In the Academy as Sukuna

(The Room of the Yamazaki Head...)

A tense silence ensued in the room, one which felt so unbearably heavy that it could kill just by its presence.

Shingen, on the other side of the room, was unaffected, smiling slightly as she looked at the whole battle.

His respect for Eva was constantly rising, and it had gone from -5 to 0.

He was staring at both Eva and Kenzo, who were, in turn, staring at each other.

His gaze turned to the side, where Koru lay on the cracked floor unconscious, being healed by Yasoshi, who was also looking at Eva and Kenzo.

Further to the right, Amanda... wait, I called her Chi, didn't I? Anyhow, she lay unconscious with her back supported by the wall.

She was fully healed by Yasoshi in this little time, something seen rarely in generations... a feat truly spectacular. This is also how he healed Amara as well.

Shingen's gaze turned back to the two, who were still staring at each other as if daring the other to go first, their bodies twitching as if to attack, but they held back.

'I'm quite impressed, honestly,' he thought, his eyes fixed on the figure of Eva, bleeding and half-naked, her clothes burned away.

Blood trickled down her back, from where she had been impaled, even though the wound had already been healed.

'She beat Koru, while he was in UI.' He said mentally once more, leaning back on his seat as his anticipation for the upcoming battle grew.

This was not true UI, obviously, but just a nerfed version of it, one which had nothing to do with the soul.

But, it could evolve into true UI with enough knowledge of the soul. Just like what happened with Shingen.

But, one thing still bothered him. "Who the hell is that?" He muttered, his gaze drifting to Kenzo, who was standing in front of Eva, his eyes burning with a hatred enough to kill. "And how does he have UI?"

The status of any person in the Yamazaki clan who attains the 'fake' UI would be raised to a position under just the head, a position every member yearns for, but only a few reach.

Shingen didn't find it possible for the man to hide the fact that he has UI for so long. After all, attaining the inherited UI causes many behavioral changes.

Shingen's smile couldn't help but widen as he witnessed this spectacle... it only served to make things more interesting for him.

He patiently waited for the two to begin, unknowing of the dangers the other clans, planning to attack him very soon, held.

On the other side of the room, Kenzo had enough of waiting, he couldn't stand still while the murderer of his family stood a mere few feet in front of him.

With a loud, guttural scream, he lunged towards Eva, the broken blade of his sword shining in his hand.

The cracked pieces of earth rose from the floor, vibrating violently as if answering to the hatred in his heart.

Eva, however, found his determination to be useless. After fighting with Koru, the speed of this man felt like a car being compared to a plane.

She pushed the incoming blade away to the right with her hand, her other hand curling up into a ball, moving towards Kenzo's abdomen with ferocity.

Simultaneously, a spike of ice rose from the ground, freezing the vapor in the air with its numbing temperature, moving towards Kenzo's chest, ready to end him with a single strike.

In Kenzo's mind, time seemed to slow down. A revelation hit him... he was ordinary.

Being mediocre all his life, he never learnt any advanced techniques, nor any big spells. It was as if he was living just for the sake of living.

What could he do against a prodigy like Eva? Die like a bug being crushed under her foot? Yes... that was the reality of this world.

No.

His teeth were grit so hard that his gums bled out, his grip on the hilt of his sword tightening so much that the wood on it almost cracked.

He would strongly reject this reality.

The rising spike of ice suddenly broke into pieces, starting from its base on the ground. The shards fell to the floor, piercing deep into both of their feet as they stepped on it.

Eva's eyes widened at this... he had pushed the ground together towards the spike using earth magic to break it from the base.

However, she still had the upper hand. His abdomen was open, and her punch was mere inches from hitting cleanly.

However, suddenly, she felt her body fall forward, as if she was being pushed...

Kenzo, pushed himself up, his movements fast enough to avoid Eva's punch, which went between his legs, missing his crotch by a few millimeters.

Under Eva's foot, which was supposed to be planted firmly on the ground, was a little bump.

Kenzo had formed this bump using earth magic to make her lose balance, and hopefully miss the punch.

