Chapter 6: Amidst the Chaos
The battlefield had become almost impossible to recognize.
What had once been the streets of Grimvale was now nothing more than a graveyard of concrete, twisted metal, shattered glass, and burning debris. Entire buildings had collapsed into the streets, leaving behind mountains of rubble that smoldered beneath a sky stained orange by the fires spreading through the ruins.
Cracks stretched across the earth in every direction.
Smoke drifted between the broken structures.
Somewhere in the distance, another building gave way.
BRRRM!
A wave of dust rolled through the battlefield.
And at the center of it all Kirigaya stood.
His armor was fractured across the chest and shoulders, several sections hanging loosely from his body, yet faint crimson light continued to glow along the cracks as though something beneath the armor was still burning.
He looked battered.
But he was still standing.
Surrounding him were Daito and the remaining NBA team.
Tasao V rolled his shoulders before slowly rotating his neck from side to side, his expression carrying the same reckless confidence he had shown since the battle began.
Zumi C lowered his center of gravity and adjusted his stance, his eyes never leaving Kirigaya.
The Woman in White stood several meters away, her weapon held firmly in both hands as she calmly studied the Lieutenant's movements, calculating every possible opening.
And Daito, Daito was barely holding himself together.
Blood ran down the side of his face and dripped from his chin. His breathing was heavy, his clothes torn in several places, and every muscle in his body screamed for him to stop.
But he remained standing.
Kirigaya slowly raised both arms.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then—
BOOM!
The ground beneath him exploded upward.
Stone tendrils erupted from the earth like enormous spears, twisting violently as they tore through the battlefield.
BRAKE! BRAKE!
Several stone pillars ripped through the pavement and shot toward the NBA team.
Tasao didn't retreat.
Instead, he charged directly into them.
"RRAAAAGH!"
THWACK!
A stone spike tore through his arm.
Blood sprayed across the rubble, but Tasao didn't even slow down. He pushed through the pain, clenched his fist, and drove it directly into Kirigaya's ribs.
POW!
The impact echoed across the ruined square.
Kirigaya's body shifted several inches, but he didn't fall.
His eyes narrowed.
CRACKLE!
Stone instantly wrapped around his forearm, forming a massive earth-forged gauntlet around his fist.
Then—
POW!
Kirigaya struck.
Tasao was launched across the battlefield and crashed through a pile of rubble before disappearing behind a collapsed wall.
Zumi moved before Kirigaya could follow up.
SWOOSH!
He vanished from the Lieutenant's direct line of sight and reappeared at his blind spot.
POW!
A strike to the ribs.
PANG!
A second blow slammed into the side of Kirigaya's helmet.
THWACK!
A third strike crashed into the knee joint of his armor. Zumi wasn't trying to overpower him, he was dismantling him.
Every attack targeted a structural weakness in the Lieutenant's armor..... the neck, the ribs, the joints, anywhere that movement was restricted.
CRACK!
A fracture appeared along Kirigaya's shoulder plate.
CRACK!
Another spread across his ribs.
The Woman in White immediately took advantage.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Her shots came in perfect rhythm, each bullet aimed precisely at the openings Zumi had created.
Kirigaya raised his arm.
CLANG!
One bullet ricocheted from his armor.
CLING!
Another struck the damaged section of his chest.
BANG!
The third punched through.
For the first time Kirigaya staggered.
Daito watched from a short distance away.
He didn't rush and he didn't waste energy.
His eyes followed every movement, every shift in Kirigaya's posture, every crack forming across the crimson armor.
He was measuring him.
Waiting.
Searching for the moment when the Lieutenant's defense finally collapsed.
Then—
GRAB!
Tasao's hand emerged from the rubble.
Before Kirigaya could react, Tasao launched himself forward, grabbed the Lieutenant around the torso, and drove his entire body through a ruined wall.
BOOOOM!
Concrete exploded outward.
Dust filled the air.
The Woman in White immediately raised her weapon.
"Now!"
Daito moved.
SWOOSH!
Despite the exhaustion weighing down his body, his speed suddenly surged.
His feet tore across the broken pavement as he closed the distance.
SLASH!
A rising stone pillar was cut apart.
SLASH!
