(Isabel, Kenji and Leo's Perspective)
The air in the courtyard was electric, humming with a tension that had nothing to do with the distant sounds of battle. Isabel Wilson stood opposite a girl who looked like she'd stepped out of a dream and into a nightmare. Nanami Honoka. Her face was soft, her skin like porcelain, and her large, almond-shaped pink eyes held a strange, shy light. But the war hammer resting on her shoulder was no doll's accessory. It was a brutal slab of steel that seemed to drink the sunlight. Her outfit—tight black leggings and a white crop top that barely contained her—screamed for attention, yet her entire being seemed to shrink away from it. A walking, talking contradiction.
A tough, determined look finally hardened the girl's doll-like features. "Back off," Nanami said, her voice quiet but firm. "I don't want to hurt you."
Isabel offered a tight, unapologetic smile. She thought of Adam, of the promise she'd made to him. This was his school, his territory. And these people were invaders. Her [Fierce, Possessive Love] wasn't just a passive skill; it was the entire reason she was standing there. "I'm sorry, miss, but I can't do that. I promised our leader we wouldn't back down."
Her gaze flickered past Nanami to the chaos erupting at the far end of the wing. The real grunts, the fodder. A necessary, if irritating, distraction.
"Leo!" Isabel barked, not taking her eyes off her opponent. "You and Kenji take the mobs in the back. Kenji, once you've helped Leo clear half of them, get back here and cover me."
"Yes, ma'am," Kenji's voice rumbled from behind her, a sound as solid and reassuring as the earth itself.
Isabel heard the heavy, determined footsteps of her two most trusted men moving away, a rhythmic beat of loyalty and strength. Kenji and Leo were heading toward the meat grinder. Now, she could focus on hers.
The corridor was a chokepoint. Ten feet wide, fifty yards long. Lockers on one side, windows on the other. At the far end, a hundred guys from a crew called the "Ruthless Animals" were boiling toward them. They looked the part, all sneers and makeshift weapons. To them, Kenji and Leo were just two men. But their stats,
Status:
Name: Kenji Satao
Strength: 390
Agility: 380
Endurance: 386
Mentality: 363
Intelligence: 350
Mana: 180
Potential: B+
Skills: [Pankration I (Novice)], [Ares' Wrath], [Mountain's Stance]
Passive Skills: [Indomitable Will], [Guan Yu], [God of War], [Aegis of Atlas], [Aegis of the Protector], [Pankration Instinct]
Superpower: [None]
Soul Ledger: [Eternal Fealty] & [Adam's Mountain]
Status:
Name: Leo Trump
Strength: 360
Agility: 270
Endurance: 345
Mentality: 225
Intelligence: 195
Mana: 50
Potential: B
Skills: [CQC - Close Quarters Combat (NoviceI)]
Passive Skills: [Immovable Object], [Guardian's Instinct]
Superpower: [None]
Soul Ledger: [Awe for the Leader] & [Loyal Soldier]
They were in for a surprise.
"That's a lot of them," Leo said, his voice a low rumble. It wasn't fear, just a tactical assessment. His feet were planted, his center of gravity low. He was a soldier, and this was just another battlefield. His [Guardian's Instinct] was already buzzing, painting a mental map of threat vectors, of swinging pipes and lunging bodies.
Beside him, Kenji was something else entirely. He wasn't a soldier; he was a force of nature. His calm was absolute, a deep, unsettling stillness that seemed to absorb the angry shouts of the charging mob. His eyes were distant, looking right through them. He wasn't seeing a hundred men; he was seeing an obstacle that needed to be removed.
"They will not pass," Kenji said. His voice was quiet, but it carried a weight that made the hair on Leo's arms stand up. "The Leader's orders were to secure this wing."
Then the wave hit.
The first guy came at Leo with a steel pipe, swinging for his head. Leo's training kicked in, a lifetime of CQC drilled into his muscle memory. He brought his forearm up, hardened and ready. The impact was a deafening CLANG that vibrated through his bones, but he held his ground. [Immovable Object]. That was Leo. He didn't give the man a second to recover, flowing in with a palm-heel strike to his throat that made him gag, followed by a spinning kick that shattered his kneecap. The man went down with a wet, gurgling scream. One down. Ninety-nine to go.
Leo was the rock, the wall they would break themselves against. A jab here, a block there, a disabling strike to a joint. He wasn't trying to kill them, just neutralize them. Efficient. Brutal.
But Kenji… Kenji was the sledgehammer. He didn't block. He broke.
A thug lunged at him, knife glinting. Kenji's hand, a blur of motion, shot out and clamped around the man's wrist. There was a sharp, sickening CRACK of bone that cut through the noise. The man shrieked, the knife clattering uselessly to the floor. Kenji didn't let go. He used the screaming man's body as a weapon, a human flail, swinging him into two of his buddies before tossing him aside like a bag of trash. His [Pankration Instinct] was a terrifying thing to witness. It wasn't a style; it was pure, predatory violence, ancient and raw. He was a true [God of War].