It worked flawlessly.

Without missing a beat, his knee shot upwards, right towards Eva's head, which was on its way to his abdomen.

At the same time, his arm, which was parried at the very start, quickly bent, his elbow shooting downwards, making its way to the back of Eva's head.

Eva's right hand had passed between his legs, and she couldn't do anything to defend with it.

Her left hand, however, quickly moved under her head, to block the incoming knee to her chin.

"Hmm?" A voice rang out from the other side of the room, which went unnoticed by everyone in the heat of the battle.

Shingen had noticed something that others had failed to... Eva's eyes.

Eva's eyes had turned a bright light blue, akin to the pure color of the sky.

Eva felt her body float, as if she could see... everything.

It was a foreign sensation, not unlike when she saw souls for the first time after Sukuna trained her.

It both unsettled and amazed her. She felt as if her mana was going out of control, yet being perfectly in her control at the same time.

Within milliseconds, she, coated her palm with a sheet of ice with multiple spikes, which pointed downwards, intending to pierce his knee as soon as it got close.

Eva had been using ice spikes as her main method of attack for a long time, which is both deadly, and predictable.

Kenzo was unfazed, the adrenaline flowing in his veins disallowed him from stopping.

With a deafening cry, Kenzo's knee made contact with Eva's palm, the spikes of ice piercing into his skin, then lower into his bones, making him wince in pain.

But, he didn't stop.

The force was enough for Eva to be unable to stop his attack, the UI he had just attained playing a huge role in it.

Eva's own hand hit her chin due to the force of his knee, the bones in her hand breaking and her head being shot backwards.

In panic, almost as if on instinct, she covered her whole head in a dense layer of ice, something which served to protect, but the freezing temperature damaged her too.

Her vision blurred because of the damage, her eyes rolling backwards into her skull as she tried to push herself away.

But, Kenzo was not done.

His elbow finally made contact with the back of her head, sandwiching her skull between his knee and elbow.

Her painful scream echoed in the room, the layer of ice around her head cracking as she fell to the ground, which was covered in half-melted shards of ice, piercing into her skin like little needles.

The pain felt even more excruciating than ever before. She didn't know this, but it was because of her eyes... something which she didn't even know she had.

She tried to move... to run, but couldn't, her body twitching in desperation.

She didn't want to die... she wanted to live... live with Sukuna.

Memories resurfaced in her mind, from the very first time when she met Sukuna, to when they did the massacre together, to the time when he disappeared after fighting the monster known as Ren.

A tear formed in her eye... she was really going to die now.

She could feel herself float. Her eyes were closed, but she could see everything... from Kenzo in front, to Yasoshi behind, and Shingen on the other side of the room.

Her finger merely tapped the floor, casting a spell she never learned... but had created in the spur of the moment.

Kenzo's eyes widened, a sense of grave danger gripping his heart, screaming at him to retreat... to run away.

But he couldn't stop now. He would either kill her, or die in the process. Nothing in between.

He raised his bloody foot high up, his sole riddled with holes because of ice shards that had pierced it, ready to bring it down on Eva's head not unlike divine punishment, killing her instantly.

With a hearty groan, he pushed his foot down with all his strength, the air whooshing at the sheer speed of the attack.

A loud, deafening thud echoed in the room. A sound that guaranteed Eva's death.

But, the reality was very different.

Kenzo's foot had made contact with a sheet of ice, which had formed on top of Eva akin to a shed protecting her.

However, something even more spectacular had happened.

Kenzo's body was frozen, his foot planted on the sheet of melting ice as Eva slowly crawled away, trying to heal her injuries.

Even moving a slight bit made her feel excruciating pain, a pain of such degree that it took mere seconds for it to engulf her whole.

She passed out.

Kenzo's eyes were fully wide, his hands, raised in the air, trembled in both awe, confusion, and fear.

From the inside of his body, as if right from his heart, a huge number of spikes came out, making holes in his body from which blood freely flowed out.

The spikes came out his chest, his abdomen, his back, going through every part of his body, making sure he was not left alive.

