"Alright, no rules—just aim for the orb," Likombe mutters, her voice sharp as Marquis steals a glance at the river.
He steps onto the flowing water, feeling its pull. His feet sink slightly, the surface trembling under his weight, but he manages to stay afloat. He senses the current—its direction, its rhythm. He can't move the water, not yet, but he can harden it beneath him.
A strategy forms. Run to the orb, claim the win. Deal with Ryuji later.
Before he can act, a flash of steel cuts through his thoughts. A blade arcs toward his neck.
Marquis reacts instinctively, forcing the water to engulf him. He plunges into the river, cold liquid swallowing him whole.
The icy grip tightens on his lungs, choking him as he sinks. Above, Ryuji lets out a curse, frustration sharp in the air.
From the riverbank, Alain watches with wide eyes. "He's not pulling punches... He's really trying to kill Marquis!"
Beside him, Anna sits still, eyes closed, expression unreadable. Alain sighs, his eyes flaring. "Don't you like him, Anna?"
"I don't," she replies.
Meanwhile, Ryuji prowls the water's edge, katana slicing the air as if testing its weight. The tip flickers, grazing the surface. He knows Marquis can't stay submerged forever.
Marquis feels his chest tighten, lungs burning. That maniac... Anger swells in his veins, wild and restless, sharpening his thoughts. Can't control it—but can use it.
A plan. Risky, but all he has.
With a defiant smile, he lets water wrap around his arms, clinging like armor. He bursts upward, breaking the surface in a spray of droplets.
Ryuji lunges, elbow bent sharply, his kick slicing through the air with hip-driven force. Marquis twists, dodging to the side, water trailing his movement.
The fight ignites. Ryuji's attacks are relentless—short, heavy stomps sinking into mud, each strike meant to overwhelm, faster than the last.
Marquis counters, shifting hardened water into jagged, asymmetrical sculptures to block wherever Ryuji targets.
A blade meets liquid shields; punches glance off shimmering barriers.
Still, each impact sends shocks up his arms. When Ryuji shatters one, a high-frequency ping! layers over a deep crunch—faint screams echo in the fractures.
Ryuji snarls, katana a blur as Marquis retreats deeper. The orb is within reach, but he doesn't move toward it.
Not yet.
His heart pounds. He could win—secure the prize—but something roots him. A spark of defiance. Of pride.
No. I want to fight him.
"Marquis, tell me, why fight? Wouldn't it be better to die?" Ryuji asks. They are alone in their world.
"What are you talking about? I don't want to die, but—" Marquis begins.
Ryuji cuts him off. "The beast is in you as it is in me and my sword."
"You're insane! You're just swinging a sword blindly, Ryuji. That's what you do—act first, think never!" Marquis shouts, fury rising. "To hell with your family's honor! If this is what your clan stands for—killing without the slightest thought—then I've finally realized it. You're disillusioned. Blind to everything! Tell me, have you ever once considered another person's ideas? Have you ever tried to adapt them to your own?" His footing falters slightly on the water's surface.
Ryuji, standing at the edge, smiles. "And you're so obsessed with thinking that you've forgotten how to act. Life isn't a puzzle or a maze, Marquis. It's blood and sweat and pain—and it doesn't wait for you to figure it out! You think and think and think... but have you ever thought of actually feeling something?"
They stand on opposite sides.
Fury overtakes Marquis. He charges, movements driven by raw emotion.
Marquis raises his arms, blocking Ryuji's strikes as their bodies blur along the water's edge.
Ryuji sweeps low with a mud-sinking stomp, catching Marquis off guard, knocking him down. With ruthless precision, Ryuji brings his katana down, aiming for Marquis's heart—but Marquis reacts, using the water to vanish.
In an instant, Marquis reappears, yanking Ryuji's leg and dragging him into the river. They sink, locked in combat.
Ryuji drives a hand toward Marquis's face. Marquis catches it.
Ryuji counters with a sharp knee to the jaw, forcing him back. As Ryuji swings upward, Marquis seizes him, using the motion to hurl him downward.
Ryuji crashes against the riverbed with a massive thud, the impact shocking the water.
"Marquis... MARQUIS!" Ryuji roars, fury erupting. He launches forward like a hammer strike, hips driving, slamming into Marquis. The force blasts them from the water, droplets exploding.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Ryuji snarls. Mid-air, a child-sized shadow with glowing eyes materializes in the silt, wrapping Ryuji's fist like a small hand—visibly slowing his punch.
They crash back down. Marquis doesn't waste a second. He charges, fists clenched. Ryuji sidesteps, instincts sharp.
