Chapter 132: The Encounter
The desert stretched endlessly beneath a crimson sky.
There were only two men standing in the middle of the wasteland.
Two students of the same teacher.
Two men who had been shaped by the same teachings, yet had chosen completely different roads.
Daito Greyhell remained silent, his eyes fixed on the man standing several metres in front of him. He was still trying to process what he had just learned, and the more he thought about it, the more impossible the revelation seemed.
Gyoran Chitsujo.
The man who had manipulated kingdoms, sacrificed countless lives, and orchestrated events from the shadows. And somehow, that same man had once been trained by Ntate A. Greyhell.
Daito's uncle.
At first, it made no sense. Yet the longer Daito thought about it, the more the connection began to reveal itself.
The discipline, the patience, and the tactical planning. The ability to think several steps ahead. The refusal to depend entirely on Savage Powers. Those qualities had not appeared from nowhere.
They were Greyhell traits.
Gyoran noticed the realization forming in Daito's expression and gave a faint smile.
"You're starting to see it now."
Daito narrowed his eyes.
"You still don't make sense."
The wind swept between them, carrying crimson sand across the ground.
"If Uncle Ntate taught you..." Daito began, his voice measured, "...then where did all this go wrong?"
For a moment, Gyoran smiled, there was no arrogance in it, only sadness.
"Wrong?"
His gaze drifted toward the horizon.
"That's exactly where our lives differ, Daito."
The smile disappeared.
"You and I didn't grow up in the same world."
The desert suddenly felt colder.
"When you were learning mathematics," Gyoran continued, his voice becoming distant, "when you were writing school essays, making friends, and dreaming about the future, I was studying a completely different subject."
He looked back at Daito.
"A subject called life."
The words seemed to hang in the air as Gyoran slowly raised three fingers.
"There were only three questions."
He lowered one finger.
"Why are we here?"
A second finger.
"What do we want?"
Then the third.
"And how do we get it?"
Fwoo....
The wind howled across the desert.
Gyoran slowly lowered his hand.
"Everything I am came from answering those three questions."
Daito said nothing, as Gyoran's expression hardened.
"Life taught me something. If you want something, someone must sacrifice something. If you want change, you have to take risks. If you want greatness, you have to seize opportunities."
Phshsh...
His fist tightened and the sand beneath his boots shifted.
"Because opportunities don't come twice."
A brief pause followed.
"Momentum doesn't come twice."
Another pause.
"History doesn't come twice."
Daito continued listening without interrupting.
Gyoran's voice became quieter.
"You know what the saddest thing about humanity is?"
His eyes darkened.
"Everyone is waiting."
He slowly looked across the empty desert.
"Waiting for heroes. Waiting for leaders. Waiting for governments. Waiting for miracles. Waiting for someone else to solve everything."
His expression changed and for the first time, Daito could see something genuine beneath the Boss's confidence.
Pain.
"I waited too."
Fwooosh....
The wind grew stronger.
"I waited for the world to heal. I waited for corruption to disappear. I waited for cities to improve. I waited for suffering to end. I waited for people to become better."
Gyoran gave a hollow laugh.
"And do you know what happened?"
Daito remained silent.
"Nothing."
The single word struck harder than any speech.
"The years passed, people suffered, people died, leaders lied, the powerful grew stronger while the weak remained weak, and everybody continued following the same script."
He paused.
"Like actors in a show."
His eyes narrowed.
"A show they don't even know the authors of."
Daito frowned.
Gyoran looked directly at him.
"And the worst part?"
A bitter smile appeared.
"I was one of them."
The desert fell silent.
"Until one day..."
Gyoran's eyes became distant.
"Everything changed."
Daito's attention sharpened.
"I overheard a conversation between Master Ntate and another man."
The mention of his uncle immediately hardened Daito's expression.
"I wasn't supposed to hear it," Gyoran continued. "But I did."
His gaze remained fixed somewhere beyond Daito, as though he were staring directly into the past.
"And that conversation changed my life forever."
The wind began to die down.
"They were talking about people."
Gyoran paused.
"People who stood above governments, kings, numerators, and above entire nations."
Daito's eyes narrowed.
"The Supreme Authority."
The name left his mouth almost like a whisper.
Gyoran smiled.
"Exactly."
There was something unusual in that smile.
It was reverent almost religious.
"The people who control the world. The people who decide history. The people who move nations like pieces on a board. The people whose existence has become little more than a myth."
He gave a quiet laugh.
"Most people don't even know they're real."
His eyes gleamed.
"And that's what makes them terrifying."
The pressure around him seemed to change.
"True power doesn't need attention. It doesn't need applause. It doesn't need recognition."
His smile faded.
"It simply exists."
Daito remained silent, simce even he knew very little about the Supreme Authority.
