Me and Yamato stepped outside.
The cold air brushed against my face.
I can do this, I told myself.
The elders watched from a distance.
"Begin."
The first opponent stepped forward.
He was strong. I could feel it.
Raw power. Destructive energy flowing around him.
He charged.
I didn't think.
I moved.
One punch—
—and he dropped.
Silence.
Then more came.
One after another.
I moved without thinking. Dodging. Striking.
Within a minute—
no one was standing.
The elders exchanged looks.
Then—
"Send the high grades."
This time… it was different.
They were faster.
Sharper.
They used techniques I couldn't understand.
Formations I couldn't see.
But my body reacted on its own.
Step. Dodge. Strike.
Again.
Again.
Again.
And then—
silence.
Everyone was down.
I stood there, breathing heavily.
But still standing.
For a moment…
I thought it was over.
Yamato smiled.
I saw it.
He believed in me.
But then—
"No."
The word hit harder than any attack.
"We cannot accept him," the elder said.
My head snapped up.
"What…?"
"Woah!" Yamato stepped forward. "Did you see him?! He defeated everyone! He'll be useful—how can you reject him?!"
The elder's eyes narrowed.
"I never wanted him here in the first place."
A pause.
"And what happens… when he turns against us?"
"That's nonsense!" Yamato snapped.
Something inside me—
snapped.
Before I knew it—
I was moving.
I charged.
Straight at the elder.
My fist aimed at his face—
—but hands grabbed me.
From all sides.
Too many.
Holding me down.
"LET GO OF ME!" I roared.
I struggled.
Fought.
But they didn't budge.
The elder pointed at me.
"See?" he said coldly. "This is exactly what I meant."
My chest heaved.
My vision burned.
"Lock him in the prison maze."
Silence.
Even Yamato froze.
The prison maze.
A place where monsters are thrown away.
No sunlight.
No escape.
A place so vast… it takes years just to understand it.
And even then—
you're still trapped.
A place where monsters don't survive.
They destroy each other.
Until nothing remains.
And now—
that's where I was going.