The battlefield had become strangely quiet after Tyouro finally broke down in Kairo's arms. The flames that had once surrounded him were still burning, but they had lost the wild intensity they possessed moments ago, leaving only a deep orange glow across the ruined ground. Everyone was exhausted, wounded, and barely standing after everything that had happened at Reikosha, yet the silence that followed Tyouro's memories felt heavier than the destruction surrounding them. For several seconds, nobody knew what to say. They had all witnessed something that Tyouro had hidden behind his jokes and ridiculous behavior for years, and now they understood that his anger toward Kimimaru had never simply been about the fight. It had been fear, grief, and the desperate refusal to lose another person he considered family.
Then a strange sound came from behind them.
CLANG.
Everyone turned.
Kimimaru was still standing inside the enormous barrier.
His head was lowered, and his Zweihander rested against the ground beside him.
The flames continued pressing against his body.
Yet Kimimaru wasn't moving.
Kairo slowly released Tyouro and stared toward him.
"Kimimaru..."
Kimimaru raised his head.
There was no anger in his expression.
No sadness.
No regret.
His eyes were simply cold.
Tyouro looked at him with tears still visible on his face, his breathing slowly returning to normal after everything he had just remembered. For a moment, he seemed to expect Kimimaru to finally say something, perhaps acknowledge Shougo, perhaps admit that his words had been nothing more than something he said because he couldn't deal with the loss. Instead, Kimimaru simply looked toward Tyouro as though he were looking at another opponent standing in his way.
"Are you finished?" Kimimaru asked quietly.
Tyouro's expression hardened.
"What?"
Kimimaru slowly lifted the Zweihander from the ground and rested it against his shoulder. The flames around the barrier reflected across the blade, but unlike earlier, the weapon didn't begin to melt. The metal remained completely intact, and even the heat that had previously distorted the air around it seemed unable to affect the weapon anymore. Kimimaru looked at the blade for a moment before turning his eyes toward the others.
"I've listened to enough."
Kairo stepped forward, his expression becoming serious. "Kimimaru, we're not trying to fight you anymore. Tyouro was angry because Shougo's death affected all of us, and you don't have to pretend that it didn't affect you. You don't have to talk about your feelings if you can't, but you can't keep acting like everyone around you means nothing."
Kimimaru looked at Kairo.
"I never asked you to understand me."
His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried across the battlefield.
Kairo clenched his fists.
"Then at least stop this."
Kimimaru's eyes moved toward the barrier surrounding him.
"You think this barrier is stopping me?"
Before anyone could answer, Kimimaru tightened his grip around the Zweihander.
The atmosphere changed.
A deep vibration traveled through the ground.
Yura immediately noticed it.
"Everyone, move."
Kairo looked toward her.
"Why?"
"Just move!"
BOOOOOOM!
Kimimaru swung the Zweihander.
The blade struck the inside of the barrier.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a crack appeared.
Everyone froze.
Another crack spread across the barrier.
Then another.
The enormous wall of flame that had trapped Kimimaru began splitting apart from the point where his Zweihander had struck it.
Tyouro stared in disbelief.
"That's impossible..."
The heat that had forced even Kairo to retreat earlier suddenly became unstable, and the barrier began collapsing around Kimimaru as though the entire structure had lost its foundation.
Kimimaru pulled the Zweihander backward.
The flames surged around him.
Then he swung again.
KRAAAAAAAAAASH!
The barrier shattered.
A massive wave of heat rushed outward, forcing everyone nearby to cover their faces as fragments of burning energy scattered across the battlefield. Kairo immediately grabbed Tyouro and pulled him backward while Yura raised her arm against the blast, and Griffin opened a portal to redirect part of the heat away from the exhausted students.
When the smoke finally began clearing, Kimimaru stood in the center of the ruined battlefield.
His shirt had been torn apart by the heat and the force of his own attack, leaving his upper body exposed beneath the fading flames. His body showed the result of years of training, but there was nothing boastful about the way he stood; he didn't pose or draw attention to himself. He simply stood there with his Zweihander resting in one hand, his eyes fixed on the people in front of him.
Tyouro stared at him.
"Kimimaru..."
Kimimaru didn't answer.
Yura stepped forward.
"Kimimaru, enough. You're exhausted too, and this isn't going to bring Shougo back."
Kimimaru looked toward her.
"I know."
"Then why are you still doing this?"
Kimimaru's grip tightened around the Zweihander.
"Because I don't need anyone deciding what I should feel."
Kairo stepped beside Yura.
"Nobody is deciding for you."
Kimimaru looked at him.
"You are."
Kairo's expression became serious.
"We're trying to reach you."
Kimimaru slowly raised his Zweihander.
"Then you've chosen the wrong way."