The Supreme Authority was less an organization than a legend, something spoken about in whispers by people who understood that there were forces in the world far beyond the reach of ordinary governments and warriors.
Even Numerators feared them.
Gyoran slowly placed a hand against his chest.
"The moment I heard about them..."
His fingers tightened against his clothing.
"...I understood."
Daito watched him carefully.
"My answer."
The answer to the three questions.
Why are we here?
What do we want?
How do we get it?
Gyoran looked directly into Daito's eyes.
For the first time, there was no deception in his expression, only absolute conviction.
"I found my purpose."
His eyes burned with ambition.
"I was meant to reach them."
A faint pressure began leaking into the air around him.
"I was meant to stand among them."
The sand around his feet began to tremble.
"I was meant to join them."
The crimson sky seemed darker.
"That is why I built Silver Moon."
The pressure increased.
"That is why I manipulated kingdoms."
The air distorted.
"That is why I sacrificed lives."
The desert floor cracked beneath his feet.
"That is why I sought Stimuleigh."
Crack!
Another fissure tore through the ground.
"That is why I became The Boss."
Gyoran's voice suddenly thundered across the desert.
"EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE—"
BOOOOOOM!
A wave of pressure exploded outward.
Daito's torn jacket whipped violently behind him.
"EVERY SACRIFICE!"
The ground trembled.
"EVERY CRIME!"
The air distorted around Gyoran.
"EVERY VICTORY!"
The crimson sand rose into the air.
"EVERY FAILURE!"
His eyes glowed with terrifying intensity.
"EVERYTHING..."
The floating sand stopped as Gyoran smiled.
"...was for the sole purpose of reaching them."
Silence followed.
A long, heavy silence.
Slowly, the wind settled.
The floating sand drifted back toward the ground.
The pressure disappeared.
Once again, there were only two men standing in the desert.
Daito stared at Gyoran with understanding.
Because for the first time, he finally understood what made Gyoran Chitsujo so dangerous.
It wasn't Cognitive Subjugation, nor the Silver Moon.
It wasn't even his intelligence, but was something far worse.
'Gyoran genuinely believed he was right.'
And people who truly believed in their own purpose were always the hardest opponents to defeat.
Daito finally broke the silence.
"So that's it?"
Gyoran blinked.
"What?"
"You destroyed lives."
Daito's voice remained calm.
"You ruined cities. You sacrificed innocent people. You turned Champagne into a weapon."
Gyoran said nothing.
Daito stared directly into his eyes.
"And your justification is..."
He paused.
"...that you wanted to sit at the cool kids' table?"
The desert became completely silent.
Gyoran stared at him, one second passed, then three.
His eye twitched.
"...I genuinely hate talking to you."
For the first time since arriving in this strange dimension, Daito actually smiled.
The tension between them loosened for a brief moment only briefly.
* * *
Daito Greyhell stood among the remains, bleeding, bruised, and exhausted.
His shoulder was still damaged from Champagne's attacks, while the lingering effects of dragon energy poisoning continued to burn through his muscles. Every breath felt like swallowing knives.
And yet his eyes remained sharp.
Slowly, Daito walked toward one of the enormous carcasses.
The rib bones alone were larger than buildings. He crouched beside them and examined the remains carefully, studying their shape and density the way a craftsman might examine a piece of raw material.
Gyoran watched him with growing confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Daito ignored him as he grabbed one of the jagged bones and pulled.
CRACK!
A large fragment broke free as he grabbed another.
CRACK!
Then another.
CRACK!
The pieces were rough, uneven, and dangerously sharp.
Sit...
Daito carried them toward a large stone and sat down. Using his pocket knife as a tool, he began shaving the bones down.
Scrape.....
Scrape.....
Scrape.....
He adjusted the angles. Removed unnecessary weight. Changed the balance. And shaved the edges.
Minutes passed.
Gyoran simply watched as eventually, something began to take shape.
A weapon.
It was long, jagged and critically cruel.
It resembled a spear, but its blade looked more like a collection of enormous broken teeth than anything crafted by human hands.
Daito lifted it and he spun it once through his hand.
WHOOOSH!
The weapon cut through the air.
Daito tested its weight, adjusted his grip, and gave a small nod.
"Good enough."
Gyoran raised an eyebrow.
"You made a weapon."
Daito rested it against his shoulder.
"The Piercer."
Gyoran stared at him.
"...You named it already?"
"Every legendary weapon starts somewhere."
"That is absolutely not how that works."
"It is now."
The two stared at each other.
Gyoran eventually sighed.
"You know..."
His expression softened slightly.
"I really don't understand you."
Daito shrugged.
"Most people don't."
"No."
Gyoran shook his head.
"I mean it."
The desert grew quiet again.
"You're talented. You defeated Numerators. You survived impossible battles. You inspire people."
