Arashi was half laying on the ground, his vision was spinning, breath shallow. His eyes widened in shock as he realized what just happened— the man who stepped infront of him when Dreadclaw attacked it was Bento. Bento had stepped in front of him.
The gleam of Dreadclaw's weapon pierced deep into Bento's stomach. Metal claws tore into his flesh. Blood poured out, dripping from his mouth and staining his clothes in crimson.
With a cruel grin, Dreadclaw snatched the claw out roughly, making Bento's body shook violently from the pain.
"Bento!!" Arashi's voice cracked with shock.
Dreadclaw grabbed Bento by the shoulder of his shirt, his massive hand was gripping the shirt of Bento tightly. With one brutal motion, he hurled the wounded Bento across the street. Bento's body smashed against the far wall and crumpled to the ground, his blood was smearing the woods and the street.
The townspeople screamed, covering their mouths in horror. Emi gasped, her hands were trembling. Izumi's eyes widened,
"Bento!"
her usual composure broke. Even Yuri froze, her eyes, once fierce, went wide in disbelief.
Bento struggled to breathe, each inhale of him was shallow and ragged. His eyes started to close, heavy as lead. He was slipping into unconsciousness.
It wasn't just an attack—Dreadclaw's attack had meant to kill Arashi but Bento took it.
Arashi's eyes shot wide, filled with a storm of emotion—rage, grief and disbelief—all tangled together in him. His entire body started to tremble.
Then—
CRACK!
A bolt of thunder split the air right in front of Dreadclaw. The force shook the ground, making the walls rumble. Dreadclaw stumbled back a step, his smirk faltering for the first time.
His eyes darted toward Arashi.
Slowly, painfully, Arashi pushed himself off the ground. His hair whipped in the charged air, sparks were crawling across his skin. The sound of thunder echoed in his chest as lightning began to crackle around him, each spark was louder and sharper than before. He wasn't himself anymore. Each breath he exhaled came out as a faint, white mist, curling into the air. The atmosphere grew colder around him. His eyes were wide and unblinking, looked nothing like the boy who had fallen moments ago.
Dreadclaw froze for a moment, his eyes widening at the sight. But then, slowly, his lips curled into a grin.
"Now," he said, his voice was heavy and full of excitement, "the real fight begins!"
Dreadclaw charged with his metal claw, but Arashi moved faster than his eyes could follow. In a blink of an eye, Arashi was right in front of him.
Dreadclaw's eyes flew wide, staring at the monster-like glare burning in Arashi's face.
Arashi's fist drove into his lower chest.
BOOM!
Thunder cracked the instant his punch landed, the sound ripping through the streets like a storm. The shockwave tore across the ground, making the townspeople stumble back with cries of fear. Behind them, nearby buildings shuddered—the walls cracked, windows shattered, and pieces of stone crumbled from the force.
Yet no one ran. Their fear mixed with awe, their eyes locked on the boy at the storm's center. "That boy… he's something else…" another whispered, louder this time. The murmurs spread, carrying through the trembling crowd. Fear and wonder collided in their voices, but not hate.
Dreadclaw was hurled away, his body crashing into the street with a thunderous impact, dust and sparks of lightning scattering in every direction.
Yuri's fists clenched, her knuckles turned white, but she stayed rooted to the spot and was unable to move.
"I… I've never seen anything like this…"
"What is he?"
"That doesn't look like him anymore—it's something else."
Arashi stood amidst the crackling storm, chest heaving, the white air of his breath was mingling with the lightning that danced around him. He wasn't himself anymore—something ancient, terrifying, and unstoppable surged through him.
Dreadclaw staggered to his feet, clutching his chest, but a cruel smile stretched across his scarred face. His eyes, wide with both respect and hunger, locked on Arashi.
Then, Dreadclaw charged at Arashi, his face twisted like a devil's—eyes burning with excitement. But Arashi… his expression didn't even twitch. Cold, calm and unhuman. No hint of fear, no trace of effort.
In the blink of an eye, Arashi moved. Too fast for anyone to follow. His body blurred, and before Dreadclaw could even react, Arashi's leg whipped around— a tornado kick smashing straight into his face.
CRACK!
The impact sent Dreadclaw flying to Arashi's left, his body crashing through the wall of a nearby building. Stone and dust exploded outward, chunks of the wall collapsing over him.
For a moment, the street fell silent. Dust and sparks drifted in the air.
Then, two children standing with the crowd jumped up, eyes sparkling."Wow, brother!" "That was sooo cool!" they shouted out loud, their voices cutting through the heavy silence.
The crowd gasped, then murmurs began to spread.
The crowd gasped. At first, no one spoke. But then whispers began to spread. "…Brother?" "They called him brother…" "He… he is saving us."
