Heroes of the Holy War

Kazoto, opening his eye, immediately attacks Kime, who dodges the attack. Striking Kaen in the neck, he knocks him out and says, 

"Well, that's interesting."

Seeing this, Kaen ignites his sword and charges at Kime, but she disperses into smoke and disappears. Kaen flies to the other side of the smoke, and when he regains balance, he uses the 

"First Technique of New Flames Variant: Highly Flammable Meadow," spreading flaming flowers.

Akira, drawing his blade, mutters to himself, 

"Change, you pup... I'll handle this." As Akira's wound heals, he slaps himself. Then, approaching Viktor, he says, 

"You have a plan, right?"

Viktor sighs, 

"You know... I could just lie here and pretend to be dead... Fighting her is a real pain."

After a moment, Akira quickly leaps toward Kaen. 

"Cancel the flowers. Take Kazoto and inform Gamble. The sword disappears after the user dies, so hurry," Akira says, and Kaen cancels the meadow and takes Kazoto. Moments later, the woman appears on the rooftop of a house, laughing.

Her laughter is interrupted by the guards, who mistakenly believe Akira is the culprit. 

"Gentlemen, please apprehend him. He attacked me and my husband," Kima says in a sweetened voice.

Charmed, the guards attempt to capture Akira. Taking a breath, they draw their swords. Moments later, Akira releases his aura, paralyzing the guards. In their minds, the phrase 

"leave" repeats.

The guards, shocked, slowly begin to step back. 

"Useless people," Kima says before swinging her sword. Moments later, the guards' heads are severed.

"I guess you have a habit of exposing your back," Viktor says, sneaking up behind Kima.

Kima tries to attack Viktor, but Akira appears from the other side, attempting to deliver an 

"Explosive Fist."

"Space 

Seven Heavens

Creation 

Reality Breakdown," Viktor says, as white light spreads around Kima, Akira, and Viktor.

Kima ultimately blocks Akira's blow and redirects it into the ground. Viktor, in turn, kicks Kima in the ribs.

After the kick, Kima spits blood.

"Damn, he broke at least four of my ribs," she thinks, then releases a powerful aura. 

"It's so white here... Is this heaven?" Akira asks, to which Viktor smacks him on the head and says,

"This is my Reality Breakdown - True Gambit, you idiot."

Akira, surprised, asks, "Breakdown of what?"

Viktor, holding his head, says, 

"Where did you study, huh?"

After a moment, he sighs and begins to explain, 

"Reality Collapse is a combination of creation and destruction. By creating a barrier, you destroy 'reality' within it to replace it with a false world."

"Okay, but you can't even use mana," Akira says, scratching his chin.

Viktor immediately responds,

"Spiritual energy, aura, or whatever you call it, is like 100 atoms of mana. With proper manipulation, I can use mana-based spells."

Akira seems to understand when Kima yells, 

"Are you done yet?"

Touching his chest, Akira says, 

"Regeneration... complete," then smiles and charges at Kima, who grabs Akira by the hair and tries to pin him to the ground with her sword. Akira breaks free, and Kima tries to stab him again. 

"Switch!" Akira shouts, swapping places with his sword and hitting Kima with a Fiery Fist.

Viktor grabs Kima by the neck, pinning her to the ground, and says, 

"It's hard to fight when there's no smoke around you, huh?"

Kima frees herself from Viktor's grip. Akira then attacks her from behind, and the two begin a powerful combo.

--Viktor's Reality Collapse, called True Gambit, is nothing more than a slot machine. For Viktor to roll, he must strike the opponent with the Dice of Fate, a weapon Viktor can summon at any moment in his reality. When that happens... fate decides the rest.--

"Dice!" Viktor shouts, and two dice appear in his hand.

Viktor throws them at Kima. She catches one and dodges the other. 

"What kind of trick is this?" she says, grabbing Akira's fist.

Viktor, smiling, says, 

"It's no trick."

The white light around them shatters like glass, and Viktor starts emitting a white aura. 

"I just hit the jackpot."

The aura surrounding Viktor explodes, sounding like music, and Viktor starts dancing to it.

Akira breaks Kima's wrist, freeing himself from her grip, and leaps back. 

"I wanted to join, but maybe not," says Gamble, sitting under a building.

Akira sits next to him, 

"Got anything to eat?" he asks, and Gamble pulls out dried apples. 

"The sound of sevens has always been soothing to me," Viktor says, tearing off his shirt.

Kima regenerates her wrist and releases smoke from her body. 

"Now I can finally use the smoke... You won't win," she says with a smile.

Viktor sneezes, and all the smoke disappears.

Surprised, Kima thinks, 

"What the hell did he use... He practically has no mana. How did he use Reality Breakdown?"

Viktor, suddenly appearing behind Kima, says, 

"I'll take that sword," then casually picks it up as if it were nothing. 

