The battlefield burned with Essence.
Smoke curled through the shattered remains of buildings, ash falling like snow. Explosions echoed across the field as warriors clashed with the monstrous EX-ranked Beasts.
In the middle of it all, Riku Hayashi walked forward—alone.
His silver hair glowed faintly under the dim sky, eyes calm, distant, as if none of it was worth breaking a sweat over. Around him, Essence Beasts lunged, roared, slammed their massive claws and weapons into the earth—
—and he barely moved.
A flash of light.
A beast's head rolled behind him.
Riku exhaled, eyes still locked ahead. "That took longer than I thought," he muttered.
Another came from the left—a six-armed behemoth of volcanic rock and black flame. It roared, charging like a natural disaster.
Riku didn't even blink.
He side-stepped just enough, placed two fingers on the creature's chest mid-charge, and released a pulse of compressed Essence. The beast exploded outward in a controlled shockwave.
Riku didn't watch it fall.
Another one tried to ambush him from behind. He sighed.
"You're loud. Try sneaking next time," he said without turning.
A massive spectral blade appeared, swung by his summoned knight, slicing the beast in half mid-air.
From a hilltop, some of the S-Rank warriors paused mid-fight, staring at the destruction.
"...Is he even trying?" one whispered.
"He hasn't even used his full form," another said, watching as Riku strolled past three more monsters like they weren't worth drawing breath for.
Riku looked over his shoulder. "Don't get distracted. These things bite."
His voice was calm. Unbothered. Like a teacher reminding students to do their homework.
Then he turned back to the battlefield. Five more were coming. One was armored in crystal. Another spat acid. The third had wings of obsidian and let out a scream that shattered stone.
Riku tilted his head slightly.
"Let's keep this efficient," he said to no one in particular.
His Essence aura flared, but softly—like a heartbeat rising. The energy was there, suffocating in presence, but smooth, refined, never wasted.
With a flash of motion, he vanished.
A second later, all five beasts dropped to their knees at once.
The battlefield hushed in that pocket of space.
Riku stood still in the center, not even looking back.
"Too slow," he murmured.
Up above, one of the commanding officers in the helicopters—one of the high-ranking council members—watched the feed with narrowed eyes.
"...That boy. He's different," she whispered. "He's not fighting. He's performing."
Back on the ground, Riku calmly adjusted his collar as if just leaving a boring meeting.
Another beast screamed and came from above.
He looked up mid-yawn.
"You're interrupting my peace."
The sky lit up again.