THE ORIGIN OF THE CRISIS - SPARRING

"How did it come to this?"

I am troubled by the present situation. because I am standing in an empty space in the forest where it is surrounded by trees and a rock at the two ends of the empty space. there is a person standing before me holding his stick as if it were a sword. it is my new master, master Katsuro.

a while before—

"but before that—"

master was looking at me with a bright smile. I had a bad feeling about it and my bad feeling was right on the mark.

"I wanna check my new student's capability"

"capability?"

"let's spar"

"eh!?.... ehhhhhhhhh!!!?"

I could not hold my surprise and scream. he asked me who just reincarnated into a demon to have a sparring match with him who trained the strongest demon king. is he serious?

"wait, are you serious? I just reincarnated and into a demon and you are telling me to fight the greatest teacher who taught the strongest demon king!!!?"

"mhmm"

when I asked that in a flustered voice he just nodded with a smile on his face.

"come on master, I am just a weak person"

then master replied

"that is not true. you might be weak when you were a human but when you reincarnate into a demon your capabilities to be more precise any races capabilities raises rapidly"

he explained it to me

"even if you say that—"

even then I was hesitating so he continued by intervening from my talk

"oh right, this is also a good opportunity. so, why not try to find out how much your abilities grew"

"but—"

"There is an empty space in the forest so let us go there"

"as is said—"

"you must be strong if you are recommended by Solomon himself."

as I was trying to object to this match he kept on talking about it without giving me a chance to reject. Dante told me with an apologetic expression

"forget about it katsu. he is not gonna back off so just go along with it"

"sigh~, ok I get it."

as soon as I said that master talked to me while laughing

"ho ho ho, let us go then."

as he said that he started to lead the way. as he was moving he asked me

"by the way are you good with a sword?"

"no"

"then just use fists to fight"

"...okay"

I replied as I gave up and we came to the empty ground in the middle of the forest

and thus the scene in front of me

the one standing in the middle of me and master is Alphonse's chief swordsman as a referee while the others are standing at the sidelines

"then, let it begin"

the referee called out to start the match

"good, you can have the first move young man."

he said that. well even if he says that I cannot hit him anyway

"I will take up on your offer then. so, here I go"

as I said that I ran towards him for punching him.

"huh? I… am running faster I mean I just ran and I am already infront of the master. what the hell is this!!?"

I stood there in front of sensei with a confused look

"surprised? I told you didn't I? your physical abilities are risen exponentially as you reincarnated into a demon"

"you did say that. no wonder I felt like I was running faster"

I was pretty excited to hear all that. when I was looking at my master said.

"although it is fast let me teach you the first lesson"

"hm?"

"you should not stop right ideally in front of your enemy when you came to attack"

*bham*

as soon as he said that he hit me in my guts with the stick in his hand

"pwah-"

*cough**cough*

a solid hit was given to my guts. I coughed up saliva with a little blood. as I was coughing I heard Solomon and others speaking to each other

"there he goes again. giving rough treatment to another rookie"

"it is not like he is taking the fight serious though."

"yeah we should at least be grateful for that"

that is not even a serious blow. but that packed quite a punch

as I was thinking that master talked to me

"you done already?"

"Kuh–"

he said that while looking down on me and I could not tolerate so I punched him. it felt faster than usual and stronger as well but he dodged that too easily. but I did not give up I kept punching him just as though my punching speed also increased but he dodged all those attacks while keeping his hands behind his back. as he dodged he said

"lesson two. it is not a wise move to keep on attacking and waste your energy if it does not hit the enemy."

he said that while he was effortlessly dodging my punches. I could not tolerate

"if my punch speed increased then my jump should also increase"

as I said that I jumped as high as possible and just as I expected the jump height and force also increased. I targeted master and extended my leg and went straight to kick him.

I was able to land a kick but the kick did not land on master but on the ground and master was standing beside that kick in a carefree manner with his hands behind him. and he said

"lesson three, what is the point of hitting an opponent while revealing your moves. what do you think the result will be…."

he came close to me while continuing

"the result is it will not even touch the target"

as he said that he raised his leg straight up and kicked my chin.

that was a solid blow I was in the air for a little while and fell forward my head started to spin. damn, this old man is the real deal. as I was thinking that master said

"in the underworld, only strength matters the most. if you don't fight well. everybody will look down on you and harass you for their own amusement. just like strong bullying weak."

*hah*

*ba-dump*

—stong bullying weak

those words resonated in my head.

bully. bullying again. I am going to be bullied again?

—"I suspect katsu because I have heard that he would plant things like these on female students in other schools and blackmail them."

—"then let us check your bag contents."

—"now, this gives us our culprit, so he really did plan on blackmailing Ayumi huh"

—"How dare you"

—"katsu you are suspended from school for one month."

