Page 1
Mabu looks at him.
The black armor. The heavy sword. The same stillness that doesn't resemble human stillness.
Inside his head: the arena. The firestorm swallowing him — and then he walks out of it. The sword flying like a bullet. A body that breaks stone without demonic power.
"You remember me."
Not a question.
The black knight smiles — slowly.
"It seems you've grown. Let's see by how much."
Page 2
The knight turns toward the door.
"Our business is outside."
Mabu looks at the old man.
The old man doesn't look back.
Mabu understands.
He follows the knight outside. The door closes behind them.
Page 3
From the side shadows, a figure moves toward Thian.
Fine clothes. Slow, certain steps. A face carrying the smile of someone who knows he wins before he begins.
"You."
Thian looks at him.
"Yes, you."
He scratches his chin.
"Honestly… I have no desire to damage a face that fine. But orders are orders."
Page 4
"My name is Patrice. I hope you'll remember it."
He gestures toward the door with exaggerated courtesy.
"After you."
They exit together. The old man and Ginzo remain alone in the warehouse.
Ginzo: "Then… shall we continue?"
The old man draws both swords in a single motion.
Suddenly — the ceiling explodes upward.
Page 5
The old man and Ginzo in the sky.
Sword exchanges from one side. A lightning charge from the other.
The old man wraps his body in the Stone Mantle. His hand. His leg. His shoulder.
He deflects the lightning charges with his coated fists. Sparks fly in every direction.
He charges forward. He reaches Ginzo. A punch to the ribs. Ginzo staggers back — crashes into the warehouse wall. The old man follows. Ginzo rights himself and prepares.
He steadies himself. He smiles.
"You're still strong, Sharo. Damn."
Page 6
"Then I'll have to use it."
The old man braces.
Ginzo raises his left hand. Lightning accumulates. It collides with itself. It grows. Grows.
Then he raises his right hand.
Fire.
The two hands come together.
An explosion.
Through the smoke, something violet glows. Ginzo appears — encased in a full suit of dark violet armor, violet threaded with lightning and embers of fire burning beneath the surface.
"Hahahaha!"
Page 7
A punch launches toward the old man.
He blocks it with both hands.
The shockwave drives him backward. His feet sink into the earth. Smoke rises from his hands — from the heat of the violet material.
"I didn't know you combine fire and lightning."
He raises his eyes.
"Then this will be an even fight."
Page 8
A disappearance.
Then a disappearance from another direction.
Trees are cut down left and right. Sparks illuminate the forest like lightning.
No one can see the other.
Only sounds.
The pain of strikes.
And the earth cracking.
Page 9
The old man appears suddenly — multiple rapid sword strikes in rapid succession at one target.
Ginzo deflects them. He answers with punches that send the old man to the ground.
The old man rises.
Ginzo charges toward him.
Then stops suddenly. Something strange.
The old man is gone.
Page 10
From above.
The old man drops like a bolt of lightning. He grabs Ginzo by both arms. He spins him. He drives him into the earth with force that splits the ground.
He raises his sword. He buries it into Ginzo's shoulder.
"Ahhh—!"
A charge of electricity explodes from Ginzo. It throws the old man backward.
Ginzo rises. His face changes. He charges — lands multiple punches in the air, shattering the old man's ribs.
He continues — grabs the old man by his face. He runs with him. He drives his head into trees — once, twice, again.
The old man twists. He flips Ginzo to the ground. He steps back.
Page 11
Ginzo turns — trying to release a charge.
The old man: "You've fallen into the trap."
He appears behind Ginzo.
His second sword pierces Ginzo's chest from the back. The blade breaks from the force — but the wound is deep.
Ginzo drops to his knees. He grips his chest.
Blood seeps slowly between his fingers.
Page 12
Elsewhere in the forest.
Mabu faces the black knight. Hands raised.
The knight launches. His sword swings down.
Mabu deflects. The shockwave drives him back two steps. His hands tremble.
A punch from the right. He deflects.
A punch from the left. He deflects.
The Stone Mantle appears. He drives a full-power punch into the stomach.
Nothing.