"They're trying to flank!" Leo grunted, shoving a man back with a powerful front kick that sent him tumbling into his friends.
Three of them, smarter than the rest, saw a gap and rushed Leo's side. He started to turn, but he knew he'd be too slow.
Before he could even brace for the hits, Kenji was there. It was like he had teleported. His [Aegis of the Protector] passive skill flared to life, moving his body without conscious thought. He threw himself in front of Leo, taking a vicious blow from a lead pipe squarely across his back. The sound was a dull, heavy THUD. A hit like that should have shattered a normal man's spine, sent him to the ground, broken and finished.
Kenji didn't even grunt.
He just turned his head slowly, his calm eyes fixing on the man who'd hit him. The look wasn't anger; it was a kind of cold, profound disappointment. He grabbed the pipe, tore it from the man's stunned grasp, and, with his bare hands, bent the solid steel into a perfect U-shape. The thug's face went slack with a pure, mind-breaking terror. Kenji's fist connected with his jaw, and the man went airborne, crashing into the mob behind him.
But there were just so many of them. The floor was getting slick with blood and sweat, littered with the groaning bodies of the fallen, but more kept pouring in, their faces a mix of mob-fueled rage and a growing, desperate fear.
"Leo, hold the line!" Kenji's voice suddenly boomed, a thunderclap that cut through the chaos.
He planted his feet, his massive frame seeming to grow, to root itself into the linoleum floor. [Mountain's Stance]. The next wave of thugs crashed against him and just… stopped. It was like watching a tsunami break against a granite cliff. They hammered at him with everything they had, but he didn't move. He didn't even flinch. His [Indomitable Will] was a tangible force field.
Then, he started to glow. A low, pulsing red light emanated from his skin. His eyes, once so calm, were now blazing with a terrifying, otherworldly fire.
He had activated [Ares' Wrath].
"My turn," he growled.
He broke his stance and exploded forward. It wasn't a charge; it was an eruption. The brutal Pankration Leo had witnessed before was nothing compared to this. This was divine, terrifying violence. Kenji grabbed a man by the head and slammed him into the ceiling with enough force to crack the tiles. He caught a kick aimed at his chest and casually twisted, snapping the man's leg. He was a whirlwind of destruction, of joint locks, chokeholds, and savage, bone-shattering strikes. He wasn't just fighting them anymore; he was erasing them.
The fight broke. The rage in the eyes of the remaining thugs was washed away by a primal, instinctual terror. They saw a demon, not a man. They dropped their weapons and fled, scrambling over the bodies of their fallen comrades in a desperate, panicked retreat.
Silence fell, heavy and sudden. The only sounds were Leo's own ragged breathing and the groans of the vanquished. He leaned against a locker, his body a canvas of bruises, his chest heaving. He looked at Kenji. The big man stood amidst the carnage, the red glow slowly fading from his eyes, not even breathing hard.
"You're a monster, Kenji," Leo breathed, the words a mixture of pure awe and utter exhaustion.
Kenji looked down at his own hands, his expression unreadable for a moment. Then he looked at Leo, and the fierce, unwavering loyalty of his [Eternal Fealty] burned in his gaze.
"I am the Leader's mountain," he said.
And in that bloody, silent hallway, it sounded like the most unbreakable vow in the world.
On the other side, two very powerful women,
Status:
Name: Isabel Wilson
Strength: 370
Agility: 356
Endurance: 349
Mentality: 402
Intelligence: 392
Mana: 80
Potential: SSR+
Skills: [Expert in Tachi], [Expert in karate], [Expert in Kungfu], [Great Learner], [Professional Athlete] , [Blade Dance]
Passive Skills: [Decisive], [Charismatic], [Spirit Booster], [Chang'e], [King's Favour]
Superpower: [None]
Soul Ledger: [Fierce, Possessive Love] & [His Woman]
Status:
Name: Nanami Honoka
Strength: 365
Agility: 380
Endurance: 355
Mentality: 375
Intelligence: 320
Mana: 0
Potential: A+
Skills: [War Hammer Arts: Earthshaker's Judgment], [War Hammer Arts: Meteor Crash], [Dual Claw Style: Iron Cyclone], [Dual Claw Style: Claw Riposte]
Passive Skills: [Calm of the Abyss], [Precise Force], [Brother's Burden], [Battlefield's Waltz]
Superpower: [Unbreakable Brotherhood] & [The King's Right Hand]
Back in the courtyard, the duel between Isabel and Nanami had become a deadly dance. Kenji and Leo's brutal efficiency had carved out this space, a circle of deadly quiet in the heart of the storm. Inside this circle, only two people mattered.
Nanami circled, that ridiculous hammer resting on her shoulder as if it were made of foam. Her violet eyes were as calm as the abyss—an apt name for the [Calm of the Abyss] passive skill Isabel sensed from her. She was a coiled viper in a doll's body. Opposite her, Isabel let her three-section staff flow loosely in her hands, her body a tightly wound spring of focused energy.
