"Wow!" exclaimed Fukuoka, his voice filled with curiosity.
"Nanai, how about you go next? We've never seen your powers!"
Nobaru encouraged her with a provocative smile.
Nanai accepted, a flash of defiance in her eyes.
"That's great!" Nobaru cheered.
Nanai channeled the energy into her staff. Her hand extended, and the air crackled. The attack came like a sudden gale.
"Wow, you're quite fast!" Nobaru acknowledged, but her voice was already cold.
In a blink, Nobaru's smile dissolved into a grimace of pure hatred. She charged with a grunt, and her punch, loaded with brutal fury, hit Nanai squarely in the face. The sound was dry and hollow.
Nanai flew backward, falling with a dull thud several meters away.
"You... BITCH!" Nanai spat the words, blood dripping from her lip.
"What a dirty mouth you have!"
Nobaru retorted, contempt dripping from her voice.
At that moment, the aged bandages covering Nanai's face and body began to tear and fall away, like a broken shell.
A shiver ran through everyone. What was revealed was a body that was entirely black, dense, and irregular, like burnt and scarred flesh. It was a shocking sight of ancient pain.
"Why did you do that?!" Nanai's voice rose, charged with fury and despair.
It was the scream of someone whose deepest wound had just been exposed.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Nobaru remained standing, imposing, holding her axe with cruel indifference.
"Seal Break: Summon Sin God!" Nanai roared, energy pulsating wildly around her.
"Help me kill her!"
Nobaru gave a sharp jump backward, her jaw tense.
"Kill that woman! KILL HER!" Nanai's voice was now a maniacal echo.
A colossal figure of unbelievable strength and speed materialized in the air. The Sin God was there.
"Finish her!" Nanai screamed, her eyes bloodshot.
"Seal Break: Dragons!" Nobaru's counterattack came with the speed of lightning, but it was useless.
The Sin God crushed the defense. The force was absolute. It appeared in front of Nobaru. She was hit by a barrage of crushing punches and, with a final kick, she fell. She screamed, the pain tearing through her.
"Seal Break: Dragons!"
Nobaru's resource was repeated, desperate.
But the Sin God advanced, massacred the dragons and, with a sharp blow, broke two of Nobaru's fingers. Her scream was cut short, transforming into a muffled moan of agony.
Nobaru was losing blood rapidly. Meanwhile, Nanai repeated the mantra, her eyes vacant:
"Kill her, kill her!"
"This bitch is completely out of control!"
Nobaru said, feeling weakness consume her. She was exhausted. The recent effort to help Yoshi's soul had consumed an immense amount of her vital energy, leaving her vulnerable.
"Seal Break: Tusumaro!" Nobaru invoked.
A grotesque monster burst from the ground, throwing massive chains that wrapped around the Sin God. For an instant, Nanai's monster was trapped, but with a roar, it broke the chains like thread.
"How can I lose to a girl... like her?"
Nobaru murmured, blood gushing from a deep cut on her side.
Instead of despair, she let out a rough, maniacal laugh.
"I can't look ugly today... I have a date!" It was her last drop of determination.
"Seal Break: Xionogami!"
A celestial glow, intense and overwhelming, appeared in the sky and descended directly upon the Sin God. The light instantly dissolved it, undoing it into nothing.
Nanai fell to the ground, unconscious. Her friends ran to help her.
"Sensei Nobaru, why did you go so hard?!" Fukuoka's voice echoed, filled with frustration and worry.
Nobaru scoffed, massaging her arm with a tense expression.
"That bitch... she almost killed me, kid! She unleashed insane brute force!"
At the Hospital.
"How is she, Doctor? Tell me the truth!"
The doctor smiled, with the calm of someone who has seen everything.
"She will be fine. Her body is surprisingly resilient."
The night dragged on. Fukuoka remained planted beside Nanai's bed, the weak light of the infirmary casting shadows.
00:30 AM.
The door softly creaked open.
"What are you still doing here?!"
Fukuoka spoke, surprised to see Yoshi.
Yoshi held up a bag with a tired smile.
"I brought you something to eat. You haven't left since they brought her in. She has a great friend, you know?"
Fukuoka sighed, his gaze fixed on Nanai.
"It's not just friendship. I feel like she's... my younger sister, you know?"
At that moment, Nanai's eyes snapped open, an irritated flash cutting through the exhaustion.
"I'm not your sister or anything, you idiot!"she grumbled, her voice hoarse.
A huge, relieved smile spread across Fukuoka's face.
"My sweet little sister, you're awake!"
Nanai grumbled, tightening her fists:
"You pretentious idiot... I met you the day before yesterday!"
Five days later. Under the warm sunlight and a strong wind rustling the leaves, Yagato and Nobaru talked, sitting on a bench beneath an imposing tree.
"I heard you took a memorable beating, Nobaru," Yagato commented, containing a laugh.
Nobaru shook her head, forcing a dry laugh.
"Oh, please! I was weak! Exhausted from wasting energy helping Kakai's bastard son!"
She crossed her arms, seriousness returning to her gaze.
"But I have to admit. The girl... has a terrifying future. That monster she manifested is impressive. I had to use my Lucky Strike just so I wouldn't have to fight seriously. Tomorrow, the games are over. I'm starting the true second part of the training."
"Seriously speaking... when are Gitana, Saferin, and Momoco finally coming back?" Nobaru asked.
Yagato shrugged, unsure.
"I don't know. Their mission is complex."
Nobaru closed her eyes, feeling the strong breeze.
"Without them around here, the school loses its charm and challenge!"
On the other side of the world, Saferin and Gitana had been immersed for five days in an agonizing search for a cursed being in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest.
Gitana, sweat pouring down her face in torrents, rage boiling.
"Damn it, I can't take this hell anymore! It's too hot, there are insects to rip off your skin, and this forest is a living tomb!"
The surrounding region seemed to pulse with an ancient energy, a curse.
Even with the invasion of modernity outside, this area had remained forgotten and uninhabited for many years.