The stadium trembled.
Not from cheers. Not from footsteps.
But from presence.
Leo felt it the moment he stepped onto the battlefield.
Across the ruined stone platform stood Kaito Jin—
and he was no longer the man Leo once knew.
Two black horns curved upward from Kaito's head, sharp and twisted like they had been carved from shadow itself. His skin carried faint dark veins, pulsing slowly, as if something alive was crawling beneath it. His eyes were no longer human—completely black, swallowing all light.
When he spoke, his voice echoed twice.
One voice was his own.
The other… was something far older.
"So… you came."
The air vibrated.
"Let's see how much you've improved."
Leo stepped forward calmly.
He tightened the heavy bracelets around his wrists and ankles—the same brutal limiters he had trained with in the mountains. Their weight dragged at his bones, crushed his muscles, screamed at every movement.
Yet he did not flinch.
"You chose this path, Kaito."
Kaito laughed.
It sounded wrong.
"Chose?" "No, Leo. I accepted it."
Dark energy poured from Kaito's body, cracking the ground beneath his feet.
"While you were protecting villages… loving people…" "I was becoming something greater."
The ground exploded.
Kaito vanished.
Leo's instincts screamed.
He moved before thought existed.
A black fist tore through the space where Leo's head had been a fraction of a second earlier. The shockwave alone shattered nearby stone pillars.
Leo countered instantly—elbow, knee, spin kick—each strike precise, controlled, almost effortless.
But Kaito blocked everything.
The clash sounded like thunder tearing the sky apart.
Then—
Leo's eyes changed.
The pupils faded. The whites shimmered.
Ultra Instinct.
The world slowed.
Every movement, every ripple of energy, every intention—Leo saw it all.
Kaito's smile widened.
"Those eyes…" "So you really are walking toward something dangerous."
Leo exhaled.
And disappeared.
The bracelets screamed as he moved—
chains of gravity trying to drag him back into reality.
But Leo ignored them.
He struck Kaito hundreds of times in a single breath.
Not wild. Not desperate.
Perfect.
Each hit carried the roar of a beast.
Kaito was sent flying across the stadium, crashing through walls, skidding across the ground until he stopped at the edge of the arena.
He stood up slowly.
Laughing.
Black flames ignited around his body.
"Good." "Very good."
The horns glowed crimson.
"Let me show you what corruption gives in return."
The sky darkened.
Kaito raised his hand.
Shadow condensed, forming twisted shapes—claws, fangs, wings—power that didn't belong to any single universe.
"This power doesn't have a name." "Because it was never meant to exist."
Leo took a deep breath.
He planted his feet.
The bracelets rattled violently.
Behind him—
A colossal spirit beast emerged, roaring silently—
a fusion of ancient will and raw instinct.
Leo brought his hands together.
Energy compressed.
Focused.
Alive.
"Spirit Beast Blast."
The world went white.
The collision erased sound itself.
Light and darkness tore into each other, ripping the battlefield apart, warping space, bending reality for a brief, terrifying moment.
When the light faded—
Both warriors stood.
Bruised. Bleeding. Unbroken.
Kaito wiped his mouth, black blood staining his fingers.
He smiled.
"Now I see it."
Leo's Ultra Instinct eyes burned steadily.
"This fight won't end here."
The air trembled again.
Not from power—
But from fate moving forward.
And somewhere far beyond this universe…
Something noticed.
The battle for Volume 1 had truly begun.