The battlefield around Reikosha Academy had become almost unrecognizable. The once-proud training grounds were covered in enormous cracks, shattered stone, scorched earth, and fragments of broken barriers left behind from the chaos of the previous battles. Students stood scattered throughout the ruined academy grounds, exhausted but still refusing to leave, while at the center of it all stood Kimimaru. His Zweihander rested against the ground for only a moment before he slowly lifted it again, his expression completely calm. There was no new transformation, no mysterious ability awakening, no sudden revelation of some hidden power. Kimimaru was still Kimimaru. But something had changed inside him. His movements had become sharper, his presence heavier, and his control over his existing strength had reached a level that even the others could feel. Oko narrowed his eyes from across the battlefield and muttered, "He's stronger than before." Yuki swallowed nervously but nodded. "Not because he gained another power. He's just... getting better at using what he already has." Kimimaru raised his Zweihander toward them. "If you're going to stop me, then stop talking."
The pressure exploded outward.
BOOM!
Kimimaru disappeared from his position, and Oko barely managed to raise his guard before the Zweihander crashed against it. The impact sent him sliding across the ground, his shoes carving two long lines through the stone. "Damn!" Oko shouted as Kimimaru immediately followed, swinging again with terrifying precision. Yuki rushed in from the side, firing an attack to force Kimimaru away, while Aoi and Daiki attacked from opposite directions to prevent him from escaping. For a brief moment, Kimimaru was surrounded by four fighters. Instead of panicking, he simply lowered his stance. His eyes moved once. Left. Right. Above. Behind. He understood their positions almost instantly.
Then he moved.
WHOOSH!
He slipped beneath Aoi's attack, rotated around Daiki's strike, blocked Yuki's incoming attack with the flat side of his Zweihander, and used the momentum to swing toward Oko again. Oko blocked just in time, but the force still pushed him backward. "He's reading all of us!" Yuki shouted. Oko grinned despite the pressure. "Yeah. That's what makes him dangerous."
A voice suddenly cut through the battlefield.
"Enough."
Griffin stepped forward.
The entire atmosphere changed.
The veteran teacher casually reached into his coat and pulled out his flintlock pistol. His expression was no longer the relaxed one he usually wore around his students. He looked directly at Kimimaru, and for the first time since the fight began, Kimimaru stopped moving.
Griffin pointed the weapon downward.
"Kimimaru," he said calmly, "you've gotten stronger. That's obvious. But don't mistake getting stronger for becoming untouchable."
Kimimaru stared at him. "Move."
Griffin smiled slightly.
"No."
The pressure around Griffin suddenly expanded.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
Yuki's eyes widened. "Sensei..."
Oko gave a small grin. "There he is."
Griffin raised his pistol and fired.
BANG!
The bullet didn't travel toward Kimimaru.
Instead, a portal opened directly beside Kimimaru's shoulder, and the bullet emerged from it at point-blank range. Kimimaru tilted his head just enough to avoid the shot before swinging his Zweihander at Griffin. Another portal appeared.
CLANG!
The blade passed through it.
Griffin was already standing behind Kimimaru.
"You still telegraph your anger."
Kimimaru turned.
Griffin kicked him away.
Kimimaru flew across the battlefield, landed on his feet, and immediately stopped himself with the Zweihander. His expression remained cold, but his eyes had changed slightly.
Griffin lowered his pistol.
"You're not fighting everyone here because you believe they're weak. You're fighting because you don't know what to do with what you're feeling."
Kimimaru's grip tightened.
"Don't pretend you understand me."
Griffin's smile disappeared.
"I don't."
He pointed the pistol directly at Kimimaru.
"But I've taught enough students to recognize when one of them is trying to destroy himself without admitting it."
Kimimaru's eyes narrowed.
Then another presence entered the battlefield.
Yura.
She stepped forward slowly, her expression unusually serious. She looked at Kimimaru, then at Griffin.
"Sensei."