Another collapsed.
CLANG!
Daito's blade struck Kirigaya's armor.
He twisted his body and followed through with another slash.
SHING!
The blade carved across the Lieutenant's chestplate, shattering a large portion of the crimson armor.
For a moment, the strange light beneath it became visible.
SHINE!
The glow flickered violently.
Kirigaya looked down at the damage.
Then back at Daito.
"Uaargh!"
His body tensed.
TREMBLE! TREMBLE!
The earth around him began to shake.
Daito's eyes widened.
SWOOSH!
Kirigaya released a violent shockwave of compressed earth.
BOOOOOOM!
The force tore through the battlefield. Tasao was thrown backward. Zumi was sent skidding across the ground. The Woman in White was forced several meters away. And Daito was blasted through a cloud of dust and debris.
FWOOSH!
Then Kirigaya slowly stood. His breathing had become heavier. His armor was cracked. His body was visibly exhausted.
But his eyes remained fixed on Daito.
"You."
Kirigaya raised one hand and pointed directly at him.
"A pure breed."
Daito slowly straightened.
Kirigaya's voice carried across the ruined battlefield.
"No sacrifice. No alchemic conversion. No dead Freaked lover fueling your strength."
His eyes glowed faintly behind his mask.
"And yet..."
He glanced toward Tasao and Zumi.
"You fight beside Savages."
Tasao pulled himself from the rubble and wiped blood from his mouth.
"Watch your mouth."
Kirigaya ignored him.
"You could be greater than them."
He took a step forward.
"Stronger."
Another step.
"You choose weakness."
Daito wiped the blood from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"I don't need power stolen from the dead."
Kirigaya laughed, it wasn't amusement, it was contempt.
"You think that makes you noble?"
Daito slowly stepped forward.
His sword remained lowered at his side.
"It takes a man to kill a man."
The battlefield seemed to pause.
Even the distant flames felt quieter.
Grip...
Daito tightened his grip around his sword.
"That's what my father taught me."
He raised the blade.
"And I don't need 'Savagery' to do it."
The two stared at one another through the smoke.
Neither moved.
Then—
DASH!
Tasao charged again.
Kirigaya turned toward him.
BOOM!
The Lieutenant slammed his hand into the earth.
A nearby structure suddenly shifted.
CRACK!
The building collapsed directly into Tasao's path.
CRUSH!
Tasao disappeared beneath the falling debris.
Zumi immediately moved to intercept but the earth beneath his feet erupted.
TREMBLE!
Stone swallowed his legs.
CRASH!
Zumi was buried waist-deep.
The Woman in White attempted to reposition.
Another tremor split the battlefield beneath her.
BOOOOM!
She was thrown backward.
Kirigaya had forced them apart. One by one, he had removed every distraction. Until only Daito remained standing in front of him.
The two men stared at each other.
Both were swaying slightly. Both were bleeding. Both were exhausted.
There was no room left for elaborate techniques.
No distance, strategy, just close combat.
Kirigaya moved first.
SWOOSH!
Daito raised his sword.
CLANG!
Kirigaya's armored forearm collided with the blade.
Daito twisted.
POW!
His fist struck Kirigaya's jaw.
The Lieutenant answered with a knee.
THWACK!
Daito blocked it with his forearm, but the force still pushed him backward.
He immediately stepped in again.
SLASH!
Kirigaya raised his arm.
CLANG!
Steel struck armor.
Daito rotated his wrist.
SHING!
The blade slid across Kirigaya's forearm.
Kirigaya answered with three rapid punches.
POW! POW! POW!
Daito slipped past the first, blocked the second, but he third caught him across the ribs.
"Urgh!"
He staggered.
FWOOSH!
Kirigaya followed.
Daito ducked beneath another punch.
SWOOSH!
He drove his shoulder into Kirigaya's chest.
BOOM!
The Lieutenant stumbled.
Daito followed with an elbow.
CRACK!
Then another.
THWACK!
Kirigaya's armor cracked further.
"You're breaking," Kirigaya hissed.
Daito wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"So are you."
THWACK!
Kirigaya drove his fist into Daito's stomach.
Daito's body folded.
Blood escaped his mouth.
