Chapter 29 : Enemy Of The World

Duri and Katai kicked each other in the face, and they both fell backwards, both feet sliding on the floor.

Katai was getting more monstrous by the second, due to the effects of the beast blood.

Katai said, "You see? Duri?! See how Xenon instantly put you in a trapped force field with me? A beast!"

Duri replied, "Shut the hell up."

Duri sped over to Katai, and punched him up the chin. Katai flew upward, and Duri was kicking off air to get to him.

Duri had black wind circling his arm, and he was about to finish Katai.

Katai asked, "How does it feel?!"

Duri threw the punch, but Katai dodged it and kicked Duri in the face. Blood bursted out, and Duri was soaring backwards. Katai dashed at Duri again, and used all four arms and fists to smash down on Duri's chest.

Katai's arms slammed Duri to the ground, and Duri's back was pinned down, and he was holding Katai's arms back away from his face.

Katai's arms had bones coming out of it, and they were almost touching Duri.

Duri asked Katai, "How does what feel?!"

"To be an outsider! A hybrid! To lose everything you love! To have your whole entire realm killed right in front of you?!"

"Shit has big feelings! I know where the hell you come from! I watched everyone in my realm killed by Zabel's forces! Screw the Arcane! I wanna kill them all as much as you do!"

"Are you trying to talk sense to me?! To me?! I'm older than you! I spent my time in a coma, lingering in the realm void after Harvest was destroyed. Then somehow…I'm on earth! All that time I was knocked…could've been spent gaining power! I have wasted enough time! I don't need anyone trying to talk to me, enough time has been wasted!"

[The realm void is like space. Just like how all the planets are in space. But in the realm void, the realms are there, but they are invisible.]

Duri rammed his knee into Katai's stomach, and sent him back.

Before Katai could fall all the way, here came Duri, grabbed Katai's throat, and slammed him into the floor. Duri was punching him over and over, bashing blood all over the place.

Duri said, "You were there during the invasion, what do you remember about Zabel?"

Katai laughed, "I don't know anything about that fool! But you know things don't ya? I bet you talk to him, huh?!"

"I know the Arcane invaded the Harvest realm to take back Reborn. Your people were the ones who started the war."

"Reborn decided to come to our realm. That was his own choice. He wanted to be away from the rivalry with his brother, he wanted to be at a place where everyone was treated fairly. Reborn was promised a spot as a guardian of the Harvest realm, he wanted to lead us into greater seasons, with equality instead of harsh governance!"

"Yeah the Arcane was bad. They treated everyone like shit. And they destroy realms, absorb their sun, all to gain power…all to get their hands on me! I'm carrying this heavy ass burden, if I fuck up then it's all over! If Zabel kills me, then it's over for everyone else! They want to go to war because of me! You think you went through some shit?! You were knocked the hell out in a coma while I was fighting to stay alive! Fighting to stay alive…just to save everyone from becoming Zabel's puppets!"

Duri jumped up, grabbed Katai by the hair, and threw him towards the force field wall.

Katai smashed against it, with purple and red blood coming out of his nose and mouth.

Duri charged at Katai, saying, "I lost my best friend! Jae was killed right in front of me! You think everything revolves around you?!"

Duri super kicked Katai across the cheek, sending him flying.

Duri continued, "The Shadow realm was gonna use me and the other kids to conquer other realms…I grew up in that era, not knowing why they were really training us as hard as they did. We were so ignorant!"

Duri cuffed his fists together, and smashed them on top of Katai's face, making him crash to the ground.

Katai thought, 'The more this brat talks, the more his power increases! His bloodlust has risen…and the pain in him has increased a great deal! I have to kill him before it gets out of hand. But I'm also getting stronger…I can feel the blood of the beast taking over.'

Duri grabbed Katai's leg, spun him around, and punched Katai in the stomach, knocking him back into the air.

Duri dashed up to him, "You think everything revolves around you?! We've all been through things, but following up our pain with dumb decisions and pride will destroy us! You want to go to the Arcane realm with a little bit of monster power? You'll die!"

