Marito dove back into the depths to aid Kawsoki and secure the tablet, but the wounded beast from before wasn't finished. It thrashed blindly, obstructively blocking Marito's path.
"Baka!" Marito hissed, forced to blast the creature aside and retreat to the surface to regain his bearings.
Sensing a lapse in their defense, Hskisho didn't waste a second. He glided across the battlefield, his killing intent locked firmly onto Rio.
"Rio! You're in deep trouble! Watch out!" Gyau shouted from the sidelines, his voice laced with panic. Hskisho thrust his hand forward, unleashing a barrage of jagged Water Blades. Rio held his ground, his wooden sword vibrating as he parried each strike with desperate precision.
"Fuk! This is going south fast!" Gyau cursed, realizing he was nearly out of options as he fumbled with his weapon.
Knowing he couldn't stay on the defensive forever, Rio gathered his strength and leaped. He blurred through the air, reappearing directly behind Hskisho's blind spot. But just as Rio swung his sword for a decisive strike...
Hskisho's head snapped back, his concentric-ringed eyes locking onto Rio with a chilling, predatory calm—as if he had predicted the move before Rio even thought of it...Hskisho countered Rio's assault with a brutal kick to the abdomen, sending him hurtling across the shore. Before Hskisho could follow up, Marito intervened, closing the distance in a blur.
Hskisho managed to dodge the first punch, but Marito's follow-up roundhouse kick caught him square in the face. As Hskisho skidded back, Marito stood his ground, eyes narrowed. "Are you the guardian of this lake, or something else entirely?"
Ignoring the question, Hskisho landed at a safe distance and signaled the water. Two massive Oriental Dragons made of pure lake water erupted from the depths, lunging toward Marito.
Marito pulled a small iron rod from his pocket, infusing it with dense Shadow Energy until it vibrated with power. "Shadow Binding!" he roared, hurling the rod. Upon impact, the shadows expanded into dark chains, ensnaring the water dragons and pinning them mid-air.
But Hskisho was far from finished. He reached into the mist, pulling out a weapon that mirrored the legendary Naginata of Whitebeard. The blade's tip was encased in a swirling orb of high-pressure water, giving it a devastating edge.
With a mighty swing, Hskisho unleashed a massive energy slash toward Marito. Marito dodged by a hair's breadth, watching as the shockwave tore a deep trench into the earth behind him.Hskisho was relentless, spamming wave after wave of energy slashes from his massive weapon. The entire lake vibrated under the sheer pressure, and the air grew thick with mist.
Marito, however, found his rhythm. He sprinted through the barrage, closing the gap in a heartbeat. He launched a heavy punch aimed straight at Hskisho's chest, but the guardian parried the blow with the shaft of his Naginata.
"Not bad," Hskisho muttered, his voice calm despite the impact. "Your speed is impressive."
Marito didn't give him a second to breathe. He pivoted instantly, delivering a devastating low kick. Even though Hskisho managed to block it with his forearm, the raw force of the strike sent him skidding back across the water's surface.
Meanwhile, Anne was locked in a life-or-death struggle with the dragon-like beast. She leaped high into the air, landing with pinpoint accuracy on the creature's massive back. Infusing her iron rod with a massive amount of AIR energy, she began to batter its scales with relentless side-swipes.
Seizing an opening, Anne dashed toward the creature's head, aiming for the eyes. The beast thrashed its head violently, trying to shake her off, but Anne remained unfazed. With a fierce shout, she hurled her reinforced rod straight into the dragon's eye.Rio clutched his midsection, his face pale as he struggled to catch his breath after the brutal collision. Gyau rushed to his side, his eyes scanning for injuries.
"Rio! Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay to you? Ugh..." Rio groaned, the pain radiant. But his focus remained on the mission. "We have to find Kawsoki right now. He's out there alone against that thing."
A short distance away, Kawsoki was barely pushing himself up from the debris. Looming over him was the 8-foot-tall, one-eyed monstrosity, its shadow engulfing him entirely.
"Holy heaven..." Kawsoki whispered just as the giant swung a massive fist downward. He scrambled out of the way just in time, watching in horror as the ancient tree he had been leaning against was pulverized into splinters by the sheer force of the blow.
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the clearing. A bullet struck the monster's thick hide, drawing its attention away from Kawsoki. As the creature turned its singular, baleful eye toward the source, it found Gyau standing his ground, weapon aimed and ready.
"Huh! You want some of this? Come and get it!"
Gyau's voice didn't waver. Provoked, the monster let out a guttural roar and charged toward him, the ground shaking with every thundering step.As the hulking monster charged toward Gyau, Rio intervened from the flank, his wooden sword slicing through the air in a heavy arc. The monster skidded back momentarily but recovered instantly, launching a lightning-fast counter-punch. Rio managed to parry the blow, but the sheer kinetic force sent him flying across the battlefield like a ragdoll.
"Rio! Is your plan just to get me killed?!" Gyau screamed, his voice trembling with pure terror as he sprinted forward without looking back. But the giant was closing the gap with terrifying ease. Realizing he couldn't outrun it, Gyau finally squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the end.
Meanwhile, Anne was a blur of motion, sprinting along the serpentine body of the massive beast. She funneled a massive surge of AIR energy into her iron rod until it began to radiate a white, flame-like aura. With a fierce battle cry, she brought the weapon down upon the creature's skull with crushing force.
The impact resonated across the lake, sending the beast into a frenzied roar of agony. Hearing the pained cries of the creature, the 8-foot monster abruptly stopped its pursuit of Gyau. It turned its singular, glaring eye toward Anne, its voice vibrating with murderous rage.
"What... are you doing to Hskisho's most precious pet?!"
The massive one-eyed monster charged toward Anne with bone-crushing speed. He swung a gargantuan fist, but Anne moved with feline grace, slipping behind his strike by a fraction of an inch. When the monster followed up with a heavy kick, Anne didn't retreat; instead, she leaped onto his extending leg, using it as a springboard to deliver a crushing blow to his skull with her iron rod.
The monster reeled from the impact but quickly counter-attacked with a flurry of punches. Anne held her ground, parrying the blows with her reinforced weapon. From the sidelines, a relieved Gyau shouted, "Thank you so much, Anne-chan!"
Meanwhile, the clash between Marito and Hskisho reached a crescendo. Hskisho brought his titan's glaive down in a devastating arc, met squarely by Marito's shadow-infused fist. The shockwave from their collision tore deep fissures into the earth, and the lake nearby erupted in violent waves.
Seizing a momentary lapse, Marito funneled his shadows into chains, binding Hskisho's legs firmly to the spot before lifting the guardian and hurling him across the battlefield with superhuman strength.
"You okay, Kawsoki?" Gyau asked as he checked on his friend.
"Dammit... my head is splitting," Rio muttered, clutching his temples. Inside his mind, Neroli's voice was relentless.
