บท 7: Episode 7 - Duel (Part 2)
"Strength does not mean bearing the pain of others but resisting your own demons, even when the easiest path is destruction." - Tatsuo Goda
The next battle was about to begin. Miho and Mirio stepped forward and took their places on the battle platform. Aki was worried. Miho and Mirio were both quite good friends of his. He might never see one of them again. As they simultaneously said, "Battle, Start!", the battle arena changed once more. This time, it transformed into a modern suburban street at dusk. In this place, the third-to-last battle of the Sentinel entrance exam began.
Moonfang Arc
Sentinel Entrance Exam
Chapter 7 - Duel (Part 2)
The battle began. For a moment, both simply stood there, looking into each other's eyes, saying nothing. This silence lasted until Mirio smiled and broke the ice: "I guess we're opponents now." Miho looked sad, while the blonde boy quickly adapted to the situation and accepted that they now had to fight each other. It was Mirio who made the first move. He shouted, "Pegasus!", and silver boots with small wings on their sides appeared on his feet. Miho took a defensive position. "D-Do you really want to fight? But we're friends!" Her opponent laughed briefly. "Do you really think that makes a difference? One of us has to win!"
With incredible speed, Mirio charged forward and kicked Miho right in the stomach, sending her crashing into a house facade. Before she could even realize what was happening, the boy had reached her again. The next kick was aimed at her head. Fortunately, the young pacifist was able to tilt her head just in time, causing the kick to hit the house facade instead, with the boy's leg briefly getting stuck in it. Miho took advantage of this moment to run away. But where could she flee? There was no place to hide in this arena. So, she found herself back in the middle of the street, between the houses, without any idea of what to do next. By this time, Mirio had freed his leg.
The boy grinned and shouted, "I'll show you what my module can do, Pegasus Rush!" White lightning bolts appeared from Mirio's boots. With these bolts came another burst of speed. Mirio began bouncing from house to house like a rubber ball ricocheting between two walls. With each jump, there was a great risk of hitting the girl. They both knew that if Mirio landed even one hit, it would be over. Desperately, Miho dodged every attack, albeit narrowly. The girl knew something had to change. "Wait a minute... Why am I constantly dodging? Why am I not fighting back? I want to be a Sentinel... The job of the Sentinels is to fight, not to hide." Miho realized that with her desperate mindset, she could never be a good Sentinel. Hiding would never win her a battle. The girl stood up and looked at Mirio, who was preparing for another jump. Calmly, she said, "Shinja." The young lady could also be a good Sentinel without killing or hurting people. She needed to adapt to the situation. She needed to fight.
Two dark blue gloves appeared on her hands. Miho spread her fingers and crossed her forearms in front of her, so they formed a large X. The girl said, "X-Threads," and a thread shot out from each of her fingertips, attaching to the houses. Meanwhile, Mirio had already leaped. "So, you've awakened your module too, huh?" But Miho gave no answer. She quickly uncrossed her arms, causing the threads to shoot forward. They were about to hit Mirio, but the girl hesitated. "Wait a minute! If I continue this attack, I'll probably...:" She quickly shouted, "Binding Thread!" The thread cross dissolved, and the strings wrapped around the boy until he was completely tied up. Mirio then fell to the ground, bound. Miho leaned over him. "Do you give up?" Despite the situation, the adapter still grinned. "Hehehe, give up? Haven't you watched enough Naruto to know that you should never give up?"
