Battle's Climax

Sumato lay bleeding on the arena floor, gritting his teeth against the searing pain.
"This wound… It’s freaking painful. If I knew he would pull this, I would’ve ended it ten minutes ago. Damn it… Guess I have to try a little."

Slowly, Sumato forced himself to his feet, his body trembling under the strain.
Across the battlefield, Castimore turned, smirking.
“Well, well. Still got the gall to stand? Where’s all that smiling and laughing now?”

Sumato chuckled weakly, his breathing ragged.
“This fight… will go down as my victory," he said.

Castimore’s smirk twisted into a sneer. He raised his hand like a gun and pulled the imaginary trigger—
BANG.
In a blink, Sumato’s right leg was blasted clean off.

Sumato staggered but didn’t fall. Instead, he stared at the gushing wound, a slow grin forming on his bloodied face.
"Too easy," he muttered under his breath.

In an instant, Shinen energy surged into his remaining left leg, and BOOM—Sumato shot forward, faster than the speed of sound, a blur to the naked eye.

The crowd gasped.
Castimore’s eyes widened in disbelief as he fired shot after shot, but Sumato weaved through them effortlessly, each movement a flash of defiance.

As he closed the distance, Sumato laughed.
"Fat bullets, huh? Very interesting ability you’ve got. I thought it would be against the rules… but I get it now."

He struck Castimore across the face with a brutal swing—or so it seemed.

When the dust cleared, Castimore was no longer towering above Sumato.
He was tiny. No bigger than a pixie.

From the stands, a booming voice—Mizokushi’s—echoed across the arena:
"Castimore! You are disqualified! Advanced Shinen Affinities are forbidden!"

But Castimore wasn’t done.
With a howl of rage, he slammed himself into the ground, Shinen flaring violently. He activated a forbidden Miscellaneous Shinen technique, consuming his life force and protein reserves to restore his body.
He re-emerged, his body grotesquely bloated, one arm as massive as a bus.

"If I’m going down..." Castimore growled, raising his colossal hand, "then you don’t deserve to live!"

From the monster-sized bazooka slung over his shoulder, he charged a final, supercharged Fatty Bullet, its sheer mass warping the air around it.

Sumato exhaled deeply.
"No choice, then."

He reached to his side with shaky fingers and drew his Shinen weapon.

The sword Sermonta gleamed wickedly—a jagged-edged blade whose hilt wore a permanent demonic smile.
Sumato slammed Sermonta’s edge against the ground—once, twice, three times.
Each strike sent a pulse of white light through the battlefield.

Then, he crouched low, chanting, "This is my Shinen weapon, Sermonta... and you're going to taste his UPROAR!"

In a flash, every wound on Sumato's body sealed shut—not healed, but completely erased.
He leaped, slashing forward with all his might.

Sermonta’s Uproar collided with Castimore’s Fatty Bullet.
BOOOOOOOM.

The arena exploded.
The impact left a 50×50×50 meter crater, a massive shockwave twice as strong as Nozuchi’s, rattling the entire grounds.

When the dust finally settled, Sumato lay unconscious at the crater’s edge—alive but motionless.
Castimore… was nowhere to be found.

Flashback: Years Ago

Sumato remembered.
He remembered the screams, the fear, and the despair.
How he and his sister, Chizuna, had gone out for groceries—only to be ambushed by a gang of thugs.

He had fought to protect her, but he was just a boy.
They beat him within an inch of his life.

Barely conscious, he heard Chizuna’s cries.
Felt her terror.
He felt helplessness consume him.

And then, something inside him snapped.

His Shinen Weapon—Sermonta—which should have awakened seven years prior, erupted forth.
Its jagged, cruel form mirrored the storm of rage inside him.

Uproar activated for the first time, taking all the accumulated damage and kinetic energy he had endured and turning it into a devastating, violent slash.

The thugs never stood a chance.
In that moment, Sumato didn’t just fight for survival—he found his pride.
He found his will to protect.
He wasn’t just a "late bloomer."
He was a monster born of love and fury.

Back to the Present

Sumato’s eyes fluttered open.
A soft warmth pressed against him.
He glimpsed the face of a girl, her arms wrapped tightly around his battered body.

"Who...?" he wondered, before blacking out again.

When he awoke properly, he found himself lying in the sterile light of the school infirmary.
His body was bandaged, aching but alive.

He sat up slowly, scanning the room—and froze.

A shadowy figure stood silently at the end of the bed, watching him.

Its shape was humanoid... but wrong somehow.
The edges of its body shimmered unnaturally.

Sumato’s throat dried.
“H-Hey… Who are you?” he croaked out.

The figure didn’t move for a heartbeat.
Then, with slow, deliberate steps, it began to walk toward him.

It spoke only one word, its voice distorted like a broken radio:

"WHY?"