Neroli: "Hey, brat. Do you want me to help or what?"
Rio: "No. Stay out of it."
Neroli: "You really are brainless, aren't you? Blah blah blah..."
Ignoring the ancient entity, Rio stood up and walked toward Gyau. "You alright?" he asked. Gyau glared back at him, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Oh, your plan was brilliant, Rio. Truly. Now, never, ever do that again!"
A few minutes ago, Rio's 'genius' plan had involved Gyau acting as ragebait to lure the monster out while Rio ambushed it. But seeing as Gyau almost died, the 'genius' tag was currently under debate. Rio just shrugged.
"Well, that guy was tougher than I thought..."
The battlefield was in total disarray. Marito lunged toward Hskisho with everything he had.
"We need to get Lord Shizen's fragment. Rio, what's your take?" Gyau asked, eyes fixed on the water. Rio squinted at the dark surface. "Yeah, but it's deep under there, man." Kawsoki didn't hesitate. "I saw it earlier. Let's go get it now!"
Meanwhile, Anne delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the 8-foot monster, striking him right in the skull. The beast wobbled but quickly stabilized, detonating a massive surge of energy that sent Anne crashing into the lake with a single, crushing punch.
Anne surfaced, gasping for air. "Hoo... this is going to be tough." Hskisho, observing from a distance, finally called out his subordinate's name:
"a South... just how strong is this person you're up against?"
At that moment, Marito attempted a kick, but Hskisho dodged and countered with a brutal fist to Marito's stomach.
As Rio prepared to dive in, Anne shouted, "Rio! Don't go! The thing inside you can't be trusted!" Gyau stepped up. "I'll do it, Rio." With a splash, Gyau dove into the depths.
Under the water, Gyau encountered something shocking. "What! You are from Lord Shizen?" he exclaimed, then mentally added, I think my grammar is correct. From above, Rio shouted, "Go a bit deeper!"
Just then, a South blitzed toward Anne with terrifying speed, launching a punch that sent her flying despite her blocking with the iron rod.
As she soared through the air, Anne could only mutter one confused word:
"Yoo?"
Anne didn't stay down for long. Surfacing from the impact, she blurred into a streak of pure energy, blitzing toward a South with terrifying velocity.
As she reached him, Anne launched a kick that felt like a falling star. a South managed to throw up his massive arms in a block, but the raw power behind the strike was too much. The shockwave didn't just ripple the water—it tore through the air behind him, creating a localized hurricane that flattened everything in its path.
"Ye... this is getting interesting," Anne remarked coolly, even as the impact sent a South tumbling backward across the lake.
But she wasn't done. Before the giant could recover, Anne spun her body in a full 360-degree rotation mid-air, channeling every ounce of her momentum into a second, crushing roundhouse kick. Caught off guard and unable to raise a defense, a South took the full brunt of the strike directly to his chest.
The sound of shattering bone echoed as his massive chest cavity visibly dented under the force of her leg. The giant roared in a mixture of agony and disbelief.
"I will kill you! Au hhh!" he bellowed, his voice vibrating with murderous intent.
Facing the titan's rage, Anne simply let a confident, chilling smile spread across her face.Anne was relentless. Closing the distance in a blur, she infused her fist with compressed AIR energy and buried it deep into a South's solar plexus.
The impact was bone-shaking. a South coughed out a spray of crimson, his massive frame buckling for a split second. But his primal rage took over. Leaping high into the air, he flattened his palm like a jagged blade, aiming straight at Anne.
"Stupid Slap!" he bellowed, bringing his hand down with the force of a falling mountain.
Anne perceived the trajectory instantly and flickered to the side. The "Stupid Slap" collided with the lake's surface, triggering a massive hydro-explosion that sent plumes of water towering into the sky.
As the spray rained down, Anne calmly wiped the moisture from her face. She slowly ran her tongue across her lips, tasting the cold lake water, a chilling smile playing on her face as she savored the thrill of the hunt.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Rio was losing his patience watching Gyau struggle underwater.
"Go deeper, man! I said deeper!" he yelled, waving his arms frantically toward the swirling depths.Marito remained rooted to the spot, his breathing steady as he adjusted his stance. His eyes never wavered from the direction where Hskisho had been sent flying moments ago.
In the distance, Hskisho rose from the wreckage with chilling composure. It was as if the previous impact had done nothing to him. Once back on his feet, he began to surge his internal energy to a level that defied reality. A massive pillar of brilliant light erupted from his body, piercing through the clouds and illuminating the entire horizon.
The sheer pressure of his aura was cataclysmic. The waters of Shizen Lake were violently displaced, surging out of the basin and crashing onto the land as if the very lake were recoiling from his presence. Amidst the roaring water and the blinding radiance, Hskisho's voice echoed with cold, murderous intent.
"I... will kill you!"
Marito didn't look away. From across the turbulent battlefield, he stared directly into Hskisho's eyes, his resolve hardening for the ultimate confrontation.Hskisho swung his weapon with a deceptive lack of effort. No visible projectile emerged, yet Marito's instincts screamed in warning. He dropped to the ground in a desperate crouch.
"What was that?" Marito muttered, his eyes widening.
In the next heartbeat, an invisible shockwave tore through the space where his head had been. A split second later, the massive trees in the forest behind him were sliced clean in half, the upper trunks sliding off the stumps before crashing into the undergrowth. Marito glanced back at the carnage. "That was close... too close."
But Hskisho gave him no room to breathe. He leaped into the atmosphere, gripping his weapon with white-knuckled intensity before plummeting toward Marito like a meteor. Forced into a defensive stance, Marito funneled every ounce of his remaining energy into his arms to meet the collision.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The earth beneath Marito's feet cratered instantly, shattering into a web of fissures as jagged rocks were sent flying across the battlefield. The raw kinetic force generated a massive shockwave that turned the lake into a chaotic mess of tidal waves.
The clashing energies surged upward, forming a pillar of light that pierced the firmament before detonating in a brilliant, sky-shattering explosion. On the sidelines, Kawsoki stared in disbelief, grabbing Rio's shoulder.
"Rio! Look over there!"
The duel between Marito and Hskisho had ascended to a realm of pure speed. To the untrained eye, they were flickering in and out of existence—appearing in one corner of the battlefield only to vanish and clash in another a split second later.
"Impressive strength!" Hskisho grunted.
Refusing to let the momentum shift, Hskisho put more weight into his swing, unleashing a horizontal arc of energy so violent it sent Marito tumbling back into the dense forest for the second time, crashing through rows of ancient timber.
Meanwhile, Anne continued her tactical assault on a South. She delivered a snapping kick to his forearm, followed instantly by a heavy roundhouse from her other leg. As the giant wobbled, Anne blurred behind him, reclaiming her discarded iron rod in one fluid motion.
