Chapter 11:The weight of power

The simulation chamber thrummed with tension, the lights above flickering as the system recalibrated to accommodate six of the most dangerous students in Aetherion Academy.

A massive arena unfolded beneath them—blackened steel platforms, shattered concrete, flickers of destroyed cityscapes. It was no ordinary training ground. This one was alive. Breathing. Watching.

And Derrick stood at the edge of it all.

His armored boots clicked against the obsidian floor. The restraints on his wrists—standard for high-tier suppressants—hummed with containment runes, flickering faint red.

The other five were already waiting.

Kai stood centered, arms crossed, electric blue eyes locked on him with unreadable calm.

Renji leaned on one leg, cracking her neck. "Well, well. Look who came crawling out of his monster cave."

Rika said nothing—but her gaze lingered longer than anyone's, as if peeling layers away in silence.

Airi gave a soft nod. "We're glad you came."

Kaito? He didn't say a word. His grip tightened on the weapon slung across his back. Arsenal Vein pulsed faintly at his wrist.

Derrick's jaw clenched. "I didn't come here to be welcomed," he muttered. "I came to see if I can be trusted."

Kai nodded. "Then let's find out."

High above, in the observation room—

Kael Durnas glanced sideways. "You sure about this?"

Kurenai didn't move. "If he can hold back against his instincts in this, then he's ready to begin. If not—"

A soft, ominous glow flickered behind his crimson eyes. "—we contain him. Permanently."

The simulation roared to life.

Steel walls melted into a digital skyline, and the ground trembled.

A towering Kaiju emerged—its form twisted, fanged, and eerily familiar. Because it wasn't just any monster.

It was modeled after Derrick's own Kaiju half.

A psychological mirror.

A provocation.

A test.

And it locked eyes with him immediately.

"Targets locked," the AI voice echoed. "Simulation commencing. Objective: Eliminate threat. All restraint systems disengaged."

For the first time in his life, Derrick felt like the monster was staring back at him… and daring him to become it.

His pulse spiked. The red glow flared behind his pupils.

Rage. Instinct. Power.

The Kaiju inside whispered:

"Let go"

The Kaiju lunged first.

Its massive form erupted from the digital skyline like a blackened tidal wave—jagged bone protrusions, spined shoulders, and molten-red eyes burning like dying stars. Each footstep cracked the arena floor, seismic waves rippling beneath the team.

"Split formation!" Kai shouted, voice sharp.

Mina would've sung a command, but she wasn't here. This was pure coordination now.

Renji blurred forward, already moving before her mind finished registering the threat. Her Battle Instinct surged—flashes of precognition guiding each footstep as she ran up a tilted slab of concrete, vaulting into the air.

Sera ignited her energy blades mid-leap—twin arcs of searing violet light slicing from her forearms as she closed in behind Renji, moving in tandem like mirrored fury.

Kaito flanked left, drawing a massive halberd from his Arsenal Vein—the weapon forming from light and code, humming with power as he ground it into a defensive stance. "I'll draw it down. Kai—take right with Rika!"

Rika nodded, stepping beside Kai with eerie calm. Her irises flickered—reality shimmered around her. Illusions danced along the battlefield, mimicking the terrain, scattering phantom Kaijus to confuse the real one.

But the Kaiju wasn't fooled.

It locked onto Derrick like prey.

Its roar—deep, guttural, layered with corrupted frequencies—shook the chamber. Derrick stood frozen.

Memories hit him like a freight train: a child's scream, Leo's blood, the taste of ash and fear. His hands twitched. Fingernails darkened. His veins pulsed black beneath his skin.

"Derrick! Snap out of it!" Airi shouted, launching a cascade of elemental spheres—fire, ice, and wind entwined like a comet. They exploded against the Kaiju's ribs, staggering it for a second.

But that second was all it needed

With impossible speed, the Kaiju vanished, crouched low, and charged straight at Derrick.

Time slowed.

Derrick's instincts screamed.

His Kaiju half surged upward, claws forming at his fingertips. Bones cracked. His skin rippled with scales.

A Loud Roar "LET ME OUT!!!!"

He could feel himself breaking.

But before he could lose it—

Kai moved.

Lightning-fast, his hand slammed into Derrick's chest—not violently, but firmly, intentionally.

His eyes locked onto Derrick's, glowing like electric fire.

"You are not your instincts."

The words weren't loud. But something about them hit harder than any strike.

Absolute Manipulation.-Central Focus-

Not control over Derrick—But

Control over energy.

Over pressure.

Over balance.

Kai shifted Derrick's center of gravity, grounding him. Just enough to keep him present.

Then—

BOOM.

The Kaiju's claw struck the ground just inches away, sending rubble and fire flying. Renji, Sera, and Kaito converged, attacking its exposed flank with brutal synergy.

Renji slid beneath its tail, slicing tendons with a flicker blade.

Sera spun mid-air, crossing both blades in an X-shape across its eye.

Kaito launched himself up its arm, driving the halberd deep into its collarbone.

The Kaiju howled—turning its wrath away from Derrick

Rika's illusions multiplied tenfold, cluttering the battlefield with phantom versions of the squad.

"Derrick," Airi said gently, placing a hand on his arm. "We don't need you to destroy it. We need you to choose. Right now."

Derrick's breath shook. The Kaiju side still writhed under his skin, begging to be unleashed.

He looked at them—these people. His team.

And for the first time, he didn't feel like a weapon.

He felt like a shield.

With a roar of his own, Derrick surged forward—controlled. Focused. Still himself.

He slammed into the Kaiju with raw force, cracking its jaw. Not turning into it. Not becoming it. Just fighting back.

The team followed his lead.

Rika blinded it with phantom versions of its own limbs.

Kai disabled its left leg with a precise force shock.

Renji and Sera danced in perfect sync, carving glowing gashes into its core.

Airi summoned a spiral of water and ice, freezing its spinal ridges.

And Derrick leapt high, armor smoking, Kaiju veins pulsing but contained.

He drove a final punch down from the sky—one that channeled everything: rage, guilt, hope.

His fist collided with the creature's heart—

Total destruction blowing everything away

The simulation shattered.

Silence.

Only the faint hum of the chamber remained. Rubble dissolved into light. The city faded.

Derrick stood in the center, breathing hard. Hands trembling.

But he was still human.

Up in the control room, Kael slowly exhaled. "He did it."

Kurenai narrowed his eyes. "No," he said quietly. "They did."