But before Kirigaya could follow up—
POW!
Daito's right hook snapped the Lieutenant's head sideways.
Daito stepped in.
Elbow.
CRACK!
Another elbow.
THWACK!
Kirigaya staggered.
He retaliated instantly.
A small blade of earth formed along his forearm.
SHING!
It slashed across Daito's chest.
Blood sprayed.
The two men separated.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Their breathing filled the space between them.
Heavy, ragged and painful.
Kirigaya laughed weakly.
"You could have been one of us."
Daito stepped forward.
"I'm not you."
His fingers tightened around the sword.
"And I don't kill for power."
Kirigaya's eyes narrowed.
Then—
FWOOSH!
A scream erupted from behind them.
"Nooo!"
Daito froze.
The voice hadn't come from a soldier.
It hadn't come from Tasao. It hadn't come from Zumi. It had come from the town. Daito slowly turned his head.
And somewhere through the smoke, Nagare lifted his bloodied face.
He was kneeling near the edge of the battlefield, injured and barely able to remain conscious.
A faint, bitter smile crossed his face.
"You didn't really think..."
He coughed.
Blood stained his lips.
"...we came alone?"
* * *
The air changed.
It was subtle at first.
A pressure descended over the battlefield, cutting through the smoke and heat like an approaching storm. Daito felt it before he saw anything, his instincts immediately warning him that whatever was coming next was far more dangerous than the soldiers they had already fought.
Nagare slowly lowered his head.
Then—
THUD.
A heavy footstep echoed through the smoke.
Another followed.
THUD.
THUD.
Something was approaching.
Daito's grip tightened around his sword.
Tasao, still trapped beneath the collapsed structure, struggled to push himself free.
Zumi remained buried waist-deep in rubble, his eyes narrowing as he stared toward the approaching presence.
Even the Woman in White stopped moving.
She watched the smoke.
Then a massive silhouette emerged.
A man.
No...A General.
He was considerably larger than Kirigaya, his body covered in thick silver armor that reflected the orange glow of the burning buildings. Heavy plates protected his shoulders, chest, and legs, while a massive chained weapon hung from one hand.
CLINK...
The chain dragged across the ground.
CLINK...
Every step caused the metal to scrape against the broken pavement.
But the weapon wasn't what caught Daito's attention, it was the person held at the end of the chain.
His eyes widened, his breathing stopped, for a moment, the entire battlefield disappeared.
His mother.
Her hands had been restrained behind her back.
Her weapon was gone.
Blood ran from a cut across her forehead, staining the side of her face, while the silver-armored General held the chain tightly around her upper body.
Fwoo.....
Daito stared.
He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He couldn't even breathe.
The General looked at him, then smiled.
"We needed leverage."
CLING!
He pulled the chain tighter. Daito's mother's body shifted slightly.
Tasao's expression changed instantly.
"Let her go."
The General ignored him.
Clench....
Zumi clenched his fists.
"Daito..."
The Woman in White's eyes hardened for the first time since the battle began, her calm expression disappeared.
Nagare lowered his gaze.
"This was always the plan."
Daito's eyes slowly shifted toward him.
"What..."
His voice barely escaped his throat.
Nagare swallowed.
"Capture you."
He looked away.
"Break you."
Daito stared at his mother.
"And if that didn't work..."
Nagare's voice became quieter.
"...we use her."
The silver-armored General gave a low chuckle.
Kirigaya slowly walked out from the smoke and stopped beside him. His armor was barely holding together now, cracks running across his chest and shoulders.
Yet he was alive.
He looked at Daito.
"You fight well."
Daito didn't answer.
Kirigaya continued.
"But you're still just a man."
The words struck harder than they should have.
Daito's fingers tightened around his sword.
His mother lifted her head.
Their eyes met, she didn't look afraid.
There was pain in her expression.
Concern but no fear.
Instead, she looked at him with the same calmness she had shown him when he was a child.
As if she were trying to tell him something without saying a word.
Don't lose yourself.
Then—
BRRRM!
The earth beneath Daito exploded upward.
He barely had time to react.
Kirigaya thrust both hands forward.
TREMBLE!
Two ruined buildings began to move.
Concrete groaned.