With a bone-cracking thud, she hammered the rod into a South's leg, forcing the titan to drop to one knee. Not missing a beat, Anne brought a heavy strike down toward his skull.
But a South was far from finished. Even from his knees, he pivoted his massive arm at a sharp 90-degree angle, swinging with enough force to shatter stone. Anne narrowly avoided the counter-blow by leaping backward, gaining some much-needed distance.
Maintaining her offensive, Anne reached into her pockets and pulled out a handful of iron spikes. She flung them like lethal darts toward the giant. a South managed to swat most of them away, but several found their mark, sinking deep into his flesh as he let out a frustrated roar.The tide of battle shifted in an instant. Despite his injuries, a South moved with a burst of unnatural speed, flickering behind Anne in a heartbeat. Anne, however, remained unfazed. She tilted her head slightly to the side, catching his heavy strike with her iron rod just in time.
BOOM!
The collision generated a sonic boom that rippled across the lake. Gritting his teeth, a South funneled every remaining drop of his essence into a singular roar of power. "ARGHHHH!"
Farther across the battlefield, Hskisho caught the sound of his subordinate's struggle. His eyes narrowed as he disengaged from Marito, blitzing toward Anne like a streak of lightning.
Anne watched the new threat approaching and murmured coolly, "Marito... couldn't you keep him busy?"
At that moment, a South began a frantic assault, swinging his massive fists through the air. The sheer wind pressure forced Anne to retreat, causing her to drop back down beneath the creature's towering frame. a South followed up by slamming his fists into the water in a blind rage.
A small, mocking smile played on Anne's lips, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Hskisho had arrived, swinging his polearm to unleash a barrage of energy waves directly at her.
Reacting with predatory instincts, Anne snapped her waist back, performing a low, fluid dodge as the lethal crescents of energy hissed just inches above her.Anne stared down Hskisho, barely having time to register the previous dodge. Before she could reset her stance, Hskisho was already unleashing a flurry of Spatial Slashes, the invisible blades of energy cutting through the air like butter.
Hiss! Hiss!
She focused entirely on evasive maneuvers, flickering from side to side to avoid being cleaved in two. But she had forgotten about the second threat. a South, reading her movement, anticipated her dodge and launched a devastating, tree-trunk-sized fist directly at her exposed waist.
BOOM!
Anne managed to bring her iron rod into a cross-block at the very last microsecond, but the sheer kinetic force hammered into her, vibrating through her entire skeleton.
"Very... Very hard..." she gritted out, her voice barely audible over the din of battle.
But the onslaught didn't pause. Hskisho was closing in with impossible speed, disengaging from the ranged attacks to press a closer range offensive. Forced into a tight defensive loop, Anne could only meet his relentless strikes with desperate parries using her reinforcement rod.
"That's too close..."
The impact of their weapons generated shockwaves so dense that massive water walls erupted from the lake, crashing down like heavy rainfall. Under the combined, unyielding pressure, Anne was forced to concede ground, her feet skidding back across the turbulent surface as she fought to create space.Deep beneath the surface, Gyau pressed on. Rio's muffled voice echoed through the water from above: "Did you find it? It's right in front of you!"
As Gyau pushed through the dark current, he finally saw it—a glowing artifact radiating an overwhelming pressure. The energy bleeding from the fragment was so intense it felt as though it was vibrating inside his skull, rattling his very consciousness.
"This is terrifying..." Gyau whispered to the bubbles rising from his mouth.
Steeling his resolve, he gripped the Shizen fragment tightly and kicked hard toward the surface. He burst through the water, gasping for air, and thrust the artifact into the sky like a trophy.
"I got it, guys!" he bellowed triumphantly.
But his victory was cut short. Directly in his path, standing on the water as if it were solid ground, was a mysterious figure who had appeared out of nowhere. The stranger looked down at him with a casual, mocking smirk.
"Yo? Kid?"
The newcomer's presence was unlike anything they had faced so far—silent, unpredictable, and dangerously calm.The mysterious figure fixed a predatory gaze on the fragment in Gyau's trembling hand. His voice was devoid of emotion, a cold command that cut through the sound of the wind.
"Hand it over to me."
Seeing an opening, Kawsoki blurred into motion, swinging his heavy iron rod from behind with enough force to shatter a boulder. But the man didn't even bother to turn around. With a casual flick of his wrist, he caught the incoming rod between just two fingers, halting its momentum instantly.
"Weaker...?" he murmured, a trace of boredom in his tone.
Rio, sensing the immense gap in their power levels, knew they couldn't hold back. He drew his blade and lunged forward, executing a horizontal slash aimed at the man's midsection with lethal intent.
But the stranger moved like a phantom. He bypassed Rio's guard in a heartbeat and delivered a crushing front kick directly into Rio's sternum.
CRACK!
The impact sent Rio soaring backward, skipping across the lake's surface like a flat stone before vanishing into a cloud of mist. Gyau and Kawsoki stood frozen, realizing that they weren't just facing another warrior—they were facing a monster.Gyau didn't hesitate. He raised his sidearm and emptied the clip at the mysterious stranger. But the man didn't even flinch. To Gyau's absolute horror, the stranger caught every single bullet with his teeth, spitting them out like pumpkin seeds.
Gyau gave a slow, trembling thumbs up. "Yep 👍... I know... I need to run!"
He bolted into the forest without looking back, his heart hammering against his ribs. But the stranger was like a ghost. He flickered into existence right in front of Gyau and delivered a gut-wrenching punch that sent Gyau sprawling. Before Gyau could even register the pain, the Shizen fragment was gone—plucked from his hand by the stranger.
Meanwhile, Anne was struggling to stay afloat against the combined might of a South and Hskisho. a South launched a devastating low kick. Anne moved with predatory speed, using her iron rod to brace against the impact.
But it was a diversion. As she focused on the giant's power, Hskisho capitalized on her split-second commitment. He blurred into her guard and delivered a high-impact kick that broke her defense completely.
CRASH!
The force sent Anne skipping across the water like a pebble, her body vanishing into a wall of mist as the enemies stood triumphant. The situation had gone from bad to catastrophic.Anne struggled to her feet, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Just as she braced for the next onslaught, a strange heat began to radiate from the dark forest. Steam billowed from the treeline as a figure emerged from the shadows.
It was Marito. But he was different. His body was shedding intense heat, and his eyes had turned a haunting, solid white. Before anyone could react, he blurred into a streak of pure radiance, appearing in the heart of the battlefield in a microsecond.
Without a word, Marito launched a fist toward Hskisho. Hskisho met the strike with his own fist, channeling every ounce of his power into the collision.
BOOM!
The resulting explosion of light was so blinding that even Anne and a South found it nearly impossible to keep their eyes open. The entire area was swallowed by a brilliant radiance as the two forces clashed.
