The air was still.

  Heavy.

  Almost unnatural.

  It wasn’t like the Chūkan—

  No, the world outside felt stiff.

  Rigid.

  Like stepping from the boundless into something lesser.

  But that didn’t matter.

  Because standing across from them, as if time had frozen, were—

  Jin. Raigo. Katsuro.

  Jin tilted his head, cracking his neck as a smirk tugged at his lips.

  “What took you guys so long? Round two usually happens right after round one, not two months ter.”

  Raigo scoffed.

  Katsuro exhaled through his nose.

  Their weapons gleamed under the dull light, the st bit of daylight painting long shadows across the battlefield.

  They had been waiting for this.

  So had Ren.

  So had Ryuko.

  So had Yumi.

  Across from them, Ren stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.

  Ryuko rolled his shoulders.

  Akira smirked, about to take a step—

  But then—

  “No.”

  Yumi’s voice was firm.

  Unshaken.

  Akira blinked.

  “Huh?”

  She stepped ahead, eyes locking onto Raigo.

  The air between them felt sharp.

  “I’m finishing this.”

  Akira raised his hands in mock surrender, stepping back with a chuckle.

  “Alright. Guess I’ll sit this one out and watch with Watari.”

  Jin’s grin widened.

  “Tch. Alright then. Let’s not waste time.”

  In one swift motion—

  “Take Form!”

  Their energy exploded outward, roaring like an unleashed storm.

  Three monstrous presences erupted into existence—

  Raw. Overwhelming.

  The battlefield cracked beneath the pressure as their Take Forms manifested.

  Jin’s dual bdes.

  Raigo’s war gauntlets.

  Katsuro’s curved odachi.

  Power surged.

  It was time.

  Or so they thought.

  ?A beat of silence passed.

  And then—

  Yumi exhaled.

  “They were right.”

  Her voice was quiet, but the weight of it cut through the chaos like a bde.

  “I sense it now. Those cores truly are nothing.”

  A flicker of realization spread through Ren and Ryuko’s eyes.

  Because—

  She was right.

  After a pce like that…

  those cores meant nothing.

  They didn’t call for Take Form.

  They didn’t summon anything.

  They didn’t need to.

  ?

  Jin lunged.

  Ren was already gone.

  A blur.

  A flicker.

  He stepped just past Jin’s strike, an inch—no, a hair—out of reach.

  Jin’s eyes widened slightly.

  He didn’t dodge.

  He just wasn’t there to begin with.

  ?

  Raigo’s fist flew toward Yumi.

  She stepped into it.

  Not away.

  Not back.

  Forward.

  Her body shifted just slightly to the side, letting the attack graze past her by a fraction of an inch.

  And then—

  A palm.

  Not a punch.

  Not a kick.

  Just a controlled, fluid tap against Raigo’s chest.

  A shockwave detonated.

  Raigo staggered back, coughing violently.

  His stance broke completely, his eyes wide.

  That wasn’t strength.

  That was control.

  Katsuro snarled, swinging his bde in a wide arc.

  Ryuko didn’t block.

  Didn’t parry.

  He simply tilted his head.

  The odachi missed by a breath.

  Katsuro’s bance wavered.

  And in that moment—

  Ryuko stepped forward.

  His foot nded just ahead of Katsuro’s stance—

  inside his space.

  A single elbow to the ribs.

  Precise. Brutal.

  CRACK.

  Katsuro choked on a breath, staggering.

  He had felt Ryuko’s raw strength before.

  This wasn’t it.

  This was something different.

  And then—

  it clicked.

  The realization.

  Jin narrowed his eyes, panting slightly.

  They haven’t called on forms.

  They weren’t relying on their cores’ aura.

  “Tch…”

  He wiped his mouth, grinning through the sting of pain.

  “So in those two months… you weren’t just wasting time.”

  ?Ren’s fingers curled.

  Sato’s st words echoed in his mind.

  “The strongest door is not the one that cannot be broken, but the one that will never open for you.”

  His breath steadied.

  He understood now.

  They all did.

  And that’s when it happened.

  Everyone bounced back.

  A csh, a retreat—

  An unspoken pause as both sides reassessed.

  Ren exhaled.

  “Alright then.”

  Yumi adjusted her gloves.

  “Time to end this.”

  Ryuko cracked his knuckles.

  “Took you guys long enough.”

  ?The air shifted.

  “Come forth.”

  Three voices.

  Three decrations.

  The battlefield trembled.

  Jin’s smirk twitched.

  Raigo’s fists tensed.

  Katsuro’s breath hitched.

  Because they felt it.

  The difference.

  A pulse of overwhelming presence.

  The moment the words left their lips, the energy around them became absolute.

  ?

  “Come forth, Tsukuyomi.”

  The sky darkened.

  Shadows stretched unnaturally, swallowing the battlefield in a silver glow.

  Ren’s bde gleamed, untouched by the light of this world.

  ?

  “Come forth, Kiyohime.”

  The ground cracked.

  The air seared.

  A coiling dragon of fire twisted behind Yumi, its heat suffocating, its gaze locked onto Raigo.

  ?

  “Come forth, Erebus.”

  Darkness roared.

  A void of raw, unrelenting motion spiraled around Ryuko—

  not just shadow, but pure, unbridled force.

  The three enemies stiffened.

  They felt it.

  The two months of difference.

  The impossible gap.

  And then—

  The execution began.

  Yumi moved first.

  A single step.

  That was all it took.

  Raigo blinked—

  and then he was gone.

  Yumi was behind him.

  A pilr of fire erupted where he stood, his body flung violently across the battlefield before he even registered the attack.

  ?

  Ren didn’t waste time.

  He stepped into Jin’s range.

  One motion.

  A clean, calcuted cut.

  Jin’s swords shattered on impact.

  ?

  Ryuko tilted his head at Katsuro’s attempt to counter, grinning.

  “Remember all that bragging about being a Musabori Elite?…”

  He sighed.

  “You truly bore me.”

  One punch.

  No—

  A flicker of movement.

  A hit to the stomach so fast the sound came after.

  Katsuro colpsed.

  ?

  Jin stumbled backward, panting, eyes wide.

  They couldn’t fight this.

  They never could.

  ?

  Ren exhaled, bde at his side.

  His eyes sharp.

  Unwavering.

  “Sorry to say, but this was simply—”

  “A mismatch.”

  He sshes his sword downward.

  Cut to bck.