Steel screamed.
CRAAAAACK!
The structures were ripped from their foundations and tilted toward each other.
Daito looked up.
The buildings were closing in.
BOOOOOOM!
They slammed together. Dust and debris swallowed the entire street.
The silver-armored General immediately turned away.
"Move."
He began dragging Daito's mother toward the forest.
CLING! RATTLE!
The chain scraped behind him.
Kirigaya followed.
"We'll be waiting."
The smoke swallowed them.
Daito's mother disappeared.
And then nothing only silence.
The battlefield stood frozen. The flames continued to burn. Wood collapsed inside ruined buildings. Glass fell from shattered windows.
TINK...
TINK...
TINK...
But Daito heard none of it.
He stood beneath the broken remains of the two buildings, staring at the empty space where his mother had disappeared.
His sword hung loosely from his hand.
His breathing shook.
For the first time since he was a child...
Daito didn't know what to do.
* * *
The smoke had not cleared. The flames had not died. The battlefield remained buried beneath rubble and ash. But everything had become strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
Daito remained exactly where they had left him.
'Where they had taken her.'
Fwoo....
His head hung slightly.
His sword pointed toward the ground.
No one spoke.
Tasao didn't make a joke and Zumi didn't offer advice.
Even the Woman in White remained silent.
She simply watched him since something was changing.
Not around Daito but inside him.
His breathing became uneven.
"Huff....."
One breath.
Then another.
"Huff...huff.....huff"
Faster.
Shorter.
His chest tightened. His pupils contracted.
His heartbeat became loud enough that even Tasao could hear it.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Kirigaya's words returned.
'You could be greater than them.'
Another heartbeat.
THUMP.
Stronger.
Another.
THUMP.
'You're still just a man.'
Daito's jaw tightened.
He remembered everything he had ever heard about Savage rituals.
The sacrifices. The blood. The alchemical conversions.
The way grief could be transformed into strength. The way a person could willingly surrender a piece of themselves in exchange for power.
He had always rejected it.
Always.
Because to Daito, strength that required the death of another person was never strength.
It was desperation wearing a crown.
But now...His mother had been taken. His enemies were stronger. His allies were injured and he was exhausted.
What if he didn't have enough power?
What if being a man wasn't enough?
His sword trembled in his hand.
CRACK.
The ground beneath his feet fractured.
Tasao noticed.
"Daito."
No response.
A second crack appeared.
CRACK!
Zumi slowly stepped away.
His expression changed.
"Don't tell me..."
The Woman in White immediately understood.
"Daito."
Still nothing.
The pressure around him intensified, the air distorted, and dust lifted from the ground.
Not Savage energy.
Something different, something raw and uncontrolled.
His grief was becoming pressure. His anger was becoming force. His body was responding to emotions he had spent his entire life learning to control.
Daito's fingers tightened around his sword.
GRIP!
Blood ran from his palm.
"If power is what it takes..."
His voice was barely audible.
The air around him distorted further.
FWOOSH!
Tasao took a step forward.
"Daito."
Nothing.
Daito's eyes flickered.
For a fraction of a second a faint red shimmer appeared within his pupils.
Zumi's expression hardened.
"He's losing control."
The Woman in White didn't draw her weapon.
She simply watched him.
"Daito."
The red shimmer intensified.
Daito's breathing became heavier.
His mind filled with images.
His mother.
The General.
Kirigaya.
The battlefield.
The people he had failed to protect.
The dead.
The screams.
The blood.
And beneath it all—
The temptation.
Become stronger.
Become something more.
Stop being human.
His grip tightened.
The sword trembled.
Then—
A voice.
Not from the battlefield.
Not from the Woman in White.
Not from Tasao.
From somewhere much deeper.
A memory.
His father's voice.
"It takes a man to kill a man."
Daito froze.
The red shimmer flickered.
His father's voice came again.
"Not a monster."
The pressure around Daito weakened.
"Not something twisted by sacrifice."
His breathing slowed.
"A man."
Daito closed his eyes.
For a moment, he saw his father standing before him as he remembered him from childhood.
Not as a warrior.
Not as a legend.
Just his father.
The man who had taught him how to hold a blade.
