The battlefield crackled with energy as Sakata Buddha stood amidst the chaos, his coat fluttering in the stormy wind, golden eyes gleaming with an otherworldly fire. His voice, low and measured, rang out as he raised a single hand toward Tym and Xandros.
"I'm gonna take you now."
The air stilled. For a fleeting second, even the lightning held its breath.
A pulse. Foul. Ancient. Absolute.
It surged from the distance like a thunderclap beneath the skin, crawling across the battlefield. Sakata narrowed his eyes. The enemy's bloodlust hadn't faded—it had been eclipsed.
Tym gasped, suddenly clutching his chest as if struck by an unseen force. "This feeling...!"
Xandros stumbled a step back, his smirk wiped clean. His sword trembled with unstable energy as he reached out, feeling the shift. "No… that presence—"
From beyond the horizon, a guttural roar tore across the sky, primal and unrelenting. The clouds above twisted into a black spiral, and the ground beneath their feet shuddered violently. Mana itself distorted, pulled toward a singularity of malice that no mortal power could oppose.
The Demon Lord was awakening.
Sakata lowered his hand slightly, the golden flame around him flickering in response. "So the big guy's finally stretching after a thousand-year nap."
Tym's voice broke through the chaos, sharp with urgency. "We need to fall back! Now!"
Xandros growled in frustration, his pride flaring for a moment—but the dread in his heart was undeniable. He turned to the legions behind them and shouted, "Withdraw! Now! That's a direct command!"
The Dark Army obeyed. In synchronized discipline, they began to vanish, swallowed by the shadows from which they came.
Sakata watched them retreat, silent, unmoving. He could've chased them. Could've forced a final clash. But he didn't.
Because this wasn't about them anymore.
The golden aura around him faded slightly as he released a long breath. "Tch. The bastard's actually coming back, huh?"
He cracked his neck and turned toward the distant hills, where the malevolent energy roiled like a storm contained only by fate. A calm settled over him, even as the earth quaked.
"I bought us time. That's all I ever needed."
He tapped his earpiece. "Sophie. You felt that too, right?"
The response crackled in with static. "...Yes. It's begun."
Sakata glanced up at the roiling sky. "Then it's time for the next generation to move."
---
Meanwhile...
Deep within the isolated domain, Juichi's breath came hard and fast. Sweat dripped from his brow as he faced the Sakata clone, the golden training aura still wrapping around him in flickering tendrils.
The clone watched silently, his arms folded. "Still holding back, huh?"
Juichi's fists trembled. "It's not that I want to—something inside me just... freezes. Like it's afraid."
"Of course it is," the clone said, stepping forward. "You're not just fighting enemies. You're fighting yourself."
Juichi looked up, eyes defiant.
"Good," the clone grinned. "That means you're finally getting somewhere."
He raised a hand, and the domain around them shimmered—new pressure, denser than before, began to weigh down the air.
"Now fight me again, Juichi. Because out there…"
He paused, glancing toward the distant horizon beyond the training realm.
"…the real nightmare is waking up."
---
To be Continued...