Anne glanced at Marito's transformed state and let out a sharp, confident laugh. "Perfect timing, Marito. I'm heading back to check on Rio and the others."
Marito didn't look away from his foe. A single, cold command left his lips: "Come on!"
Hskisho roared in response, charging headlong into Marito with reckless abandon. With a nod, Anne retreated from the main clash, racing toward the forest. On the lake, the white-eyed predator and the guardian king prepared for their final, soul-crushing exchange.Marito decided to clear the board. Ignoring Hskisho for a split second, he blurred toward a South with predatory speed. Before the giant could raise a guard, Marito buried a glowing fist deep into his abdomen.
The impact was so blistering that it didn't just break bone—it incinerated flesh. Thick plumes of black smoke erupted from the point of contact, leaving a South with a massive, cauterized burn mark on his torso. The giant staggered back, gasping as the intense heat seared through his internal organs.
Capitalizing on Marito's focus on a South, Hskisho lunged forward with a concentrated punch. Marito, sensing the threat from behind without even turning his head, leaped forward to dodge the strike.
But Hskisho was relentless. Predicting Marito's landing, he accelerated even further, closing the gap instantly and delivering a crushing roundhouse kick to Marito's exposed back.
THUD!
The force sent Marito skipping across the lake's surface, his white eyes flickering as he stabilized himself. The two warriors were now moving at speeds that distorted the very air around them, each strike more lethal than the last.Anne locked eyes with the intruder, her presence radiating a quiet menace. "Who the hell are you?"
The man toyed with the Shizen fragment in his palm, a mocking grin stretching across his face. "Me? I belong to the AOC."
"So, you're from that lot..." Anne didn't waste another breath. She blurred into motion, launching a high-velocity kick aimed at his temple. The stranger reacted instantly, blocking the strike with his forearm before driving a heavy counter-kick into Anne's midsection.
"Gah!" Anne gasped, but she recovered her footing before she even hit the ground.
Across the lake, Marito continued his deadly dance with Hskisho. He flickered through the air, narrowly dodging the spatial slashes as he ascended. From his vantage point in the sky, he pinpointed Hskisho's position and plummeted like a fallen star, fist glowing with white-hot intensity.
Hskisho funneled his aura into his weapon, a feral grin touching his lips. "Impressive!"
The resulting clash was cataclysmic, sending waves of raw energy rippling across the battlefield. Meanwhile, Anne was relentless, hammering her iron rod toward the AOC operative's head with bone-crushing force, forcing him into a desperate defensive rhythm. Every fighter on the field was now operating at their absolute peak, weaving a tapestry of violence and high-level martial prowess.The AOC operative snatched Anne's leg mid-air and hurled her across the field with effortless strength. Anne stabilized herself in flight, skidding across the ground before launching a relentless counter-offensive.
The stranger remained chillingly calm, drifting backward with minimal movement, parrying Anne's lightning-fast kicks with the hardness of his bare fists.
"What is the AOC doing here?" Anne demanded between strikes. "Did you know Lord Shizen was here from the start?"
The man chuckled, a sound devoid of warmth. "No. We weren't looking for him. We were looking at you. From the moment you left Tokyo and crossed into this territory, I was ordered to shadow your every move."
Refusing to be baited, Anne leaped into the air and brought a crushing downward kick onto the man's extended arm. Meanwhile, Kawsoki was frantically shaking his comrades.
"Wake up, Gyau! Rio! Move it!"
"Ugh... my stomach..." Gyau groaned, clutching his midsection as he sat up. "I seriously thought I was a goner for a second there."
Rio shook the stars from his vision and looked toward the fray. "There's Anne... she came back for us. She's holding that monster off all by herself!"Anne locked herself in a high-speed trade with the AOC operative. Reaching into her pocket, she flung a fresh batch of iron nails at him. The stranger dodged them with fluid grace, looking unimpressed—until Anne tightly clenched her fist.
BOOM!
The nails embedded in the ground around him detonated simultaneously, catching him in a ring of fire. It was a calculated trap from the start.
Across the lake, Marito was fighting for survival. Hskisho surged his weapon with an immense quantity of essence and delivered a downward strike with the force of a collapsing star. Marito raised his arms in an X-shaped cross-block, but the defense shattered. He was sent skimming across the water, coughing out a spray of blood as his internal organs groaned under the impact.
Hskisho pursued him relentlessly, his strikes creating a series of sharp, whip-like cracks—Phraung! Phraung!—in the air.
However, Marito rose once more. The steam radiating from his body had transformed from a faint mist into a brilliant, pure white vapor. This was the core of his power: the weaker his physical state became, the purer and more volatile his white energy manifested.
Marito began to weave through Hskisho's onslaught with spectral elegance. But Hskisho was a king for a reason. He flickered behind Marito, grabbed him by the back of the head, and slammed him face-first into the surface of the lake with bone-shattering momentum.Marito rose like a vengeful ghost, seizing Hskisho's arm with a desperate grip. He swung a concentrated fist into Hskisho's face, but the guardian king barely flinched. With terrifying coldness, Hskisho countered with a devastating plunge-punch directly into Marito's solar plexus.
CRASH!
Marito skipped across the water before coming to a halt on trembling knees. As he clutched his bleeding abdomen, the world began to spin. His vision blurred into a hazy white, the edges of his consciousness fraying as he fought to stay awake.
Nearby, Anne's struggle had reached a boiling point. She funneled her remaining essence into a heavy strike, but the AOC operative dipped beneath her guard and delivered a brutal side-kick to her ribs.
"F*ck!" Anne hissed through gritted teeth. She recovered instantly, launching a high-aimed kick at his skull, but the man was faster. He snatched her ankle out of the air and slammed her head-first into the dirt with bone-chilling force.
"Agh!" Anne cried out as the impact rattled her spine.
Rio watched the scene, his heart sinking. "Anne... she's at her limit."
Inside Rio's mind, a mysterious voice echoed: (Yo... kid... need a hand?)
Rio didn't answer the voice. He turned to Kawsoki, resolve hardening in his eyes. "Kawsoki, we have to help her. Now!"
"I don't think we stand a chance..." Kawsoki whispered, but Gyau, still clutching his wounded stomach, stood up with a grimace.
"Doesn't matter. We're going in. Together!"
After Anne collapsed, Kawsoki, Gyau, and Rio launched a desperate combined assault. However, the gap in prowess was too vast, and they were struck down within moments. But as Rio lay on the ground, a chilling transformation began to take root in his soul.
(Internal Dialogue - Rio: "Can I have 4 minutes?" )
(Internal Dialogue - Neroli: "Easy. Just leave it to me." )
Symbols and ancient markings began to etch themselves across Rio's skin. The atmosphere grew heavy as Neroli's essence manifested through Rio's body.
BOOM!