"I underestimated him," Kima mutters under her breath, and Viktor simply decapitates her.

After a moment, Kima's body turns into smoke. As Viktor turns around, he's hit by a kick. Kima, wielding her sword, unleashes a series of powerful attacks. When she finishes, Viktor brushes himself off and says, 

"Clever, but know that I'm just playing with you now."

Kima, fearfully, watches Viktor as he slowly approaches her. Grabbing her by the neck, he says, 

"Ten damn years you've been deceiving me," tightening his grip on her throat. 

"I'll make sure you die in agony," Viktor finishes, but suddenly, his strength drains completely. As the white aura fades, Viktor collapses to the ground. Kima begins to laugh. 

"Hahaha! I won! Now what? Hahaaa..." 

"Well, at least you have a heart," Akira says, pulling Kima's heart from behind her back.

Kima, with the last of her strength, turns around and tries to say something, but dies. The sword in her hands transforms into an ordinary sword. 

"Who's picking it up?" asks Gamble. Instead of grabbing the sword, Akira cuts the ground beneath it and lifts the entire chunk of earth holding the weapon. 

"Let's see if anyone else can lift it first," Akira says, as Gamble carries the paralyzed Viktor.

When they arrive at Viktor's home, where Kaen and Kazoto are already waiting, Akira sets the sword down in the yard. By this time, Viktor has regained control of his body, and Gamble has brought Aki, Hana, Elias, and Kaido to the house. 

"What is this, a brothel?" Viktor asks, irritated. Akira laughs and replies,

"Relax, we'll be gone by morning."

Akira brings the chunk of earth with the sword, saying, 

"Let's see if anyone besides Jay is worthy."

Hana approaches the sword and says, 

"Am I the only one, or is this sword talking?"

"I'm telling you, she's not sober," Kazoto says, only to be hit by Elarina.

Hana tries to lift the sword, and succeeds. The sword ignites in pink flames, though the only changes are the patterns on the blade and the hilt, which now resembles a golden flower. 

"So, what now?" Kaen asks.

"Oh, right! Hana, I forgot to tell you," Akira says, grabbing Viktor by the shoulder. 

"Meet your father."

Hana, shocked, drops the sword, and Akira takes everyone out of the room. 

"I thought he was your father," Kazoto says to Jay. Jay smiles and replies, 

"Viktor adopted us."

The night passes, and Viktor explains to Hana why he had been absent, while the others manage to get some rest. In the morning, as they are preparing to leave, Jay gifts Kaen and Kazoto two knives named Yin and Yang. 

"The blades form a perfect circle when combined. I forged them myself," Jay says excitedly.

Akira, surprised, asks, 

"You taught yourself blacksmithing?"

Jay responds,

"No, Viktor taught me."

"Damn blacksmith family," Gamble mutters impatiently, waiting to hit the road. After saying their goodbyes, the group sets off. 

"So where the hell are we going?" Akira asks.

"My mom said that after obtaining the sword, we should walk back to the Dragon Kingdom," Elias says, reading a letter. 

"If we hurry, we can make it to the beach of the Three Kingdoms," Aki suggests.

Gamble thinks for a moment and says, 

"But that will give us an extra day to reach the kingdom."

Kaido pulls out a scroll and says, 

"If we find a teleportation circle, it won't."

Gamble thinks again, but before he can speak, Kaen, Kazoto, and Akira shout, 

"We're going to the beach!" over and over, skipping forward excitedly. 

"Boys... it takes so little to make them happy," Elarina says. Gamble, feeling offended, exclaims, 

"Huh? I feel attacked"

Elias, smiling, says, 

"I'm with her."

As their journey continues under favorable weather, the group decides to stop by a river. Once everything is set up, Hana approaches Aki. 

"Aki, I have a favor to ask," she says firmly.

Aki nods, and Hana pulls her into a tent.

Kaen teaches Elarina new flame techniques, while Kazoto sits under a tree, sharpening his sword and humming.

Kaido silently joins him. Kazoto is about to say something when Akira suddenly shouts, 

"THERE ARE PIRANHAS IN THIS RIVER!"

Gamble runs to check, but it turns out they aren't piranhas, but rare 

"Dragon-Scaled Fish." 

"We've got a delicious meal. Akira, strip down, we're catching them!" Gamble says, removing his pants and shirt only leaving boxers before jumping into the water.

Hana, emerging from the tent, thanks Aki and ties her hair into a ponytail. 

As night falls, Kaido sits in a tree, lost in thought. 

"You desire power, don't you?" says a mysterious, familiar voice.

Kaido looks around but sees no one. Ignoring the voice, he heads back to the tent and lies down to sleep. 

"So it's true, then," XXXX mutters, stepping out from behind the tree where Kaido had been sitting moments before.