Regns' muscles tensed.
Dark mist coiled around his body like something alive, seeping into the air and pressing against everyone in the room. The silence wasn't empty—it pulsed. Heavy. Suffocating.
Kiro's hand slipped again.
Blood kept pouring from Leah's wound, warm and relentless. He pressed harder, jaw tight, eyes locked, refusing to let go.
Across the room, Renji exhaled slowly. A thin stream of cold air left his mouth as he hooked his arms under his armpits, shoulders relaxed—too relaxed for the tension in the room. A faint smile lingered on his face as he glanced at Daigo.
Seouk wasn't still.
His hands clamped over his ears, fingers digging in. His body trembled, swaying slightly like a drunk man trying to stay upright.
I guess only I can hear these sparks…
Daigo stepped back.
"Phew…"
He sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. "I guess nobody wants to ask the obvious, right?"
Heads turned toward him.
All except Mira.
She walked calmly to where her hoodie lay, picked it up, and pulled it over herself.
The moment the fabric settled—
Silence deepened.
Her presence pressed down on the room, subtle… but undeniable.
Daigo continued, voice lighter than the atmosphere allowed.
"How was Mira able to keep up with Leah and her light blades?"
Behind them, Leah's body began to mend. Flesh pulled together. Blood dried. Breath steadied.
Regns' gaze shifted to Mira.
"She really isn't apologizing…" he muttered.
Mira exhaled.
"Phew."
She lifted her head—and met his eyes.
No hesitation. No fear.
Cold. Direct. Unmoving.
"I hate being stared at like that," she said flatly. "I don't care who you are... Stop."
A scream tore through the room.
"Aaaah!"
Seouk collapsed.
Blood trickled from his ears as he clutched his head, his face twisted in pain.
Kiro snapped his attention toward him. "What's wrong?"
Daigo said nothing.
His eyes moved—constantly scanning—but always returning to Mira.
Renji moved quickly. He crouched beside Seouk, placing both hands over his ears.
"Hiss—"
Cold vapor rose from his palms.
"I've frozen the blood," Renji said calmly. "You'll hear a ringing sound for a bit… but you'll live."
Regns watched everything.
Every reaction. Every movement.
He stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Seouk straightened.
"It was Mira's heartbeat."
A pause.
"…Heartbeat?" Regns repeated.
Seouk forced himself to speak through the pain.
"In class… it was faint. Like lightning discharging somewhere far away. But here…" He winced. "It kept rising. Higher… sharper…"
Leah stirred.
Kiro gently tapped her cheek. "Hey… wake up."
Her eyes fluttered open.
"What's going on—"
"Shh." His hand covered her mouth. "Don't talk."
Attention shifted back to Seouk.
"When you stared at her," he continued weakly, "her heartbeat spiked. Like… a magic bomb about to go off. The sound just kept climbing…"
Daigo's lips curled slightly.
She's close to her Transit.
Mira's cooking.
Regns rubbed his jaw.
Mira is… something.
Then he stepped forward, cutting through the tension.
"I won't waste time."
His voice sharpened.
"The next battle—Kiro versus Seouk."
Seouk pushed himself up slowly.
A chuckle escaped him, though it lacked strength.
"So I'm fighting little Kiro?" He shook his head, grinning. "That's unfortunate."
Renji leaned toward Daigo, barely holding back laughter.
"He's lost his mind."
Daigo gave a weak smile.
"Kiro's angry. Mira hurt his girl… badly. That anger has to go somewhere."
He rolled his eyes.
"…Gibberish."
Kiro stepped forward.
The ground beneath him was still broken—cracked from Mira's earlier fight.
He didn't smile.
His fists clenched.
His eyes—cold.
Sharp.
Locked onto Seouk.
"You think being a Vessel makes you untouchable," Kiro said quietly, a faint smirk forming. "Today… I'll show you something else."
The air shifted.
Everyone could feel it.
His anger hadn't faded.
It had settled.
Condensed.
Regns watched him closely.
"Only the weak get beaten," he said. "Like Leah."
Kiro didn't respond.
But his hands trembled.
Then—
BRNN
Purple light burst from his palms, humming through the air with a deep, vibrating tone.
Even Mira looked at him now.
Surprised.
What can he do with that anger…?
Leah, weak but conscious, lifted her hand.
"Kiro…"
Her voice cracked—but she forced it out.
"…win."
He didn't turn.
But he heard.
And that was enough.
Regns raised his hand.
"Begin."
Seouk's expression snapped.
Gone was the grin.
His eyes sharpened. His stance lowered.
Energy surged.
Purple.
Sky blue.
Crackling around his arms.
"God Form"
"Form 1—Presence Sound Wave!"
BRN
The air screamed.
Rings of energy formed around his arms—rotating, tightening, spinning like drills. The pressure alone dragged wind into existence inside the hollow space.
The room howled.
Kiro didn't move.
Slowly—he raised his arm.
BRNN
His energy answered.
Darker.
Heavier.
It spread like living vines, crawling outward in slow, deliberate waves.
"Case Form"
"Form 1—Gravity Blocks."
The vines struck the ground.
Rock tore free.
Chunks lifted—rotating, aligning, locking together midair into a dense, layered sphere.
A shell.
Kiro stepped inside.
Sealed.
The sound rings collided.
BOOM
The impact detonated like a bomb.
Dust exploded outward. Debris scattered. Vision vanished.
Seouk smirked, brushing his hair back.
"Too easy."
The dust thinned.
Kiro stood behind the shattered shell.
Untouched.
Seouk's smile died.
"…What?"
Too late.
Kiro moved.
His hands lifted—
The vines surged forward, slamming into the ground and snapping upward.
They caught Seouk's legs.
Locked.
Kiro blurred forward.
One step—
He was there.
A punch drove into Seouk's stomach.
Air burst from his lungs. His body folded—
But Kiro didn't stop.
"Gravity Push."
Silence—
Then force.
Not wind.
Weight.
An invisible mass slammed into Seouk, launching him backward into the broken shell.
CRACK
Stone fractured on impact—then shattered.
Seouk dropped.
Hard.
His knees hit first.
Then his body followed.
Breath ragged. Ribs broken. Blood at his lips.
"…How…?" he rasped. "I'm supposed to be stronger… You're just—"
Kiro said nothing.
His face—empty.
Regns stepped forward.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Each step deliberate.
He stopped over Seouk.
Then—
STOMP
His foot drove into Seouk's chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Being a Vessel doesn't make you invincible," Regns said coldly. "Especially against someone with control."
Seouk groaned beneath him.
"I pity you," Regns continued. "Looking down on others… will get you killed."
A pause.
"And at this rate—your death isn't far."
Daigo chuckled softly.
"Him and Leah? Same level. But Leah is faster than he is."
Renji nodded, glancing at Leah resting against the wall.
"Yeah… he's the weakest here."
Mira's gaze lingered on Kiro.
Disappointment flickered across her face.
"That's it?" she muttered. "Even with all that anger…"
She exhaled.
"Phew…"
"…I guess it's a start."
Regns turned to Kiro.
"And you—"
A slight shift in tone.
"I said those things to provoke you. To sharpen you."
Kiro met his gaze.
The cold in his eyes eased.
Just slightly.
He exhaled.
Then—faintly—
He smiled.
The tension in the room thinned.
Everyone felt it.
Everyone except—
Daigo.
His eyes remained fixed.
Watching.
Calculating.
Mira... and Transit.
How do I reach that level…?