"You're good," Nanami stated, her voice a soft, musical note that didn't fit the battlefield. "But you're in my way."
A snarl twisted Isabel's lips. "Get out of my school."
The standoff broke. Nanami moved first, not with a clumsy charge, but with a dancer's grace. She spun, a pirouette of destruction, using the momentum to swing her hammer in a horizontal arc. The weapon whistled through the air, carrying enough force to turn concrete to dust.
Isabel didn't back down. She met it head-on. Her own staff became a whirring shield, the three linked rods spinning so fast they became a blur. The hammer connected with a deafening CLANG that sent shockwaves rippling through the air and a jarring vibration up her arms. Her [Professional Athlete] physique absorbed the impact, but the girl was strong. Isabel's own Strength was 370, but her opponent's felt every bit of its 365, amplified by that monstrous weapon.
Their fight became a clash of styles. Nanami's hammer strikes were like crashing meteors. She activated a skill, [War Hammer Arts: Tectonic Shift], slamming the head of the hammer into the pavement. The ground groaned, a web of cracks spreading out from the point of impact, the shockwave throwing Isabel off balance for a split second.
It was all she needed. She followed up instantly with [War Hammer Arts: Meteor Crash], a precise overhead smash aimed directly at Isabel's head.
But Isabel was faster. Her Agility of 356 was good, but it was her [Great Learner] skill, her ability to blend her expertise in Tachi, Karate, and Kungfu, that saved her. She recovered her balance instantly, using the staff to parry the devastating blow, redirecting its immense force into the ground beside her. The flagstones exploded, sending shards of stone flying.
"You're strong," Isabel grunted, her arms trembling from the strain.
"You're fast," Nanami replied, her calm expression never once wavering.
Isabel pressed her advantage. The hammer was a liability up close. She became a blur, a maelstrom of motion, her staff a flurry of strikes aimed at Nanami's wrists, her knees, her elbows. It was the dance of her [Blade Dance] skill, applied to a blunt weapon. Nanami was forced back, her movements becoming clumsier as she struggled to bring the massive weapon to bear.
Isabel saw her opening. Nanami swung in a wide, desperate arc to create space. Isabel dropped low, the hammer whistling harmlessly over her head. With a flick of her wrist, the chain of her staff snaked out, wrapping around the handle of Nanami's hammer. She yanked, hard. The weapon was torn from Nanami's grasp, skittering across the courtyard with a grating screech.
Disarmed. Helpless.
Before Nanami could react, Isabel was on her. A sharp strike from the staff buckled her knee. Another to her shoulder sent a jolt of pain through her arm. Isabel spun, bringing the final section of the staff around in a powerful, sweeping blow aimed right for Nanami's head. The finishing move.
And then, the world stopped.
From the rooftop above, a dozen shimmering threads, impossibly thin, shot down. They looked like a spider's web, but they glinted with a lethal, metallic light. Before Isabel could even process the new threat, they were on her. They wrapped around her arms, her legs, her torso, and her staff, freezing her in mid-swing. They pulled taut, biting into her skin with razor-sharp edges. She was caught. Trapped.
Isabel's eyes darted to Nanami. Her calm expression had finally shattered, replaced by a look of cold, merciless opportunity. The shy girl was gone. The lava beneath the lake had erupted. She scrambled for her hammer, raising the massive weapon over her head, her face a mask of grim determination. She was going to crush Isabel.
"ISABEL!"
Kenji's roar was a thunderclap of pure, protective fury. Isabel saw him out of the corner of her eye, a massive blur of motion charging across the courtyard. He had abandoned his own fight, leaving a stunned Leo to handle the remaining thugs. He was impossibly fast, but he wouldn't make it. The hammer was already falling.
Just as the shadow of the weapon fell over her, just as she braced for the end, a new figure appeared on the rooftop.
She was breathtaking. A heart-shaped face, a cascade of chocolate-brown hair, and a devilish smirk playing on her lips. She wore a seductive purple outfit that left little to the imagination, looking down on the chaos she had created with a playful, confident light in her dark brown eyes. She was the puppeteer. And Isabel was the puppet.
The hammer fell.
But it didn't hit her.
Kenji reached her in that final instant. He didn't try to block. He became a shield. He threw himself over Isabel, his back to the descending hammer, his body a living wall of loyalty. The hammer crashed against his back with a sickening sound like a car wreck.
Kenji just grunted, his feet digging into the pavement. He was Adam's unbreakable mountain. Bruised, but not broken.
He shoved Nanami back with a powerful surge of strength, sending her stumbling. He turned, his eyes blazing with a fury Isabel had rarely seen, and looked up at the rooftop. Freed from the immediate threat but still tangled in the razor-wire threads, she followed his gaze.
Her shock gave way to a dawning, furious understanding. They both stared at the new woman, the architect of this trap. She just smiled down at them, a silent, beautiful, and utterly terrifying new player on their bloody battlefield.