With speed that defied the laws of physics, Rio (Neroli) vanished and reappeared in front of the AOC operative. He buried a devastating punch into the man's midsection. The impact was so colossal that the operative was sent soaring through the forest, skipping over the treeline until he slammed into the distant mountainside.
Neroli, speaking through Rio's lips, chuckled darkly. "Keep me entertained, kid! 🤣"
Clutching his shattered abdomen on the rocky mountain slope, the AOC agent gasped for air, his eyes wide with shock. "How... how is this possible? What did he just become?"
The AOC operative stared in disbelief at the creature inhabiting Rio's body. "This feeling... it's a fragment of Lord Shizen's soul. But it's far too savage, far too powerful!"
Driven by desperation, he leaped into the air, rubbing his palms together to ignite his ultimate technique. "TORE!"
A colossal beam of crimson energy erupted, surging toward Neroli with enough force to level a city block. Neroli didn't even flinch. He simply raised a single finger, manifesting a golden barrier that halted the crimson beam in its tracks.
"Impossible!" the man gasped.
In a blur of motion, Neroli was upon him. He delivered a gut-wrenching kick and snatched the Shizen fragment from the operative's grip. "This energy... it belongs to me," Neroli murmured before casually tossing the fragment into his mouth and swallowing it whole.
Rio's voice screamed inside his head: "What are you doing?! Marito and the others worked so hard to find that!"
"IDC... 😑" Neroli grumbled. "But why can't I fully possess this vessel yet? Are two fragments still not enough?"
The operative made one last, frantic charge, but Neroli caught his fist with a bored expression and crushed the bones to powder. "Hahahahaha! Weaker!" Neroli roared, his laughter echoing across the mountain. He clenched his fist, and a golden barrier constricted around the man, crushing him into a spray of crimson mist.
Miles away, atop a skyscraper in a distant city, a man suddenly collapsed, coughing up dark, visceral blood.
"What happened?" his companion asked, rushing over. "Was your clone destroyed?"
"Yes..." the man wheezed, wiping the blood from his chin. "My clone... it was slaughtered. That thing... is a lord Shizen."
On the skyscraper, the operative wiped the blood from his chin and looked at his comrade. "Believe it or not... that was Lord Shizen. Just one fragment of his soul, and he crushed me without effort. To make it worse, he swallowed the fragment I secured!"
His companion frowned deeply. "For real? A single soul fragment shouldn't be that savage. Something is very wrong."
Back at the battlefield, the markings on Rio's skin faded as the 4-minute limit expired. Rio forced his eyes open, gasping as reality hit him. "No... Marito is going to kill me! I can't believe that guy just ate the artifact!"
Anne stood up, leaning on her rod for support. "I saw everything, Rio. But forget that for now. We need to save Marito!"
Inside Rio's mind, Neroli was fuming with regret.
(Internal Dialogue - Neroli: "Fck! Why can't I fully dominate this brat's body yet? If I had known it would be this difficult, I would have never left that house!" )*
On the lake, Hskisho froze as he stared toward the source of the recent explosion. The aura he felt was unmistakable.
"Lord Shizen Sameeeeeee !!!"
While Hskisho stood paralyzed by shock, Marito remained unconscious on the water's surface, and a South lay nearby, his body smoking from the burns.
Anne flickered into position directly in front of Hskisho. Despite her battered state, she maintained a hauntingly calm demeanor. "Yo."
Hskisho prepared to strike, but his gaze fell upon his own hand. To his horror, the three sacred marks etched near the base of his thumb were vibrating violently, beginning to crack and dissipateGlancing at the unconscious Marito and then toward Rio, Hskisho realized the gravity of the situation. He reached down, hoisting the charred body of a South over his shoulder.
"Among you stands the Vessel of Lord Shizen," Hskisho declared, his voice a low rumble. "For that reason alone, I shall grant you mercy today."
Without another word, he plunged back into the depths of the lake, his presence vanishing beneath the dark waves. The chaotic battlefield fell into an eerie, heavy silence.
Anne hoisted Marito's limp body onto her shoulder and made her way back to the shore. As she reached the treeline where the others waited, she barked an order at Gyau.
"Gyau! Go get the car we stashed. Now!"
Gyau, still clutching his wounded abdomen, gave a sharp nod. "On it! I know exactly where I left it. I'll be back in a flash!"
As the adrenaline faded, the group piled into the getaway car, leaving the battlefield behind. Gyau gripped the steering wheel with suspicious confidence.
"Gyau... do you even have a license?" Anne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope! But I know how to drive, okay? Relax!" Gyau chirped, swerving slightly as he found his rhythm.
In the back seat, Marito sat with his head in his hands, staring at Rio in disbelief. "Rio... you actually ate it? 😩😩 That was our mission, man! Do you have any idea how hard we worked to find that fragment?"
"I'm sorry, really," Rio apologized, looking genuinely guilty.
Marito let out a long, weary sigh. "Unbelievable. Just... unbelievable."
Gyau, ever the optimist, tried to change the subject. "Wow! Even when we get home, we still have ten days before school starts!"
"This has been the most peak vacation ever," Kawsoki interjected, leaning back against the seat.They continued driving through the winding mountain roads, the scenery a blur of lush green forests and jagged peaks. After a while, Gyau's stomach let out a loud growl.
"Anyone else hungry?"
"What's around here?" Rio asked.
"No clue, but there's gotta be a roadside diner somewhere," Gyau said, scrolling through his phone. "Wait, Google Maps found something! 'Sakura Soba Shop'. Let's head there!"
The group settled into the cozy atmosphere of the Sakura Soba Shop. The steam from the freshly served bowls carried a nutty, comforting aroma that seemed to wash away the fatigue of the previous battles.
"So, how is it? Good?" Gyau asked, his cheeks puffed out with noodles.
Anne took a graceful sip of the broth and smiled. "It's as beautiful as I am. These dishes are absolutely perfect for a lady's palate."
"Lunch is on me today!" Gyau declared heroically, waving his chopsticks. Meanwhile, Kawsoki was far too busy devouring his meal to offer any commentary, focused entirely on the savory soba in front of him.
As they began to finish their meal, Anne turned to Marito with a suggestion.
"Marito, since we're in the area, why don't we visit the Ontake-jinja Shrine (Otaki) Satomiya? It's supposed to be breathtaking."
Marito's eyes lit up with recognition. "Yep! I see that place on the internet all the time. The ancient architecture and the spiritual vibe... it's definitely worth a visit. Let's go!"
The group stood at the base of the majestic Ontake-jinja Shrine. The ancient stone steps stretched upward, disappearing into the lush canopy of the sacred mountain.
"By the way, Gyau," Marito asked, glancing at his friend. "Where exactly did you get all that cash?"