They pivot, mirroring each other with deadly precision. Now on solid ground, there is no hesitation. The fight escalates—a flurry of kicks, counters, pivots, relentless blows. Fists fly, bodies collide.
A left hook from Marquis grazes Ryuji's face. Ryuji retaliates with raw, unpredictable rage. Marquis lands a clean punch to the jaw—Ryuji staggers, consciousness flickering.
Snarling, Ryuji bites down hard on his tongue and grabs Marquis's neck—left thumb pressing precisely where Kokoro's will armor fails—slamming their skulls together.
A pink silk ribbon slips from Marquis's pocket. He snatches it mid-air as Ryuji's forehead connects. CRACK! His nose shatters. Vision swims. He collapses.
Ryuji drops his katana. He doesn't need it. With a roar, he pummels Marquis, fists echoing Kokoro's merciless grip. He lifts Marquis, hurling him high.
"DIE! You know NOTHING! NOTHING OF LOVE!" Ryuji's voice is raw with grief.
But mid-air, Marquis finds his rhythm. He crashes down, momentum surging. Their eyes lock. They clash again, shaking the ground.
In that moment, both boys shattered their limits. They were no longer bound by their 'story,' their attachments, or their titles. They fought like feral beasts, driven by every selfish reason imaginable. Hatred consumed them, and nothing else mattered.
"Shut up!" Marquis growls. He spins, kicking Ryuji in the chest. Before Ryuji can fall, Marquis grabs his arm, spins him violently, and charges again.
What's the point of logic if I can't use it when it matters? he thinks, pounding across the ground. All this time solving puzzles... life isn't a game.
His fist connects with Ryuji's face. In the water's reflection beneath them, a blue-lipped face with dilated pupils, a hand by their neck flashes for 0.8 seconds. Marquis tastes iron.
"I've been hiding behind reason because it's safe. But safety isn't strength, is it?" he mutters.
Ryuji kicks Marquis back. He rises, cursing. The river distorts into a bloody severed head as Ryuji presses his thumbs to Marquis's neck.
"You talk about truth like it's something you can solve," Ryuji growls. "But truth isn't neat or clean—it's ugly. Just like this fight."
"At least I'm not afraid to face it," Marquis snaps. "Can you say the same?"
Ryuji smirks. "You call this chaos? This is life. Raw, messy, and stronger than your perfect little strategies. You're not even using them now!"
Marquis falters. "I'm not..." he mutters, stunned.
"You fight to win," Ryuji sneers, slamming his knee into Marquis's face. Foam coalesces into a gloved hand, yanking Marquis's collar back mid-strike and weakening the impact. "I fight to feel alive. That's the difference."
Marquis struggles. "I... I fight to defend," he chokes out.
Ryuji stands over him, breath ragged. His katana lies out of reach, but he stretches toward it as if to summon it. Tears streak his face.
"I'll go back to Father's city," he says, voice breaking.
Marquis, defiant, forces himself up and shoves Ryuji back.
THUD-CRUNCH! Marquis's kick connects with Ryuji's jaw—a sickening crunch syncing with a pop from his own ankle. His foot bends sideways at ninety degrees.
CRACK-SNAP! Ryuji's punch strikes Marquis's lower ribcage—a wet crack layered over a dry snap. His hand deforms unnaturally.
They collapse like marionettes with cut strings, faces submerged in six inches of water. Their blood swirls into a yellow oil-slick that carefully avoids the untouched orb, pulsing three feet away.
From a distance, Likombe watches, expression unreadable. "Two boys, blinded by their own struggles," she murmurs, raising her hand.
Instantly, both freeze—bodies locked. Anna and Alain, mid-intervention, immobilize too. Too late.
Alain had bolted toward the river, overcome, but Likombe stopped him with a glance. Anna met the same fate.
Likombe sighed, her voice tinged with resignation and quiet awe. The wide shot revealed two broken bodies in yellow-stained water, the pristine orb glowing untouched nearby. Only ragged breathing and the river's current broke the silence.
Suddenly, a ralsin burst through the river's surface. It levitated mid-air for a heartbeat—a stark, silent figure adding an unsettling serenity to Marquis and Ryuji's grim tableau. Suspended between them, its mismatched eyes—one red, one brown—fixed on nothing before it sank back beneath the murky water.
"I stand corrected," Likombe murmured, cool and calm despite the spectacle. "This year has produced some remarkable warriors." Her gaze lingered on the ripples where the creature vanished. "But they haven't seen the true horrors of this city. If conflicts like this consume them... they still have a long way to go."