The battlefield fell into an unsettling silence.
The storm still howled across the ruined Elarion Forest Village, but nobody moved.
Everyone's attention remained fixed on Goro.
He slowly flexed his fingers, feeling the countless energies flowing through his body. His smile widened with every passing second.
"So this is what it feels like..."
"...to understand."
The air around him distorted as different spiritual energies intertwined. Wind danced around his body while another unfamiliar aura gradually emerged.
Shougo's expression hardened.
"Everyone, don't let him keep adapting."
Kairo charged first.
The Black Spartan erupted with Reikou as he swung with enough force to split the earth.
But before the blade reached him—
Goro disappeared.
"...!"
Kairo's eyes widened.
The movement...
It wasn't wind.
It was speed.
An overwhelming burst of speed.
Goro reappeared several meters away without a single sound.
Yura's pupils shrank.
"...That's my movement."
Goro looked at his own feet before taking another step.
The ground exploded beneath him.
"I see..."
"So this is how your body moves."
"Magnificent."
Yura clenched her fists.
"He copied my speed..."
Without warning, both of them vanished.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Shockwaves erupted throughout the battlefield as Yura desperately tried to keep up. For the first time, someone matched her movement perfectly.
No...
He wasn't matching it anymore.
He was beginning to surpass it.
Every exchange forced Yura farther back until Goro suddenly appeared beside her and drove his knee into her stomach.
BOOOM!
Yura crashed through three massive trees before finally stopping.
She coughed up blood.
"...Impossible..."
Kimimaru wasted no time.
He raised the Zweihander as a strange spiritual pressure spread across the battlefield.
"Astral Lock."
Invisible chains formed around Goro's soul, attempting to bind it in place.
For a brief second...
It worked.
Goro couldn't move.
"...A soul-binding technique."
His smile slowly returned.
"I understand now."
The chains shattered.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Then...
A second set of spectral chains appeared.
Not from Kimimaru.
From Goro.
Kimimaru's eyes widened.
"He copied it..."
The chains shot toward Shougo.
Their target wasn't his body.
It was his soul.
The battlefield held its breath.
The chains passed directly through him.
Nothing happened.
Goro blinked.
"...What?"
Shougo calmly looked at the chains surrounding him before they dissolved into nothing.
"My body isn't the only thing that's untouchable."
"My passive intangibility extends to everything connected to my existence."
"The technique can't lock onto something it cannot truly reach."
For the first time...
Goro frowned.
"...How troublesome."
Then...
He smiled.
"If I can't touch you..."
His gaze slowly shifted toward the others.
"...I'll simply remove everyone else."
Shougo's eyes narrowed.
"Goro."
But Goro had already vanished.
He ignored Shougo completely.
His first target—
Kairo.
Kairo swung the Black Spartan with everything he had.
The blade passed through empty air.
Goro appeared behind him.
BOOOM!!
A single kick launched Kairo across the battlefield, sending him crashing into the ruins of a collapsed watchtower.
Before Tyouro could react, Goro appeared directly in front of him.
Tyouro fired a massive blast of energy.
The wind bent around it.
Goro stepped through the explosion untouched before driving his elbow into Tyouro's chest.
The impact shattered the ground beneath him.
Blood burst from Tyouro's mouth as he collapsed.
"Too slow."
Drifting leaves circled around Goro as he vanished again.
Kimimaru immediately raised the Zweihander.
Their weapons collided.
For several seconds the battlefield echoed with deafening explosions as Kimimaru desperately held his ground.
Then Goro accelerated.
One strike.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Kimimaru's arms began trembling.
His grip weakened.
The Zweihander flew from his hands.
A punch to the ribs.
A kick to the shoulder.
A violent blast of wind.
Kimimaru was sent tumbling across the battlefield before crashing into a giant boulder.
Yura forced herself back to her feet despite the pain.
"I'M NOT DONE!"
She burst forward at full speed.
Her fists blurred as hundreds of strikes rained toward Goro.
Yet every punch...
Every kick...
Every movement...
Missed.
Goro calmly dodged each attack as though he had fought with her his entire life.
"...Predictable."
He caught her wrist.
The smile disappeared from Yura's face.
A violent burst of wind exploded from his palm.
BOOOOOOM!!
Yura was hurled through the forest, carving a deep trench across the earth before finally coming to a stop.
Silence.
One by one...
The students lay scattered across the battlefield.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Barely able to stand.
Goro slowly looked around at them.
"So this..."
"...is all Reikosha Academy has to offer?"
He sighed.
"I expected far more."
Only one person remained standing.
Shougo.
His passive intangibility still shimmered faintly around him.
Goro simply smiled.
"I don't need to defeat you."
"I've already defeated everyone you wanted to protect."
Shougo slowly looked around.
Kairo struggled to breathe.
Yura forced herself onto one knee.
Kimimaru reached for his fallen Zweihander.
Tyouro could barely move.
A long silence followed.
Then...
The faint distortion surrounding Shougo's body disappeared.
His passive intangibility...
Was gone.
Goro's smile widened.
"...Finally."
For the first time since the battle began...
Shougo was vulnerable.