(Bonus Chapter = Fifteen Thousand Collections achieved!)
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The mountain wind carried the damp scent of trees. The mountain range stretched like a green wall against the gray sky. Two peaks stood out above the others.
On one of them, a solitary man stood, still as a statue. Mars, or Mars, as he insisted on being called. The Roman god of war wore a military uniform that seemed out of place in that setting, the knife scars crisscrossing his face giving him a cold, brutal aura. In his flaming orbits, he hid the unsettling glow with night-vision goggles that gleamed like two green embers.
On the other peak, Ryougi Kazuya. Disheveled white hair fell over his face, his imposing figure resembling more a predator than an ordinary man. He wore only modern casual clothes. Beside him, Scáthach stood motionless, her purple hair blending with the wind. Her red eyes followed Mars in silence, while the spear she carried seemed to sleep between her fingers.
Mars let out a low laugh, the deep sound echoing through the mountain.
"So, all this little show is for revenge?"
Kazuya adjusted his shirt collar, his half-closed eyes dripping with disdain.
"It'd be hypocritical to say it isn't." His voice was calm, almost bored: "But if you want a fancy term… let's call it justice. After all, you killed my adoptive mother. So, yes… revenge…"
Mars showed no surprise. The gaze hidden behind his lenses seemed to have anticipated it. He knew who Kazuya was ever since the boy showed up in Rome, minutes ago, spitting words about an orphanage he had destroyed to eliminate a threat. So, the legendary "Strongest of Humanity" was that little kid he had sought to kill back then…?
The silence lasted only a moment.
Kazuya turned his face to Scáthach, his eyes lazy.
"Don't get involved in this, Shishou." His voice was firm but carefree.
Without waiting for a reply, his feet left the ground. The air around him distorted as if gravity had lost its meaning, and Kazuya's body began to rise slowly, floating toward the overcast sky. Mars followed the movement. His body rose effortlessly, as if it were natural for a god to hover above the earth.
Up there, both assumed combat stances. Scáthach watched from afar, arms crossed, as if accepting her disciple's order.
The first to advance was Kazuya. He didn't shout, didn't strike a pose. He simply vanished into the air.
His fist struck Mars' abdomen with the force of a battering ram. The dull sound echoed, reverberating across the slope. Mars flew backward, cutting through a column of wind before stabilizing his body. A slight tremor escaped his mouth—not pain, but surprise.
Kazuya cracked his neck, smiling.
"Relax, I won't kill you that easily. I want to have a little fun with you…"
Mars growled, the air around his body trembling with the warlike energy he emanated. He charged at absurd speed, his fist enveloped in crimson flames. The blow landed squarely on Kazuya's chin. An impact that could topple buildings.
But Kazuya didn't move. His neck tilted only a few centimeters. The smile never left his face.
"Is that all?"
He grabbed Mars' arm before the god could retreat and twisted it brutally, hurling him toward the ground. The mountain shook with the impact. Rocks broke loose, trees fell.
Mars rose quickly, spinning his body to deliver a spinning kick. Kazuya blocked it with his forearm, and the impact resounded like thunder. The shockwave swept the air, clearing patches in the forest below.
The exchange of blows became relentless. Punches, kicks, knees. Mars attacked with military ferocity, his movements precise as if honed on a thousand battlefields. But each attack was crushed by Kazuya's raw strength.
A punch to the stomach, another to the face. An elbow to the ribs. Mars tried to fight back but always ended up on the defensive.
Kazuya laughed.
"You're the god of war? You seem more like a punching bag."
Mars' body was thrown back again, tearing through the sky until it crashed into the neighboring peak. Rocks flew in all directions. Before he could catch his breath, Kazuya was already in front of him.
An upward kick launched him back into the air. Then, Kazuya appeared above, striking him with a downward punch to the face. The god fell in freefall, crashing through trees and opening a crater in the ground.
Mars rose, staggering. The scars on his face were now covered in fresh blood. He removed his broken goggles and tossed them aside, revealing his flaming orbits. The flames danced, intense, burning the air.
