The battlefield had not truly ended.
The forest still carried the echoes of the clash. Broken trees lay scattered across the ground, and deep cracks spread through the earth beneath their feet. The heavy pressure of power lingered in the air like something alive. Rinma and Mark stood facing each other from a distance, both breathing hard, their bodies tense and exhausted. Neither had won, and neither had lost, but both understood the same truth. If the fight continued, one of them would not survive.
A heavy silence settled between them.
Then a voice descended from above.
"Rinma… Mark…"
Both of them froze instantly.
It was not just a voice. It carried authority. It carried weight. It carried something far worse.
Fear.
Rinma's eyes narrowed sharply, though the tension on his face betrayed him. Mark slowly raised his head, his expression stiff.
"…No…"
High above them, a figure stood watching.
The air shifted violently. The wind twisted and surged without direction. Small stones lifted from the ground and were thrown aside as if the world itself rejected the presence above. Trees bent under an invisible force that did not belong to nature.
A presence had arrived.
And it was far beyond them.
"He came…" Rinma said quietly.
Mark clenched his fists. There was no arrogance left in his expression now. Only tension.
Then the figure moved.
He did not simply fall. He descended with force.
The moment he struck the ground, the impact shattered the earth beneath him. A violent shockwave burst outward, throwing both Rinma and Mark away as if they weighed nothing. Dust and debris filled the battlefield, swallowing everything in a thick cloud.
Then silence returned.
From within the dust, a figure stepped forward.
Heavy armor covered his body. His presence alone distorted the space around him. His eyes were cold, empty of emotion.
Holds.
One of the Five Knights.
He looked at them as if they were beneath notice.
In that moment, both Rinma and Mark felt it clearly.
The gap.
The difference.
For the first time, they understood something they had refused to accept.
They were not on the same level.
"…Pathetic."
Mark tried to speak, but the pressure suffocated his words before they could form.
Holds spoke calmly, yet every word felt heavy.
"You fought each other instead of completing your mission."
His gaze shifted toward Mark.
"You had the advantage… and still failed."
Mark remained silent.
Because he knew.
Holds stepped forward slowly.
"You call yourself strong… yet you only act when your opponent is already weakened."
Silence filled the battlefield.
Rinma watched without moving.
Then Holds laughed.
A cold, mocking sound.
"Do you know why I'm laughing?"
Neither of them answered.
"I'm laughing at you."
His eyes locked onto Mark.
"When you defeat someone at full strength… then you can speak."
Mark's fists trembled slightly, but he said nothing.
Because it was true.
Then everything changed.
Holds moved.
There was no visible motion.
Only the result.
A single strike.
Both Rinma and Mark collapsed instantly, their bodies hitting the ground without resistance.
They never even saw it happen.
Holds stood still for a brief moment, then bent down and lifted them effortlessly, placing each of them over his shoulders.
"You have both embarrassed the King."
Without another word, he turned and walked away.
Deep beneath the world, inside a vast and silent hall, Holds dropped their unconscious bodies onto the ground.
Moments later, a presence filled the space.
Lucius.
Even before he spoke, the air itself grew heavier.
"They fought each other?" he asked calmly.
"Yes," Holds replied.
"They abandoned their mission."
Silence lingered.
Then Lucius spoke.
"Bind them."
Chains wrapped tightly around their arms and legs.
When Rinma and Mark regained consciousness, they were already restrained.
Lucius stood before them, looking down without emotion.
"You were sent to eliminate the Chosen… yet you chose to fight each other."
Mark tried to speak, but Lucius raised his hand.
That was enough.
Silence returned instantly.
"Punish them."
The soldiers stepped forward.
Strike after strike fell upon them.
Pain echoed through the hall.
Neither Rinma nor Mark resisted.
Neither spoke.
Until both lost consciousness once again.
Later, they were thrown into a prison cell.
Broken.
Silent.
Rinma spoke first.
"This ends here."
Mark looked away.
"…Yeah."
Their goal had not changed.
The Chosen.
Not each other.
Far away, Yun was training.
His grandfather stood behind him, watching carefully.
"Focus."
Yun closed his eyes.
Energy began to rise within him, slowly at first, then violently. A strange aura burst outward, unstable and heavy, causing the air itself to tremble.
Suddenly, Yun screamed.
"AAAGH!"
His body shook as the energy surged uncontrollably through him.
Serna rushed in.
"What's happening?!"
"Stay back," his grandfather said calmly. "This is his power."
Yun fell to his knees.
The pain was real.
Deep.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, everything stopped.
The energy vanished.
Yun collapsed.
That night, Yun returned home.
He sat with his parents and ate quietly, then went to his room. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him as he lay down on his bed.
But his mind refused to rest.
The moment he closed his eyes, the battle returned.
Rinma.
Mark.
The destruction.
The overwhelming force of their clash.
Yun's breathing grew heavier inside the dream, as if he were truly there, watching everything unfold again.
At first, he felt excitement.
Power.
The strength he had begun to understand.
But slowly, that feeling faded.
Something else took its place.
Fear.
"They're… this strong…?"
His voice trembled.
They were not ordinary.
Not human in any normal sense.
They were far beyond anything he had imagined.
He stood frozen in the dream, watching every movement, every strike, every explosion of power.
And with each moment, he felt smaller.
Weaker.
"…And they're just followers…"
His eyes widened.
A single thought filled his mind.
"If they are this strong…"
His body stiffened.
"…then what about the one who commands them?"
The thought alone was enough to shake him.
His excitement vanished completely, replaced by tension, fear, and pressure.
The dream intensified.
The battlefield trembled again.
He tried to move.
To step back.
But his body would not respond.
He was trapped.
Helpless.
Then suddenly, he woke up.
His eyes snapped open.
His breathing was heavy.
Sweat covered his face.
The room was silent.
But inside him, nothing was calm.
"…That wasn't just a dream…"
For the first time, Yun stopped thinking about becoming stronger.
And started realizing something far more important.
How weak he still was.
The path ahead of him was not a journey toward power.
It was a path filled with danger.
Far more dangerous than he had ever imagined.