Iaiashin stared at his new transformation.
Standing at the center of the golden flames, the boy was bathed in a radiant, peerless aura. The wild, dark mane hanging down his back now burned blonde with a lion's splendor, and his teal-green eyes possessed an eerie, unreadable stillness.
Merun slowly raised his hands before his face. He turned his palms back and forth, opening and closing his fingers as if trying to comprehend the impossible density of the energy coursing through his muscles.
Watching him, Iaiashin felt a strange, thrilling chill trace down her spine.
Her centuries of battle experience instantly recognized the terrifying change brought by his transformation.
The truth settled in her chest with absolute clarity.
He had reached her level.
Logically, she knew what she had to do.
The sparring match had far surpassed its purpose. Merun was still trapped inside his delusion, perceiving her as an apocalyptic enemy. At this level of power, continuing to indulge his madness was no longer a game—it was dangerous for both of them. A single unchecked strike could destroy the chamber, burn away his life force, or force a fatal outcome.
I should end this now, she thought.
I need to put Nanatsusaya away... and wake him up.
Her mind reached the obvious conclusion.
...Yet.
Her hands, her heart, and Nanatsusaya—her very soul—completely refused to obey.
Her thumb remained firmly locked against the ornate guard of her blade. Her feet stayed anchored in a low, reactive stance. Deep within her chest, her Martial Heart began to rev with a frantic, accelerating tempo, pounding against her ribs like a war drum.
She was experiencing an intoxicating thrill.
She couldn't put her sword down.
Her blood screamed for the friction of a true battle.
Finally, Merun lowered his hands.
His cold, teal-green eyes shifted, locking directly onto her.
Iaiashin parted her lips, about to call out his name—
Merun vanished.
Before even Iaiashin's reflexes could register the slightest disturbance in the air—
"Gah—!"
Merun's fist buried itself three inches deep into her abdomen.
Her eyes widened in shock as the sheer force flattened her diaphragm. A thick spray of crimson burst from her lips. Her passive Martial Mind hadn't even registered his intent before her body was already reeling from the blow.
She truly couldn't read his intent anymore!
Before she could recover her footing or draw a breath, Merun's hand clamped around her sword wrist like an iron vise, locking her in place.
He didn't give her a fraction of a second, unleashing a terrifying close-quarters barrage directly into her torso and ribs.
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!
The mountain-level strikes rained down with godlike velocity. Every punch rattled her internal organs, shredded the remains of her white kimono, and cracked her stance beneath the sheer density of his golden ki.
Then—
Right in the middle of his assault, Merun's golden-furred tail suddenly shivered.
For the first time since his golden awakening, his beastly Saiyan instincts screamed in warning.
DANGER!
Without hesitation, he abandoned the barrage midway through, pivoted on his heel, and hurled Iaiashin across the arena with monstrous force.
She flew across the hall like a broken doll before crashing violently against the indestructible Kinzoku steel wall.
BOOM!
She slid down the metal before slowly forcing herself back onto her feet.
Blood dripped from the corner of her lips.
Yet...
She was smiling.
"...Wake up, Merun," she whispered.
"...Or else, you'll really die."
Merun didn't react.
He disappeared once more.
But the instant he stepped forward, he was assaulted by a tsunami of information—a flood of data so dense it threatened to erode his very sanity.
"GGRRHH!"
Merun stumbled.
One hand immediately shot to his head as his mind struggled beneath the overwhelming torrent of information.
Yet... he endured.
The Super Saiyan transformation hadn't merely multiplied his physical strength. It had sharpened his cognition as well, allowing him to withstand the mental assault.
Having already read Martial Unity, he immediately recognized what this was.
His foe had finally activated their Martial Mind.
Their Martial Embodiment descended upon reality.
Merun forced his eyes open.
Towering before him stood a colossal ancient tree forged entirely from gleaming silver steel. From its metallic branches drifted blood-red cherry blossoms, each petal representing a microscopic sword strike—a century of refined swordsmanship visualized through her martial path.
She hadn't physically transformed.
Her Martial Mind simply projected the entirety of her martial existence into reality.
The overwhelming information her soul exuded was interpreted by Merun's mind as a steel tree blooming deadly flowers.
It was so unique in fact that he felt something warm in his heart... a sense of familiarity, affection, and gratitude... and yet he rejected it as it was still his greatest enemy.
Iaiashin observed his distress with sharp, calculating eyes.
The Beggar Sect's reports were correct.
Despite his near-invincible physical durability, Merun possessed a severe weakness to mental attacks.
And yet...
He was still standing before her Martial Embodiment.
This golden transformation had enhanced his mind as well?
Gritting his teeth, Merun desperately fought against the informational storm. But the Martial Embodiment of a peak Master wasn't an illusion one could simply ignore.
It was a passive mental tsunami that consumed reality itself.
"...I will suppress this weakness of mine," Merun growled, his voice a low, beastly snarl.
Slowly...
The confusion disappeared from his teal-green eyes.
His Saiyan battle instincts, hardwired for survival, began forcing his subconscious to pilot his body through the endless storm of information.
He regained his bearings.
His golden aura erupted once more.
Seeing him recover, a creepy, manic smile stretched across Iaiashin's bloodied face.
"How terrifying!" she said, her voice carrying genuine admiration.
Merun disappeared again.
But this time—
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
A thousand falling petals struck him before he could reach her.
Each petal carried the force of a Master-level sword strike, driving him backward into a tight cross-guard.
Iaiashin had finally gone all-out.
She stood calmly in place, Nanatsusaya, the myriad-branched blade, pointed directly at him.
"Martial Aestheticism."
Her voice echoed through the chamber.
"That is my martial path," she said, her voice serene and gentle as a field of flowers grew and died, as if to make room for budding flowers to grow and shine.
"...Beautiful, isn't it?"
Merun couldn't hear her.
His conscious mind remained occupied resisting the pressure of her Martial Embodiment, leaving only his subconscious battle instincts to fight.
His body instinctively settled into Sanchin as he charged once more.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
His instincts recognized every strike as they battered him and stopped him from advancing.
Every petal that struck carried one of the techniques she had demonstrated just moments ago.
Blossoming Blade: Bloom, Blossoming Blade: Thorn Basket, Blossoming Blade: Garden, Blossoming Blade: Canopy, Blossoming Blade: Falling Petal, Blossoming Blade: Wilt.
Every technique...
All at once.
This was the power at the realm of the Martial Master.
She hadn't taken a single step, yet every sword art bloomed around him simultaneously from long range.
Merun growled low in his throat as he charged once more.
His subconscious battle mind raced through every possible answer beneath the endless storm of blossoms.
The true Master-level battle...
Had only just begun.