With the situation spiraling beyond control, everyone below S-rank, along with most A-rankers and professors, was quickly ushered back into the academy, leaving only the highest-tier individuals behind as the atmosphere shifted from chaotic to something far more focused and dangerous.
The drones, however, did not retreat.
Instead, they hovered in tight formation above the group, faithfully continuing their live broadcast as they followed the S-rankers toward the specialized combat grounds located just beyond the academy walls.
Inside the academy, not a single student moved.
Training had stopped.
Duels had stopped.
Even conversation had dulled into hushed silence.
There was no longer any need to practice or improve in that moment, because what they were about to witness was something no amount of training could replicate.
A real battle between S-rankers.
Something so rare that missing it would be unthinkable.
..
Following Maren's lead, the group soon arrived at the designated battlefield.
The ground stretched endlessly, a colossal expanse of perfectly flattened, mana-reinforced terrain designed to withstand catastrophic levels of force, while surrounding it were layered audience stands reinforced with multiple protective barriers.
The entire structure resembled a massive ancient arena, like something built not for humans, but for giants capable of tearing the earth apart with every step.
It was, in every sense,
The perfect stage.
Ashan's eyes widened slightly as he took it in, a faint grin forming.
"So this is it…" he murmured. "A place meant to endure monsters."
Nearby, Sorin drifted away from Garrick and approached Rowan, her expression softening.
"It's been a while," Rowan said with a smirk, though the excitement in his eyes was obvious.
Sorin returned a small smile before greeting the others.
"I didn't expect you here, Senior," Draven added.
"It couldn't be avoided," Sorin replied calmly. "When something at an S-rank level appears without warning, standing still is not an option."
Rowan's attention shifted back toward the center, toward Ashan and Einar.
"Forget that," he said quietly. "Something even bigger is about to happen."
His voice lowered.
"Two abnormal S-rankers… fighting seriously. I can't even tell who would win."
Unlike the others, Einar didn't spare the arena a second glance.
He had only one concern.
The fight.
Relief washed through him, not from safety, but from finally being able to unleash everything without restraint.
At that exact moment,
A translucent system window appeared before Ashan's eyes.
—------------------------------------
New Mission..
Defeat the half-dragon S-ranker, Einar Briarwood
Conditions: No Susanoo. No Domain Expansion.
Rewards:
- Sukuna's Fingers ×2
- Magnet Release
- 70 System Points
—------------------------------------
A flicker of genuine excitement passed through Ashan's gaze.
'Now that's generous.'
Across from him, Einar called out impatiently.
"Hey, bastard… get to the center already!"
Ashan's eyes narrowed slightly, irritation surfacing.
"…And who gave you the right to order me around?"
The next instant, he vanished.
Before Einar could even process the movement, Ashan appeared behind him, his presence slamming into the space like a pressure wave, the reinforced ground cracking beneath his feet purely from the force of his arrival.
Einar's instincts screamed.
'That speed.. impossible! Faster than before… I didn't even see it..'
He began to turn,
Too late.
Ashan's palm struck his back like a cannon blast.
"You go first."
The force sent Einar hurtling across the arena, his massive frame and blade dragged along with him as the air itself seemed to rupture from the impact.
Before he could crash, Einar forced his body to halt midair using telekinesis, stabilizing himself with visible strain as he hovered above the battlefield.
Behind them, even Silas took a step back.
"His physical power still doesn't make sense…" Silas muttered under his breath, loud enough for Maren to hear. "At first glance, his physical strength matches an S-ranker, but it's increasing every time he moves."
His eyes narrowed.
"To send Einar flying like that… someone whose senses surpass even S-rank standards… that's not normal."
A pause.
"Einar… are you saying that guy might actually be too much for him…?"
No one answered.
Maren and Garrick remained completely silent, their expressions stiff as they watched the battlefield without blinking, as if any attempt to speak would only confirm a possibility neither of them was willing to acknowledge yet.
Beside them, Silas clicked his tongue harshly, his jaw tightening as frustration bled into his voice.
"This is humiliating," he muttered under his breath, though the edge in his tone made it carry. "I swear… if that dragon-headed idiot actually loses to that masked bastard, I'll personally tear his wings off myself."
The air grew heavier.
Not gradually, but all at once, as if something invisible had settled over the arena, pressing down on every inch of space until even breathing felt deliberate, while the distant spectators fell into absolute silence, their anticipation stretching the moment thin to the point of suffocation.
At the center of it all, Einar slowly straightened, his body hovering just an inch above the ground as the aftershock of that earlier strike still lingered in his bones—not enough to damage him seriously, but more than enough to leave behind a sting that his pride refused to ignore.
