The jet sliced through the skies above the city, the squad chatting restlessly after their return from the Lightning Country. But as the clouds parted and the view below revealed itself, silence fell.
The city was filled with nothing but incinerated buildings and huge burns that scorched the grounds
What had been a proud city was now nothing more than a wasteland of ash and smoldering rubble. Entire blocks had been incinerated completely. The sheer emptiness of it sent a chill through the squad's bones. People and soliders were seen trying to build themselves up and recreate what they had lost, but the sight of the city that was almost gone, was terrifying
"What… the hell happened here?" Serena's voice trembled as her eyes scanned the ruins.
Alex's hands tightened against the armrest, his expression pale. "No way… this… this can't be real…"
But then, Baraka's sharp voice cut through the tense air.
"Wait—over there, there's someone", everyone rushed to see what Baraka was talking about. "Wait a minute. Isn't that...Sughi-sensei?!"
On the ground, half-buried beneath cracked stone and dust, a familiar figure lay motionless. His clothes were scorched beyond recognition, his body covered in burns.
Deo leaned forward, his face instantly became pale, his eyes widened. He recognized that form immediately. His chest seized with dread.
"…Elder brother…", Deo exclaimed. Runo and Mori were shocked "No way..!", Runo exclaimed. Mori was beyond shocked "No fucking way....!".
The moment Deo's eyes confirmed it, his fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms. "Sensei…"
For the first time, the squad saw Deo's composed mask break into raw fear.
A Few Months Later
The city was rebuilt, restored to its former glory as though nothing had happened. Its streets bustled with life again, but beneath the cheerful veneer, a deep scar remained.
At the hospital, Sughi lay unconscious, wrapped in countless bandages. The steady beeping of the heart monitor filled the sterile white room. Beside his bed, Deo sat slumped forward, his eyes swollen and wet with grief.
"Why… why did this have to happen?!…" he muttered, voice trembling. He gripped Sughi's hand.
Just outside the room, Mori and Runo stood in silence. Hearing Deo's muffled sobs through the door twisted their hearts. Neither spoke, there were no words to ease that kind of pain.
Alex's Room
At the same time, Alex lay sprawled across his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. His thoughts refused to quiet.
"What the hell happened to the city while we were gone? It makes no sense at all.".
"Right now, im worried for Deo's elder brother.", Alex let out a sigh "What of Sughi… will he even make it?"
"Hey, kid. Are you listening?"
The familiar grating voice of his inner demon cut into his thoughts.
Alex groaned, covering his eyes with an arm. "What do you want? I'm not in the mood for your stupid tricks right now."
"Tch. Relax. I'm just saying—you're acting all gloomy. And don't forget, your emotions affect me too."
"Well, excuse me for being depressed." Alex muttered. "After that fight in the Lightning Country, we came back to this. The whole damn city wiped out! We were lucky notany soliders and civilians got killed.".
"Doesn't matter. What you should be focusing on right now is training. You know why."
Alex blinked. "…Training? Why now?"
The demon's tone sharpened. "That power you unleashed against Kuro. The form you took on—Demon Inferior, Stage One. You unlocked it all by yourself. Do you realize how dangerous that is?"
Alex frowned. "So what? I needed it. It's not like there's a kill-on-sight order on me for using my own strength."
"Don't be stupid, brat. The higher-ups know. They're probably already thinking about how to deal with you. And trust me… it won't end well. If you don't get stronger, you're screwed."
Alex fell silent. The demon's words cut deeper than he wanted to admit. But after a moment, he exhaled and turned over in bed. "It'll be fine. I'm not going to stress about it now. So just shut up."
The demon scoffed. "You're such an idiot!".
Just as Alex was drifting toward sleep, a knock rattled his window. He opened it to find Kazuki perched casually on the balcony railing, a confident grin in place.
"Yo. Get outside, we need to talk."
Alex rubbed his eyes, annoyed. "Kazuki? It's too early for this. What time is it?"
"Early? It's already nine-twenty, you numbskull.", Alex responded with annoyance "That's my point!",
Kazuki snorted. "Anyway, I came here for a reason."
Alex replied with more annoyance "Dont ignore the previous topic!". He raised a brow. "By the way, what reason?"
Kazuki's eyes gleamed. "I heard what happened when you came back. The city, destroyed like that… We don't know when the next threat will come. So I figured—let's fight. Just the two of us. Settle things once and for all."
Alex tilted his head. " Huh? You're serious?"
"Of course I'm serious." Kazuki's voice carried a rare intensity. "We're rivals, aren't we? One day, both of us want to be the strongest guys around, dont we? Ig that's the case, then let's fight. Let's see who's stronger, and push ourselves."
Alex studied him for a long moment. Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face. "Heh… I see. I like it. But let's agree on one thing—no holding back."
Training Grounds
It was 12:00 pm in the afternoon, the squad cgathered at the training fields. The air buzzed with anticipation.
Sōn, Raquel, Serena, Sukuna, Kinto, and Baraka all stood on the sidelines, waiting to see Alex and Kazuki fight.
Serena sighed, folding her arms. "Honestly, those two… I just hope they don't kill each other by accident."
Sukuna smirked. "How do you even deal with your teammates when they're like this?"
Kinto leaned against a tree, eyes narrowing as he watched the rivals step onto the field. "Doesn't matter. This fight's been a long time coming."
Raquel bit her lip. "Still… I hope it doesn't get out of hand."
In the center of the field, Alex and Kazuki squared off. Their gazes locked, and for a heartbeat, nothing else existed.
They charged towards each other at incredible levels of speeds.
Their fists collided with explosive force, the impact sending a violent shockwave across the field. A gust of wind tore through the trees.
"Let's go, Alex!" Kazuki roared.
"Don't hold back on me, Kazuki!", Alex replied.
The two clashed fiercely, trading blows with fists and a flurry of kicks with intense skills. Sparks lit the air as their strikes collided.
From the sidelines, Serena's eyes widened. "Wow, they've both improved so much. Especially Alex, he's even better in combat than usual. "
Alex formed a blade of death with a powerful amount of energy and swung it, sending a crescent slash toward Kazuki. In response, Kazuki summoned his purple flames, detonating them against the attack. The explosion threw them both backward, debries flying.
Without hesitation, Alex activated his Energy Fists: Plus 20, a burst of green energy blew out from his arms, Alex zoomed off at an insane speed, his form blurring into countless afterimages as he flash-stepped around Kazuki.
"Hah! Too slow!" Kazuki exclaimed as dodged swiftly, retaliating by forming a blazing lightning arrow. He launched it in an instant.
Alex met it head-on, he turned off his energy fist and punched the lightning arrow aside with raw force. It exploded violently, incinerating entire rows of trees and grass around them.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Alex taunted, smirking.
Kazuki smirked right back. His hands lit up with raw lightning as dozens of arrows materialized around him, floating in the air like spears aimed at Alex.
"You asked for it," he said with a grin.
To be continued…