His eyes narrowed.
"And somehow..."
He pointed toward Daito.
"...you still choose this."
Daito remained silent.
Step...
Gyoran took a step forward.
"Come with me."
The words sounded different from everything that had come before. There was no manipulation in them and no deception.
They were genuine.
"When I join the Supreme Authority," Gyoran said, "I'll need capable people."
His ambition returned to his eyes.
"You've already proven yourself."
Another step.
"You are strong enough."
Another.
"Strong enough to stand beside me."
The wind moved between them.
"Strong enough to become my right hand."
Daito stared at him as Gyoran's expression remained serious.
"You don't need to keep pretending."
Daito tilted his head.
"Pretending?"
"Being a hero."
The words lingered between them.
"Heroes save people."
Gyoran gestured toward the distant battlefield where Playmore had become a graveyard.
"How many people died today?"
"How many cities have you failed to save?"
"How many people suffered despite your efforts?"
Gyoran's voice hardened.
"You're too smart to keep believing in fairy tales."
Daito listened quietly, then he shook his head.
"No."
A simple answer but an absolute one.
Gyoran sighed.
"Why?"
Daito rested The Piercer against his shoulder.
"If I did that..."
His voice remained calm.
"I'd be abandoning my friends."
The wind swept through the desert.
"I'd be abandoning their trust."
Images flashed through his mind.
Aerin.
Champagne.
Monday.
Wei-Wan.
Brandon.
Nyx.
Zachia.
Avenor.
Mardale.
Wasabi.
Every member of the Outsiders.
"I'd be abandoning everything we stand for."
Daito looked directly at Gyoran.
"So no."
His grip tightened around The Piercer.
"That's not happening."
Silence.
Then, unexpectedly, Gyoran nodded.
"As expected."
There was no disappointment in his expression.
No frustration only acceptance.
Then he smirked.
"You know..."
Daito narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
Gyoran pointed at him.
"The bandages."
"...What about them?"
"They suit you."
Daito blinked.
"What?"
"You look dope."
"...Thank you?"
"Very rugged."
"Are you complimenting me right now?"
"A little."
"That's weird."
"Probably."
The two future murderers stood awkwardly in the middle of a monster graveyard.
For a moment, neither knew what to say.
Then Gyoran casually raised his hand.
FWOO....
He pushed it sideways through empty space.
Daito's instincts immediately exploded.
Danger.
His entire body reacted before his mind could fully process what he was seeing.
An invisible opening appeared beside Gyoran.
It looked as though space had been cracked and opened .
Gyoran's arm disappeared into the opening, then it emerged holding a weapon.
A pistol.
Matte black, elegant, and definitely deadly.
Then another object appeared in his other hand.
A long dagger. Its blade gleamed beneath the crimson sky.
Daito's expression hardened instantly as the atmosphere changed and verything became heavier.
More real.
Because now... the conversation was over.
Gyoran twirled the dagger once.
WHIRL!
Daito lowered The Piercer.
Fwoo...
The wind stopped and silence engulfed the desert.
Both men stood motionless.
And somewhere inside both of their minds, an old memory resurfaced.
Two different training fields.
Two younger boys.
Daito.
Gyoran.
And one man standing before them.
Ntate A. Greyhell.
The greatest human soldier either of them had ever known.
His voice echoed through the years.
"If there's one thing you should never underestimate..."
The memory became clearer.
"...it is a man fighting for his ideals...."
Ntate's eyes had been deadly serious.
"...Because there is nothing more dangerous....."
The words echoed through time.
"Than a man who refused to abandon what he believed."
GRIP!
Daito tightened his grip as Gyoran did the same.
Both understood that neither could back down, surrender, nor compromise.
Because one fought for the people he loved. And the other fought for the future he believed was inevitable.
The distance between them felt infinite.
Then—
It vanished.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The desert exploded beneath their feet as both men launched forward simultaneously.
A sonic boom ripped across the crimson landscape.
SWOOSH!
Daito thrust The Piercer forward.
Gyoran fired.
BANG!
The bullet screamed through the air.
SWIISH!!
Daito twisted his body sideways.
Slit...
The round grazed his cheek as a thin line of blood appeared.
The Piercer continued toward Gyoran's chest.
CLAAAAANG!
Gyoran's dagger intercepted the bone spear.
SHWOOOSH!
The impact produced a violent shockwave that blasted sand in every direction.
FWOOSH!
Daito drove forward relentlessly.
CLANG!
Gyoran countered with flawless precision.
A dagger, a pistol, a spear, a knife, a warrior and a mastermind.
Student versus student.
Greyhell versus Greyhell.
The battle that had been building since the beginning of the Playmore War had finally begun, and somewhere deep inside both men, they already knew the truth.
Only one of them was walking out of this desert alive.
to be continued...