Shun’s puppet scoffed and smiled at Reiko before dissipating into nothing.

Nori and Michika found themselves down on the field of the arena, further back from all their teammates. However, to their surprise. They found that the shadow puppet followed them through Nori’s shadow.

Nori quickly lifted both arms and created a bubble, trapping the shadow puppet within. He then quickly grabbed Michika’s hand and retreated to create some distance between them and the puppet.

However, the puppet merely dissipated once again, leaving nothing behind, and another was summoned from Nori’s Shadow. The puppet delivered a devastating kick to Nori, sending him flying toward Michika. Nori’s body hit her and took her along with him on a lightning-fast, one-way trajectory toward the wall.

Mid-flight, Nori, being a natural bodyguard and protector, used his magic to fire a bullet towards the ground, helping him rotate himself around Michika and using his body to protect her. He embraced her tightly and prepared for impact.

Nori crashed into the wall, punching a hole through it. Blood ran from his head, and he began to lose consciousness. The puppet, thinking it had won, crept toward them.

Michika saw him sacrifice himself to protect her and called out, panic in her voice.

“Morita! Morita!”

“Are you okay? Answer me!”

The puppet advanced relentlessly. Michika turned to face it, now alone, using her body to shield Nori.

Then a whisper reached her from behind. “M-Michika… do not react. We only have one shot at this.”

She felt Nori’s voice in her ear. “I-I need you to create as many portals as you can around that thing,” he rasped. “And place the remaining ones around my fingers.”

“I-I… I can’t,” Michika stammered, trembling as the puppet loomed closer.

“We have no other choice. Believe in yourself. Do it!” Nori urged, continuing the whisper while faking sleep.

Michika closed her eyes, focusing with all her might.

“Now!” Nori shouted.

In an instant, she thrust her arm forward. Her eyes opened, glowing a bright green. The puppet became trapped, encircled by miniature green swirls with no escape. Nori released all the particles he had been collecting into the portals Michika had summoned around his fingers.

Water bullets rained from every direction, striking the puppet and destroying it faster than it could regenerate. When it finally dissipated into nothing, Nori exhaled in relief, his eyes slowly closing.

“Well done, Michika,” he said, patting her head.

Before he could rest, a terrifying figure appeared and startled him awake. It spoke.

“Well done, you two,” a puppet said, emerging from Michika’s shadow. “Excellent teamwork.”

Nori and Michika froze, horrified. The puppet had returned; no matter how many times they defeated it, it kept respawning. Nori, nearly spent, raised his finger gun and tried to collect particles, but nothing happened. Exhaustion overtook him.

“Don’t… kid,” the puppet said.

“You’ve done well. Rest now.” It vanished into nothing.

Nori’s arm fell to his side. His eyes fluttered, and the world around him dulled, noise fading into muffled silence.

Nori glanced to the left of the arena and froze. Ryuji was being held by his collar, defeated by his father once again. The queen and Jack were still locked in their own battles, bruised from the puppets’ relentless attacks.

While Nori and Michika focused on their fight, running through a portal from the stands, Ryuji was distracted. He watched his friends struggle against the puppets and failed to notice his father closing in.

“Eyes on your target, kid!” his father shouted, delivering a powerful right hook to Ryuji’s face.

Ryuji crashed to the ground but scrambled back to his feet, refusing to stay down. He lunged at his father, attempting a strike of his own, but his father parried effortlessly, barely shifting his stance.

A relentless exchange followed. Father and son traded a flurry of unarmed strikes, each testing the other’s strength and reflexes. Every blow Ryuji threw was deflected with ease. Every attempt to find an opening was countered instantly. No matter how desperately he tried, he fell further behind.

His father remained composed, breathing steadily, his body untouched by fatigue. The outcome was clear. This battle was unwinnable. No stubbornness or rage could alter its inevitable end.

Exhaustion crept in as the storm of strikes continued. Ryuji had entered the fight already wounded, yet he pushed forward, refusing to fall. His father watched intently, sharp eyes tracking every movement, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

That moment arrived quickly. Pain and fatigue weighed on Ryuji; his attacks slowed, his strength faltered, and his breathing became ragged. The weaker he grew, the easier it was for his father to sidestep, block with minimal effort, and control the pace with ruthless precision.

The outcome had been decided from the start.

Eventually, Ryuji ran out of steam. He threw a desperate right hook, which his father blocked, gripping his fist firmly. He attempted a left hook in retaliation, only for his father to hold that fist as well.

Shun grabbed his son and pulled him close. He drew his head back and snapped it forward, landing a brutal headbutt on Ryuji’s broken nose. Ryuji staggered, dazed, his head spinning and his balance gone. His father did not relent. A sharp roundhouse kick struck Ryuji in the face, sending him flying and slamming flat onto the ground.

Sawano and Yuki watched their king hurtled across the arena. They shouted his name, but the lord scolded them for their insolence.

“Where do you think you’re looking?” Shun called through his puppets. He followed with swift strikes: a strong right hook to Sawano’s face and a pommel strike to Yuki’s abdomen. The blows knocked them back, but the puppets did not pursue.

“I will forgive you once for being distracted, but it will not happen again,” Shun said through his puppets, then re-engaged his enemies.

Sawano, famed as the school’s strongest martial artist, now found herself on the defensive. The puppet pressed her relentlessly, forcing her to step back with every exchange. Every counterattack she launched seemed anticipated before it even began.

He mirrored her fighting style: aggressive, precise, and calculated. He used it against her, turning every attempt to gain ground into retreat.

“H-How?! How do you know our fighting style?!” Sawano yelled, angry and confused.

“Silly kid. How many times do you think I fought against you ‘Tigresses’?” the puppet replied, landing a heavy blow to her abdomen. The strike knocked the wind out of her and pushed her back, yet the puppet pressed on with relentless attacks.

Yuki fared slightly better. The puppet was strong, and its appearance horrifying, but its swordsmanship was flawed. It left openings, yet Yuki could not exploit them.

The puppet fought purely on instinct. Some swordsmanship training was evident, but its style was chaotic and nonsensical, unlike anything Yuki had ever faced.

Yuki could do nothing but hold the puppet back as long as he could and hope his friends would finish the fight. If he could protect them and create a path to victory, he would have fulfilled his duty. But the moment ended in a deafening blow as the lord of the tower strode up to his son and lifted him by the collar.

Nori saw the state of his friends and knew it was not the time to give up. He winced, lifted his arm, and aimed his gun at Shun. Particles gathered around the tip of his finger, more than he had ever collected, compressed tighter than he knew possible.

Understanding the power of the bullet he was about to fire, he pulled Michika close, placing a hand behind her head and pressing her to his chest to cover her right ear. His other hand shielded her left ear, holding her tightly as he prepared to act.

Nori was ready, but his aim wavered. He tried to steady his breathing, but the damage he had sustained left him no choice but to rely on luck.

Shun felt a fluctuation in the mana as it surged toward Nori. He saw the massive, precise bullet forming and braced himself. Nori fired. The shockwave tore across the arena, a deafening roar that shattered eardrums for miles.

Shun saw it coming but could not gauge its speed. Faster than the blink of an eye, the bullet shot from the arena’s edge. Instincts took over. He let go of his son and pushed him aside. The bullet slammed into his wrist, severing his hand, then continued onward, smashing through the magical barrier and sending a wave of energy across the arena. The crowd screamed as the protective bubble shattered.