I am remembering the stuff that happened to me back at school yesterday and the disgusting grin of Monoma. am I going to face something like that again?

I tightened my fist

"shut up"

"hm?"

I won't lose. I definitely won't lose. I will not be bullied again

*ba-dump*

no, I will not face that again. If they do that again I will kill them.

—"I suspect katsu because I have heard that he would plant things like these on female students in other schools and blackmail them."

*badump*

I'll kill you!

—"then let us check your bag contents."

*badump*

I'll kill you!!

—"now, this gives us our culprit, so he really did plan on blackmailing Ayumi huh"

*badump*

I'll kill you!!!

—"How dare you"

*badump*

I'll kill you!!!!

—"katsu you are suspended from school for one month."

*badump*

kill you!!!!

*badump* kill *badump* kill*badump* kill*badump* kill*badump* kill*badump* kill*badump* kill

*badump* *badump* *badump* *badump* *badump* *badump*

kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill

"I WILL KILL YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!"

-__________________________________________-

katsu's body was completely surrounded in red aura releasing a heavy amount of pressure and a huge wind that could be even called a tornado would suffice. even the demon kings and their servants were also holding with all their strength to withstand the force of the wind. but Katsuro was standing still with his hands behind his back and he was looking at it with a serious expression. katsu's face was so scary that it looked like a human was behaving like a monster. his eyes were bright red that there is not even a single trace of white color in them

"what is happening!?"

Aoi asked that while holding herself from the wind then Dante exclaimed while he was covering his face with his hand

"don't tell me. he released that power"

as soon as he said that Alphonse who was similarly holding back his body said

"yes, the word bully must've triggered his bad memories and made him release his power. this is bad he is not in his control we must stop him."

as Alphonse said that Solomon replied with a confident expression while covering his face

"don't worry. our sensei is not that weak to lose. he will take care. my only concern is he might beat him too much. that kid has already gone through so much pain through bullying that even the word itself had triggered his power. right now his physical abilities have multiplied due to red dragon power so he could withstand sensei's one or two strong blows but we might need a healer"

as Solomon said that he looked towards victoria and said

"victoria go and fetch sakura"

as soon as she heard that she replied as

"as you wish my lord"

and left the battlefield

as she left the fight continued

"ho ho ho"

Katsuro laughed while looking towards katsu who was practically flooding with aura and said

"to think for a human reincarnate to withstand two of my blows and now this is getting even more interesting as you started to powerup using some mysterious power"

as soon as he said that he wiped out the laugh off his face and said with a serious smile

"maybe I should take this fight a little serious"

as soon as he said that Katsuro who was holding his hands behind his back until then took his hands forward and stood there while waiting for katsu to move.

he was waiting for that moment to come as if he was waiting to see along with the demon kings about what katsu could do.

*dash*

after a second or so the moment he was waiting for came. katsu ran towards katsuro. the run was so fast that it even blew wind so strong that even the demon kings were forced to take a step back but they did not take their eyes off katsu.

*bhaam*

as he ran towards katsuro and he even reached him before anybody could sense and he shoved his punch straight into Katsuro's face. the punch was so strong that a strong shockwave was created behind katsuro with Katsuro's head as the starting point and traveled behind him past the forest trees. the power was so strong that it even broke the trees as it passed through them

"h-he punched… sensei"

Solomon exclaimed

"We could not even touch him when we were fighting him for the first time."

Aoi was saying that with a shocked face

all the demon kings were surprised by that attack.

katsuro who took that attack did not even flinch, let alone move a single step. katsu who observed that had widened his bright red monster-looking eyes and soon recovered and held back his other fist as if he was going to use his other fist to throw another punch. but before he was ready to punch, katsuro hit katsu's arm that was on his face with the stick in his hand as if to remove katsu's punch from his face. and redirected katsu's second punch to his sideways right beside his head using his stick. the punch was a strong as the first punch that it released the same powered shockwave into the forest.

katsu tried to use his first hand to punch again but he could not move his hand. it seems as if it was broken when katsuro hit it with his stick to remove the punch from his face.

then katsuro said while he was extending his stick to his back as if to attack katsu

"you have a great power there. is that what you were talking about earlier. it would be a good thing if you were trained to control your power. good to have you as my student."

as soon as he completed his sentence he used the stick that he was preparing and hit katsu targeting him towards the sky.

as soon as he took the attack he was in the sky. defencelessly floating with pain.