Griffin glanced toward her.
Yura took another step.
"I'll handle him."
Griffin studied her for a moment before lowering his weapon.
"Fine."
Yura looked at Kimimaru.
"But I'm not going to fight you the way everyone else is."
Kimimaru lifted his Zweihander.
"Then you'll lose."
Yura smiled faintly.
"Maybe."
She vanished.
WHOOSH!
Kimimaru swung.
Yura slipped past the blade.
She could have struck him.
She didn't.
Instead, she moved around him and struck the ground beside his feet, forcing him to reposition. Kimimaru immediately attacked again. Yura dodged. Another swing. Another dodge. Another attack.
She kept refusing to hit him directly.
Kairo watched from a short distance away.
"She's holding back."
Oko looked toward him. "Obviously."
Kairo frowned.
"She's not trying to beat him."
Yura suddenly appeared above Kimimaru. She had the perfect opening. Her fist was already pulled back.
But she stopped.
Kimimaru noticed.
"You hesitated."
Yura landed several meters away.
"Because you're still my friend."
Kimimaru's expression remained emotionless.
"That doesn't matter."
"It matters to me."
Kimimaru rushed toward her.
Yura moved again.
The battle continued, but everyone could see the difference. Yura was fast enough to overwhelm Kimimaru if she truly wanted to. Yet every attack she made was deliberately redirected, blocked, or stopped before it could seriously hurt him.
Kairo watched silently.
Then Kimimaru suddenly changed direction.
He ignored Yura.
He went straight for Kairo.
"Move!"
Kairo raised his arms.
CLANG!
The Zweihander struck his guard and sent him sliding backward.
Yura's eyes widened.
"Kairo!"
Kimimaru immediately swung again.
Kairo ducked beneath it, but the follow-up strike caught his balance and sent him falling backward.
Yura moved instantly.
She caught Kairo before he hit the ground.
For a second, everything went quiet.
Kairo looked up.
Yura looked down at him.
"You okay?"
Kairo blinked.
"Yeah."
Yura helped him back onto his feet.
"Good."
Kairo looked toward Kimimaru.
"Thanks."
Yura nodded.
"Don't mention it."
Then Kimimaru attacked again.
Kairo and Yura moved together.
Kairo summoned Yami, the enormous dark avatar rising behind him like a towering guardian. Yura accelerated forward at the same time, forcing Kimimaru to divide his attention.
BOOM!
Yami's fist collided with Kimimaru's Zweihander.
Yura attacked from the side.
Kimimaru blocked.
Kairo's Yami swung again.
Kimimaru redirected the attack.
Yura followed with another strike.
Kimimaru avoided it.
The three fighters moved across the battlefield at incredible speed.
Kairo shouted, "Yura, left!"
"I know!"
She moved before Kimimaru's next swing.
Their coordination was becoming almost instinctive.
Kimimaru noticed.
"You two..."
Kairo looked toward him.
"What?"
Kimimaru's eyes narrowed.
"You're coordinating without speaking."
Yura smiled.
"That's because Kairo isn't as difficult to understand as he thinks."
Kairo glanced at her.
"Was that an insult?"
"A little."
Despite everything happening around them, Kairo laughed.
For just a moment, the battlefield felt almost normal.
Then the temperature suddenly changed.
Everyone stopped.
A tremendous wave of heat spread across the academy.
FWOOM!
Tyouro stood several dozen meters away.
His body was surrounded by brilliant solar energy.
His hair moved as if it were burning without actually being consumed. Light poured from his body, and the ground beneath his feet began glowing from the heat.
Yuki immediately backed away.
"He's getting hotter!"
Aoi raised an arm in front of her face.
"We can't even get close!"
Daiki shouted, "Tyouro! Calm down!"
Tyouro didn't answer.
His eyes were fixed on Kimimaru.
The solar energy around him continued increasing.
Kairo's expression changed.
"Tyouro..."