Katai immediately slapped Duri in the chest, sending him back and hitting against the force field wall.

Katai explained, "You have it lucky! A hybrid of a mix of three powerful species!"

Katai kicked Duri in the stomach, and sent him flying again.

Katai flew over to Duri, continuing, "So what if the Shadow realm got destroyed? What about Harvest?! A realm that actually meant good things! The Shadow realm was as corrupt as the Arcane!"

Katai used all of his fists to punch Duri, making him smash to the ground.

Duri was slowly getting up, with Katai walking towards him.

Katai continued, "You are taking up for a realm that did bad deeds. Harvest was a realm of tranquility and equality! The Shadow realm wanted to kill off the other realms! So..damn you…and damn everyone who died in that incident! You were one of the lucky ones, but you're not so lucky now!"

Orange beams blasted form Katai's eyes and fingers, shooting over at Duri. Duri jumped over it at quick speed, running around the force field as the beams were following him.

Katai dashed up to Duri, saying, "Damn them all! Damn them all! Damn them a-!"

Duri grabbed Katai by the face.

He said with a sinister voice, "You don't talk about them. The children that died…the ones I watched get murdered in front of me…you don't talk about them."

Duri cracked Katai's face, spun around, and kicked Katai in the face twice. Katai went flying, and Duri continued to say, "They were my friends. I fought and trained with them."

Duri whacked Katai across the cheek again, crunching Katai's jaw. 

Katai went falling to the ground, and Duri proceeded to go after him.

Outside of the force field, Seven was standing beside Xenon.

Seven asked Xenon, "So what's the reasoning behind letting them fight and try and kill each other?"

Xenon responded, "Katai is already doomed. He's consumed too much of the beast's blood, it's 9only a matter of time until he explodes and dies on his own. There's nothing anyone can do. Unless you scientifically alter it to bond with it positively, but that was according to a guy named Warhol. I can't bring myself to kill Katai, and he won't stop trying to fight, since the blood and his own revenge and rage consumed him. This is the right choice. If Duri wins, he'd be saving everyone here, Katai, and saving me from making a hard decision."

"Oo? Xenon on the soft side? Ironic."

"Not soft. Still don't like any of you."

"It's okay I hate everyone too."

"What happens if Duri dies? This is reckless."

"It is reckless. But it's necessary."

"..Tch."

Back inside, Duri and Katai were still trading blow for blow, pound for pound as they were moving quickly through the air and the floor.

Katai said, "It doesn't matter what you say..I'll kill you…everyone else…and then…I'll.."

Duri said, "No…I'll beat you…then I'll…"

Duri and Katai were charging towards each other in the air with charging fists, and they yelled at the same time, "Kill the Arcane!!"

Their fists collided, and Duri's arm turned into a shadow with black flames around it.

Katai rammed all four of his fists at Duri's stomach, but out of Duri's stomach, popped out 4 shadow arms, and they grabbed all of Katai's fists.

Katai yelled, "What?! No!"

Duri smirked, "Yeah. I didn't know I could do that either. Seems like my training is finally coming into play!"

"Damn you!"

"Just give the hell up!"

Katai replied, "I have only one mission in life…I won't be beaten by a hybrid brat!"

Katai grew another arm out of his chest, and punched Duri in the face. Duri flew back, and they began fighting again.

No words were said, it was just hands on. Punches and kicks, headbutts and slams, they didn't say anything else.

In the air, Duri blasted the shadow arms in his chest at Katai, and Katai dodged them, slicing the arms up into pieces.

Katai blasted orange beams, but Duri punched the beam. His black shadow fist covered in dark flames collided with the beam hard, and his arm was getting cut up all over the place.

Katai rushed to Duri's side to give another attack, and Duri did a 360 flip and kicked Katai in the chest, sending him back a few feet.

Durin went after him, punched him a few feet in the air, dashed up to him, then punched him in the cheek again, sending him down.

