Kaiser arrives at Neron''s fight


    Kaiser: "Spider web? Doesn''t Mary have fire arrows?"


    Neron breathes heavily.


    Neron: "It doesn''t affect the webs."


    Kaiser: "Clearly, the fight was tough. Mary''s exchange with me shows that she trusts my abilities, how wonderful."


    Neron fights Grace, and Kaiser fights Spird.


    Kaiser: "How are you, boy? Do you like volcanic lava?"


    Spird: "Definitely not."


    Kaiser: "That proves it''s your weakness."


    Kaiser is surrounded by spider webs from all sides, but he burns them all with lava without even moving.


    Kaiser: "I am your natural enemy."


    Kaiser suddenly uses his offensive Shingen to get closer to Spird, but Spird senses his coming attack and retreats quickly.


    Spird, thinking: "Without the sixth sense that my ability gave me, I would have been severely injured."


    Kaiser attacks, and Spird defends; Spird is unable to attack. The fight is one-sided.


    Spird is afraid


    ''What''s wrong with this person? Is he crazy?? Doesn''t he understand that I have His Majesty''s gift! Doesn''t he understand that I am supposed to be the demon here?! Why does he make me feel like a bug about to be crushed under his fiery feet?! Who''s the villain here, for heaven''s sake??!!''


    Kaiser pierces Spird''s body with numerous holes using his lava finger. Kaiser is the victor.


    On the other side, Neron also defeats Grace.


    Kaiser: "You should get some rest, Neron."


    Neron speaks in a faint voice.


    "No, the others still need help."


    Kaiser places his hand on Neron''s shoulder.


    "Don''t worry about them, they won''t lose."


    Neron smiles.


    "You''re right."


    Kaiser, thinking: ''Fighting two people at the same time has worn him out. Neron... How long will you keep fighting without using your ability... Although I don''t know it... It might help you...''


    At Karez''s group fight


    Arian arrives.


    Garin prepares some mist for him to climb, and when he reaches them above, he finds Mary, Karez, and Garin engaged in a fight with Alvis. Arian knows Alvis'' ability from the academy records, and now he understands that Kano exchanged with him to counter Alvis'' cuts with his hardening.


    Arian, thinking: "Will I be able to counter him?... No... I must counter him!"


    Arian''s body hardens completely, he uses the offensive Shingen, which allows him to get close to Alvis and land a critical blow.


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    After the strike, Alvis retreats, and suddenly, someone appears and grabs Garin, pulling him into a triangle.


    Garin: "Who are you now?"


    The person speaks in a calm voice: "I am Shirn, I challenge you to a game of chess."


    A table and two chairs appear in front of them, and on the table is a chessboard.


    Shirn: "The loser of this game will die."


    Garin: "You''re very confident in your chess skills, but I''ve been playing since I was a child, so don''t underestimate me."


    Outside


    Mary is distracted by what happened with Garin, and because of that, Alvis seizes the opportunity and uses his ability to inflict a critical injury on her, sending her to the ground. But Garin''s mist follows her and ensures her descent is safe.


    Karez: "Now it''s two against one."


    Arian: "It''s fine."


    Karez and Arian attack together. Thanks to Karez now having a clearer understanding of his ability, attracting and throwing metals has become easier and more accurate, causing Alvis to struggle a little.


    Arian pressures him from a close range, but still, Alvis can somewhat keep up with them.


    Suddenly, Karez reaches Alvis and wraps around him to pin his hands, then Arian strikes him three times on his abdomen, chest, and face. Afterward, Karez releases Alvis'' hands and starts attacking him from the back as well.


    Arian from the front and Karez from the back. Alvis can''t retaliate.


    Karez strikes him on the back of the head, then grabs a metal tube to strike Alvis'' head again. Afterward, Arian wraps his hand with Shinta over his hardening to strike Alvis in the face one last time.


    Karez and Arian believe they have won, but Alvis looks at them and suddenly uses his ability. Arian barely dodges it, and Karez gets injured on his face.


    Alvis: "This will leave a scar on your cheek for the rest of your life."


    Karez doesn''t care about Alvis'' words; instead, he looks at Arian in surprise. Arian is standing on the air, just like Alvis!


    Karez: "A-Arian?"


    Arian: "So my guess was right, I can create Shingen that allows me to stand in the air like you, you butcher."


    Alvis: "Who are you calling a butcher, you clown!!"


    The battle continues, with the advantage going to Karez and Arian. Alvis has only one option left. In just two seconds, Karez and Arian pull back from Alvis. When they attempt to attack again, Alvis releases a series of consecutive slicing attacks at incredible speed.


    Arian can block them due to his hardening, but Karez takes nearly all of them into his body. Karez falls on Garin''s mist. Alvis is about to activate a certain technique on Karez, but Arian jumps to counter it and succeeds, although it leaves him with a serious wound. Arian falls to the ground, and Garin''s mist catches him.