Tyouro slowly raised one hand.
The energy gathered above his palm.
A massive sphere of sunlight began forming.
Oko's eyes widened.
"That's way too much energy."
Griffin immediately turned toward Tyouro.
"Everyone back away."
Yuki shouted, "But we have to stop him!"
Griffin's expression became serious.
"You can't touch him."
Daiki clenched his fists.
"Then what are we supposed to do?!"
Griffin looked toward Tyouro.
"Make him listen."
Tyouro's voice finally emerged.
"I can't lose another person."
The sphere above his hand grew brighter.
"I already lost Sensei."
His voice shook.
"I'm not losing Kimimaru too."
Kairo stepped forward.
Yura immediately grabbed his arm.
"Kairo, don't."
Kairo looked at her.
"I have to."
"It's too hot."
"I know."
Yura tightened her grip.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Kairo stared at her for a second.
Then he smiled.
"Okay."
The two moved forward together.
The heat became overwhelming.
Even Yami's massive form began flickering from the temperature.
Kairo kept walking.
Yura stayed beside him.
Behind them, Griffin watched carefully.
"Those two..."
Oko looked at him.
"What?"
Griffin smiled faintly.
"They're learning what it means to stand beside someone."
Kairo reached the edge of Tyouro's solar field.
Tyouro looked at him.
"Kairo... stay back."
Kairo shook his head.
"You said you didn't want to lose Kimimaru."
Tyouro's eyes trembled.
Kairo continued.
"Then don't destroy yourself trying to save him."
Yura stepped beside Kairo.
"And don't make everyone else lose you either."
Tyouro's solar sphere shook.
Kimimaru watched silently from across the battlefield.
For the first time, his expression cracked.
Just slightly.
Tyouro lowered his hand.
The sphere remained.
But it stopped growing.
Kairo looked toward Kimimaru.
"Kimimaru."
Kimimaru said nothing.
Kairo's voice became quieter.
"You don't have to become weaker."
Kimimaru looked at him.
"You don't have to become someone else."
Kairo tightened his fist.
"But if you're going to become stronger..."
His eyes sharpened.
"Then become strong enough to carry what Shougo taught us."
Kimimaru's grip around his Zweihander tightened.
The battlefield became silent.
Then Kimimaru slowly lifted the sword onto his shoulder.
"I don't need anyone's permission to become stronger."
Kairo smiled.
"I know."
Kimimaru looked toward the others.
"I'll become stronger."
Yura watched him carefully.
"But..."
Kimimaru paused.
His eyes lowered for just a moment.
"...I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that strength."
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Griffin stepped forward.
"Good."
Kimimaru looked at him.
Griffin smiled.
"That's finally an honest answer."
The tension didn't disappear.
Kimimaru was still dangerous.
Tyouro's Sun energy was still unstable.
The academy was still damaged.
And nobody had truly solved the conflict.
But something had shifted.
Kimimaru wasn't suddenly healed.
He wasn't suddenly friendly again.
He hadn't gained a new power.
He had simply taken one step toward understanding what everyone had been trying to tell him.
And that was enough for now.
Griffin turned toward all the students.
"Listen carefully."
Everyone looked at him.
His expression became completely serious.
"You're all exhausted. You're injured. Your academy is falling apart. And somehow, you're still trying to fight each other."
He raised his flintlock pistol toward the sky.
BANG!
The shot echoed across the ruined academy.
"Class dismissed."
Everyone stared at him.
Oko blinked.
"...Seriously?"
Griffin smiled.
"No."
His aura exploded.
"Training starts now."
The students' faces changed instantly.
Yuki looked terrified.
Daiki groaned.
Aoi sighed.
Oko laughed.
Yura looked toward Kairo.
Kairo looked back.
And Kimimaru simply tightened his grip around his Zweihander.
For the first time since Shougo's death, the students weren't standing together because they had to.
They were standing together because, despite everything that had happened...
they still hadn't given up on each other.