Griffin stepped forward, his hand already near his weapon.
"Kimimaru, I'm giving you one last warning. You've already pushed yourself far enough, and everyone here has suffered enough. If you keep attacking, I'm going to stop you myself."
Kimimaru looked at Griffin for several seconds.
Then he answered calmly.
"Try."
The word was enough.
Kairo moved first.
His Yami manifested around him, forming the enormous dark spiritual structure that had already been witnessed during his previous battles. Yura moved at the same time, disappearing from her position with incredible speed, while Griffin opened several portals around Kimimaru, attempting to restrict every possible direction he could move.
Three different attacks came toward him at once.
Kimimaru didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
The first portal opened directly beside him, and Griffin attempted to redirect his movement.
Kimimaru twisted his body before the portal could take effect.
Yura appeared from his blind spot.
Her strike came toward his side.
Kimimaru turned his Zweihander.
CLANG!
The impact echoed through the battlefield.
Yura's eyes widened.
Kimimaru had blocked her attack with one hand.
Kairo's Yami immediately attacked from above.
Kimimaru looked upward.
An invisible slash suddenly passed through the air.
The attack struck Kairo's Yami and forced the enormous dark manifestation backward.
Kairo stared.
"That slash..."
Kimimaru vanished.
Not teleportation.
Not a portal.
His movement was simply so sudden that for a brief moment, everyone lost track of where he had gone.
Yura immediately turned.
"Behind you!"
Kairo barely reacted before Kimimaru's Zweihander came down.
BOOM!
Kairo's Yami caught the blade.
The ground beneath Kairo's feet cracked from the force.
Kairo gritted his teeth.
"He's stronger than before..."
Kimimaru pushed against the Yami.
His expression remained completely emotionless.
"You keep talking about strength."
He slowly raised the Zweihander.
"But you still don't understand what you're fighting."
Kairo's eyes narrowed.
Kimimaru swung.
The Yami was forced aside.
Yura immediately rushed in again, attacking from Kimimaru's left while Griffin opened a portal beneath his feet. Kimimaru stepped into the portal deliberately, disappearing for a fraction of a second before emerging from another opening several meters away.
Griffin's eyes widened.
"He used my portal?"
Kimimaru turned toward him.
"You left it open."
Griffin's expression changed.
Kimimaru charged.
Griffin immediately opened another portal, but Kimimaru's invisible slash reached him before the portal could fully form.
Griffin jumped backward.
The attack tore through the ground where he had been standing.
Yura appeared above Kimimaru.
She descended with a powerful strike.
Kimimaru raised his Zweihander.
The two collided.
KRAAANG!
The shockwave blew dust across the battlefield.
Yura pushed harder.
"Kimimaru, listen to me!"
Kimimaru stared directly into her eyes.
"I've listened enough."
He suddenly shifted his footing.
Yura realized what he was doing too late.
Kimimaru released the pressure from his blade and moved underneath her attack, using her momentum against her before striking the ground beside her instead of directly attacking her.
BOOM!
The impact sent Yura flying backward.
Kairo immediately caught her.
"Yura!"
"I'm fine."
She looked back toward Kimimaru.
But Kimimaru was already walking toward them.
His expression had not changed once.
There was no hatred in his eyes.
That was what frightened Kairo the most.
Kimimaru wasn't fighting because he hated them.
He wasn't fighting because he wanted revenge.
He was fighting because he had decided that nothing they said mattered anymore.
Tyouro watched from behind Kairo.
His fists slowly clenched.
"Kimimaru..."
Kimimaru stopped.
Tyouro stepped forward.
"I know you're hurting."
Kimimaru looked at him.
Tyouro's voice trembled, but he continued.
"You can keep pretending you're fine. You can keep telling us that Shougo meant nothing to you. You can keep acting like we're strangers if that's what you want, but don't expect me to believe you."
Kimimaru's eyes became colder.
"Believe whatever you want."
Tyouro wiped the remaining tears from his face.
"Then I'll fight you."
Kimimaru raised his Zweihander.
"Good."
Tyouro's flames began burning brighter again.
Kairo looked toward him.
"Tyouro, wait—"
Tyouro didn't look back.
"This time I'm not fighting to make him understand."
Kimimaru stood silently.
Tyouro stared directly at him.
"I'm fighting because he's chosen this."
The flames around Tyouro rose.
Kimimaru's invisible energy gathered around the Zweihander.
The four of them stood across from one another once again.
Kairo.
Yura.
Griffin.
Tyouro.
Against Kimimaru.
And for the first time since the battle began, Kimimaru didn't look like someone trying to escape his emotions.
He looked like someone who had buried them so deeply that nothing remained on the surface.
The Zweihander pointed toward them.
"Come."
His voice was quiet.
"I won't hold back anymore."