He looked like a sea urchin, with deep red spines coated with his blood which melted, giving off steam, as it drifted out to its edge, dropping to the floor silently.

Kenzo's eyes rolled back into his head.

That is the moment he realized... he was dying.

He wanted to grit his teeth, but couldn't... his energy was draining out, as if his soul was leaving his body.

As a final, desperate attempt, his opened his mouth, streams of blood flowing out of it as he managed to whisper a few words in a hoarse, painful voice.

"Final Call..."

The mana being emanated by his body increased tenfold, the ground below him cracking from the sheer intensity of his aura.

The floor trembled, roots slowly growing from it, wrapping around everything it saw fit.

Eva's body was slowly being covered by roots, the crawling rope-like structures wrapped around her limbs, and slowly her own body.

"...Coffin of the Earth."

Kenzo's body fell to the ground as soon as he finished those words, all his movements ceasing at once. He was dead.

HIs Final Call was heard, the roots plunging upwards, trying to engulf any living being they found.

Yasoshi, who already had his hands full with healing Koru, couldn't do anything to defend himself.

Eva's body was almost fully covered with the roots, which were starting to tighten, almost deforming her body, trying to crush her into a pool of blood right then and there.

The ground trembled more violently, the cracking and grinding sounds multiplying as if there was a huge earthquake.

Then, there was silence. An eerie, frightening silence.

Yasoshi's eyes widened, snapping to the other side of the room, right opposite to Shingen's throne, where the door was.

There, Shingen was standing, holding Eva over his shoulder.

Yasoshi couldn't help but watch the scene in awe, his mouth gaping in shock and admiration.

He couldn't even follow Shingen's presence. It was as if he was always there.

The vines covering Eva were cut into pieces, almost as if done precisely by a knife.

He slowly put his hand back down, turning to Yasoshi, who was almost done healing Koru.

With almost graceful movements, he threw Eva's unconscious body to Yasoshi, making him gulp slightly.

It was clear to him... he had to heal Eva too.

"They both lacked experience," Shingen said, his deep, almost foreboding voice echoing in the dark confines of the room.

The trembling of the ground had stopped, the raging mana in the environment completely calmed.

A crack rang out from Koru's body as a broken bone was healed by his brother, who was watching Shingen intently.

"They both would grow strong," he said, walking towards his throne with slow, heavy steps. "But this man chose his own path... he gave his life for one final attempt at achieving his goal."

He finally sat on his throne with a low groan, cracking his fingers. "A truly admirable man... breaking the boundaries of normality, and growing into a force to be reckoned with. A shame that it was short-lived."

Yasoshi was almost lost in his father's words. Not because of the words themselves, though, but because if what he saw beforehand.

Yasoshi had always been reading his father's presence for any moves he might make... but he never expected him to be so... elegant.

That was the only word he could think of to describe his father at the moment... the display of strength...

"And now," Shingen continued, a chuckle escaping his lips. "We have late-comers."

His eyes turned to the door where he had just been, his eyes glowing in an eerie, yet dangerous light.

The door was missing. It was busted open by Eva when she came, leaving an empty doorframe through which dim light came through.

However, through the doorframe, a few silhouettes were visible, holding swords, clubs, even knives, moving closer and closer with quick steps.

As if right on time, a huge number of people entered the room. First ten, then twenty, until there were close to 60 there.

They were all standing at the end of the room, some looking around at the destruction, while some focused only on Shingen and his sinister presence.

"Yamazaki Shingen." The voice of the head of the Gremlin clan boomed out, catching everyone's attention. "Surrender, and we may let you live!"

His words echoed in the room, and they seemed as funny to Shingen as the first time he heard them.

"Well then," Shingen said, not even bothering to get up from his throne. He raised his hand, his finger pointing at everyone that had entered, drifting slowly. "Which one of you will kill me?"

His words hung in the air, leaving a tense, foreboding silence in the room.

The meaning was clear... the ones who try to kill him, must be prepared to, in turn, be killed, for he shall not show any mercy.

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gimme POWER STONEEES :3