There's no way he could wake up in two days, so the darker side took advantage of this moment when his mind was completely confused after receiving all that damage from the fire cancer, the maximum pact, and Lira's strike.
"He practically entered a temporary coma."
The other part of Saul still couldn't fully cross his mind, but temporarily, now that he was in a coma, he could take over that body for a few minutes.
"I think I can take over for maybe ten minutes?"
Even if he could still take over, it would take some time to come out; if analyzed, he would wake up right at the time of the fifth round—and that's exactly what happened.
All the girls—Yumeha, Valença, Serenya, Rina, Aoi, and Seraphina—were sleeping somewhere in that room where he had been placed to rest. Passing by without meaning to wake them, he looked toward the door with a raised eyebrow when he saw Danyana right in front, sleeping like a cat.
'What a strange girl.'
Upon leaving, he stopped again with a tremor when he saw Kai and all of Enrico's other friends leaning against the wall, sleeping, with Caelan being quite noisy because of his snoring.
'You have many companions, Saul… it's a pity they will never understand you.'
Ignoring them all, he walked silently, and when he passed by a window, he saw that his eyes were black with golden pupils, just like the last time he came out.
'It seems this will always happen when I come out—or when he learns to use his Nartheis power.'
Adjusting his hair to cover his eyes, he headed toward where the next match would take place. He had to interfere because he couldn't allow their plan to fail. Of course, they could enter if they defeated someone classified during this time until the battle between academies began, but that wasn't why they were here.
'We came here to grow stronger and make these characters see us as a wall.'
Stepping into the place where the fight would take place, Enrico noticed that the referee and Sakura looked surprised that he had managed to stand up, but the referee simply nodded and flew away. Sakura, in front of him, seemed relieved for some reason and then took a fighting stance somewhat similar to karate.
"I'm glad you came; I wouldn't want to win that way."
"Oh, how honorable. I guess I should return the favor then."
Enrico took a stance with one fist raised to his chin while the other was slightly lower—he was going to fight her physically. Sakura narrowed her eyes with slight irritation.
"Are you underestimating me?"
"Underestimating you? I'd be an idiot to do that in this condition. The reason I'm doing this is simple… I can only fight because of my current state."
"If that's the case, then I can wait for you to rest."
"Sorry, that's not possible because I'll pass out in about ten minutes."
Sakura was surprised, but when she looked at his body, she realized it would be difficult to recover that quickly. She now felt admiration for him for going so far just to fight.
'If I were him, I'd do the same, so I'll respect that.'
"That idiot."
"Lady Virelle, we should stop this fight as soon as possible."
Virelle held her head with her hand, feeling tired. She had already struggled trying to convince Hao to pull Enrico from these fights and try to enter by defeating someone from the academy who had passed—then he wakes up from bed and does this.
"Hahaha, looks like Enrico disagreed with you, Virelle."
"Shut up, old man."
"Milady, we must stop the young master."
Hao's reason for not wanting Enrico to leave wasn't just because he believed he could stand. His reason was that he wanted all of Astrong's rank fives to qualify for the battle between academies.
"Hahaha, that's why I like that boy."
"Damn it, old man, shut up!"
"Milady…"
Both Virelle and Angela were worried, but deep down, both wanted to believe he could win that battle even in that condition.
"Angela, be ready to interfere if you notice something's about to happen."
"Understood, milady. I'll be on guard."
Angela vanished to stay as close to the arena as possible to interfere when she could. The arena hadn't changed at all by the request both Sakura and Enrico made to the referee before he started the fight.
"Ready?"
"Of course."
"Then you may begin."
Moving toward each other, Sakura attempted a direct punch, which was blocked by Enrico's palm as he gripped tightly. Twisting, he threw Sakura over his shoulder and slammed her hard against the ground.
Raising his left foot, he made a downward kick. Sakura rolled on the ground, barely avoiding the blow—yet the impact was so strong that the wind pressure sent her flying.
"Strength Magic: Muscle Enhancement."
Sakura's body grew larger, her speed and strength increasing by twenty percent. With a powerful leap, she shattered the ground, charging straight at Enrico. Lifting his leg, Enrico kicked her chin, sending her upward.
'Even if it's not like that red zombie's, I still understand why I'm so interested in her power.'
'Damn it, I'll try to be faster—'
"Hey, girl, I'd like to ask you a question."
"What kind of question?"
Confused about why he decided to ask something, she stood up, still alert for any movement.
"Do you understand how the void works?"
"Sorry, but I don't understand why you're asking that."
"…Well, that's disappointing—you didn't even answer the basics."
"What do you mean, the basics?"
"Nothing."
Enrico lowered his fist completely, taking a low guard position as his right hand began to emit a gray aura. Sakura, noticing something was wrong, did what she had planned earlier—enhancing her legs with her strength magic.
'With this boost, it'll be hard for him to—'
"Void Fist."
Before Sakura could realize it, a gray line with white and black trails was left in the air as Enrico's punch struck just above her stomach. She felt as if her internal organs had been destroyed; the impact was so powerful that she spun in the air, her head slamming into the arena floor.
"Even though you failed, I'm still interested in your power—so we'll talk later."
Enrico had a confident smile on his face as he walked away from the arena. The astonished referee declared the winner when he saw Sakura couldn't stand.
"Winner of the battle Enrico Solcren Ferreira! And with that, the sixth round will be decided through points."