Like hitting a rock.
Page 13
The knight grabs Mabu's arm. He spins him. He drives him into the ground.
Mabu coughs. He stands.
He's spun again. Another strike.
Mabu draws his sword and drives it into the knight's hand.
The knight stops.
He looks at the sword in his hand. He pulls it out. He drops it on the ground.
"Is that all you have?"
Page 14
Mabu gasps. He looks at the knight's face.
Inside his head: seven years. The forest. The trees. His swollen hand. The old man saying "your body remembers what it learns."
He raises his fist.
He launches.
A punch with everything he has — into the knight's face.
The knight doesn't move.
Mabu recoils in pain. He steps back. He doesn't fall.
He looks at his hand.
He looks at the knight's face.
Not a scratch.
Page 15
Elsewhere.
Patrice stands before Thian.
"Pure transformation." He reaches into his pocket — produces a steel ball. "I can transform into any material I choose."
His body converts completely. Steel covers him from head to foot. The earth trembles under his weight.
He looks at Thian.
"Now… where did that handsome face go?"
Page 16
Thian launches. Punch. Kick. Retreat. Another punch.
Patrice doesn't shift.
Thian draws his sword. A thrust into the face. Nothing.
"As I told you."
Patrice reaches out. He grabs Thian by one finger.
The sound of breaking bone.
Thian screams.
Page 17
He punches Patrice with his other hand. Once. Twice. Three times. Blood appears on the steel face.
Thian notices something.
Patrice's other hand. It isn't moving.
The steel ball is still in it.
An idea.
Thian leaps. He plants both feet on Patrice's face. He pulls with everything he has.
The sound of something being wrenched free.
He hits the ground. He rises.
Page 18
He disappears between the trees.
Patrice looks around: "Where—"
BOOM.
An explosion from the other side.
Patrice turns toward the sound.
Thian looks through the trees. He sees the smoke. He sees the old man.
"I have to go back."
Page 19
The old man standing. Without his shirt. Wounds visible across his chest and shoulder. His breath comes in pieces.
Ginzo in front of him. His violet armor cracked across the chest. Blood staining the color.
Both breathing deep at the same moment.
Ginzo: "Age has caught us both, Sharo."
The old man doesn't answer.
He takes one step forward.
Page 20
"But I haven't shown you everything yet."
The old man stops.
Ginzo closes his eye.
The violet armor retreats slowly — as if Ginzo is pulling it inward.
The wounds look worse without it.
But his face is calm in a way that is deeply unsettling.
He raises his head.
Something changes in his one remaining eye.
Page 21
Number Five above the distant trees.
He opens his notebook. He looks at the fight between Mabu and the black knight.
He compares.
A sketch of the black knight's face.
He freezes.
"Marnos."
One of the Jouki Gang's commanders. His name at the top of the wanted list.
He closes the notebook.
"What is he doing here — alongside a medium-priority criminal?"
He breathes deep.
"This is an opportunity that doesn't come twice."
Page 22
Marnos looks toward the explosion in the other direction. His face changes — for exactly one second.
Then he turns back to Mabu.
"Fine. I need to end this. That old man needs my help."
He launches.
Punch. Mabu deflects. Another. He deflects. A third breaks through his guard. He staggers.
Mabu tries to answer. Punch. Punch. Punch.
Nothing lands.
Like hitting the air.
Page 23
Mabu drops to one knee.
Marnos stands over him.
"Seven years, boy."
He looks down at him.
"And you still can't control the Zuu you possess. And you still can't penetrate a body that has truly been trained."
He grips his sword handle.
"It was a good fight. But good isn't enough."
Page 24
A hand grabs Mabu by the throat. It lifts him into the air.
Mabu grips the hand with both of his. He tries.
Nothing.
A sword slides slowly from its sheath.
It stops — in front of Mabu's stomach.
Then it enters.
Mabu's eyes open as wide as they go.
Marnos holds the sword in place. He drives Mabu backward into the tree behind him. Pins him there.
He steps back one pace.
He looks at Mabu pinned to the tree.
He says nothing.
Continued in Chapter Twenty-Four