For a fraction of a second, the harsh fluorescent lights of the ship's cafeteria vanished, swallowed by the darkness of a single, slow blink.
In that fleeting space, the metallic tang of the ocean morphed into the bitter, suffocating stench of burning pine and ash. The towering frame of Tsume's goon warped, his silhouette stretching into a shadow holding a blackened scythe.
I don't know why I act before I think. I saw my father standing against impossible odds, unyielding. "Being a protector is in our blood," his voice echoed in my memory. Sensing danger and moving before the mind can even process it. Becoming the shield for those who cannot defend themselves. Fighting for what is right.
He taught me that is what it truly means to be an Elemental Swordsman.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I heard my father's final, ragged breath.
Blink.
The cafeteria lights snapped back. The heavy scent of pork broth and sweat flooded my lungs. Tsume and his goons were still standing in front of me, smirking arrogantly.
Around us, the whispers of the crowd bled into overlapping shouts.
"No way he's seriously challenging Tsume!""He doesn't stand a chance!""A one-versus-three? Is he asking to die!?"
"You aren't nervous, are you?" Tsume mocked. "I can't blame you. Standing in my presence is a heavy burden, after all." He waved his hand with lazy dismissal. "Get him."
The goon on the right lunged with a furious roar. His fist ignited, sparking with raw, unrefined Fire Boru. He moved with aggressive intent, but he telegraphed the strike all the way from his shoulder, pouring every ounce of his energy into a wild haymaker.
"Time to die, Ryomen!"
It would've been a devastating punch, but he made one fatal mistake: he was wild, not disciplined. I didn't step back. I exhaled, dropping my center of gravity.
Sorasu. Instead of blocking the flames, I stepped directly inside his guard, slipping right past his burning fist. I seized his outstretched wrist, pivoted my hips, and hijacked his forward momentum. Throwing my shoulder into his chest, I flipped his massive frame entirely over my back.
He slammed into the steel deck with a sickening crack. The breath exploded from his lungs, and his fire sputtered out instantly.
"What the—"
The second goon froze, panic widening his eyes. Desperate, he stomped his heel against the floorboards, attempting to summon a jagged pillar of Earth Boru right beneath me.
My grandfather had drilled my footwork until my soles bled. I sidestepped the erupting rock before it even broke the surface. In the same fluid motion, I drew my wooden sword a single inch from its sheath—not to slash, but to strike. I drove the blunt, dense pommel directly into the nerve cluster beneath his ribs.
He choked, his eyes rolling back into his skull, and crumpled to his knees without throwing a single punch.
The cafeteria went dead silent. The only sound left was the heavy, ragged air leaving my lungs.
I didn't lower my stance. I kept my eyes locked on Tsume.
"Useless trash," Tsume sighed, glancing down at his unconscious lackeys. He casually cracked his neck, a malicious, arrogant smile curling his lips. "I suppose I'll have to take out the garbage myself."
He didn't telegraph his movement. He didn't even bend his knees.
One second, he was standing five feet away. The next, he was directly in front of me.
My instincts screamed. I ripped my wooden sword from my hip, throwing it up in a desperate cross-body block.
BANG!
Tsume's devastating roundhouse kick slammed into the wood. The sheer, monstrous physical force of the blow shattered my stance. It sent me flying backward across the cafeteria, my body crashing violently against the unyielding steel floor.
My arms went entirely numb. The exhaustion from the three-hundred-lap run suddenly crashed down on me all at once, violently obscuring my vision with dark, swimming spots. I gasped for air, my chest heaving as I heard his slow, measured footsteps approaching.
He crouched down to my level. A genuinely psychotic grin stretched across his face as his pale white eye locked onto mine.
"Honestly, I didn't expect you to put up as much of a fight as you did," Tsume whispered softly. "But I want you to remember this: I will always be better than you. Better than anyone else on this stupid planet. You are nothing, Ryomen."
He pulled his fist back, preparing to launch a finishing blow directly into my face.
SMACK.
The kinetic shockwave of impact echoed through the hall.
Someone had caught his wrist.
My vision cleared just enough to make out the newcomer. It was a girl with extremely pale skin. She wasn't straining or struggling against Tsume's monstrous strength at all. She just stared down at him with an aura of absolute, crushing authority, her eyes glowing a chilling, piercing red.
Even through the haze of my exhaustion, my instincts flared.
This girl... she is insanely strong