    Alvis: "I can''t believe that boy was able to block that technique. It''s supposed to slice everything in half."


    As Alvis is about to go help Alex, his body stops moving. Karez wakes up and pulls Alvis toward him with his right hand, then uses his left hand to forcefully slam into the ground.


    Karez lands on the ground and uses his left hand to create an extremely high-pressure force. The pressure would have killed Alvis, but at the last moment, Alvis activates his technique:


    "World Cutter!"


    Alvis'' body explodes due to the pressure Karez is exerting, but Alvis'' technique cuts off Karez''s left arm. Karez falls to the ground.


    Garin won the chess game. He exits the triangle and sees Karez on the ground. He carries him in silence, but his eyes say everything.


    The Kyotai group defeated Alex, and everyone is severely injured, especially Kinto.


    The fake dimension collapses, and they are sent back to the real world. Malak arrives to check on the situation. Karez and Arian are transferred to the emergency department in the hospital, while Damian, Itor, and Neron receive care.


    Leo: "it''s finally over."


    Malak: "I couldn''t break through the dimension, no matter how hard I tried."


    Leo: "It''s okay, it''s-"


    Karoi suddenly appears, trying to attack Malak, but Sai quickly moves to grab Karoi.


    Sai: "Cube Dimension!"


    Karoi and Sai are sent into the Cube Dimension.


    Leo: "Where did this guy come from?"


    Kinto, hardly: "Just kill him, Sai."


    Kyotai: "Damn this."


    Inside the Cube Dimension, Karoi sits on the ground in front of Sai, looking at him with a faint smile.


    Karoi, in a soft voice: "I can''t fight anymore, so why don''t we talk a little?"


    Sai sighs and says: "Did they leave you unchained?"


    Karoi: "They did chain me, but I managed to break free. I wanted to kill at least one person, but all I did was knock out a few."


    Sai looks at him with a sharp gaze.


    "Who are they?"


    Karoi: "The Glass Girl, the Wind Girl, and that Sand Boy. I wanted to take out the fourth, but I couldn''t do it."


    Sai: "You''re so low."


    Karoi: "There''s no honor in battle. Maybe the Glass Girl will be out for a long time; I hit her pretty hard."


    Sai''s expression completely changes, a look no one has ever seen before. Karoi feels fear he''snever thoughthe would before.


    Karoi: "W-What''s wrong with you, you r-"


    Sai speaks quietly, but there''s clear anger behind it: "Shut up, someone like you has no right to speak anymore."


    Karoi: "You''re joking-"


    Sai: "I haven''t finished speaking. How do you feel now that you''ve lost? How does it feel, being on the verge of death? Are you at peace now? Even though I never fought you, I despise you deeply, Karoi. You and everyone with you. You don''t know anything about Karez''s feelings when his mother was kidnapped. You don''t know how Brika suffered because of the illusion of that bastard Ilo, or how Itor felt when Brika went to the psychiatric hospital. You don''t know how Damian felt when he lost his childhood friend, Siron. You don''t know Arkan''s family feelings. You don''t know how Kaiser felt when Zalen died. And you don''t what we will feel after this battle is over. What''s the point of all this? Answer me, what''s your motive for all of this?"


    Karoi: "We want to create a new world, a living world-"


    Sai: "What a bunch of nonsense every filthy criminal says. A new world? You mean a new hell for the world. But you know something, Karoi? It doesn''t matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore, because I will kill you. Return as a dreamer or whatever else you want and I will kill you. If you get stronger, I will kill you. If you somehow survive now, I will find you and kill you. You and everyone with you, I will kill you all, even if it costs me my life."


    After five minutes, Sai exits the Cube Dimension. Karoi''s body is lifeless, covered in blood, his form completely disfigured.


    Sai doesn''t take his eyes off Karoi''s corpse, his gaze silent and grim.


    Kyotai tries to stand and speak with Sai, but Leo holds his shoulder. Kyotai stays in place.


    Sai Vitalite is in an indescribable emptiness.


    A month passes. This month is incredibly depressing. No one has been training. The residence is quiet most of the time. Kani has been asleep for a month, Kano for a week, and Beatrix for three days. Karez''s condition has stabilized. Arian has a large scar on his body. Neron needed a long rest for three weeks; he was unlike his usual self, as if he was deep in thought.


    Karez, to himself: "At that moment, I understood the true nature of my ability. It''s not attraction or magnetic waves; it''s almost like that. My right hand controls attraction, and my left hand controls repulsion. I can interact with all magnetic fields, but since my left hand was cut off, my ability has been halved. Now I can only attract, but now I know I can attract almost everything, not just metals."


    After a month, the students have completed two months in the Sky Kingdom. They have two months left until the end of the second stage.


    The students gather their belongings, bid farewell to Malak, and head to Lunan to use the Rokin. They return to Anastasia Kingdom to continue their journey to the final station, one of the five great kingdoms, the Kingdom of Ogrulia.