The battlefield trembled.
Hiroto stood breathing heavily, blood dripping from his chin onto the cracked stone below.
Across from him, the Enforcer rolled his shoulder where the helmet had cracked.
"…Interesting."
He wiped a faint line of blood from beneath the fractured helm.
"You're the first human to make me bleed."
Above them, the resistance forces kept firing at the Observers. Another one shattered in a burst of white light.
The containment net flickered.
Akari pointed her spear upward.
"Don't stop! Bring them down!"
Explosions continued across the sky.
But Hiroto barely heard it.
The scar beneath the valley pulsed again.
Stronger.
Faster.
The ground around him cracked open like a heartbeat spreading through the earth.
The Enforcer noticed immediately.
"…Ah."
"You're letting it out."
Hiroto closed his eyes for a moment.
When they opened again The shadow around him had changed.
It wasn't chaotic anymore.
It moved like flowing stone, forming layered plates along his arms and shoulders.
The Watcher gasped quietly.
"…Scar resonance…"
"…He's stabilizing it."
The Enforcer's smile widened behind the broken helm.
"Now we're talking."
He stepped forward again.
But this time Hiroto moved first.
He vanished.
The Enforcer barely turned before Hiroto's fist slammed into his chest like a falling meteor.
The impact blasted the Enforcer backward across the battlefield.
The ground split open beneath him as he skidded.
The soldiers stared in shock.
"…He's faster now!"
The Enforcer stood again, armor cracked further.
"…Much better."
He swung his blade.
A massive arc of silver energy tore across the battlefield toward Hiroto.
Hiroto raised one arm.
Shadow plates expanded outward.
The energy slash slammed into the shield and shattered into fragments.
Dust filled the valley.
The Enforcer's eyes narrowed.
"…You blocked it."
Hiroto stepped through the dust.
"…Your turn to try harder."
Above them Another Observer exploded under resistance fire.
The containment net flickered violently.
Large sections began collapsing.
Akari saw it immediately.
"Keep pushing! The net is breaking!"
The Watcher looked up nervously.
"…But if the net falls completely…"
"…The Celestial Path will send something worse."
Back on the battlefield the Enforcer slowly removed his cracked helmet.
His face was revealed.
Not mechanical.
Human.
Cold gray eyes stared at Hiroto.
"…Good," he said calmly.
"Because I wasn't planning to hold back anymore."
A surge of pale energy erupted around him.
The ground beneath his feet melted into glowing glass.
Hiroto felt the pressure instantly.
"…So that's your real power."
The Enforcer lifted his blade again.
"Let's see which one of us the sky keeps."
Behind them the containment net began tearing apart across the clouds.
The battlefield was about to become much bigger.
To be continued…