The white lightning reappeared at Mirio's feet. He quickly kicked upwards, catching Miho by surprise. The shock loosened the threads, allowing the boy to escape. Now, a final exchange of blows would decide the fight. Although the attack had failed, the thread fighter quickly regained her composure. Mirio was already charging at Miho. The young lady shouted, "Thread Whip!" A thick thread shot out from her palm. The girl swung the thread in Mirio's direction. This time, the boy couldn't dodge and was hit directly in the stomach by her whip. The boy's pain was immense, but it lasted only a moment. Mirio fell to the ground, unconscious, and the arena transformed back, signaling the end of the fight. "And the winner is... Miho!" Aki and the remaining participants clapped. However, there was an even bigger problem. Viktor announced the next battle: "The next fight will take place in the 'School Building' arena. Aimi will fight..." For Aki, it would have been best if Tatsuo had fought against her. After all, Tatsuo was much stronger than himself. Moreover, Aimi could punish others for their misdeeds with her module. That would have quickly ended the fight against Tatsuo. Viktor finished his sentence: "... Hachiro!"
Aki was shocked. He was the one who would fight Tatsuo – this time in a real fight. The two fighters took their places on the battle platform. "Battle, Start!" As expected, the battle arena became a school building. They were currently standing in the school's foyer. Without hesitation, Hachiro said, "Whisper of Secrets," and activated his module. It was a black mouthguard mask on his face. "Oh, Aimi. You got the worst opponent you could imagine. After all, I'm the king of rumors." The girl didn't understand what he meant and didn't respond. The young man laughed and ran toward her. Then he swung his fist and hit the girl right in the face. Aimi quickly countered and kicked Hachiro in the side, knocking him to the ground. But the young man just grinned. "Hahaha, C is a bit more than it seems, don't you think?" The girl was shocked. "How did you..." Her opponent stood up and laughed hysterically. "Ahahahaha! Thanks to my module, I can discover a personal secret or piece of information about my opponent with every hit! Isn't that great? Hahahaha!"
The girl quickly fled. In a real fight, Hachiro wouldn't have been an opponent, but now all the aspiring Sentinels and possibly even strangers could see everything. Aimi quickly stormed into the chemistry room, closely followed by Hachiro. Aimi ran through the chemistry room, her eyes hastily searching for something to use as a weapon. She grabbed a Bunsen burner and threw it in Hachiro's direction while simultaneously snatching a test tube filled with an unknown powder from the table. The Bunsen burner clattered to the ground and rolled away as Hachiro deftly dodged and continued charging at her. Without hesitation, Aimi hurled the test tube in his direction, which shattered on the ground, releasing a cloud of smoke and chemicals. Hachiro paused and coughed, giving Aimi the opportunity to grab a chair and hurl it at him. Hachiro dodged the chair, but the brief moment of distraction was enough: Aimi ran past him and leaped over a table to reach the door. Before Hachiro could resume the attack, she pushed over a cabinet, blocking the path and preventing Hachiro from immediately following her. She quickly escaped through the door while Hachiro was still busy making his way through the obstacles, gaining precious seconds.
While Hachiro was trapped, the girl ran directly to the cafeteria. There would definitely be a place where Aimi could hide. Upon arriving in the cafeteria, Aimi hastily searched for a suitable hiding spot. She immediately noticed the large kitchen counter running along the back wall of the room. Under the counter, there were several cabinets and drawers large enough to accommodate a girl about 1.60 meters tall. She quickly crouched inside one of the cabinets, carefully closing the door behind her and holding her breath. The thick, metallic walls of the cabinet would conceal her presence, and the counter provided enough cover so that she was hardly visible from the outside. From her hiding place, she could overlook the entire room and hear Hachiro's footsteps as he entered the cafeteria.
About two minutes later, the girl heard footsteps approaching. But the footsteps weren't the only thing. A few moments later, Hachiro entered through the entrance door and called out, "You should have changed your clothes first. After all, you left a trail of that strange powder!" Aimi was extremely frightened. Hachiro slowly walked through the cafeteria, his footsteps echoing menacingly in the large room. His eyes roamed over the chairs and tables, searching and alert. He pushed a chair aside, then another, while muttering softly to himself, "Where are you hiding, little mouse?"