Gyau smirked, patting his wallet. "Man, who goes on a trip without money? I initially brought a lot of cash thinking we'd be staying at expensive hotels. Since we ended up roughing it on the mountain, I've got plenty to spare. That's why I'm treatin' everyone! Did you bring anything at all, Marito?"
Marito let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ahaha... of course I did, man. Of course..."
Kawsoki groaned as he looked at the incline. "So many stairs... the path never ends!"
Anne, however, was in her own world. She had her phone out, snapping aesthetic photos of the moss-covered statues and the sunlight filtering through the trees. Rio followed behind them, casually sipping from a cold soda can as if he hadn't just fought for his life a few hours ago.
Since it was midday, the shrine grounds were bustling with tourists and locals alike. Marito breathed in the crisp mountain air, a look of genuine awe on his face.
"Yaa... this is absolutely cool."
Gyau leaned in toward Rio as they descended the shrine steps. "Hey Rio, you know what? I actually saw this place in an anime once."
Rio, in his usual deadpan tone, replied, "So?"
"Yeah... nothing, man. Just wanted you to know," Gyau muttered, slightly embarrassed. They spent the rest of the afternoon ringing the sacred bells and admiring the crystal-clear waterfalls of the sanctuary.
"Phew! That was refreshing," Gyau exhaled.
As evening approached, they prepared for the long drive back to Tokyo. Marito stepped up this time. "I'll take the wheel," he said, settling into the driver's seat.
The journey home quickly turned into a concert. Gyau started it off, belting out at the top of his lungs, "Stay with meeeeeee...🥴🥴"
To everyone's surprise, Anne joined in flawlessly: "Mayonaka no door o tataki..."
Then Marito chimed in: "Kaeranaide to naita..."
Even Kawsoki added a rhythmic "Mawarete..." while Rio tried to interrupt with a confused "Ano..."
"Wow! You guys like Matsubara Miki too?" Gyau asked, eyes wide with excitement.
"Are you kidding?" Anne laughed. "She's iconic! I have her songs on repeat all the time!"
The car was filled with laughter and the timeless vibes of Japanese City Pop as they sped toward the neon lights of Tokyo, the shadows of their battles finally replaced by the warmth of friendship.Marito pulled the car to a halt at a street corner under the neon glow of Tokyo. Everyone was exhausted, but the bond between them felt stronger than ever.
"I'll drop you guys off here. Get home safe—it's getting late," Marito said.
As Gyau hopped out, he waved. "Don't forget to call us for the next mission!" Marito gave a short nod, and he and Anne drove off into the night.
Gyau turned to Rio. "Hey Rio, can I crash at your place tonight? You're living alone since your mom is in Osaka anyway. Let's hang out."
Kawsoki grinned. "Count me in! Let's recap all those peak moments from the trip."
Rio let out a small laugh and nodded. "Sure, come on over."
Gyau whispered a little confession as they walked. "To be honest, I just don't want to go back to my house this late at night."
Soon, they were inside Rio's cozy apartment. Gyau immediately raided the kitchen. "Man, is there nothing to eat? It's just instant noodles in here!"
Rio watched Gyau grumble with a silent, tired smile. Suddenly, Gyau's eyes lit up. "Wait! Let's have an instant noodle party!"
"Yo Rio! Let's just drink Cola and chill!" Kawsoki added, already reaching for the fridge.
In the quiet of the Tokyo night, Rio's room was filled with the smell of steaming noodles and the warmth of a friendship that had just survived the impossible.
Inside Rio's room, the aroma of instant noodles mingled with the frantic sounds of a boss battle on the TV. The three of them were locked in a co-op game, but Gyau was dragging the team down.
"Gyau, did your skills just get trashed?" Rio asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"No way, man!" Gyau protested.
Kawsoki snapped. "F*ck! What are you even doing? I'm literally fighting for my life against this boss!"
"Wait, wait! It's not me! My controller buttons are lagging a bit!" Gyau made his classic excuse.
Rio sighed. "We're all using the same controllers, Gyau. How is yours the only one lagging?"
"Ah! There! See? It's fixed now!" Gyau insisted, diving back in. A few moments later...
"Argh! Fuk! Gyau! Are you trying to kill ME instead of the boss?" Kawsoki roared. "A third-grader plays better than you!"
Gyau pouted. "Come on, I'm exhausted from the trip!"
"And we aren't?" Rio retorted.
Gyau pulled the friendship card. "We're best friends, man! Plus, my stomach still hurts from where that weird AOC guy kicked me. I'm done, I need to rest."
Kawsoki stood up and gave Gyau a playful kick. "Get out of here with your KG-level skills! Don't you ever play games with me again, you noob!"
Laughter and bickering filled the room as the long day finally wound down in the heart of Tokyo.
The next morning, Gyau dragged Kawsoki and Rio to his mother's eye clinic.
"Are you serious about this, Gyau?" Kawsoki groaned as they stood in the lobby.
"Yes! I'm bored to death by myself, alright? Rio, you're coming too!" Gyau insisted.
Once inside, Gyau tried to reassure them. "Just wait a bit. My mom asked me to keep an eye on the place for a second. I'll give you guys a ride later." Kawsoki looked around, impressed. "Your mom's clinic is actually pretty cool, man." Gyau gave a proud thumbs-up. "Yep! 👍"
As they were waiting for Gyau's mother, a foreigner walked through the door. Kawsoki whispered to Rio, "Yo, check it out... a foreigner."
Gyau, trying to act professional, blurted out, "Hello!"
The man responded with a long string of English: "Hello! Blah blah blah..."
Gyau's brain short-circuited. He shot a desperate look at Rio, his face screaming 'What is he saying?!'. Still, he tried to manage. "Are... sit down!"
"OK, of course," the man replied, taking a seat. Gyau mustered up his best English. "What happened?"
The foreigner pointed to his eyes. "My eyes aren't feeling great today. Can you check them for me?"
Gyau looked at Rio again, completely lost. Rio stepped forward with unearned confidence.
"Of course, brother!" Rio declared.
Gyau stared at Rio, eyes wide. "Wait, do you actually understand English?"
Rio leaned in and whispered back, "No. I just repeated the same word he used!"
Gyau led the man into the examination room and motioned for him to lie down on the bed.
The foreigner tried to explain his situation again: "I was on the train and someone accidentally punched me in the eye when the carriage jolted. It's been hurting ever since."
Gyau turned to Rio, confused. "Rio, did he just say 'Punch'? Who the hell comes to a clinic and asks to get punched?"
Rio thought about it for a second, recalling his own traumatic childhood memories. "Wait, it might be a special treatment! Remember how doctors used to hold us down for injections? Maybe he needs a 'counter-punch' to reset his eye or something. We have to do it!"
Gyau nodded, feeling heroic. "Alright, I'll do the honors." He raised his fist, looking at the man with a reassuring smile. "Is okay bro! That's be fine!"
And then—BAM! Gyau delivered a solid right hook straight into the man's already bruised eye.
