Fueled by sheer determination, Tuziku sprinted desperately through the thick black smoke that covered the shoreline, determined to rescue Captain Sailou from the monstrosity known as General Hinomo.
The blazing inferno had become unbearable.
Every breath scorched his lungs.
The intense heat slowly charred his skin.
Yet he never slowed down.
Meanwhile, aboard the ship...
"The situation just keeps getting worse, huh...?" Felo forced a nervous grin.
"We have to leave before General Ishimī comes crashing down on top of us!" Djong shouted.
"But... Tuziku and the Captain...!" Mika argued.
Dendelon climbed onto an old wooden crate and clapped loudly.
"Everyone, listen!"
The crew fell silent.
"The Captain isn't in any condition to fight anymore."
"I think Tuziku knows that."
"That's why he ran back."
"He's trying to save him."
"Well, that's painfully obvious, genius!" Djong snapped.
"Shut up and let me finish!" Dendelon fired back.
Djong frowned and remained silent.
"...I've never actually seen Tuziku fight."
"I don't know how strong he's become..."
"...But he's been training with Kutcher."
"So let's believe in him."
"...Let's believe he'll bring the Captain back."
Dendelon slowly lifted his head toward the sky, staring at the frozen Ishimī.
"Our real problem..."
"...is figuring out how we're supposed to escape that."
Mika lowered her eyes.
I don't like this...
But we don't have many options.
"...Do you have a plan?" she asked.
Dendelon smiled confidently.
"...Maybe."
Back on the shoreline...
As Tuziku sprinted toward Sailou, he gripped his sword tighter and tighter.
Please...
Hold on, Captain...
After several more desperate minutes...
He finally arrived.
...
He stopped dead in his tracks.
What he witnessed...
would haunt him forever.
BAM!!
SPLSHH!!
BAM!!
SPLSHH!!
General Hinomo stood over Sailou's broken body...
mercilessly pounding him into the ground.
Blood splashed with every impact.
The intense heat from the surrounding flames prevented Sailou from losing consciousness.
"GAHAHAHAHA!!"
Hinomo laughed wildly.
"THIS IS FUN!!"
Sailou couldn't even scream anymore.
He simply endured.
Tuziku stared...
His entire body trembled.
"...How..."
"...HOW DARE YOU!!"
His voice echoed across the burning shoreline.
...
Then...
Everything became quiet.
His rage...
disappeared.
His face became completely blank.
His grip on his sword relaxed.
His breathing slowed.
It was as though every emotion inside him had vanished.
Hinomo paid him no attention.
He raised both fists...
preparing to crush Sailou once and for all.
Without making a sound...
Tuziku calmly walked behind him.
Like a ghost.
He slowly raised his sword.
Die.
SWOOSH!!
...
Nothing.
Hinomo had vanished.
Tuziku's eyes widened.
Above him—
Hinomo grinned from the sky.
His smile stretched unnaturally wide.
"KILL!!"
Both gigantic fists came crashing downward.
THOOOOOM!!!
The shoreline exploded.
Tuziku barely escaped by leaping backward at the last possible moment.
Dust erupted everywhere.
"INSECT..."
Hinomo growled.
His massive body lunged forward.
Another devastating punch flew toward Tuziku.
This time—
Tuziku didn't dodge.
He inhaled slowly.
Tightened his grip.
And swung.
SWOOOOSH!!
A crescent-shaped wave of acid erupted from his blade.
It screamed through the air.
I'll kill you.
Hinomo instinctively raised his left arm.
I'll block it.
SPLSHHH!!
The acid sliced through flesh like paper.
"...HARGH?!"
His eyes widened.
The attack carved clean through his arm...
before continuing across his chest.
THUD.
His severed arm hit the ground.
Blood exploded into the air.
SPLSHHH!!
Hinomo stared blankly at the stump where his arm had been.
"...?"
Even in his deranged state...
he understood one thing.
That attack...
can't be blocked.
For the first time since the battle began...
General Hinomo had been forced to retreat.
Then—
His Abyssal Ability activated.
His wounds regenerated instantly.
Muscles swelled.
Veins bulged.
His body expanded even further.
His monstrous frame towered over Tuziku.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
Drool poured from his mouth as every vein across his body pulsed violently.
Yet Tuziku simply continued walking toward him.
Blank expression.
Empty eyes.
Quietly repeating the same words.
"I'll kill him..."
"I'll kill him..."
"I'll kill him..."
Then—
He screamed.
"I'M GONNA KILL YOUUUUU!!!"
Acid burst uncontrollably from his sword.
The blade immediately began dissolving.
The acid spread into his hand...
then his arm...
then across the entire right side of his body.
"DIE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!"
His right arm twisted grotesquely into a massive appendage of living acid.
SHHHHHK!!
A torrent of acid erupted toward Hinomo.
The General barely had time to react.
SPLSHHH!!
The acid pierced straight through his chest.
"...GHH?!"
THUD.
His gigantic body crashed onto the shoreline.
Silence.
Then—
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
Tuziku collapsed to one knee.
The acid continued devouring his body.
It burned deeper.
Further.
His vision blurred.
What's... happening...?
This feeling...
It's happening again...
A single name echoed through his mind.
Fuyu...
"No..."
"...Go away..."
His breathing became frantic.
"I SAID GO AWAY!!"
His mutated arm lashed out uncontrollably.
SWOOOOSH!!
It tore through the burning shoreline.
It smashed through trees.
Then—
SPLAT.
Everything became silent.
Tuziku froze.
Slowly...
he turned around.
"...Huh...?"
Sailou lay motionless.
His body...
had been severed cleanly in half.
Blood soaked the scorched earth beneath him.
Tuziku's eyes slowly widened.
"...No..."
His arms fell to his side.
He already knew.
He didn't need anyone to tell him.
He had done it.
With his own hands.
"...Captain...?"
His knees buckled.
He collapsed beside Sailou's body.
"...No..."
"...No..."
"...No..."
His voice cracked.
Then...
He screamed.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
His cries echoed across the burning shoreline...
while the inferno continued to consume the forest around him.
CHAPTER 26 END