*shkk*

after that attack katsuro had jumped towards the sky. his jump was so silent and natural that it did not even riled up the dust yet he was so fast that as if he suddenly vanished from the position he was standing and–

*shkk*

he appeared in the sky right beside katsu and raised his leg up above katsu body and—

*bhaamm*

he kicked him to the ground. the ground he was kicked into was broken and a crater that was not too deep was formed. it was deep enough that if you stand in its center you can see the oneness who was standing outside crater face to face and in that center of that crater was katsu lying down unconscious with his red aura disappeared and with his broken hand and leg and blood pouring down from his forehead.

katsuro who was in the sky landed gracefully on the edge of the crater while his hands were behind his back and looked down on katsu.

then he smiled and said while looking towards Solomon

"quite the student you brought me, Solomon"

when katsuro said that Solomon replied

"I am glad to hear that sensei. but please go a little bit essay on him. he got a painful past"

Solomon said that while smiling with a sad face then katsuro replied in a cheerful tone

"yeah sure. but it has been a long time since I got this excited. I got this much excitement only when I was teaching the so-called strongest demon king"

as he says that in a cheerful voice Aoi asks him with an apologetic look

"sensei, you did not even get this serious with us but why did you do that this time when fighting him?"

then katsuro replied

"you know the answer. you guys were weak compared to him when you first sparred with me so I needed to go this far for him. I even went a little bit too far today even when it is compared to the first time I sparred with the strongest demon king."

"really!!!?"

when Aoi asked that he replied

"yes. this kid's power was that great he might even have more potential than her."

"whoa"

"but what is that power he used back then. I am completely curious now. and I feel like I felt that presence before"

when he asked that Alphonse cut into the conversation and said

"we will give you all the details when we hold a meeting"

when he said that Dante continued with a dissatisfied voice

"let me say, it is not gonna be pretty"

as he said that katsuro was a little confused and talked while looking towards katsu

"Anyway, that kid is down. so patch him up. he is even bleeding. if you wait a bit more you might need to use miracle sphere."

as soon as he said that everybody's bodies twitched as if he was right on the spot

"hm? what's wrong"

"no….n-n–nothing"

"hm?"

when he asked Solomon replied which made katsuro make a confused face

as he was making a confused face that is when—

"I….. am not... done….yet"

*gasp*

as soon as he heard that he and everybody widened their eyes with shock. even katsuro looked shocked. they all turned towards the source of the sound.

what they saw was someone standing while breathing hard. it was katsu who was unconscious until then after taking a strong blow from katsuro. he was standing on one leg while the other leg which was broken was hanging down along with a hand hanging freely with a huge amount of blood flowing from his forehead that there was literally blood dripping from his chin while flowing from his forehead through his cheeks. he was breathing heavily while looking towards katsuro with half-open eyes as if he was barely clinging onto his consciousness.

as soon as they see that—

"you ….must be…. joking"

"but… how?"

"no… way"

"impossible"

all the demon kings were talking like that with a surprised face as if they have seen that is practically impossible

while all the demon kings were shocked like that and looking in that direction. katsuro replaced his shocking expression with a smile of confidence and thought to himself as

(well, he got a great tenacity alright. he might really surpass that girl. maria)

as he thought that he asked katsu who was standing there while breathing heavily

"why go this far for just a sparring match yet you know you will lose?"

when he asked that, katsu replied while breathing heavily

"I lived a life full of harassment and pain. now I have a chance to change that. so I will fight for that until my last breath."

as he said that katsuro face smiled even more while all the others were surprised and katsu continued while his voice was breaking this time.

"I….. don't wanna…. get bullied….. again. I will… choose death….over that…. kind of…. life…"

as he said that as if he was losing his strength in his legs he was bending his legs little by little and as he was about to fall down—

*shkk*

katsuro moved super fast that it literally looked like teleportation and stood infront of falling katsu and while katsuro was facing towards katsu he makes katsu fall on his shoulder. g=shile all the others were still surprised by his answer.

then katsuro said

"it is true that you need strength in order to avoid harassment and being looked down upon and it is also true that you will be harassed as you are now without controlling your power. but–"

katsuro places his hand on katsu's back while he was leaning on his shoulder and continues

"that is the reason I am here. to make sure that you get stronger and won't be harassed. so rest easy and heal first. we will start your training the morning."

after listening to that katsu smiles as if he was relieved and replies

"please…take care… of me"

as he was relieved he says that and falls unconscious again. katsuro who heard those words replied while smiling and patting his back

"same he, please take care of me from now on as well"

as he was saying that victoria arrived with the healer and reported to Solomon who was watching all the conversation with a serious expression

"master Solomon, I have brought sakura….. did something happen while i was gone."

as she asked Solomon who was starring at katsu with a serious face then as soon as he heard victoria's voice he replied after changing his serious face to smiling

"nothing… I just witnessed the birth of a calamity that could shake the entire mythological world to its very core"

as he said that to victoria who did not understand what he said was looking at him with a confused expression

as they were all looking at katsu. katsuro brought him on his shoulders and handed them to victoria and the healer sakura and went ahead for the meeting.

as Solomon was walking behind katsuro he looked towards katsu and gave a happy smile as if he was thinking that he did not make a wrong choice in bringing him back to life.