The abandoned street was in ruins.
Cracked walls. Destroyed cars. The silence was suffocating.
Kamui stood still between the buildings.
"Let's see…" his voice echoed. "Which one of you will try first?"
Everyone moved into combat formation.
Ayane tried to activate the communicator.
"…Still no signal. Communication's been blocked."
Kamui tilted his head.
"The Order of Exterminators… disappointing."
He stepped forward.
He didn't use a pillar or anything.
He just took a single step.
The impact was immediate.
An invisible shockwave tore through the street, launching two students against a wall.
"DAMN IT!" Emiko shouted.
She attacked.
Blades were thrown into the air and hurled toward Kamui, teleporting along their trajectory, slicing in rapid succession.
Kamui grabbed a car and used it as a shield.
In the next instant, he appeared behind her.
Yuri stepped in between them.
A punch.
The impact made Kamui slide several meters across the asphalt.
Silence.
Yuri was already advancing.
Kamui smiled.
"Interesting."
They collided.
Fists. Knees. Elbows.
Every strike from Yuri was precise, as if his body had been forged to kill.
Kamui began to retreat.
Then—
Yuri flipped over Kamui, landed behind him, grabbed his arms…
and tore both of them off at once.
A burst of energy blasted Yuri away, sending him crashing through a wall.
He stood up without much difficulty.
Kamui advanced again.
Yuri used the severed arms as improvised weapons, striking Kamui with his own limbs.
"The fun's over," Kamui said.
They entered a deadly clash.
Both stepped back.
Both were exhausted.
Emiko tried to attack Kamui from behind — she was slammed to the ground.
Kamui released a crushing aura, and everyone collapsed.
Yuri closed his eyes for a moment.
The sensation returned.
The stagnant energy… waiting.
"So…" he thought.
"I'll kill whoever stands in my way."
Flames burned in his heart.
He opened his hand.
He didn't try to control it.
He just released everything.
The air around him began to tremble.
A drop formed in Yuri's palm.
Kamui realized it too late.
Yuri compressed everything into a single point, suppressing the drop to its absolute limit.
A colossal jet of water exploded from his hand, tearing through the air like a cannon.
Kamui was pierced.
The impact left nothing behind.
Silence.
The water fell to the ground like heavy rain.
Yuri stood still for a second.
Then his body gave out.
His legs failed.
His vision darkened.
He fell to his knees… and then to his side, unconscious.
"YURI!" Ayane ran to him.
Emiko remained still, staring at the place where Kamui had stood.
Yuri's body was cold.
His breathing weak.
They took Yuri back to the Order.
Yuri woke up in a cold bed.
Debilitated.
Yuto was sitting beside him, serious.
"Tch. If you had used more…" he said. "You would have died."
Yuri tried to speak, but couldn't.
Yuto stood up.
"Power without control isn't strength."
And Yuto left the infirmary.
Shitora, one of the students, had been taking care of him while he was weak.
"Why do you come every day?" Yuri asked.
"You saved us. It's only fair we take care of you."
Yuri closed his eyes… and fell asleep again