It had been a while since the three government warriors arrived. Senko kept the Sanguivar sword in his hand, gripping it tightly, just in case anything jumped out. Despite knowing they were burning through their Hora energy, Shinra and Arden still had their auras active, unwilling to lower their guard. Suddenly, Senko's eye throbbed violently. He clutched his left eye, groaning, "This is not the time, you stupid demon."
"Senko, hang on," Arden said. Senko nodded. "Right."
They halted. Senko stood just behind them as Shinra's expression darkened. "It's Tom."
Tom emerged from the ground, rising with mud-like energy swirling around him. Once fully surfaced, his armored Hora appeared—infused with thick earth and sludge. His tall, broad-shouldered frame loomed over them, dark bronze skin gleaming beneath the sunlight. His muddy green eyes glowed faintly with earthen power, and his spiky black hair, dusted with ash-colored tips, gave him a fierce, seasoned look. The stone-and-ore armor on his limbs shifted with every movement, heavy and unyielding.
Senko felt a chill. "I've heard of him… Tom, the Titan of Stillstone. He works for the government too?"
"All three of us used to," Shinra replied. "Well… I did."
Senko frowned. "Isn't that kind of going against the academy? It's like you guys are spies."
"We don't get a choice," Shinra said grimly. "Every S-rank in every academy across the lands answers to the national government."
Tom stepped forward. "So, you're Senko Yuhira. I've heard a lot. Word is, you were supposed to be executed today."
"I'm not dying today," Senko snapped. "I have a dream—to become the Warrior King!"
Both Shinra and Arden smiled at his defiance.
Tom raised an eyebrow. "What a dream… Shame you won't live to see it come true."
"I guess that means I'll have to fight," Senko said, and suddenly his eyes glowed as a vibrant purple aura burst around the Sanguivar sword.
Shinra's eyes lit up. "You did it, Senko. You awakened the true power of the Sanguivar sword."
"Wait—seriously? I did?" Senko looked in awe at the surging energy cloaking the blade.
Tom's tone turned darker. "The Sanguivar sword… one of the six mythical blades of the world. The original owner—Raizo Yuhira. Your father."
"He's not my father. He's a monster!" Senko shouted, the purple aura flaring brighter.
Tom shrugged. "Can't blame you. He is the reason you're marked for death."
"I told you—I'm not dying!" Senko roared.
Tom smirked. "Enough talking. I'll make this quick. Once I'm done with you, I'll take that sword and toss away this pathetic Super Nova blade."
Shinra let out a low chuckle. "Same old Tom. Never grateful for what he's got."
"I guess I'll never change," Tom replied with a grin.
Then he raised his arms wide. Earth energy exploded from him—mud bubbled up, spikes of stone burst from the ground, and the terrain around them turned unstable.
"Senko! Don't let the mud touch you!" Arden shouted.
"Right!" Senko called back, leaping away from the spreading sludge, his sword pulsing with a growing storm of violet energy.
Tom slammed both fists into the ground. The battlefield trembled as jagged spires of stone erupted like spears, mud spilling over and swallowing the terrain. The earth groaned under his will, turning into a swamp of death.
"Scatter!" Shinra yelled, her yellow Hora flaring as lightning cracked across his limbs. She zipped to the left, a blur of sparks.
Arden followed, flames igniting in his palms. "Senko, keep moving—don't stop!"
Senko ducked under a flying slab of rock and sprinted alongside Arden. "He's changing the whole terrain!"
"That's what Tom does," Arden grunted. "Turns the battlefield into a coffin."
Tom surged forward, covered in his armored Hora. The ground rose beneath him like a tidal wave of stone, launching him through the air with impossible speed. He landed hard in front of Shinra, swinging a mud-coated fist like a boulder.
Shinra blocked with crossed arms, but the impact blasted her backward into a mound of stone. "Tch… Still hits like a mountain."
Arden flung twin arcs of fire at Tom's back. The flames sizzled on contact, barely melting the surface of Tom's mud armor. The S-rank titan turned slowly, unfazed.
"Cute trick, Arden," Tom growled. "But your fire won't save him."
Tom stomped the earth. A ripple of seismic energy cracked the ground beneath Senko's feet. The mud swallowed his boots. He gasped, unable to lift his legs.
"Senko!" Arden shouted, but Tom was already charging toward him.
Senko raised the Sanguivar sword. Purple energy flared as he slashed across the air. The blast of demonic aura hissed through the battlefield, colliding with Tom.
Tom slid back slightly, his armor scorched and steaming. "Hmm. That sword's not just for show after all."
Senko struggled to free his legs. "I can't move—!"
Mud surged upward and encased his legs to the knees. Tom raised a fist above his head.
"You're not ready for this, boy."