Aimi crouched in the metal cabinet, her breathing shallow and quiet. She could hear her heart pounding loudly in her chest and tried to remain as still as possible. But Hachiro was relentless, his footsteps drawing closer. Suddenly, he stopped when his gaze fell on a row of cabinets that weren't completely closed. He grinned and slowly approached them. "Ah, there you are," he whispered with a vile smile on his lips. He opened one cabinet after another until he finally reached the cabinet where Aimi was hiding. With a strong pull, Hachiro yanked the door open, and Aimi found herself face-to-face with him. His triumphant smile showed that he knew exactly he had found her. "You can't hide from me," he said softly as he moved toward her.
The girl quickly tried to flee, but she wasn't safe from Hachiro. The young man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her out of the cabinet. As he held her by the hair, he proudly said, "You know, little girl? I've always enjoyed ruining other people's lives. There's nothing like the sad, hurt look of someone whose reputation will never exist again. Even better are the surprised, angry, or mocking looks of the people who used to be friends with the person. That feeling of just having destroyed someone's life is simply amazing! And you're next! Ahahahahaha!"
He pulled Aimi out of the cabinet by her hair. This was followed by a strong kick to the stomach. Three punches later, Aimi was still defenseless. The girl was too shocked and traumatized to summon her module now. But after the next kick, Hachiro stopped. "Oh, what have I discovered now?" The young man moved away from Aimi and sat on one of the large tables in the cafeteria. The girl was puzzled. Had he uncovered some information that could expose her? But then a shock hit her. "Did he...?" This couldn't be true! The unsympathetic villain now looked directly at the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to announce about Aimi here." The girl got up. The man mustn't be allowed to say it. She had to stop him. "You all think this girl here is so proper and hates everything naughty or evil, but what if I told you the opposite is true?"
With her last strength, the Sentinel candidate limped forward, but it was already too late. Hachiro finished his sentence: "Aimi here has once offered her services for money." The girl fell to her knees. She wanted to speak up and say it wasn't true, but no words came out of her mouth. Sweat ran down her forehead, and she turned pale all over. A few tears rolled down her cheeks until they reached the ground. While Hachiro laughed hysterically and enjoyed the moment, the girl remembered all the trauma, all the darkness, and despair she had experienced in the past. But a single thought changed everything. "Why am I here?" The girl slowly stood up. "Didn't I want to fight and win? Didn't I want to become one of the Sentinels? Does it even matter what these people think of me? I just need to win this fight, and for that, I need my module. The best way to get it is to face my past and not hide it forever. I should fight my trauma and stand up for it instead of hiding like a coward!"
Aimi then looked at the audience. "That..." Hachiro gave her a scornful look. He expected her to deny it desperately. But what the girl said next was unexpected. "That's correct. I once offered my services for money, and it's exactly what you think. But you should never judge a book by its cover. I was the eldest of three children raised by a single mother. We lived in a run-down apartment, my mother was a severe alcoholic, and she couldn't find a job. On top of that, she accumulated debts wherever she could. Most of the money went into our education, leaving little for other things. I was bullied and harassed at school. The bullies started demanding money from me and threatened to hurt my siblings. Additionally, the debt collectors came to me because I was the oldest responsible person in my household. So, I had to take on all the financial problems instead of my mother. I was simply desperate... Then this man came to me... and promised to take care of all my debts if I accepted this offer... It... It's really nothing I'm proud of, but I did it for my family and mostly didn't want to do it myself... I... I was just desperate..."
Aimi broke down in tears. Her words were heartfelt and entirely truthful. Hachiro stood up. "You better stop talking, little slut!" But he was interrupted by Maki, who spoke up from the tribune for the successful participants. "So what?" the confident young lady began, "That doesn't show how awful you are, but how awful this world and its society are. You're just the one who was trapped and exploited by this dirty system! Besides, you remain the Aimi we all know and love, right?" Shiroi then shouted, "Yeah! You're still our rule-loving friend!" Everyone encouraged Aimi, telling her how much they liked her. But the most emotional was Tatsuo. With tears in his eyes, the young man said, "You're the best, Aimi! Waaaah!" The girl's face, which had just been desperate and sad, now developed into a slight, happy smile. "Guys..." Miho pointed directly at her. "And now go show him, Aimi! You still have a fight to win!"