The man who had taught him that strength wasn't measured by how much destruction a person could cause.
It was measured by what they refused to become.
Daito opened his eyes.
The red shimmer disappeared.
The pressure vanished.
The cracks in the earth stopped spreading.
Silence returned.
Daito slowly dropped to one knee.
THUD.
His sword struck the ground beside him.
He remained there, breathing heavily.
Not broken.
But close.
Very close.
Tasao finally exhaled.
"Thought we were about to lose you."
Daito didn't look at him.
His eyes remained fixed on the ground.
"I'm not becoming one of them."
His voice was hoarse.
He slowly pushed himself back onto his feet.
"But I am ending this."
---
Two Hours
Far from the battlefield, the forest swallowed the retreating soldiers.
TRUDGE! TRUDGE! TRUDGE!
Nagare ran alongside the remaining survivors, his breathing ragged as branches whipped against his armor.
Behind him, the ruins of Grimvale slowly disappeared beneath the trees.
Ahead, the silver-armored General moved with frightening speed, dragging Daito's mother behind him.
ZOOOM!
Kirigaya followed close behind.
The General's massive chained weapon bounced against his armor as he moved.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Nagare slowed for half a second.
His chest felt heavy.
He looked back toward the distant battlefield.
His mind returned to years ago.
Daito.
The boy who used to stand between him and bullies.
The boy who would take the punishment himself rather than watch someone weaker get hurt.
They had raced through these streets together.
They had fought.
They had laughed.
They had grown up together.
And now...They were on opposite sides of a war.
Nagare clenched his jaw.
This wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to capture Daito. Break his resistance. Force a negotiation.
That was the plan.
His mother was never supposed to be involved. Civilians were never supposed to become leverage.
He looked ahead at the General. At the woman being dragged behind him.
Something inside Nagare twisted.
But he kept running.
Because turning back now would mean betraying the people he had already fought beside.
And moving forward meant betraying the person he had once called a friend.
He wasn't ready to face either choice.
So he kept running.
* * *
Back in the ruined streets of Grimvale, the Woman in White approached Daito.
"They won't remain local."
Daito looked at her.
She continued.
"This was coordinated. The extraction route was likely prepared before the attack even began."
Daito's expression hardened.
"How long?"
"Two hours."
She looked toward the direction the enemies had disappeared.
"After that, they become untouchable."
Tasao grinned despite the blood running down his face.
"Then why are we standing here?"
Zumi cracked his neck.
CRACK!
"I assume we're not waiting for paperwork."
The Woman in White gave him a brief look.
"This becomes an unsanctioned rescue operation if we move now."
Daito didn't hesitate.
"She's my mother."
Silence.
Then—
STEP.
Tasao walked past him.
Another step.
STEP.
He headed toward the NBA jet.
"I didn't hear a no."
Zumi followed.
"Neither did I."
The Woman in White closed her eyes for a moment.
A quiet sigh escaped her.
"...We move immediately."
She turned toward the jet.
"Get the wounded aboard. We leave in five minutes."
* * *
SWOOSH!
The NBA jet's engines roared to life.
VRRRRMMMMMMMM!
Dust and ash were thrown across the ruined street as the aircraft lifted from the ground.
Daito sat near the open ramp.
The night wind rushed past him, carrying the smell of smoke and burning buildings into the darkness.
He stared into the distance.
His mind was quieter now.
But colder.
He had stood on the edge. He had felt the temptation. And what frightened him wasn't the thought of becoming something else.
It was how easy it had felt. Daito slowly closed his eyes.
His father's words remained with him.
"It takes a man to kill a man."
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"No shortcuts."
The words disappeared into the roaring wind.
The jet climbed higher.
Below them, Grimvale became smaller and smaller, its burning streets glowing like wounds against the darkness.
Somewhere ahead...
His mother was being transported deeper into enemy territory.
And this time Daito wasn't going as a defender.
He wasn't going as a soldier.
He wasn't going as a man trying to survive.
He was going after the people who had taken the last person standing between him and his past.
Daito opened his eyes.
There was no hesitation left in them.
Only resolve.
The jet disappeared into the clouds.
And somewhere beyond them...
A storm was coming.
to be continued....