He raised his hand, materializing a spear of fire. Its aura exploded, enveloping miles around. The weight of that divine presence could crush ordinary soldiers just by proximity.
Kazuya descended calmly to the ground, clapping his hands as if brushing off dust.
"Finally getting serious? It was getting boring."
Mars charged with the spear, each thrust slicing the air in incandescent lines. Kazuya dodged with minimal movements, his smile intact.
A horizontal thrust—Kazuya ducked, slipped underneath, and delivered a side kick. The impact broke Mars' rib. Another thrust—Kazuya grabbed the spear with one hand, stopping the divine force mid-air. He pulled the god closer and hit him with a violent headbutt.
Blood streamed down Mars' forehead. He tried to counterattack, but a punch to the liver left him breathless. Kazuya continued, blow after blow, giving no room for reaction.
It was brutal.
And yet, there was precision.
Each punch seemed calculated to humiliate, not just defeat. A fist to the stomach forced Mars to spit blood. A knee to the face broke teeth. A kick to the knee brought him down. Every time the god tried to rise, Kazuya was there, pushing him back down.
"You're nothing but a weakling hiding behind titles." Kazuya's voice rang clear between blows: "God of war? You're just a retired general…"
Mars roared, trying to muster strength. The flames in his orbits intensified, consuming the air around him. He raised his arms, erupting in energy, creating a shockwave that pushed Kazuya a few meters back.
For a moment, it seemed he might regain control.
But Kazuya merely clapped slowly, mocking.
"Impressive. You managed… to dirty my shirt."
He vanished again. Mars barely had time to raise his defense before being hit by a sequence of blows so fast the air shattered with sonic booms. The god's body was tossed back and forth like a ragdoll, each impact creating craters in the ground.
Scáthach, watching from afar, remained impassive.
From the start, it was an execution, not a fight, so she wasn't surprised.
In the sky, Kazuya raised his hand, gathering all his strength into his fist, applying strengthening spells.
The air distorted, the clouds parted in a whirlwind.
Mars, kneeling on the ground, looked up, his face disfigured by blood. He still tried to rise, the broken spear beside him.
Kazuya looked at him with disdain.
"You never had a chance."
And then he descended.
The final punch crushed Mars' chest into the earth, creating an impact that shook the entire mountain range. The shockwave spread like an earthquake, toppling trees for miles.
When the dust settled, Mars lay motionless, embedded in the crater. The flames in his eyes had vanished.
Kazuya took a deep breath, stretching his shoulders as if finishing a light workout. The smile never left his face.
He turned to Scáthach, who still watched in silence.
"See that? It wasn't even fun."
Kazuya extended his right hand to the side, opening his fingers as if grasping the air itself. A dark, pulsing sphere began to condense in his palm. The space around it twisted, sucked inward as if swallowed by nothingness.
It was the [Power of Destruction].
He casually flicked his wrist, as if tossing a random stone. The sphere shot forward in a straight line, cutting the air with a sharp whistle.
The impact wasn't just sound. It was silence.
Everything in that direction ceased to exist.
Mars' body, the crater, the entire face of the mountain range—disintegrated, erased, as if they had never been there. The horizon opened into a void that burned at the edges of reality, leaving only a gray trail.
Kazuya snapped his fingers.
"Done. It's over."
Scáthach remained silent. The wind tousled her long hair, the red glint in her eyes staring at the nothingness where mountains once stood.
"…"
Kazuya raised an eyebrow.
"What's up?"
Scáthach sighed, resting her spear on her shoulder.
"You still need more training."
Kazuya's smile froze for a moment. His relaxed expression gave way to a slight pallor.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" He gestured with his hand, pointing at the void he'd created: "I just erased a god of war and half the landscape. What kind of training do you have in mind?"
Scáthach tilted her head.
"You relax too much. If you'd taken it seriously from the start, you wouldn't have gotten dirty… or ruined your shirt."
