Daisuke's fist finally connected.
The lightning he had gathered around his arm erupted the instant it struck Kichatsu, flooding the ruined street with blinding light. Cracks spread beneath their feet as the force of the collision tore through the pavement and sent debris flying across nearby buildings. For a brief moment, the battlefield vanished behind dust and sparks.
When the dust began to settle, everyone watching expected to see the monster buried beneath the ruins.
Instead, Kichatsu was still standing.
The creature's arm smoked from the impact. Burn marks covered its skin, and faint sparks crawled across its body. The attack had clearly hurt it. But it hadn't fallen.
Ren's expression hardened.
"So it survived..."
Daisuke didn't seem surprised. The instant he saw Kichatsu still standing, he moved again. There was no hesitation, no pause to admire his own attack. He stepped forward and threw another punch. Kichatsu blocked. Daisuke attacked again. Then again. The battle immediately accelerated into a speed that most of the nearby Guardians could barely follow.
The ruined district became their battlefield.
Every exchange destroyed something.
Walls collapsed. Streets cracked. Windows shattered.
Taro's eyes darted from one side of the district to the other.
"I can't even keep track of them anymore!"
"Then stop trying," Mei replied without taking her eyes off the fight.
Unlike the others, she wasn't focused on where they were moving. She was watching how they were fighting.
And something bothered her.
"They're adapting."
Ren glanced toward her.
"What?"
"The longer this goes on, the more they're learning from each other."
Far ahead, Daisuke slipped beneath a heavy swing and caught Kichatsu's leg before the creature could recover. Using the monster's own momentum against it, he twisted sharply and slammed it into the ground.
The impact folded the street inward.
Before Kichatsu could rise, Daisuke lifted him again and drove him into the pavement a second time. Broken stone exploded outward.
Taro winced.
"Okay, that definitely hurt."
This time, Daisuke didn't stop there. Still holding the creature's leg, he spun once and launched Kichatsu through a row of ruined buildings. One structure collapsed after another as the massive body tore straight through them.
For a moment, the battlefield became quiet.
Then Kichatsu emerged from the rubble.
The creature's shoulder now carried visible damage. Several cracks had spread across parts of its body, and traces of electricity still lingered where Daisuke's attacks had landed.
Yet it didn't look weaker.
If anything, it looked more focused.
As if every attack was helping it understand its opponent.
By now, Batch D had finally arrived.
Airi stepped onto what remained of the street and immediately stopped.
The battlefield barely looked like the district they had entered.
Entire sections of the area had been erased by the fight.
One of the members behind her stared at the destruction.
"...They did all this?"
Nobody answered.
The answer was obvious.
Ahead of them, Daisuke rolled his shoulders and stepped forward once more.
Kichatsu mirrored the movement.
Neither side seemed willing to retreat.
Then they vanished.
The next collision echoed across the district.
A shockwave burst outward as their fists met head-on. Daisuke drove forward relentlessly, forcing Kichatsu backward for the first time since the battle began. A second strike landed. Then a third.
The creature answered with a kick.
Daisuke blocked it.
Another followed.
Then another.
The exchange became so fast that even Ren struggled to follow it.
Every second raised the stakes.
Every second pushed both fighters harder.
And neither of them seemed satisfied.
For the first time since Kichatsu had appeared, the monster wasn't fighting out of instinct.
It was enjoying itself.
It had finally found someone who could stand in front of it.
Someone who wouldn't break.
Someone who wouldn't run.
A worthy opponent.
Daisuke seemed to understand that.
A grin appeared on his face.
"You're tougher than I thought."
Kichatsu responded with a roar.
Then it moved.
This time, something changed.
The attack came faster than before.
Much faster.
Daisuke raised his guard.
The kick landed anyway.
The impact shook the entire district.
For a split second, Daisuke's body remained frozen in place.
Then he disappeared.
The force launched him across the ruins like a projectile. Buildings collapsed in his path as he tore through them one after another before vanishing beyond the horizon entirely.
Silence followed.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Even Kichatsu remained standing where it was.
Waiting.
Watching.
Several long seconds passed.
Taro swallowed.
"...Daisuke?"
Then, far away in the distance, lightning exploded into the sky.
A massive pillar of gold rose above the horizon.
Ren smiled.
Mei relaxed slightly.
Airi folded her arms.
Because all of them understood the same thing.
That attack hadn't ended the fight.
Not even close.
And somewhere beyond the ruined district, Daisuke was already making his way back.
To be continued...