The wound on my neck closed within seconds.
Creature frowned.
"...Damn."
Kaijunoo grinned.
Before Creature could react—
BOOM!
A single punch sent him flying across the battlefield.
"Thunder Formation Technique!" Yamato shouted.
A massive formation spread across the ground beneath me.
Lightning rained down from every direction.
Ash quickly joined in.
"I'll support you!"
A second, smaller Thunder Formation overlapped Yamato's, doubling the number of strikes.
Creature took advantage of the opening.
Dark daggers formed from his Death Hand.
One after another, they shot toward me.
For a moment, it looked like I was trapped.
Kaijunoo simply raised one hand.
"...Pathetic."
A wave of dark energy erupted from my body.
The lightning formations shattered instantly.
Creature's daggers crumbled into black dust before they could reach me.
Silence.
Everyone stood there, breathing heavily.
Yamato dropped to one knee.
Ash could barely stay standing.
Creature's breathing had become uneven.
They had exhausted almost all of their Destructive Energy.
No one had enough strength left to use another technique.
Kaijunoo laughed.
A deep, mocking laugh.
"By the way..."
He looked at everyone.
"I'm the only monster capable of using Destructive Energy."
"We know," the giant monster replied calmly.
Kaijunoo's grin grew wider.
"Then let me show you..."
"...what a true technique looks like."
I felt a terrifying power rising inside me.
The same power...
The one that had shattered the Prison Maze.
Without controlling my body, my right hand slowly rose.
Only my index and middle fingers pointed forward.
A tiny black sphere appeared at my fingertips.
Dark aura spiraled around it.
The air itself seemed to distort.
Creature's eyes widened.
"...No..."
"Void Technique."
Kaijunoo flicked his fingers.
The black sphere shot forward.
For a split second...
There was complete silence.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
The explosion swallowed everything.
The forest disappeared beneath a cloud of dust and darkness.
The ground cracked for hundreds of meters.
Trees vanished.
The sky itself seemed to shake.
Minutes later...
The dust finally settled.
Creature...
Yamato...
Ash...
Even the giant monster...
All lay motionless on the ground.
Unconscious.
I looked at them.
The only ones who had accepted me...
The only people I could finally call friends.
Then I slowly took a step toward them.