An older man's voice, trembling but firm, rose above the murmur. "That boy… he is not normal. He is looking too strong. Only he can save us and our town. He is our last and only hope."
Others nodded, their fear slowly melting into awe as they watched the boy standing amidst lightning, his chest heaving, eyes blazing. The townspeople weren't just staring at a monster.They were staring at their protector.
The three sisters—Emi, Izumi, and Yuri—rushed toward Bento. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, his breathing was faint and uneven.
"Bento! Bento!" Izumi dropped to her knees, shaking his shoulders. Her voice cracked with panic."Are you okay? Say something!"
But Bento didn't answer. He couldn't. His body was limp, his eyes shut tight. Blood kept flowing from his wound and was staining the ground beneath him.
Izumi's hands trembled as she turned to Yuri. "Nee-san! He's bleeding too much! What should we do?! " Her face twisted with desperation, tears threatening to fall.
Before Yuri could respond, the ground rumbled. With a heavy push, Dreadclaw rose from the rubble of the building Arashi had smashed him into. Dust and stone slid from his shoulders as he stood tall, every inch of him was screaming with threat.
"Man…" Dreadclaw smirked, cracking his neck. "…that almost killed me."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. "H-He stood up again…" a woman in the back whispered, her voice trembling with fear.
But before the townspeople could even process what was happening, Arashi moved. His body blurred like a streak of lightning, charging at Dreadclaw like a rocket. Thunder crackled violently across his skin, each step echoing with raw, unnatural power.
Dreadclaw's eyes widened—then narrowed. At the last moment, he dodged, but it didn't matter. The storm itself struck him. Arashi's thunder lashed out, catching Dreadclaw even as he evaded, and the violent current blasted him backward, hurling him through the street.
"Guh—!" Dreadclaw skidded across the stone, but he didn't stay down for long. Planting his palms into the ground, he pushed himself up with a roar and slammed both fists into the earth.
CRACK!
The street split open. Chunks of stone ripped free as Dreadclaw tore the ground apart with brute strength. With a savage heave, he hurled a massive slab of earth straight at Arashi.
The crowd screamed in terror. "He's tearing up the town!" "Run!"
But Arashi didn't flinch. His face remained calm, devoid of emotion—inhuman. The boulder-sized chunk of ground flew at him, but he merely raised his left hand. With a casual backhand, he struck it aside.
BOOOOM!
Thunder roared as lightning exploded from his arm, shattering the rock into countless of fragments. Sparks and stone rained down, illuminating Arashi's unearthly figure standing in the middle of the street, unmoving.
The moment the rubble burst apart, Dreadclaw was already in front of him, his right fist pulled back and ready to smash forward. But Arashi slipped to the side.
Dreadclaw's punch tore through the empty air, his momentum was carrying him. Then, Dreadclaw moved toward Arashi. Dreadclaw's fist shot forward, aiming to smash straight through Arashi's guard. But at the very last moment, Arashi twisted his body low, letting the punch graze past him. His shoulder dropped, torso bending just out of reach—the movement so sharp it looked as if the blow had cut right through him.
Before Dreadclaw could recover, Arashi's body snapped back like a coiled spring. His fist surged upward in a brutal swing, an uppercut that smashed into Dreadclaw's chin with an unstoppable force.
Guh—!" Dreadclaw coughed violently as his body lifted off the ground.
Arashi moved first, his body was flashing with sparks, and he delivered a thunderous two-touch back kick. The strike landed on Dreadclaw with explosive impact, Dreadclaw spewing blood as his body was hurled away.
The sheer force of the kick unleashed a violent shockwave. A storm-like wind ripped through the streets, tearing tiles off rooftops and cracking walls apart. Emi, Yuri, and Izumi shielded their faces with their arms as their hair and clothes whipped wildly in the gale. Around them, townspeople screamed, stumbling back as stalls overturned and debris flew everywhere.
Dreadclaw's body slammed into the ground, bouncing and rolling before finally lying still. For a heartbeat, silence swallowed the battlefield. Then, with blood dripping from his mouth he staggered back up. With a confident smirk, Dreadclaw wiped the blood from his mouth.
"You're stronger than you look, kid... I like that!"
Then, Arashi turned in his direction, lightning crawling wildly across his body. His eyes were still sharp, his stance was steady—like a predator waiting for the kill. The townspeople stared in awe, shielding their faces from the stormwinds that swirled in the air.
But then… something shifted.
The crackling lightning around Arashi flickered and sputtered as if it was struggling to stay alive. His vision began to darken at the edges. A piercing ring echoed in his ears, drowning out the gasps of Emi, Yuri, and Izumi.
His body had already reached its limit. His strength simply vanished all at once, like a puppet with its strings cut. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed face-first onto the shattered ground—unconscious before he even hit the ground.