The building Takeru had kicked the attacker through—
shuddered.
Then—
BOOM.
The figure burst back out.
A reincarnated sorcerer.
Blood on his face.
Grinning.
"…Heh—nice kick."
Before anyone could react—
he vanished.
And reappeared in front of Takeru—
BLACK FLASH.
The impact detonated.
Takeru's body slammed backward—
crashing through a wall with a thunderous crack.
Silence hit for half a second.
Yuji's eyes widened.
"…What—"
Because for the first time—
he saw it.
A flicker on Takeru's face.
Surprise.
Not fear.
Not panic.
But genuine—
unexpected—
surprise.
Megumi's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…That hit…"
Hana stiffened.
"…That was clean…"
The sorcerer laughed.
"…You're not untouchable after all!"
Before he could press further—
Takeru moved.
He stepped out of the rubble like nothing happened—
then spun—
Scorpion Kick.
His heel slammed into the sorcerer's head—
launching him across the street.
Ryu grinned.
"…That's more like it."
But the sorcerer didn't stay down.
He rolled—
grabbed a jagged shard of glass—
and rushed back in without hesitation.
Takeru didn't dodge.
The glass slashed across his forehead—
Reopening the old wound.
The scar.
The one left by Mahito.
Blood ran down between his eyes.
The sorcerer grinned wider.
"HA! You're WEAK!"
He leaned in closer—
voice filled with venom—
"Just like that Nanami and Nobara Mahito slaye—"
He never finished.
Because Takeru was already there.
Right in front of him.
A fist buried into his stomach.
Perfect timing.
BLACK FLASH.
But—
Something changed.
The sparks—
weren't just black.
They burned—
gold.
Not flickering.
Not unstable.
Refined.
Pure.
The impact didn't just hit—
It erased.
The sorcerer's body folded around the strike—
air vanishing from his lungs—
eyes going wide in pure disbelief—
"…What… is—"
The explosion followed a fraction of a second later—
A shockwave tearing through the street—
blowing debris outward in every direction—
And when the light cleared—
Silence.
Complete.
Yuji stood frozen.
"…That… wasn't normal…"
Megumi stared.
"…Black Flash… doesn't do that…"
Yuta's eyes sharpened.
"…That was something else entirely…"
Ryu's grin slowly widened.
"…Now THAT…"
Uro whispered.
"…Gold…?"
Hana's hand lifted slightly to her mouth.
"…I've never seen that…"
Even Kashimo—
smiled.
"…So you've got something new."
Takeru stood there.
Blood still running down his face.
Breathing steady.
He looked at his hand.
Then clenched it once.
"…Noted."
Behind him—
Yorozu watched.
Closer now.
More focused than before.
Because what she just saw—
Wasn't just strength.
It was something the Culling Game itself—
had never accounted for.