"You'll regret that," he growled, his voice low and rumbling, carrying across the arena like distant thunder as his pupils narrowed into sharp, draconic slits.
Across from him, Ashan walked forward without urgency, his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning lazily, the calmness in his posture clashing almost offensively with the tension in the air.
"Regret?" he replied, his voice cutting through the silence with unsettling clarity. "That's something only the weak worry about."
His gaze sharpened.
"So stop holding back and show me something worth watching… or this is going to get fucking boring."
That was enough.
Einar's restraint snapped as his power surged outward in a violent wave and his body began to transform, crimson and black scales erupting across his arms and torso while his fingers elongated into clawed talons that seemed to tear faint distortions into the air itself, his massive wings spreading wider as blue flames ignited along their surface, the heat alone bending the space around him.
But instead of charging,
He changed approach.
His hands moved sharply, carving through the air in controlled arcs as his telekinesis activated at full output, and in the next instant, the very ground beneath Ashan tore free in a massive circular chunk, ripping upward with a deafening crack as if gravity itself had been reversed.
Without hesitation, Einar clenched his fist.
The entire mass compressed.
Not simply collapsing, but being crushed inward from all directions with catastrophic force, the reinforced terrain folding into itself as dust and debris erupted outward, swallowing Ashan completely from view.
A wave of gasps rippled through the spectators.
Maren flinched, her fingers tightening unconsciously.
"That insane old fuc.." she cut herself off, dragging in a breath before exhaling sharply.
"I knew this was going to happen… at this rate, there won't be anything left to save…"
Then,
The rubble exploded.
A surge of green aura tore through the collapsing mass as Ashan burst out from within, not falling but running forward across the cascading debris as if it were solid ground, each step landing with impossible precision as the Fifth Gate opened fully, his entire body radiating raw, violent aura.
Veins pulsed around his Byakugan-enhanced eyes, his perception expanding as every shift in Einar's mana, every minute movement, became visible to him in real time.
Einar reacted instantly.
Raising one clawed hand, he seized control of the scattered debris, pulling it into a spiraling storm that condensed into a dense barrage before launching it forward, turning the entire space between them into a lethal torrent of stone and dust.
Ashan didn't slow.
He clapped.
[Boogie Woogie]
In an instant, the world inverted.
Einar's vision snapped as his position shifted, his own attack now rushing toward him from point-blank range, the storm crashing into his scaled body in a chaotic explosion of impact that, while unable to pierce his defenses, disrupted his balance just enough for Ashan to appear behind him.
No wasted motion.
No hesitation.
His leg descended in a clean, controlled arc, the air compressing around it as cursed energy wrapped over the strike at the final moment.
[Black Flash]
The impact didn't just explode—it collapsed, the force transmitting instantly before detonating beneath Einar, driving him downward like a falling meteor as the arena floor shattered violently, a deep crater forming on impact as shockwaves rippled outward.
Pain flared through him.
Real.
Sharp.
Before the dust could settle, Ashan was already moving again, closing the distance in a blur as a Rasengan formed in his palm, its spiraling force tearing at the air as he drove it straight toward Einar's core.
'Not enough…!'
Einar's hand slammed against the ground.
Mana surged.
[Weapon Creation]
The very atmosphere around him condensed instantly, particles crystallizing into form as a blade of compressed air manifested in his grip, its edge warping space itself as he swung upward to meet the attack.
The collision triggered immediately.
Light erupted.
Force expanded outward in a violent blast that forced even distant S-rankers to raise defensive barriers, the constructed blade shattering under the strain, but not before diverting the Rasengan's core just enough to prevent a direct hit.
Fragments of the shattered weapon froze midair under Einar's telekinesis, hovering inches from his body before being flung aside as he surged out of the crater, his wounds already knitting themselves back together as regeneration took hold.
This time, he didn't rely on constructs.
His true weapon came forward.
The massive blade settled into his grip, its presence alone altering the atmosphere as he leveled it toward Ashan, his stance grounding, stabilizing.
"Your attacks are powerful," he said, his voice steady now, stripped of earlier arrogance and replaced with something colder, more deliberate, "but they won't be enough to keep up with me…"
The blade tilted slightly.
"..not when I'm fighting properly."
Ashan's gaze dropped to the weapon, studying it for a brief moment before his lips curved faintly.
"…Is that so?"
He raised his hand above his head.
Space distorted.
And then,
A weapon formed.
A two-pronged blade, shaped like a jitte, its surface gleaming under the light.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven!