Yamato's body slammed into the rocky floor of the underwater cave with a loud thud. The moment he opened his eyes, he gasped, not from pain, but from confusion. The cave was dry despite being so deep under the sea. The entrance rippled with water, but the space inside the cave was dry, almost as if the cave had rejected the ocean's entry.
He sighed, clutching his side. The hit from the Mob Cat hadn't healed. It seemed suspicious, just as he had earlier anticipated. It was something that seemed to be born from an Imagination. He could feel it.
The cat had no Magic, Divine Magic, or Energy, yet it existed. It was like being hit by a phenomenon.
"Yamato!" Sora rushed over. Her hands shook gently as she knelt beside him and hugged him.
"Don't do things like that," she said softly, her brow furrowed with worry. "I feared losing you."
Yamato winced. "I don't like the pity…" He looked away, almost showing disgust. "I am always two hundred percent sure of my survival before I fight."
Lumei blinked, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Two hundred? Can't you just take sympathy? Is it hard to accept the feeling… the feeling of someone being happy that you aren't dead?"
Yamato smirked slowly. "Which one of the QUEI Society showed sympathy to my mom? I don't need it. She needs it more."
Sora grinned slightly. "How? You are the one who fought at a disadvantage."
Yamato was a bit angered, but his eyes showed the sympathy he felt.
"Do you know how hard she worked for me? What she had to go through for me? All she suffered for me is enough for me to go to death for her."
"Death," Sora cut him short. "What do you mean, death? She lived her life to give you the best. Not to start acting crappy."
Lumei nodded a bit. He understood Yamato, but he still felt Yamato shouldn't feel chained down by his quest to give his mother his whole life.
Yamato looked down at the ground, then glanced at the two of them. "Sora!"
She focused on him.
"Lumei!"
He focused on him.
"If by any chance you try and stop me in matters involving my mom, you'll understand why I never joke with her."
His words sank into their minds, working their way through them. The three sat quietly in the mysterious cave, the hum of deep-sea energy echoing softly in the background. Each of them had separate thoughts of their own.
---
Back at Cloak High…
The six students training under Regns grunted and shouted, their bodies soaked in sweat. The room-like space Regns had forged for harsh training rippled with heat, pressure, and magical resistance. Then silence fell. The area felt chilly—not an icy chill, but one that made them wary.
His blue clothing made the entrance first, bold and framed for war. His white belt gave it off. It was the world's strongest. It was Ozaki.
He walked toward where they trained, standing tall and calm in front of Regns. This blue samurai clothing wasn't his usual gear. It was something he wore when he wanted to fight for real. His stance radiated readiness.
Regns looked up from his meditative seat and nodded. Ozaki walked toward the six.
"Sir!" the six shouted in unison.
Ozaki raised a hand. "Don't bother. I'm not here for you."
He turned to Regns. "I'm here to spar."
Regns blinked. "Ozaki—"
"I know you've felt the energy too," Ozaki cut him off. "You think these kids will be able to contain him?"
Regns stood up, his voice calm. "Here's the plan. I'll lead the charge with them. You request the council of The War Apostles to remove the God Slayer from here."
Hahahaha.
Ozaki let out a loud laugh, deep and unfiltered. "Even then, you'll be overpowered and die. You know it. Our best option isn't escape or removal. It's to give him a battle he won't forget, even if we lose."
A pause.
"And I want a quick refresh before I leave for planet Goyth."
Regns' eyes sharpened. "No problem. Let's give it a go."
He tightened his muscles, ready to fight.
"Like the old days," Ozaki replied.
"BEGIN."
The moment Mira's voice cut through the tension, the entire aura in the room shifted.
Ozaki surged forward, twin blades gleaming in each hand. His body moved like lightning, pure muscle, raw technique, and sharp instinct forged through years of war and command. He crashed into Regns with a brutal shoulder thrust, sending him sliding backward across the ground.
Regns stopped himself with a single step, unfazed. His lips curled into a faint smirk.
"Still starting with tricks."
The air cracked as energy burst from both of them, two monstrous auras colliding and reshaping the very laws of the training room. Space distorted. The sky above darkened. The ground rumbled.
"PHANTOM KING!"
Regns' voice rang deep and commanding. A black wave burst from his body. The six watching shielded their eyes. The raw energy emitting from the two of them spoke of monsters.
This was Ozaki's plan: to make Regns use so much Divine Energy that he would remove himself from the Madara Assault. Ozaki deeply cared for his friend and didn't want the last and only person from his class to die.
From the wave, six towering Shadow Warriors formed, cloaked in swirling obsidian energy. They bore no faces, only glowing white lines where their eyes should have been. Each raised a glowing hand, light radiating with sharpness.
Ozaki's expression stayed calm. His voice was deep.
"BLADE BREAKER."
Silver aura erupted from his form, tracing the edges of his swords and lacing his arms with Divine Energy. His blades grew longer and sharper. The very metal shimmered as if forged from condensed light. Mira's every fiber reacted, moving inside her body as though it was fighting alongside them while she watched.