With a happy grin, the girl turned to Hachiro. "Thank you, everyone! You are truly the best! Now, let's go. Judgement of Justice!" The notebook reappeared in her hand, ready to punish Hachiro for all his sins. The young man angrily jumped off the table and charged directly at her. He couldn't let Aimi use her module. After all, his plan had been so well thought out. Incredibly quickly, the young lady wrote: "Hachiro Kuroda - Assault, Psychological Violence, Humiliation, Defamation, Damage to Reputation, Coercion, Extortion." Just before the young man reached Aimi, he was struck by an invisible fist, knocking him to the ground.
With an angry shout, Hachiro jumped up from the floor and charged at Aimi again. But before he could reach her, a glowing fist of pure blue energy formed in front of him and punched him directly in the face. The impact sent him flying several meters backward, where he crashed to the ground. But it wasn't over yet. Before Hachiro could even recover, two more fists shot out of nowhere and struck him simultaneously in the stomach and chest, causing him to scream in pain. His body was flung into the air, where another fist awaited, hitting him hard in the back and slamming him with full force back to the ground. Hachiro desperately tried to stand up, but he was immediately struck by another blow, this time to the side, which sent him crashing against the nearest wall. The girl didn't relent. "Those were just the crimes you committed against me. I'll collect justice for each of your victims!" With every crime she wrote down in her notebook, a new fist formed, attacking him with relentless force. The punches came in an unstoppable flood. Each strike was precise, hard, and aimed to break Hachiro. He was slammed against walls, flung through the air, and repeatedly driven to the ground. The fists hit him in an unceasing sequence, leaving him disoriented.
His contorted face and tortured screams filled the room as Aimi calmly continued writing. Each fist seemed to strike with even greater intensity until Hachiro finally lay on the ground, unable to move. The last fist lifted him up and delivered a final, devastating blow, leaving him unconscious on the floor. Aimi stood quietly, holding the notebook tightly in her hand as the energy of the fist slowly faded. She looked down at the defeated Hachiro, who now lay motionless on the ground, his body completely broken. A deep breath and a moment of silence followed before she closed the notebook and slowly turned around. The audience, who had witnessed the fight, erupted into thunderous applause, cheering and celebrating Aimi's undeniable victory. Viktor was extremely impressed. "Wow. After that last accusation, Hachiro would have been disqualified anyway, but I didn't expect this turn of events."
As Aimi took her seat on the victor's tribune next to Maki and Hachiro was carried away, Aki and Tatsuo stood up. They knew exactly what would happen next. Viktor didn't even have to announce who would fight now. "Um... You will fight in the 'Cave Tree' arena." With a cool, piercing gaze, Aki and Tatsuo looked into each other's eyes. They were facing each other for the first time in a real, fair fight. After both had mentally prepared themselves, they said simultaneously: "Battle, Start."
Once the arena had completely transformed, the two fighters stood on a massive tree surrounded by a stone dome. However, small, glowing mushrooms grew on the gigantic tree, illuminating the battlefield. Tatsuo immediately shouted, "Dust to Dust!", causing a huge stone hammer to appear in his hand. It was now Aki's turn to summon his module. This was the first time he called forth his sword outside of the Seal Temple. So, he shouted, "Lend me your aid, Akuma!" Then he held the enormous, rusty sword he had already summoned in the Temple of Awakening once again in his hands. Despite its relatively crude form, the sword was only as heavy as a normal one-handed sword.