Before Tom could bring his fist down, lightning shot across the sky. Shinra appeared in a burst of speed, grabbing Tom's arm mid-swing.
"I'm not done yet," Shinra growled, unleashing a pulse of yellow energy that paralyzed Tom for a split second.
It was enough. Arden launched a fire blast that melted the mud around Senko's legs. Senko stumbled free, gripping his sword with renewed determination.
But Tom didn't fall. His Hora flared with earthy power as the paralyzing charge wore off.
"You'll need more than sparks and flames to bring me down," Tom snarled, stomping the ground again.
This time, the entire area around them buckled. Massive stone pillars shot up, forming a circular cage. The air thickened with heat and pressure. Senko's breaths grew short. His vision blurred.
"He's compressing the battlefield," Arden said, fire flickering across his arms. "We can't escape unless we break his focus."
Shinra's voice was low. "Senko… you'll have to use the Sanguivar's real power. You felt it before. That purple aura—it's deeper than just energy."
Senko's eye throbbed violently. He fell to one knee, clutching it.
"Not now," he whispered. "I can't lose control again…"
Tom raised both arms and brought them down. Dozens of mud-coated spears rained from the sky.
"MOVE!" Shinra shouted.
Senko tried, but his body trembled. The aura around the sword surged again—wild, unstable. The throbbing in his eye became a pulsing roar. His left hand clenched into a fist, then his fingers twitched involuntarily.
Arden and Shinra dodged the mud-spears, but Senko was hit—one drove straight into his shoulder, pinning him to the ground. Pain flared, and blood spilled onto the rocky soil.
Tom approached. "Time to finish this."
Senko gasped. Something inside him snapped.
Purple aura exploded from his body like a shockwave, ripping through the mud around him and shattering the spear in his shoulder. The ground cracked beneath his feet. His eyes went fully purple, no whites, no pupils. Just glowing madness.
"Senko…?" Arden said.
"No," Shinra muttered. "That's not Senko anymore."
A black crack spread across Senko's face like lightning, his body twitching unnaturally. The purple aura turned darker—violent, pulsing with chaotic rhythm. His mouth opened in a grin, but it wasn't his.
Tom stopped mid-step. "So the demon's finally waking up, huh?"
Senko—or the demon inside him—let out a low, distorted chuckle. "So much earth… let's bury you in it."
He vanished in a blur of purple light and reappeared behind Tom. The Sanguivar sword, now pulsing with demonic runes, slashed down with force that shattered the air.
Tom barely blocked. The impact sent cracks through his armor. He skidded across the battlefield, mud trailing behind him.
"Too fast!" Tom growled. "That's not just Hora—it's something else!"
Demon-Senko appeared again, hovering midair, purple wings of energy flaring from his back. He raised the sword—now jagged, unrecognizable—and launched a wave of destruction that turned the battlefield into a crater.
Shinra and Arden shielded themselves, barely holding their ground.
"We have to stop him," Arden shouted.
"We can't," Shinra said. "Not like this. We'd have to kill him."
Demon-Senko floated down slowly, eyes locked on Tom. His voice echoed, warped and layered. "You thought you were power? You're just gravel beneath my feet."
Tom roared and slammed both fists into the ground again. A tower of stone erupted beneath Demon-Senko—but he simply raised his hand. The tower froze in midair, then shattered with a flick.
Tom's eyes widened. "What the hell…"
Demon-Senko appeared before him, thrusting the sword toward his chest. Tom blocked—barely—but was sent flying into his own stone wall.
Senko landed, purple aura swirling around him like a storm. The ground around him crumbled. The very air seemed to scream.
"Enough," Shinra said through gritted teeth. "Arden—we need to get Senko back. Before the demon takes full control."
"How?" Arden shouted. "He's not even seeing us anymore!"
Just then, Senko twitched. The purple light faltered for a moment. His face contorted.
"Stop…" a faint voice escaped his mouth. "I don't… want to kill…"
The demon's voice growled back. "You don't get to choose, weakling."
Shinra stepped forward. "Senko! Listen to me! You said you wanted to be the Warrior King—then take control! Fight it!"
Senko screamed. The aura convulsed, crackling around him violently. His body shook as if torn between two worlds.
And then—
Darkness.
He collapsed, purple energy vanishing all at once. The battlefield fell still.
Arden ran to his side. "He's unconscious."
Shinra crouched, eyes wary. "But for how long?"
Behind them, Tom lay buried in rubble, still breathing—but motionless.
And in the silence, something deep beneath the ground pulsed once more.
While Senko lay unconscious, his mind drifted elsewhere—deep beneath a vast purple ocean with no surface in sight, struggling to breathe as pain overwhelmed him, just like in the lucid dream; his voice trembled through the void, "Someone help me… please, it hurts."
To Be Continued..