The warriors struck. One came from the left, extremely fast, almost impossible for the eyes to keep up with. Ozaki spun, his blade intercepting its strike in a blur. Sparks burst on contact. Another shadow lunged low. Ozaki lifted his left leg, stomping its head into the ground before slashing in a circle around himself to repel two more.
"Too slow!" Ozaki roared.
These Shadow Warriors were moving faster than the speed of sound, but Ozaki could see and even intercept them. The five watching barely saw the movements. Only Mira could keep up. The warriors had no voices. Only relentless silence and perfect coordination.
One shadow came from behind, locking its arm around Ozaki tightly. Another came from the front, aiming to strike both Ozaki and the shadow holding him. It struck, throwing a fist at Ozaki's chest with a glowing palm and launching him backward through dust and debris.
BOOM!
The room shook as debris scattered. Ozaki burst from the smoke, both blades spinning like a whirlwind. A smile appeared on his face.
"He hasn't lost his touch," he thought, then launched forward, tearing through the air.
CLANG!
One blade struck a shadow's arm, cutting clean through. But another warrior got a clean hit on Ozaki's back. Another smashed into his ribs. They were like extensions of Regns himself—unfeeling, balanced, and precise.
The students watching were wide-eyed, some unable to remain standing under the pressure of the Masters' clash. The Shadow Warriors were now attacking far faster than when they started, and Regns kept making more.
Ozaki crouched, breathing hard now. Then Regns moved. One blink, and he was behind Ozaki, almost like a flash step. But it wasn't. He was simply that fast. His palm glowed with thick black energy.
BOOM!
The impact sent Ozaki flying, tumbling across the stone floor and bouncing off the ground before crashing into a jagged cliff edge inside the realm.
"I am not weak, Ozaki… I still hold the title of third world's strongest."
Silence. The shadows faded, not totally, but as though they were invincible. Regns stood straight, still calm.
"You're slipping, Ozaki."
A low growl. Ozaki pushed himself up from the rubble. His body cracked with light… and then something shifted. His aura exploded around him, not just with power, but with intent. His eyes, once calm and calculating, now flared with deadly ferocity, glowing silver with a sharp gold ring. His face, usually composed—a face the world respected and followed—transformed.
The calm commander was gone. In his place was a predator. A man who had fought wars alone. A man who had ended multi-continent conflicts singlehandedly.
He smirked. His breathing slowed. The veins in his neck pulsed. Aura rolled from his skin as Divine Energy began to pour from his core. The entire realm trembled.
Ozaki going at his real power was beginning to break apart another god's realm, one said to be built to favor the constructor. Regns took a half-step back, eyes narrowing. Even the students fell to their knees under the weight of the aura.
Ozaki didn't raise his weapons. He whispered.
"Can I try this attack?"
Regns stayed silent. Ozaki slowly lifted his blades to the sky. No callout. No fancy technique name. Just raw essence.
"BLADE ART."
His blades disappeared into nothingness. The students' jaws dropped. Sweat rolled off their skin. Even Mira felt fear. Blade Art was on another level, even for her.
"OZAKI 30 ARCS."
The world behind him split. Cracks of light spidered out like shattered glass. Then, it opened. Behind him hovered thousands—no, millions—of glowing weapons: spears, axes, swords, katanas, arrows.
They floated in perfect alignment, each an exact replica of his own, suspended in frozen time like a divine army of weapons waiting for command. The sky above dimmed. The earth below cracked. Even Regns looked upward at the swords with awe, if only briefly.
"Ozaki, using Blade Art without Silver."
Ozaki smiled, lowering his hands. The weapons behind him flickered… and disappeared. He stood up, stretching his body. Pops sounded as his bones cracked. Then he looked at Regns. His tone was low but final.
"That attack… was too great for you."
Silence. Regns couldn't say a thing.
"And you wonder why I never use my Realm," Ozaki continued. "If opponents die to just this, how devastating would my Realm attack be?"
Seouk collapsed completely, gasping from the pressure, his body stiff. The aura was just too much. This was why the world revered him as the strongest, why he never fights with his full power on Earth. Regns remained still. Then he muttered under his breath, not for Ozaki, but to himself.
"You've surpassed you."
---
Back in the Cave…
Night was closing in outside, though it made no difference deep below. Yamato sat near the cave's edge, his eyes on the water.
"We can't use main spells," he murmured. "It could disturb the current. Maybe wake another monster."
Lumei sat beside him, quiet. Sora leaned against a stone wall, her arms crossed.
"I'm sorry," Yamato said suddenly. "For making a sloppy plan and putting you guys in a tight spot and saying that stuff earlier."
Lumei crossed his arms, resting a hand on Yamato's shoulder. "We chose to come. And… we sensed something, but did nothing."
"That's true," Sora added. "We noticed something strange but gave all our concentration to your plans. Instead of making ours, no answer is better than over-reliance on one source."
Yamato's expression sank.
"I don't have a plan now, so we might be here a while. I'm thinking about the future… But I'm glad I'm not alone."