Katai blasted up to Duri, and kicked him in the face, sending him backwards. Katai sped behind Duri, and elbowed in the back, knocking him towards the ground.

Katai flashed over to his face, grabbed it, and tried to crush it. Duri made more shadow arms come out of his chest and they knocked Katai in the stomach, face, and chest.

Katai darted backwards, and here came Duri.

Katai's arms and Duri's shadow arms locked onto each other, trying to push the other back.

Duri and Katai were looking each other in the eye, and Katai said, "If I don't kill you.. All the love and fame and popularity you're getting now, I'm gonna make sure it gets taken away from you."

Duri responded, "Huh?!"

Katai lost full control of himself, and became even more of a monster.

He was getting stronger and Duri was getting pushed back. 

Duri waited a few seconds, then he did a jumping kick flip up on Katais chin.

Katai jumped back, and in the blink of an eye, Duri zipped up to him, and used his shadow arm to punch Katai in the sky. Katai went blasting up to the top of the force field, and he smashed through it, breaking the barrier.

Duri was breathing heavily with his fist up, with blood dripping from his face.  

Everyone was looking at Katai in the air, all eyes were on him.

"Whoa!"

"He broke the force field!"

Xenon said in a shocked tone, "He broke the damn field?"

The announcers said, "Ohhh!"

Katai hit the ground, and his eyes were rolled to the back of his head.

The crowd didn't know whether to clap or be quiet, so they just started whispering their thoughts and comments.

Duri looked over Seven, Kazuma, Nine, Jiyu, and Ren-Ren.

Nine said, "Marshy was the only one who's broken the barrier before.."

Ren-Ren commented, "Hmph. I could've done that."

Kazuma says, "Duri is awesome! I wanna fight now! I wanna fight now!"

Jiyu implied, "So is-is it over..?"

Duri stood up all the way, and he looked at them with a grin. He put his fist to his own chest, and said, "Fuck..him."

They gave Duri a thumbs up, with Xenon on the side thinking, 'He actually won. Good.'

Duri looked over at Xenon, and didn't say a word. Xenon was lighting a cigarette, and then puffed some smoke out of his mouth.

Out of nowhere, the Hosts that were watching the tournament with Xenon came down, and they tackled Duri to the floor. 

Duri said, "Oi! What the hell gives?!"

They responded, "You broke a rule! No interfering into a fighters match! Plain and simple!"

"He was about to massacre everyone in here! I saved you and them! You should be thanking me ya big dumbasses!"

"Not another word! We're gonna see what Host Marshy thinks of this!"

"She'll be on my side! Like always! You're gonna look so stupid!"

"Oh we'll see about that!"

Xenon began walking up to them, saying, "Duri did the right thing. Even if breaking a rule was necessary. Duri broke the rules by enforcing the other rule, 'No intentional killing.' You Hosts must be new."

The Hosts said, "Xenon.."

Kazuma ran up on the platform, "Hey! He did a good thing!"

Jiyu added, "Y-yeah!"

Ren-Ren said, "You guys better get off! I don't care if you're a Host or not!"

One of the Hosts replied, "You brats better back away. He even used you to break a rule!"

Seven answered that Host, "Yeah to save a life you fucking idiot."

Nine added, "Yeah, what Seven said!"

As everyone was continuing to talk, Duri sensed great danger. He got goosebumps, and he could feel his heart racing.

'Danger…but where? Where the hell is it? My heart's beating fast as hell, I'm getting distracted. No..it can't be..'

Duri looked over at Katai's body, and saw that it was rising.

Duri yelled, "No!"

Katai had a peaceful smile on his face, his body was turning back to normal, and he was dashing over to Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu, ready to kill them. Katai was not in control of himself anymore, so he was attacking the first people he saw.

Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and 

Jiyu jumped back together and got in a fighting position.

Katai screeched with a viscous tone and unknown language, "WA XOU TA NEN KATUSHO!!!!"

Duri yelled again, "Fuck off me!"