Kazuya looked at his shirt, stained with dust and blood.
"…You're kidding me."
Scáthach merely closed her eyes for a moment, as if her verdict was final.
The silence lingered for a few seconds.
Then, Kazuya let out a nervous laugh, running a hand through his white hair.
"Damn… you always know how to ruin my fun, Shishou."
Scáthach opened her eyes and looked at him.
"It's not fun. It's discipline."
Kazuya turned his face away, scoffing. There was still a smile on his lips, but now it carried genuine irritation.
"Tch… looks like I'm in for another headache."
The silence held for a moment, broken by Scáthach: "So… how are you feeling?"
Kazuya paused. The usual smile didn't come immediately. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the cloudy sky. For a moment, he seemed heavier than the air around him.
"How am I feeling, huh…?" he repeated slowly.
The cold mountain breeze passed through his white hair. His expression, once marked by mockery, softened into something rare: melancholy.
He remembered the mornings in the destroyed orphanage. The hard wooden bench in the small chapel. The worn scent of the Bible's pages he barely understood but read aloud because Celestina asked. And her calm laugh, saying his reading was terrible, but God wouldn't care about pronunciation.
He saw himself again, dressed in an improvised black cassock, a poorly made wooden crucifix hanging around his neck. Celestina clapping lightly, saying he looked like a real priest. It was foolish, it was simple… but it was the first moment he didn't feel alone.
Kazuya exhaled slowly through his nose.
"She was the only one who took me in… after my parents died in that accident. I had nothing. No one. But she believed in me… even when I didn't believe in myself…"
Scáthach remained still, listening in silence.
"I know…" Kazuya closed his eyes for a moment: "I know it feels like just a blurry memory of a life that's no longer mine. I'm a different person now… but even so, deep down…" He placed a hand on his chest. "…there's a satisfaction. Light, almost ridiculous. But it's real…"
He opened his eyes, looking back at the sky.
"Seeing her killer erased… it's like I gave back at least a little of what she gave me…"
He cast one last glance at the void where Mars had been, feeling the satisfaction of victory and the emotions of the memory he carried.
Scáthach stood by his side, her body steady but her posture relaxed, as if nothing that had happened could shake her composure. She sighed softly, the wind slightly tousling her purple hair, and then pointed in the opposite direction.
"Time to go, don't you think?"
Kazuya laughed, letting himself fall gently through the air before using his ability to teleport. In an instant, they vanished from the mountaintop, the echo of destruction still reverberating behind them.
When they opened their eyes again, the blue sky of Venice stretched above them. The canal reflected the afternoon sun, with boats gliding gently, people strolling, and the distant sound of musicians playing in small squares. The smell of saltwater mixed with the aroma of bakeries and cafés created an almost tangible sense of normalcy.
"Ah, Venice…" Kazuya murmured, tilting his head to observe the city's movement. "Nothing like returning to the comfort of civilized chaos."
Scáthach kept her serious gaze, but a slight relaxation crept into the corners of her lips. "Venice never changes much, even after so many centuries. The chaos is more civilized here, if I can put it that way."
Kazuya grinned, almost teasingly, as he adjusted his shirt collar. "Civilized, huh? Doesn't surprise me that you've known this city for centuries. But answer me this: do you prefer the quiet towns of Scotland, or does this feel more exciting to you?"
She looked away, watching a couple in a gondola pass under the bridge. "In my opinion, excitement… is relative. What changes is the scale and the risks. This here is boring but safe. In Scotland, every walk through the Highlands was a threat, but there was purpose."
"Ah, I see…" Kazuya leaned against the dock's railing, crossing his arms.
Glancing at the scenery before continuing their walk.
They walked together through Venice's narrow streets, their steps echoing on the ancient stones. Small cafés and shops displayed sweets, masks, and colorful souvenirs. The sun began to set, tinging the canals with gold and orange, creating reflections that seemed to float on the water.
As they walked, they enjoyed the city like a newlywed couple would.
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