Chapter 141: Break the Body, Not the Will

The storm howled around them, lightning arcing violently across the sky as the battle raged on. Gekido's hulking frame stood at the center of the shattered street like a living tank, chest rising slowly, rain sliding off the ridges of his muscled arms. The four S-Ranks surrounded him, each wounded but burning with defiance.

They had drawn blood. Not much, but enough to prove they weren't just insects.

And Gekido noticed.

"Tch… persistent little gnats. Still just delaying the inevitable."

Suddenly—he moved.

In a blur, he rushed Zenji Takamura, weaving through a barrage of soundwaves and sweeping low. Zenji leapt back, but Gekido's foot caught the edge of his ankle and sent him tumbling. Before Zenji could react, Gekido gripped him by the leg.

"No more running," he growled.

With one sickening motion—CRACK!

Gekido tore Zenji's left leg clean off at the knee.

Zenji screamed in agony as blood sprayed across the soaked concrete. He writhed, clutching his thigh, eyes wide in disbelief and pain.

Mikio Dazai cried out, "Zenji!" and raced toward him, throwing up a thick barrier of essence between Gekido and the others. He dropped beside Zenji, immediately activating a glowing seal over the stump to halt the bleeding.

"You'll live!" Mikio barked, even as sweat poured down his face.

But Gekido was already on the move again.

Kuro Emi launched herself forward, her body liquifying mid-air and splashing across Gekido's face and chest before reforming behind him. She slammed two massive tidal spears into his back, forcing him to stumble forward—right into Arata Nojima's third beast: a massive, wolf-like spirit cloaked in emerald flame.

The beast clamped onto Gekido's arm, snarling as essence burned against flesh. Gekido roared, grabbed the wolf by the jaw—and snapped it in half with a brutal twist.

Arata's eyes widened in horror. "No...!"

"Nice try," Gekido grunted. "But not enough."

BOOM! He punched the ground, sending a shockwave that tossed Kuro, Arata, and Mikio into nearby wreckage.

And still—they stood up.

Battered, bleeding, and one leg down—but not broken.

Zenji, gritting his teeth through the pain, forced himself up on one knee, raising his trembling hand. "I'm not… done."

Gekido paused.

"These rats… They're still fighting?"

Even with blood soaking the battlefield, even with limbs shattered or torn, the four warriors stood between him and the rest of their world.

And for the first time since he arrived—Gekido narrowed his eyes.

"Alright," he muttered. "Maybe this'll be fun after all."

The storm crackled above as the battle roared on.