The dark images of the past in Sard's mind merged with Shinya's ice-cold whisper echoing in his ear: "Do you remember the first day we found you, Sard? If it weren't for us, if it weren't for Asphex... you would never have reached where you are now. You owe us everything."
These words burst the final dam in Sard's soul that had been gathering pressure for months. He felt once more the coldness of the metal baton against his temple, the irritating sound of Shinya chewing his wafer, and Alric's toxic, counterfeit kindness. His body, slumped on its knees, began to tremble—not from the pain of the blows he had taken, but from a searing fire of revenge.
Sard slowly lifted his head. The hollow, suppressed look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a gaze as dark and sharp as a bottomless well. He was no longer that old, silent child who was afraid to speak.
"I owe... everything... to you?" Sard murmured. His voice was low, yet it echoed in a heavy tone through the winter chill of the street.
At that moment, a sharp kick coming from the void lunged straight for his chest. But this time, something was different. Instead of waiting for the impact, Sard felt that millimetric ripple in the air Shinya created while attacking—that familiar energy.
Sard shifted his body in a sudden reflex, letting the kick fall into empty space. Shinya's invisible body lost its balance for a split second when the strike missed. Sard did not waste the opportunity. He clenched his fist and threw it with immense violence toward the invisible gap where the strike had come from—directly into Shinya's ribs.
When his fist met a solid mass, a muffled groan rose from the void. Shinya's invisibility flickered for a moment; in the dim light of the street, Shinya's face, stretched with shock, appeared for a second before vanishing again.
The violent punch Sard landed had made Shinya's invisibility waver. That groan was proof of Shinya's astonishment. However, Shinya was a B-Rank Combatant; he recovered quickly and this time, he changed his tactics.
Shinya began to flicker in and out of sight. He would appear on Sard's right as if to land a full-blown strike, and the moment Sard readied his block in that direction, he would turn invisible again and reappear with a kick from the left. These attacks began to corner Sard. Taking advantage of this, Shinya landed consecutive blows on Sard's ribs and shoulder.
"What's wrong, Sard?" Shinya's voice thundered, echoing from both the right and the left. "Why aren't you using your ability? Or did I not leave enough of an opening for you to use it? Don't worry, you won't be as lucky as you were that day!"
The moment Shinya appeared right behind him, Sard refused to take any more hits. Just as Shinya raised his hand for a lethal strike, Sard—without even fully extending his hand—fired a small but sharp blast of energy from his fingertips, aimed at Shinya's chest. If Shinya hadn't turned invisible and lunged aside at the very last millisecond, this shot would have pierced through him.
Reappearing a few meters away, Shinya had a look of pure shock on his face. "His attacks have become even sharper since then..." he thought to himself.
This moment took them both back to that fateful day, to that cold hall in the heart of the Clan.
[6 MONTHS AGO]
Alric Asphex's magnificent hall was shrouded in an ice-cold silence that day. Sard stood across the desk, refusing to take a step back despite the glares of dozens of Clan members and Shinya.
"I want to leave," Sard said, his voice echoing through the hall. "I am severing my ties with this Clan today."
A roar of disapproval rose in the hall. "Traitor!", "Ungrateful!", "How dare you turn your back on us!" voices mingled together as Shinya stepped forward. Turning to Alric, he said, "Leader, allow me to teach this insolent brat a lesson. No one can take advantage of Asphex like this."
Alric leaned back on his throne, studying Sard for a moment. Then he turned his eyes toward Shinya and saw the uncontrollable killing intent on his face. He turned back to Sard, pointing at Shinya with his finger, and spoke in a voice as cold as ice:
"Very well, Sard. If you want to leave this Clan, you must defeat him. If you win, you are free to go. But if you lose... you stay here and pay the price."
The battle began with Shinya lunging directly at Sard in an uncontrollable rage. Both were clashing with pure physical strength. Punches and kicks echoed in the wide empty space of the hall; neither side stepped back as they battered each other. As savage as Shinya's attacks were, Sard's defense was just as stubborn. For minutes, they fought in every corner of the hall during this relentless struggle.
However, as Shinya's rage forced him to leave openings, Sard caught the second he had been patiently waiting for. Sard took full control of the fight by neutralizing his opponent's moves one by one. He began to establish dominance by pinning Shinya down with consecutive, accurate strikes.
In the end, Shinya was lying on his back in the middle of the hall. He was breathless; his mouth and nose were covered in blood. Sard stood right over him, standing tall. He held his right hand toward Shinya's face, the intense blue light glowing at his fingertips aimed directly at Shinya's forehead. A single spark could have ended it all.
Shinya slowly closed his eyes. Surrendered to his fate, he waited for the final blow. But that blow never came. The blue light in Sard's hand slowly faded.
When Shinya opened his eyes, he saw Sard looking at him with disgust. Sard pulled his gaze away from the fallen Shinya and turned it toward Alric. "I won," he said.
Then he turned his back and walked out of the hall with silent, heavy steps. Alric watched Sard's departure, grinding his teeth; though he wanted to keep Sard there, he could not go back on the promise he had made in front of everyone. Shinya was left on the floor, alone with the weight of defeat.
The metal dumpster rattling in the wind pulled them both back from the memories of the past. Shinya stood right across from him, trembling with the hunger for revenge from that day's defeat.
"You should have killed me that day, Sard," Shinya said, his voice quivering. "Because tonight, I won't make the same mistake!"
The fight was about to continue from an even more savage point than ever before.