had been—
There was only destruction.