The fight began immediately as Tatsuo materialized his enormous stone hammer and advanced toward Aki. With a loud roar, he swung the massive weapon, which hurtled toward Aki with incredible force. But Aki, prepared for the speed of the attack, jumped to the side, narrowly dodging the devastating blow. The hammer struck the ground, causing the entire platform to tremble, while Aki seized the opportunity to jump onto the hammer and rush directly at Tatsuo. But Tatsuo was not an opponent who could be easily outmaneuvered. With a swift movement, he let the hammer disintegrate into dust before Aki could reach him and jumped back. Aki landed on the ground and fixed his gaze on Tatsuo, who now raised his hands and caused massive earth spikes to shoot out from the wall behind him, rushing directly toward Aki. Aki knew that these spikes could destroy his module if he didn't react quickly. So, he called out his technique "Colors: Vision Red." Immediately, Akuma's blade turned into red smoke that wove its way through the spikes. Aki skillfully maneuvered through the attacks, and as he got close enough to Tatsuo, the blade manifested back into solid form. He struck, but Tatsuo was already prepared and dodged to the side. With a powerful shoulder check, Tatsuo threw Aki off balance and sent him plummeting off the platform.
In free fall, Aki quickly used "Colors: Vision Blue." Multiple sword beams shot out from his blade, targeting Tatsuo as he jumped after him. Tatsuo, noticing the sword beams, quickly created an earth shield that intercepted the attacks, leaving him unscathed. As both continued to fall, they landed on a lower level of the tree trunk, where Tatsuo immediately began creating a massive golem from the earth beneath them. The golem was gigantic and had a terrifying presence. With a mighty blow, the creature struck at Aki, who just managed to save himself with a roll to the side. But the pressure and speed of the golem were taking a toll on Aki. He knew he had to end this fight quickly before he was overwhelmed. Aki focused and called out "Colors: Vision Green." A green spiral of energy formed around Akuma's blade, glowing in a radiant vortex. Aki concentrated all his strength into a powerful thrust, aimed at the golem, and launched the decisive attack. With a strong push, the green spiral pierced the golem, shattering its structure and causing it to splinter into countless small earth fragments.
But while Aki was still trying to regain his balance, Tatsuo didn't let the moment pass and lunged at him. In his rush to maintain his position, Aki lost his module, which now lay several meters away on the ground. Tatsuo immediately pressed the attack, swinging his fists at Aki, who had no time to retrieve his sword. Aki knew he couldn't defend himself without his weapon, so he decided to go for a direct assault. With a loud shout, Aki stepped forward and struck Tatsuo in the face with all his might, while Tatsuo simultaneously punched him. Their fists collided in mid-air, and the tremendous force of the impact sent both fighters flying apart. They crashed hard onto the ground, unconscious, and the fight abruptly ended. The arena reverted back, and silence filled the room as everyone stared at the two fighters lying on the ground. It was unclear who had won, as both had passed out at the same time. Viktor, who had been closely watching the events, stepped forward and examined the two fighters.
"A draw," Viktor announced after a moment of thought. "Both have shown their strength and determination. You both have proven that you are worthy." But before the arena disappeared and the fighters were carried away, Aki briefly opened his eyes and looked at Tatsuo. "Tatsuo," he began weakly, "you must understand that we don't fight to feed our own demons. We fight to protect those who matter to us. Your strength isn't measured by how much pain you can inflict, but by how much you're willing to endure to protect those you love."
Tatsuo, still dazed from the fight, heard the words, but his anger and adrenaline prevented him from fully grasping them. "Stop talking and fight!" he growled and attacked again, but it was too late. Both were at the end of their strength, and darkness overtook them. As Aki and Tatsuo were carried away, Aki's words echoed in Tatsuo's mind. Although he didn't fully understand them at the moment, he knew they had a deeper meaning. In the days and weeks to come, Tatsuo would repeatedly think back to these words and slowly begin to understand their truth. For Aki and Tatsuo, this battle would be a turning point in their journey – the moment they learned what it truly meant to be strong.
Finally, the time has come! The final phase of the entrance exam is finally over! In the next chapter, you'll find out who made it through. Additionally, the new Sentinels will be introduced to Kenkai, told about the demonic modules, and much more. Things are about to get really exciting!
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