Sparks flew. Buildings crumbled. Screams echoed in the distance. Soldiers were running around, blasting beams of energy and tearing through the robots, even civilians were fighting as well. Some running to safety and some fighting to protect themselves and others.
As everyone was locked in a fierce battle against the wave of robots, Serena continued tearing through them with relentless precision. Her fists crackled with devastating electricity, every punch releasing powerful discharges that not only obliterated her enemies—but also demolished buildings around her.
"Tch... there's no end to them," Serena muttered in frustration, her eyes narrowing.
With an annoyed grunt, she clenched her fists and released a massive bolt of electricity into the sky. It thundered down in a blinding flash, disintegrating a large number of robots—and taking entire city blocks with them. The area around her sparked with energy, glowing with scorched destruction.
Meanwhile, Baraka was in a brutal fistfight with Garou.
Baraka's arms were coated with stones, his fists hardened like boulders. Blow after blow, they clashed with Garou's metallic arms, each impact creating shockwaves that toppled surrounding buildings. The two warriors fought with pure force, punching each other through buildings. They were going blow for blow, no one backing down.
Baraka roared and summoned a massive rock hammer, slamming it down toward Garou's skull.
With a burst of energy, Garou raised his arms and managed to block the attack, though the force behind it left the entire ground fractured. He retaliated with a fierce punch that sent Baraka crashing through countless buildings.
Walking slowly toward the rubble, Garou called out with a satisfied smirk,
"We really went all out there, huh?"
Baraka, bloodied but defiant, began pushing himself to his feet.
"…I'm not done yet," he growled.
Garou's grin widened, his excitement barely contained.
"Heh... I was hoping you'd say that!"
With a sudden burst of speed that shook the ground, Garou charged again. Baraka roared, swinging his rock hammer to intercept. Their weapons and fists collided with a force so massive it vaporized the surrounding area, city blocks crumbling under the pressure. The speed of their blows became almost untraceable—each clash triggering shockwaves strong enough to raze buildings.
Deep in a forest far from the chaos, Kazuki sat on the thick branch of a tree, biting into a red apple. His eyes slowly drifted to the Spirit Mark glowing on his hand—an ancient triangle surrounded by three dots.
"If I want to become stronger..." he murmured, "I need to evolve this mark."
He raised his hand.
Snap.
A violent bolt of purple lightning tore through the sky and crashed down, obliterating everything it touched in an explosion of lightning. Trees vanished in a blaze of energy. The entire forest got vaporized.
Kazuki looked down at the scorched wasteland he had just created.
"…Still not enough," he sighed. "Even after all this training, I can only wipe out half a city. If I want to reach B-rank, I need to start blowing up mountains."
He gazed into the horizon.
A vision flashed in his mind—his infant self, and a boy with bright red hair smiling at him. Kazuki blinked.
"…Shinki…?" he whispered. "I don't know how… but something tells me we're connected."
Without another word, Kazuki vanished at the speed of lightning, the sheer force of his departure uprooting trees in his path.
Back in the city, the fight between Baraka and Garou was reaching its peak.
Baraka smashed the ground, sending rock spikes erupting beneath Garou. Garou dashed forward, breaking through them with his reinforced metal fists. As he approached, he morphed his arm into a giant metal hammer and slammed it into Baraka's face.
Baraka, anger boiling, countered with a barrage of wild punches. Garou dodged swiftly and responded with a brutal uppercut, launching Baraka into the sky. He soared upward after him and smashed him through a skyscraper. As they plummeted down, Garou's fist transformed again—this time into dual hammers—and he struck Baraka mid-air.
BOOM.
The resulting explosion annihilated blocks of the city.
Standing over Baraka's body, Garou pressed his foot on his chest.
"You're strong… almost strong enough to beat me. But you lack the nesseccary brute force."
As Garou prepared the final punch, Baraka suddenly grabbed his arm—and punched him with a strength so overwhelming that Garou was sent flying, his jaw dislocating from the force.
Garou landed on his two feet, cracked his jaw back into place, and laughed—his eyes gleaming with ecstasy.
"You're finally showing me your real power," he said. "I've been waiting for this!"
White energy burst out from Baraka, the ground trembling. Rocks floated around him, forming a solid armor. His body radiated with power.
"If it's brute force you wanted…" he snarled, "…you should've just said so.". Baraka was looking like an absolute monster as a tremendous amount of white energy surged around him.
Garou's eyes widened with joy. His metal arm expanded, surging with raw energy. "HELL YEAH!!", he growled wildly with excitement as his energy blasted out of his body.
The two titans dashed toward each other.
Just as they clashed, Garou flashed back to his childhood—his father's voice echoing in his head: "Give it your all. Never back down. Right or wrong, fight till your last breath."
Garou smirked. "Even if I die… if I can push beyond my limits… then it's all worth it."
Their fists collided at insane speeds with insane energy blasting all through the place.
CRACK!
The explosion of their fight shattered the city around them. Energy crackled violently through the air.
"This… this is the best moment of my life!!" Garou roared in wild excitement.
Baraka, now at his peak, channeled all his energy into a final, thunderous punch.
He struck Garou with enough force to eviscerate countless buildings and split the earth beneath them. Garou, overwhelmed by the attack, looked up—only to see Baraka flying toward him with another punch, energy spiraling around his fist.
"DIE!!!" Baraka roared.
The next impact was cataclysmic. Half the city was obliterated. Rubble flew. The ground shattered. And Garou was overwhelmed and obliterated.
As the dust cleared, Baraka stood above Garou.
Garou stood as his body was mangled—half of his left side was gone, he had a hole on his chest. But he was laughing.
"…Why?" Baraka asked softly. "Why go this far? It doesn't make sense."
Garou, smiling through the pain, looked up.
"…This was the most satisfying fight I've ever had. All I ever wanted… was to be better. To be stronger. Just like my dad."
He paused.
"My father was the strongest warlord in the Stone Country… but he died fighting an A-rank beast. My mother… she couldn't handle the loss. She took her own life. Totally ignoring the fact that you have a kid and taking your own life is a bold move tho. Wouldn't you agree?"
Baraka's expression softened.
"I get it," he said.
Garou nodded. "I joined the Dark Sign because I had no one to fight. No one who could match me… Until now. I joined people who precieved the world just like I did, people who I could look at as equals."
He slowly lifted a hand and placed it on Baraka's shoulder.
"You have potential. Don't waste it."
As he began to collapse, Baraka caught him and held him gently.
"I understand," he whispered. "My father was a B-rank warrior. He died in a war when I was a kid of 8. His last words to me were to always do my best. Although, he was the kind of guy who taught me too be nice to everyone around me, even my enemies."
Garou smiled one final time. "Then you'll be strong… I know it."
His eyes faded to white… and closed forever.
End of Chapter