Duri stood up strongly, as wind blasted around him, knocking all of the Hosts off of him.

Katai was getting close to Duri's partners, and said, "Help me.."

Immediately, Duri stuck two fingers from his right hand into Katai's throat, jumped and wrapped his legs around Katai's neck, twisted downward, and snapped Katai's neck, killing him.

Duri flipped off of him, landing on his feet in a kneeling land position.

Duri was breathing up and down, he was staring at Katai's dead body.

Duri said, "It was the only way to stop him.."

Everyone was staring at them, then one person in the crowd yelled, "Duri is a murderer! He just killed Katai!"

Another person replied, "Yeah! Katai had a smile on his face! He didn't mean any harm!"

"Duri really killed him!"

"Katai was crying for help!"

Duri stood up, hearing all the criticisms towards him, thinking, 'What? I get it now. Some of these people are ignorant to what beast blood does to people. That's what it seems like.'

Everyone was talking bad at Duri, and Duri just soaked it all in.

He looked at Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu, and they didn't say anything at all.

Seven thought, 'There was no bloodlust in Katai at all when he charged at us. Was he hiding it just so he could take us out? Or was he really not gonna hurt us..? I know everyone else here sensed peace in Katai rather than bloodlust. That may be the reason everyone is against Duri. Duri might've sensed something different than us. Or maybe Duri has a bloodlust for killing. Or maybe he made a mistake…?'

Xenon walked up beside Duri, and said, "This is what happens when people save lives. No matter what, you're gonna be hated one day. Every hero has had this."

"I'm not a hero. I was just…I was just doing what I thought was the right thing to do."

"Hm."

The other Hosts were about to tackle Duri again for blasting them away, but here came Host Marshy.

Marshy appeared in front of the Hosts, and they instantly stopped.

Everyone commented, "It's Host Marshy!"

"She's here! In the flesh!"

"Maybe she can deal with her murderer for a son!"

"Duri killed a man who meant no harm! Katai was smiling! He was back to normal!"

Marshy said, "Everyone be quiet."

Mifu and Voel were stopping down there now, and Mifu said to Duri, "Are you okay, Duri?"

Mifu was checking Duri's wounds, and Duri replied, "I'm fine.."

Marshy said, "I don't know the whole story, but this is getting out of hand. And Hosts…if you ever tackle my son again, I will tackle you all straight to hell. Xenon, I need to debrief with you at the house later on about this. Along with the other 5 strongest Hosts."

Duri grabbed Marshy's arm, "Marshy.."

Marshy interrupted Duri, "Don't say anything Duri. You need to rest."

Duri didn't say anything.

Xenon asked Marshy, "It would be foolish to be disappointed in Duri at this time. Are you?"

Marshy answered, "No. We'll talk about this later."

In the blink of an eye, something was blasting out of Katai's back. It was orange beams and slashes that were coming out, and it was breaking a lot of equipment. 

Everyone turned to it, commenting,

"What is that?!"

"Look at Katai's body!"

The whole building started rumbling, and structures from the roof began to fall.

Duri yelled, "Get out now!"

People were panicking all over the place and running as the beams and slashes from Katai's back got more intense.

Marshy, Xenon, Voel, Mifu, and the Hosts nodded at each other, and they dashed away.

Marshy grabbed Duri, Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu, and a few civilians; Xenon grabbed a handful of people, Voel and Mifu grabbed a handful of people, and the other Hosts grabbed some people.

They all blasted through the walls of the arena, and then the entire arena exploded.

…

[1 hour later]

TV news broadcast : "Tonight there was chaos at the Gum-Gum tournament arena. The famous and strong prodigy Duri had interfered in the Katai vs Guhu fight! Afterwards, Duri had killed Katai, and many people did not like that at all. Some say Katai didn't even have any bloodlust when he got back up, but said he had a sense of peace. Duri brutally broke Katai's neck without remorse or empathy, which triggered many people around the world. Many people on the internet are starting to show hate towards Duri, mocking and insulting him everywhere. Then, something mysterious was happening with Katai's deceased body, which blew up the entire arena. In that event, 40 civilians died, and some were injured. If it wasn't for the Hosts, more would've died. And many people ARE blaming Duri for this event. Saying that if Duri hadn't killed the well loved Katai, then the explosion wouldn't have happened…"

[Duri and Marshy's house]

[Duri's room]

Duri was sitting in the bed under the blanket, looking through the Bloggerz app.

