The battlefield had fallen silent. Noa's lifeless body lay before Akira. He knelt down, placing his hand over Noa's heart, but it no longer beat. He lowered his head; the anger inside him was about to overflow. He had felt this before, in the exam arena, but this time it was stronger, requiring even more power.
A person's true potential emerged when facing death or under the weight of concentrated negative energy. In the exam hall, Akira had glimpsed the edge of death and, fueled by his hatred, had barely managed to wield Valtherion's power. But now, a different power was rising within him.
Seeing Noa's lifeless body and the unconscious Arisawa, Akira's anger swelled further. His black hair gradually shifted from bottom to top into a deep purple.
Kael felt the immense, purple pressure radiating from Akira, but he couldn't fully comprehend it. Akira's body slowly filled and overflowed with purple energy, looking far more dangerous than before. Realizing this, Kael took a few cautious steps back.
Akira raised his head and glared at Kael with his purple eyes:
— I… will kill you.
The pressure on Kael intensified even further. As Akira stood, he extended his hands forward. Purple lines shot up from the ground. Instantly, the ground beneath Kael split apart, tearing in two, and slammed down hard onto him. A massive chasm had formed — easily the size of a city.
Kael shielded himself with ice to prevent harm. Then he shattered the ground with his ice and escaped. Akira clenched his fists, fusing them together. The split ground reformed, leaving Kael stunned. This wasn't the chaos of the Crimson King Valtherion, he whispered quietly:
— Could this… be his own chaos!?
Seeing that the ground would reform despite shattering, Kael decided to flee upward. Struggling, he escaped through the gap and rose into the sky. He still couldn't comprehend what Akira was doing; at first, he thought it was telekinesis, but this was something different.
Akira ascended toward Kael, raising his hands. Suddenly, the space around them began to warp. To the right, a forest; to the left, a massive pool of water stretched like a sea, disappearing at the horizon.
Finally, Kael understood:
— This… is spatial distortion chaos!
Akira bent the forest into pieces and hurled them at Kael. Kael sliced and froze the forest fragments with his ice, turning the incoming water into ice with a single touch. Looking down, he saw the old massive chasm and was shocked. The spatial distortion hadn't erased it; instead, Akira was creating and controlling another space on top of it.
Realizing this, Kael raised his hands and shouted:
— Half Violen! Frozen Gravity Realm!!
Snow began falling from the sky, forming a layer of ice on the ground. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he muttered:
— I didn't expect he'd use this move. He might be stronger than I thought.
The terrain Akira had warped turned into ice and shattered. Ice fell into the chasm, yet Akira showed no signs of giving up. The rage on his face had not diminished.
Suddenly, Kael appeared next to Akira and slammed an icy fist into the ground. Exhausted from overusing his purple energy, Akira barely managed to stand and continue fighting. Spatial distortion and repair were inherent to his chaos, but Kael's ice was formidable, and constantly warping space consumed immense energy. He couldn't lose; using his remaining purple energy, he warped the edges of the chasm upward, trapping Kael inside. When Kael had nowhere left to escape, Akira extended his hands forward and fused the chasm with purple energy, drawing the surrounding ground inward. It required immense power and energy — after all, he was sealing a city-long chasm containing a living being. His hands trembled, but he pressed on, shouting as he pushed himself.
Kael realized he was trapped in an impossible situation, yet he didn't panic. He tried to halt the ice with his hands, but the pressure was overwhelming; his arms broke, and the chasm continued closing. Kael felt death approaching, but he calmly thought and decided to grow in size. He knew he would take damage, but this was his last resort. He roared:
— Colossus! Frozen Revolution!
Ice slowly surrounded his body. He spread his arms and legs wide, trying to resist the pressure as he grew to enormous proportions.
Akira didn't fully understand what Kael was doing, but this was his last burst of energy. If he failed to kill Kael now, he would lose. Both Kael and Akira strained themselves, shouting. Finally, Akira's body collapsed from exhaustion. Kael, relieved from the pressure, broke the chasm and emerged above. The ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
Akira fell from the sky. Kael immediately grabbed him by the arm and hurled him to the right, then slammed down on top of him. Akira had neither energy nor strength left; he was merely tossed around by Kael. Kael laughed:
— That was close. Don't worry, after I kill you, I'll send your friends to join you.
Akira clenched his fists and tried to move, thinking:
What can I do… I have no energy left. My body is covered in blood, I can't move… but… I must protect Arisawa and my friends. At least, if I could, I wanted to kill him before I die…
Kael laughed, victorious.
— Akira, we're actually quite similar.
— Similar?!
