"Again..." Ato's voice was a low vibration that made the rubble on the floor dance. It wasn't a shout; it was the sound of the earth grinding beneath a mountain.
Zyrrex stood twenty paces away, his face exposed and twitching. He wasn't wearing a mask, and for the first time, his cold, elite features were twisted by a raw, human panic. He looked at Ato's eyes—they weren't human. The pupils had thinned into vertical slits, and a dark, suffocating heat was radiating from his skin, shimmering like a desert mirage against the wreckage of the palace.
"Again, you tried to attack Faramis," Ato continued, his footsteps heavy enough to crack the marble floorboards. "You didn't learn the first time. So now... you are going to pay in blood."
Ato's hands curled into fists, the sound of his knuckles cracking like pistol shots. The "Beast" had fully awakened, and looking into Zyrrex's bare, trembling face, it was clear: the leader of the Void Trio realized he wasn't the hunter—he was the prey.
[Scene Changes to the Upper District Bridge]
Across a bridge of crumbling marble, Kojo Ren was trapped in a hell of black glass and steel.
He was being attacked from the right and left by Vlad and Gale. Every attack was pushing Kojo back, his boots skidding across the stone as he held a desperate defensive state. He was just trying to protect himself, his breathing ragged, a whistle of air through blood-stained teeth.
What should I do? Kojo thought, his mind racing even as his body moved on instinct. They are attacking me left and right. I have to do something, and I can't afford to lose more blood.
Suddenly, an Obsidian Strike hissed toward his neck from the left—Vlad's skin had hardened into a polished, pitch-black obsidian, his fingers lengthened into jagged, razor-sharp blades. From the right, an Abyssal Strike roared—Gale swinging a massive scythe that dripped with dark energy.
Kojo didn't dodge. He planted his feet and caught both strikes with his swords, the metal screaming under the pressure. With a guttural roar, he shoved them back.
"It will not work," Kojo spat, blood spraying from his mouth. "I have to go attacking mode."
Saying this, he rushed toward both of them.
"PHOENIX TWISTER!"
A tornado-like vortex of wind and steel erupted, trapping both Vlad and Gale inside. The centrifugal force shredded their cloaks as Kojo's blades struck against Vlad's obsidian skin like a hammer on an anvil.
"Now... Three Sword Style: HOLLOW DRAGON RUSH!"
Kojo shot forward like a silver bullet, but Gale and Vlad moved in perfect sync to stop him, catching his blades and slamming him backward. Kojo hit a stone pillar, his swords trembling in his grip.
"How?" Kojo gasped. "Oh... I don't have enough strength now... aga—"
Vlad stepped forward, his obsidian skin glistening. "Why? Why are you pushing your limits? Is there something you want to protect?"
Kojo looked up, a lopsided, bloody smirk forming on his face. "Huh. Protect? No... you are wrong."
"Then why—"
"I just want him to become strong," Kojo said, his voice gaining a terrifying edge. "I want to make him the King of the Pirates. When we were talking about the Pirate King Hunter... his eyes lit up looking excited. I won't let you put that out."
Vlad's obsidian eyes narrowed. "Why do you hold such loyalty—"
Kojo laughed. "Loyalty? The loyalty I'm showing is just a bit. I know there will be more tough times like this where I have to die for him. And now... enough talking. I'm going to finish both of you."
Both Gale and Vlad were shocked, their weapons wavering. But then, a calm, heavy voice cut through the street.
"Well then... you are worthy of my trust too then, Kojo Ren."
All of them looked to their right. Standing there, watching from the shadows of a jagged spire, was a figure that made the air itself turn cold.
[Scene Changes to the Wrecked Throne Room]
Ato was moving with the speed of a bullet, closing the distance to Zyrrex and hitting him with a barrage of punches. Boom. Boom. Boom. The strikes were heavy, landing with the sound of a wrecking ball hitting a cathedral. He pushed Zyrrex back until his back hit the far wall of the throne room.
The final hook was so powerful that the upper floor—the royal balcony—groaned and fell. Ato backed away as the ceiling collapsed in a rain of gold-leafed timber and stone. Amidst the falling debris, a heavy wooden board that had been part of the interior structure fell and shattered, landing face-up in the dust. Written on it were the words: GOAL—SET SAIL AND SEE THE WORLD.
Ato stared at the board, the dream of his crew flashing through his mind amidst the ruin of the palace.
"It's not fair..." Zyrrex hissed, wiping blood from his exposed lip as he climbed out of the rubble. "Now... come thousand of them! TENTACLE BARRAGE!"
A thousand black, oily tentacles erupted from Zyrrex's back, filling the vast space of the throne room. Every one of them lashed out at Ato, but he was a ghost, dodging through the "Tentacle Barrage" with impossible grace, his feet barely touching the red carpet. He lunged forward to strike, but a massive cluster of tentacles slammed down, blocking his path and forcing him to back off. Zyrrex stopped, his chest heaving, the throne room trembling from the weight of his Void energy.
"I see... this will not work, huh?" Ato's voice was a low growl. "Then I have to go beyond my limits and defeat you."
A golden-black aura began to gather around him, the pressure so intense that the marble beneath his feet turned to powder.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The scream shook the entire palace. Ato stopped charging. He stood tall, the aura tight against his skin, vibrating with a primal power that distorted the air.
Ato looked at Zyrrex with eyes that promised nothing but destruction.
"LIMIT BREAKER."