He saw many people insulting him and tagging him under a lot of posts. The love he was getting once before, has now turned into hate.

He read comments like:

"Marshy needs to control her bloodlust crazed son!"

"Duri is an animal. He killed Katai in cold blood and didn't even feel bad about it."

"People died because of Duri!"

"We all loved Katai!"

Duri thought, 'They must've not heard anything Katai was saying to me in the fight.."

More comments read:

"If you hang around Duri, best believe you're gonna witness him murder someone!"

"I thought Duri was different…but it seems not."

Duri got off the Bloggerz app, and went to the group chat he was in. He saw that he wasn't in it anymore, and Seven had blocked his number.

"Seriously?"

Walking into the room was Marshy. But she knocked first before entering.

Duri asked, "What? You're gonna come in here and insult me too? I was saving everyone! And these ungrateful bastards have the nerve to insult me? Katai was going to break the rules and kill Guhu. I felt the bloodlust of Katai when he was running at Seven and the others. But Seven and the other civilians said they didn't sense bloodlust, but peace. It's not fair."

Marshy sighed, and she said, "I'm not saying you're in the wrong, Duri."

"Thank you."

"But maybe you sensed something else."

"No…no way.."

"Duri.."

"Marshy! I sensed bloodlust from Katai when he got up! The others were feeling something else."

"Katai was turning back to normal, and he even said 'Help me.' Seems like the beast's blood affected him differently..he was back to his usual self."

"He was talking about killing everyone! Including the Arcane! He insulted the people who I witnessed die! My people of the Shadows did not die just for Katai to spit on their name. Katai even told me he was gonna do something to ruin my reputation, and he did! He manipulated his beast form just to trick everyone."

"Beast people aren't capable of doing that. Better yet, manipulating peoples sensing ability around them. They don't think, they just attack. But in this case, Katai was going back to normal. We could've possibly used his blood to heal people who have turned to those savage ass beast people. Katai even said, 'Help me.' How do you explain that Duri?"

"He manipulated his form! He planned this! Why don't you believe me?"

"I know you killed your first person at the age of 6, which triggered something inside of you. And after that, you've killed people in a righteous way. But you've gotten so used to it, that whoever fights you, you're gonna instantly go into kill mode. Especially on someone who has cried for help. And killing him caused many other people to die. Like I've always told you before…we help people who need help, we help people who cry for help. Not kill them."

"Katai was of Harvest descent, having the genetics of the Harvest inside of him. The blood interacted with him, giving him all types of abilities and tricks. I'm guessing it's the first time you or anyone else has seen this type of savage beast man before."

"I talked to the other 6 Hosts. Xenon stood up for you, and Kedarah, and Chaos. But the others, including myself, disagree. We decided you will still take the exams, but your grade will be dropped to an F. Starting with that grade. After each test of the exams, it will be graded from F to A. Everyone starts off with a C, but you will start with the lowest grade. You're lucky, because the others were gonna expel you from the exams."

Duri got up from the bed, saying, "Thanks a fucking lot for having my back, Marshy. You said you'd always have my back. Everyone thinks I'm a murderer, including you."

"I didn't say that. Listen-."

"No. I get it."

Duri walked to his drawer and grabbed a set of clothes. 

Marshy asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I need time to myself. Away from you all. If you really cared about me, you'd believe me."

"I saw footage. You killed Katai when he asked for help. You know how I feel about certain things. Especially when civilians are involved."

"You saw him running at Seven? And the others?"

"He was just beaten to oblivion, and just got out of the bond with the beast's blood. Who knows what he was trying to do?"