Kael continued tossing Akira.
— We're both fighting for revenge.
— You kill people without reason!
— No. I only destroy the world order of the one who killed me, in revenge. And you fight for revenge too.
Akira seethed:
— Don't confuse me with yourself!
Kael struck hard at Akira's chest. Akira flew meters through the air. His eyes slowly closed. The outcome of the battle was now certain.
———
Raiga, seeing the ground shake, assumed it was an earthquake and leapt to the top of a nearby tree. Yui did the same. Takeshi, however, stabilized the shaking by touching the ground. He realized Kael was behind it, though he was surprised; Kael would only use this much power if his opponent was truly strong.
Takeshi looked at the two.
— I'll kill you quickly and move on. Seems like there's a strong one among you.
Raiga and Yui were surprised. Raiga smiled:
— The blue guy is showing off again.
Yui, with determination in her shining eyes, said:
— I knew Master Arisawa was strong, but this much power is impressive.
Raiga turned to Yui:
— I don't think they need help there; killing this guy should be enough.
Takeshi bent down and placed his hand on the ground. Wood, stones, and earth rose from the ground, forming spears aimed at Raiga. Raiga incinerated the earth with her flames and dodged the stones and wood to close in on Takeshi. This time, Takeshi targeted Yui, but she leapt upward to evade.
Raiga struck Takeshi with her great sword, but it had no effect; his earth constantly blocked her attacks. Raiga's desire to kill was immense, but her strikes lacked speed; she only had some strength. Yui was a ranged support, too weak to be a problem.
Noticing the situation, Yui moved closer. Raiga was surprised:
— What are you doing?!
Yui said nothing and entered close combat range. Now more dangerous, she could use her telekinesis more effectively. Raiga punched while Yui hurled trees, striking the enemy when their guard dropped.
Takeshi was slightly wary of Raiga's heavy blows, but her fire wasn't strong enough to surpass his earth defenses. He increased his attack speed; he needed to finish quickly and reach Kael. He was certain Kael wouldn't lose, but a bad feeling lingered. His instincts were excellent; he had never been wrong, and he sensed the aura of a killer from the battlefield's past, which worried him.
Raiga began striking rapidly, but in close combat, only she and Yui took damage. Takeshi remained unscathed. Raiga could summon her dragon of blue flames, but it was risky; failure would drastically deplete her energy and reduce their chance of winning. Unsure, she looked at Yui.
Yui, focused on battle, noticed Raiga looking at her. She immediately understood and nodded without hesitation:
— Go for it, Raiga!!
Raiga pulled back shouting:
— Yui! Fall back!
Yui retreated. Takeshi did not follow and stayed in place. Energy surged from Raiga; first, a crimson dragon appeared, then its color shifted to blue. Takeshi recognized it immediately:
— That's his dragon…
Without delay, Takeshi raised a massive wall of earth. Raiga completed her enormous dragon and charged. When the massive dragon collided with the earth wall, a tremendous energy explosion occurred, blinding everyone. Both Takeshi and Raiga struggled, but then something unexpected happened: the earth absorbed the fire. The dragon vanished shortly after, leaving only the vivid blue earth.
Takeshi laughed and split his earth into two, trying to crush Raiga mid-air. Raiga froze; how was this possible? Her own fire was being used against her. Worse, her energy was nearly depleted. She had no strength left to avoid the attack. She clenched her teeth and fists, accepting her impending death. She wanted her revenge, but it was now impossible. She had made a grave mistake. She closed her eyes, bracing for the crushing fiery earth.
But suddenly, a hand pushed her. Raiga fell hard to the ground, stunned. Opening her eyes, she saw Yui hovering in the air. Raiga froze. She was about to be crushed, yet Yui smiled at her and spoke one last time:
— You have to live, Raiga.
In an instant, the earth that threatened to crush her swallowed Yui; she vanished. Raiga screamed:
— YUI!!!!
When the earth parted, a burning skeleton fell into Raiga's arms. Her expression revealed it was Yui. Tears streamed down Raiga's face as he shouted:
— Yui… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I couldn't protect you… I… I'm so weak…
His tears fell onto the skeleton:
— I'm sorry, Yui… I'm pathetic… I can't even protect my teammate…
Takeshi laughed:
— Yes, you're pathetic!!!
Raiga bent down, gently placing the skeleton on the ground. He made a pillow out of earth so it wouldn't hit the stone. Wiping his tears with his sleeve:
— Yui, you were always the spirit of our team… Your death won't be in vain!
Raiga stood up and turned his head, glaring fiercely at Takeshi. His aura had completely changed.