The battlefield was a storm of chaos—ice cracking, trees collapsing, the sky flashing with unnatural lightning.
And at its heart stood Kael Renji, a blur of black and silver.
Thirty minutes had passed.
The snow beneath his feet was scorched black, coated in ash and fading Will signatures. The once-swarming horde had thinned drastically—but they kept coming.
Kael exhaled, slow and controlled. His body glowed dimly now—Surge State no longer flaring wildly, but refined, focused like a blade honed for war.
He raised his swords again.
"You still want more…?"
A corrupted brute leapt at him, muscles bulging with overcharged Will.
Kael sidestepped once——and bisected the beast diagonally.
Two more followed.A blink.Gone.
Around the field, the surviving Wielders watched in a daze.
Eri, clutching her staff, whispered, "That's over a thousand… he's… still going."
Tetsu leaned on his hammer, bloodied but alive. "It's like the more he fights, the sharper he gets…"
Hana, healing an injured student, couldn't look away. "That form… It's not just power. It's instinct. Control. Rage channeled into something beautiful."
Ryuu stood tall, his blade resting against his shoulder. "And he's still holding back."
Above them, the remaining 900 enemies regrouped.
Kurojin's corrupted lieutenants barked orders, their monstrous creations snarling and reforming from the shadows.
Among them, the wolf-dragon, now with one arm regrown and eyes burning brighter, charged again with unnatural speed.
Kael met it head-on.
He didn't dodge.
He raised his hand—no sword, no Will projection.
Just his fist.
CRACK—
The blow collided with the dragon's snout, shattering its jaw in a burst of black lightning. It reeled backward, howling in agony.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"You're not enough anymore."
He raised his swords again, and this time, they glowed with a new edge—a jagged flare of deep violet and silver. The Will of Kurothar beginning to awaken further.
From a high cliff nearby, Kurojin Tsukiro watched in silence. One of his elite whispered:
"He's thinning us out too fast. What should we do?"
Kurojin smirked.
"Let him burn through them. Every step he takes toward me brings him closer to the truth… and his breaking point."
Kael stood surrounded by bodies—enemy blood soaking into his coat. His breath was steady, but his gaze was distant.
"I'm not stopping… not until this field is empty."
And then—he moved again.