"He did NOT. He manipulated their senses and manipulated his own appearance. I know what I felt. If you guys don't believe me, that's fine. It's whatever. I don't fucking care anymore."

Marshy walked over to Duri to stop him, but Duri moved away from here.

"Don't touch me, Marshy."

Duri walked to the window, and he opened it up.

Before Duri walked out of it, he said, "Don't follow me."

Duri dashed into the air, and left. 

Marshy was watching him, she didn't chase after him.

Marshy clenched her fists, saying to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I act so stupid?! Why did I say that?! To my own son..? My adopted…son at least. I hate when he's mad at me. I'm supposed to be on his side, I'm…I'm…I don't fucking know. I let my past oaths and past affirmations get the best of me. It's true..I don't like when innocents get killed over something they had nothing to do with. What if Duri is right? Why am I not choosing his side over logic? Katai was running and cried for help, and Duri killed him. If only we knew what was said during the fight…it would clear up everything. Duri…I'm sorry."

…

Duri was running in the woods, he had steam coming out of his mouth, his fists were clenched, he wanted to hurt something and someone. 

"Damn them! Damn them all! I know what I heard! I know what I felt! There all just stupid and dumb! Bunch of dumbasses! And Marshy…Marshy is taking their side?! For what?! I saved lives! They better not expect me to do that shit again!"

As he kept running, he saw a nearby children's park. He also saw a couple of grown men beating up and bullying a teenage boy. 

They said to him, "So where's our money you promised us?!"

Another man added, "You give us the money you owe us, we can keep protecting you from big bad bullies at school!"

The school boy coughed up blood and said, "I..I can't. I'm fine…now."

"Hehh? Are you ACTUALLY withholding payment?!"

"Please…stop.."

Duri was standing by and watching with his arms folded.

He said, "Oi, nerd. You just gonna sit there and let them kick your ass?"

The men stopped hitting the boy, then looked over at Duri.

One of them said, "Get out of here, Duri!"

Another one added, "What are you gonna do, kill us like you did Katai?!"

Duri replied, "No. I'm gonna watch."

The boy asked Duri, "So you really are…what they say..? I'm not strong like you…I can't fight…I don't have any powers. You're not going to help..me?"

Duri walked back and forth saying, "Is it even possible to not have powers when the sun gives us powers? Whatever. Just get up and stop being a punk."

One of the men said to Duri, "Get out of here. A dead man tells no tales."

"As if!"

"Get outta here!"

Duri said with a grin, "Shut up, bitch. You're weak."

Before the men could say anything, Duri blasted to them, and started pounding them. Duri smashed his fist against one of their faces, breaking their face, making them crash through a tree.

One tried to swing, but Duri grabbed his arm, snapped it sideways, jumped, and he slammed his knee against the man's face, bashing him through a swing set and letting it fall on him.

The other men attacked Duri at the same time, and Duri was quickly punching them all in the face. Each hit broke something, bashing blood all over the grass.

Duri slammed heads into the ground with a smile, breaking body parts with his hard punches and kicks.

Duri knocked them all out, without killing any of them. 

Duri looked over at the boy, and said, "THAT'S how you deal with punk asses, ya nerd. You have no powers. So what? Train your stupid ass off and get strong. Wanna get bullied all of your life? That isn't cool. Get up and go home."

The boy stood up with his knees weak, and he ran up to Duri, shaking his hand.

"Th-thank you!"

"Yep. Get outta here."

The boy nodded with a smile, and ran off.

Duri watched him leave, then he turned back around and sighed. He kept going along his way.

(35 minutes later) 

Duri was on top of a cliff, looking down on a forest.

He was eating a chocolate candy bar, and he was writing in his journal.

