The battlefield fell silent.
Only the sound of the raging wind echoed through the ruins of Elarion Forest Village. Broken houses burned in the distance while dust drifted through the air. Kairo struggled to lift himself from the ground, Kimimaru leaned against his Zweihander, and Yura forced herself onto one knee. Their bodies were bruised, exhausted, and covered in blood.
Only two people remained standing.
Shougo...
...and Goro.
Goro smiled as his copied intangibility continued to ripple around his body.
"So?" he asked with a grin. "Are you finally going to fight me properly?"
Shougo stared at him without saying a word.
Then...
He slowly removed one glove.
A faint black aura disappeared from his body.
The distortion surrounding him vanished completely.
Kairo's eyes widened.
"...Sensei?"
Kimimaru immediately understood.
"No..."
Yura looked toward Goro.
"...His copied ability..."
At that exact moment, the transparent distortion around Goro's body flickered violently before disappearing altogether.
Goro blinked once.
Then looked down at his own hand.
"My intangibility..."
"...It's gone."
Shougo finally spoke.
"You copied my passive ability."
His calm voice echoed across the battlefield.
"But it was never yours."
"It existed because mine existed."
"The moment I turned it off..."
"...the phenomenon you copied disappeared as well."
For the first time since arriving...
Goro's smile faded.
"So that's how it works."
He rolled his shoulders before laughing quietly.
"Heh..."
"Interesting."
Shougo stepped forward.
"Now..."
"We're both vulnerable."
Without another word, both of them disappeared.
BOOOOOOM!!
Their fists collided in the center of the battlefield.
The impact split the earth apart.
Another exchange.
Another explosion.
Black Yami clashed against compressed wind as shockwaves rolled through the ruined village. Every collision sent debris flying high into the sky.
Kairo gritted his teeth.
"They're... actually trading blows..."
Shougo unleashed a stream of Hikari that pierced through the storm like a golden spear.
Goro narrowly avoided it before countering with countless blades of compressed wind.
Shougo weaved through them, his movements calm and precise.
A single punch landed.
BOOOM!!
Goro skidded backward, leaving a deep trench across the ground.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"...Not bad."
He wiped it away with his thumb.
"But you've forgotten something."
The wind around the battlefield suddenly changed.
It was no longer chaotic.
It became perfectly synchronized.
Every current...
Every breeze...
Every gust...
Began flowing toward Goro.
Leaves, smoke, dust, broken buildings, rivers, and even the clouds above were dragged into a single massive vortex.
Yura slowly looked up.
"...What's happening?"
Kimimaru tightened his grip.
"The wind..."
"...It's all gathering."
The sky darkened.
An enormous cyclone stretched from the ground into the heavens, swallowing everything within sight. The pressure became so overwhelming that even breathing turned difficult.
Trees were ripped from the earth.
Mountains trembled.
Clouds disappeared into the spiral.
Even birds thousands of meters above were pulled into its rotation.
Goro floated at the center of the storm.
His cloak fluttered wildly while countless streams of wind revolved around him like celestial rings.
"This..."
"...is the true power of atmospheric domination."
He slowly raised both hands.
"I don't merely control the wind."
"I command every movement of the atmosphere itself."
The vortex continued expanding.
Beyond the forest...
The oceans began producing enormous waves.
Cities hundreds of kilometers away experienced violent storms.
The clouds above Reikosha Academy twisted into the same gigantic spiral.
Students looked toward the western horizon in horror.
"What... is that...?"
Teachers stood frozen.
The pressure reached them despite the unimaginable distance.
Back in Elarion Forest, Shougo narrowed his eyes.
"...He's still holding back."
Goro smiled.
"I've finally gathered enough."
The storm reached even farther.
Mountains disappeared behind the walls of wind.
The forests bent toward its center.
The very atmosphere of the nation groaned beneath its weight.
Kairo's voice trembled.
"...Sensei..."
"If he releases that..."
Kimimaru finished the sentence.
"...the entire country..."
"...will disappear."
Far away, at Reikosha Academy, windows shattered all across the campus. Ancient trees were uprooted, and alarm bells rang throughout the academy as students struggled to remain standing.
Yura stared at the growing vortex.
"...He's aiming..."
"...at all of us."
Goro slowly lowered his gaze toward the heroes.
A grin spread across his face.
"If I release this..."
"There won't be an academy left to protect."
"There won't even be a country."
The storm roared louder than ever before.
Shougo clenched his fist.
For the first time in years...
Even he realized that one mistake...
Would erase everything they had sworn to protect.