"HEYYY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" the foreigner screamed, clutching his face and jumping off the bed in agony.
Gyau looked genuinely shocked. "But bro... you said Punch! What wrong?!"
Rio frantically pulled out his phone and opened Google Translate. After a few seconds, his face went pale. "Ahhh... crap. Our English is really, really bad. Sorry! Sorry!" Rio shot Gyau a look that said, 'We are so dead.'
The foreigner, now with a massive black eye, stood up in a rage. "I'm leaving! This place is insane!"
As he stormed out, he ran right into Gyau's mother at the door. She gasped, looking at the man's swollen face. "Hello sir! What happened to your eye? It looks much worse than a normal bruise!"
After learning the truth, Gyau's mom had to bow repeatedly, apologizing profusely to the bewildered foreigner with a face red from embarrassment. Sensing the impending doom, Gyau whispered, "Time to go!" and bolted out of the clinic before his mom could grab a broom.
Kawsoki and Rio chased after him, and they eventually took refuge inside a nearby Manga store.
"Wow! Check it out, my favorite manga is here!" Kawsoki exclaimed, picking up a volume from the shelf.
Gyau, instantly forgetting his near-death experience at the clinic, peeked over. "What is it?"
"One Piece, obviously!" Kawsoki replied.
Gyau's eyes lit up. "Yeee! I'm a massive One Piece fan too! Who's your favorite character in the series?"
Kawsoki thought for a moment before giving a sly grin. "Nico Robin."
Gyau slapped Kawsoki on the back, laughing. "Yee! We have the same taste, man! Hahaha! Robin is definitely the best!"
While those two were bonding over their waifus, Rio was on a mission of his own. He ignored their chatter and moved from aisle to aisle, grabbing every manga volume he had been wanting to read and heading straight for the counter.
The neon lights of Shibuya flickered to life, but for Gyau, everything felt gray. As they walked near an underpass, Gyau looked like he was about to burst into tears.
"Momoshi's group is over there... man, I'm having the worst luck today," Gyau sighed.
Kawsoki looked at him sideways. "What now?"
"I lost the concert tickets..."
Kawsoki stopped in his tracks. "What concert?"
"Idol Masashi's concert."
Kawsoki's expression went stone-cold. "Wait. Does that include my ticket too?"
"Yep..." Gyau muttered, avoiding eye contact.
"F*ck! I gave you that money because I've been dying to see this show!" Kawsoki shouted, his voice echoing under the bridge. "The concert is TONIGHT, Gyau!"
Suddenly, Rio, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, stepped forward. His aura felt heavier than when he fought the AOC operatives. He stared at Gyau with wide, frantic eyes.
"Oi... what did you just say? Did you seriously just lose the tickets for Masashi's concert?!"
Rio grabbed Gyau's shoulders, his face a mask of pure despair. For a die-hard Masashi fan like Rio, this wasn't just bad luck—it was a declaration of war.Rio shook Gyau by the shoulders, his patience wearing thin. "F*ck! Where did you lose them?! Tell me exactly when they vanished!"
Gyau took a deep breath, looking like a man who had seen the end of the world. "I had them this morning, man! But then I went to a diner, and that's when my bad luck started. I saw Kakami's gang from school bullying that new kid. I was going to help... but then I got lazy and just left."
Kawsoki massaged his temples. "Keep going..."
"So I'm riding my bike, right? And I run into the Sakura Gang from the other school. I tried to dodge them, but a cat jumped in front of my bike. I swerved and fell straight into a gutter! After I crawled out, I went to my favorite Ramen shop. The new waiter there spilled hot broth all over me. That was my second 'bath' of the day."
Gyau sighed, his voice trembling. "Then I remembered I had to meet you guys. On the way, I saw a little girl eating ice cream being teased by some brats. I told them to 'get along,' and those little monsters threw their ice cream sticks at me! That was my third 'bath'..."
He finished with a look of pure defeat. "I thought I was safe after that, but a delivery guy crashed right into me on the sidewalk. That was my fourth 'bath' of the day. So you see..."
Rio stared at Gyau, his eye twitching. He finally snapped.
"Wait a damn minute... what does ANY of that have to do with the tickets?! I'm asking you WHERE THE TICKETS ARE, not your daily bath schedule!!!"
Gyau lowered his voice, trying to explain the unexplainable.
"Oi... listen! That's where it started. I had the tickets in my pocket as I was walking. But the crowd was so thick, man. And then... the tickets just vanished."
Rio stared at him, bewildered. "F*ck! Are you serious? The tickets just vanished like that? That's very magical, Gyau. Tell me the truth!"
Gyau finally crumbled under the pressure.
"Ahh... well... if I'm being honest... they got soaked and tore into pieces."
Kawsoki's face went pale.
"F*ck! If you're going to take four baths a day, at least learn how to keep your pockets dry! Now I'm never going to see Masashi!"
"My bad... 😞" Gyau muttered, staring at his feet.
Kawsoki clutched his chest in dramatic despair. "F*ck! I just want to die! If I don't see Masashi tonight, it feels like I'm having a heart attack. My one chance to see my idol, and it's literally washed away!"The classroom was buzzing with excitement as students caught up after the break. But Kawsoki remained a statue, staring out the window with a void in his eyes.
That's when Marior walked over to Rio and the group.
"Rio! Where did you guys end up going for the holidays?" Marior asked with a friendly grin.
Gyau answered for him, "We went mountain climbing, man!"
Marior raised an eyebrow. "Wow, cool 😎! I just went to the beach. But hey... what's up with Kawsoki? He looks like he just lost his soul or something."
Rio sighed, glancing at their catatonic friend. Kawsoki didn't even blink, completely oblivious to Marior's presence. Inside his head, the name "Masashi" was probably on a heartbreaking loop.
Gyau leaned in and whispered to Marior, "Don't bother him right now. He lost something very precious to his life last night... he's in deep trauma."
The school rooftop was breezy and quiet, the perfect spot for the group to share their lunch. Rio, Gyau, Kawsoki, Marior, and Tochi sat in a circle, opening their bento boxes.
"Wow, Gyau! This side dish you brought is actually very good!" Rio remarked, his chopsticks moving fast as he raided Gyau's box.
Gyau looked over at Kawsoki, trying to gauge his mood. "I've got even better stuff at home, man. Just let me know if you want more." It was obvious Gyau was using high-quality food as a peace offering for the concert ticket disaster.
Marior took a bite of his lunch and reminded everyone, "We have P.E. class today. Don't eat too much or you'll cramp up."
Kawsoki seemed to be snapping out of his funk. "Yep, of course. The coach is always making us run laps like crazy anyway."
But Tochi, who was a regular in the Football Club, shook his head. "No, man. Today is going to be serious sports day. We're competing against another school next month, so the training starts now. They might even pick the starting lineup today!"