He wrote : "Welp. They hate me. Half the damn planet. They loved me, I was loved and popular, now they despise me. Katai manipulated the senses of the crowd, while I only sensed his true bloodlust. He said he would take my popularity and love from me, and he did it by tricking everyone. I read some more of the comments on Bloggerz, most people suggested that he was running from me when he said, 'Help me.' How fucking pathetic. Bunch of losers anyway. I don't need to impress anyone. Tomorrow during the exams, I'm going to go from an F to an A in no time. It's good I didn't get kicked from it, but going down to the lowest grade is indeed a low blow. And Marshy…she's loved me for a long time. I believe she still does. Her ideals before I was born took over her, she believes in fairness, not wanting innocents to get involved with affairs that have nothing to do with their asses. And if someone wants help, she helps them. I just need a break from everything. I know where everyone will meet for the exams in the morning anyway: At school. We'll be riding on a big train and going a few hours away at the exam site. It's gonna be just as I expect it to be, a bunch of bullshit attitudes towards me. Amazing. I love it."

Duri stopped writing, and he sat his journal down. He laid down on the cliff, looking up at the night sky. He was having flashbacks of his fight with Katai, remembering everything he was saying to him, and what they were saying to each other.

'We had the same goals. With the same drive. We both wanted to get stronger and gain more power just to destroy the Arcane. It was like I was destroying myself. Like I was staring at myself in a mirror. What will become of me? Will I end up falling later down the road just like Katai?'

(7 hours later)

(Morning time)

[Duri's school]

The sky was dark blue, and the birds chirped.

100 students were dressed in regular clothes, all holding backpacks. A majority of the students' parents were out there with them too. The students looked tired, and most of them were yawning loudly.

They commented:

"I'm so…sleepy."

"I'm glad we get to sleep on the train."

"I heard there were rooms on the train for us all. And that the train has a cafeteria. Kinda sweet."

"I'm gonna give this exam my all!"

"I've trained too damn hard for this."

"I'm looking to finish the exams with an A grade."

"Hey look, murderer Duri is here."

"Step away from him before he kills you."

Duri was wearing a black hoodie, black sweatpants, and white clean sneakers. He was yawning, hearing all the comments about him.

He watched parents hug and kiss their children, comforting them and patting them on the head.

"I'll be rooting for you!"

"Thanks dad!"

…

"You do good for me!"

"I will, mom!"

Duri watched this, and almost puked. But he wanted that. 

Duri even spotted Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu, and they were standing with other people. They saw Duri, but acted like he wasn't there.

Duri thought, 'Them too? Imagine.'

Duri saw Marshy standing around and looking for him. He was trying to avoid her, walking through the crowd of students to make sure Marshy didn't see him.

Marshy was even asking other students, "Have you seen Duri, is he around?"

They all said they saw him, but lost him.

Duri was trying to sneak away, but Marshy stood in front of him.

Duri tried to turn around to walk away, but Marshy grabbed his arm. Marshy pulled Duri to her, and hugged him tight.

She rubbed the back of his head, saying, "I'm sorry Duri. Please say something to me."

Duri didn't respond, and he just let Marshy hug him.

Marshy continued, "I won't be able to come to the exams. But Host Kedarah, Host Chaos, Host Hanako, and Host Tetsuya. Me and others have to stay back since we watched over last year's exams. Please be careful, and don't do any unnecessary fighting outside of the exam tests."

Duri didn't say anything.

Immediately, Host Kedarah, Host Chaos, Host Hanako, and Host Tetsuya were floating in the air above everyone.

Tetsuya said, "Everyone lock onto each other. We will teleport us to the train. The exam site is 7 hours away. And if you're asking why we can't teleport to the exam site, it's because we can't. Because we've never been there. We are being led by the Titans. They created the exam site. Understood? Good..good. Go ahead and say your bye-byes or whatever, this is gonna be quite a ride."

All the parents and the students were saying farewell to each other.

Seven was saying goodbye to her mom and her overprotective dad, and so was the others.

Marshy said to Duri, "I love you, 

Duri."

She vanished, and Duri was about to say something back.

'She left before I could say anything…Marshy….she probably thinks I hate her. I wanted to tell her about the new power I just got in my fight with Katai. Boo hoo. Oh well.'