Rio, however, wasn't bothered by the upcoming competition. He was too busy focused on his own mission: scavenging every last piece of meat from Gyau's lunch box.All the students gathered on the field, dressed in their P.E. kits. The coach blew his whistle loudly and shouted his orders.
"Listen up! I'm going to give you some real training today. To start things off, I want everyone to run 5 laps around this field. Move it!"
Kawsoki's jaw dropped. He turned his head slowly toward Tochi, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Tochi... what exactly did you tell us earlier?"
Tochi, who had hyped everyone up about an epic football match and selection trials on the rooftop, suddenly acted like he had amnesia. He looked away, staring at the clouds and whistling a tune, pretending to be completely oblivious to the situation.
After completing the grueling 5 laps, the students collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily. Gyau was struggling the most, making loud "Huu... Ha... Huu... Ha..." sounds as if his lungs were about to give out.
The P.E. teacher stepped forward. "Alright! Now that your warm-up is over, I'm going to teach you how to kick a football!"
Hearing this, Tochi shot a smug look back at Kawsoki, his "I told you so" expression returning instantly.
The coach held up a ball and continued, "Listen up! First, you must learn the proper technique for kicking. We start with the fundamentals."
One student spoke up, "But Coach... we already know how to play football."
The coach's face darkened, and he barked out an order that echoed across the field. "I'm the teacher here, got it?! Now listen! Do exactly what I say first!"
As the P.E. session came to an end, the exhausted students headed back to the locker rooms.
Tochi nudged Kawsoki with a smirk. "Didn't I tell you, Kawsoki? I told you we'd be playing football!"
Kawsoki, still catching his breath, just waved him off. "Oi... okay, fine. You were right."
Before they were dismissed, the P.E. teacher gathered everyone one last time. "Listen up! Make sure you've all picked a club by now. We have competitions coming up next month!"
After school, Rio walked back home alone through the streets of Shibuya. Once inside, he fell into his usual routine—watching anime and playing video games to relax.
But something felt off today. Rio set his controller down and sighed in frustration.
"Man... without that idiot around, I can't even play this game right!"
He was talking about Gyau, as they usually played together online. Right then, his phone began to vibrate with an incoming call.
"Yo! It's me... Death."
Rio glanced at the screen and answered with respect. "Oi, Death-sama... what's up?"
"Are you free?"
"Yep. Why?"
Death-sama's voice sounded unusually serious, yet intrigued. "Good. I have something to show you."
After receiving the call, Rio quickly hailed a taxi to head to the location Death had mentioned.
"Sir, take me to the place with all the buildings," Rio said. The taxi driver scratched his head. "Kid, this is Shibuya. There are buildings everywhere. Give me a specific location!"
Rio had no choice but to call Death back. "Death, where exactly is it? The driver needs a specific spot."
Death paused for a moment. "You know that place with all the skyscrapers... yeah, just come there!" Only then could Rio give the driver the right directions.
Shibuya was glowing with brilliant neon lights, looking magnificent in the middle of the night. Even though it was late, the place was packed with people as if a festival was going on. When Rio arrived at the structure, he spotted Death standing tall atop the building. Death then emerged from a quiet alleyway and led Rio into a nearby park that was bustling with life, a place crowded with people even late at night.
Right there in the middle of the crowded park, Death turned to Rio and asked:
"Death: Marior told me... that you actually consumed the power of Lord Shizen. Is that true?"
Rio nodded firmly and confirmed amidst the noise of the crowd, "Yes,Death same'
Death: Come with me... Shibuya's night view is pretty cool, isn't it?"
As soon as Death spoke, he reached out and touched Rio's hand. In the blink of an eye, they teleported away from the bustling crowd and reappeared atop a pitch-black skyscraper.
The neon lights of Shibuya now glowed far beneath their feet. Strong winds howled across the rooftop as they stood in the shadows.
Death stared at Rio, his voice dropping into a serious tone.
"I want to meet Lord Shizen's power. According to what Anne said, the one inside you is much stronger."
Rio looked surprised. "But Death... you've already defeated double the spirit of Lord Shizen in the past, haven't you?"
Death shook his head, his cold eyes fixed on Rio.
"They say the one inside your body is far more brutal. So... go ahead and bring him out for a moment."
Death... I'm not going to keep talking then," he said. Instantly, black markings began to crawl and cover his entire body.
In a split second, Rio transformed into Neroli and lunged forward with a devastating punch.
BOOM!
But something strange happened. The moment Neroli's fist made contact with Death's body, all the momentum and kinetic energy turned to Zero. Everything went dead still.
Neroli gasped in disbelief. "What the...?! What is this?!"
Death calmly grabbed Neroli's arm and flung him high into the clouds. As he soared through the air, Neroli quickly manifested a Barrier in the sky to catch himself. Standing firm on his energy platform, Neroli raised his hand, unleashing massive Shock Waves aimed directly at Death.
However, the moment those Shock Waves reached Death, they vanished into nothingness.
Death looked up at Neroli and spoke with an icy composure.
"My power turns any attack directed at me into Zero. No matter what kind of attack it is... it becomes meaningless the moment it reaches me.
After Neroli's shock waves vanished, Death smirked coldly.
"Your attacks might become Zero when they reach me... but I can release that same energy back at twice the power (2x)."
The moment Death spoke, the very shock waves Neroli had unleashed came roaring back at him, twice as large and twice as fast. Neroli tried to dodge, but in a split second, Death had already teleported directly behind him.
Death delivered a kick. It looked like a casual, effortless tap, but the impact was catastrophic.
BOOM!!!
Neroli was sent flying across the horizon, disappearing into the distant clouds. Death instantly reappeared beside the struggling Neroli, hovering in mid-air.
Looking down with an indifferent gaze, Death asked:
"So, is this all the 'strongest' from 15,000 years ago has to offer?"
Hearing those words, Rio fought to regain control of his body. The dark markings faded away, and he returned to his normal self.
Panting heavily, Rio looked up and asked, "Are you alright... Death-same?"
Death simply gave a thumbs up and replied calmly, "I'm okay! 👍"Inside the Hot Pot restaurant, Death started putting meat into the boiling pot while looking at Rio.
"Death: Do you want to know what I'm going to show you?"
"Go ahead," Rio replied, his eyes fixed on the cooking meat.
Death suddenly turned serious. "What I want to say is... I'm the strongest!" Rio stared at him, puzzled. "Wait... is that what you wanted to show me?"
Death grinned. "Just kidding. Anyway..." He pulled out a mysterious red paper from his pocket and laid it on the table. "What do you think? What do you feel from this?"
Rio focused his senses on the red paper. "Oh... the vibe from this is a bit similar to those AoC guys."
Death nodded, his expression darkening. "Exactly. Those idiots are the ones who want to change the whole world to suit them.