"Kaiza, make sure you protect this briefcase with your life," his father's voice, Enzox, echoed in his mind, clear and unwavering.
"Don't stop running until you think you are safe," Keaton's voice followed, just as firm and urgent, a stark reminder of the stakes he was facing.
As Kaiza's eyes began to shut, the world around him fading into darkness, these voices rang louder, cutting through the haze of pain and exhaustion. They were more than memories—they were a call to action, a reminder of what was at stake.
He couldn't lose the briefcase. Not now. Not without fighting just a little bit more. Summoning what little strength remained in his battered body, Kaiza tightened his grip on the briefcase, refusing to let it slip from his fingers. Even in his weakened state, he knew this wasn't the end. There was still more fight left in him.
Kaiza's attempt to resist was futile. He could barely open his eyes to make out his opponent, let alone fight back. His body, nearly paralyzed from exhaustion, betrayed him. The relentless sprint through the forest when he should have been resting had drained him to the brink.
As his father's voice continued to echo in his mind, Kaiza's thoughts spiraled into frustration and despair.
"Why did you give me so much burden to bear when I am powerless against this man?" Lost in his head. Kaiza drifted further from reality. As M. Boss continued his assault, Kaiza's body seemed to react unconsciously. Though blows landed and injuries were inflicted, his body exhibited a strange resilience, almost as if it had become impervious to the worst of the pain.
In this strange state, Kaiza found himself slowly regaining a fraction of his strength. His thoughts shifted.
"This can't be my end," he resolved, clinging to the faint surge of energy stirring within him.
Then, as if sparked by sheer willpower, Kaiza's eyes snapped open. They locked instantly with M. Boss's, who had paused his assault, startled by the sudden intensity radiating from Kaiza.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze. The two stared at each other, their gaze locked in an unspoken battle. The tension in the air was palpable, stretching taut as they silently measured each other. In that fleeting exchange, something shifted—Kaiza was no longer just a boy on the run. There was something more behind his gaze, something M. Boss couldn't quite place, yet couldn't ignore.
Deep down, M. Boss was seething with disgust. How could this boy, so battered and broken, dare to stare into his eyes with such sternness, as if he were the one in control? It infuriated him to no end, as if Kaiza was silently challenging him, daring to resist when he should have been begging for his life.
What M. Boss didn't know was that Kaiza wasn't even aware of the expression on his face. To Kaiza, his gaze was filled with desperation, silently pleading for mercy, for this nightmare to end. But to the man before him, it looked like defiance—a look that made his blood boil.
"How dare you look me in the eye like that!" M. Boss roared, his voice echoing through the forest. Another brutal punch crashed into Kaiza's already bruised face sending a fresh wave of pain through his body.
Yet, beneath his rage, M. Boss was afraid. The boy's resilience, the fire in his eyes, unsettled him. He had assumed Kaiza knew the precarious state of his powers—that they were ineffective around him. This realization had compelled M. Boss to act quickly, to strike hard and fast before Kaiza could recover even a fraction of his strength.
In truth, M. Boss feared confrontation. If Kaiza regained too much strength, there was no telling what could happen. His brutal assault wasn't just born of anger—it was born of fear, the primal urge to eliminate a threat before it became uncontrollable.
Kaiza collapsed to the ground. His body aching from the relentless blows, but M. Boss wasn't finished. With a vicious kick to Kaiza's stomach, he sent him rolling away, groaning in agony as he instinctively tried to crawl farther from his attacker.
What Kaiza didn't realize was that he had reached the edge of a hill. Fear clouded his senses as he scrambled to escape, and before he could grasp where he was, gravity took over. He rolled off the hill, tumbling painfully down its uneven slope.
When he finally stopped, Kaiza found himself sprawled in an open clearing. He lay face down, completely drained, every part of his body screaming in pain. The fall had left him with even more injuries —scrapes, bruises, and sharp stinging aches across his limbs.
A deeper scratch above his eyebrow bled freely, the red liquid tracing a slow path down his face. The blood traveled to his eyebrows, slid along his eyelashes, and paused momentarily before finally dripping onto the ground. Each droplet seemed to echo his struggle, marking the earth with his pain and determination.
Though his body begged for rest, Kaiza's mind refused to repent. This can't be the end, his fingers twitching faintly as if trying to grab hold of even the faintest chance of survival.
As the droplet made a tiny splat on the ground, time seemed to freeze. Everything around Kaiza paused—the rustling of the leaves, the faint howls of the wind, and even the relentless pounding in his chest. The only thing that continued was the slow, steady drip of blood from his wound.
Each drip fell onto the same spot, forming a small pool. Strangely, as the blood collected, its color began to shift. It changed from red to blue, then to a deep, vibrant purple. The pool of purple blood then divided itself into two halves—one red and one blue—before blending back together to form the purple hue once more.
The transformation wasn't just visual; the air around the blood seemed to hum with an otherworldly energy. As the purple blood finally settled. The ground beneath it reacted, absorbing the liquid as though it were alive.
Two seconds passed after the blood was completely absorbed, and the earth began to tremble faintly. From the very spot where the blood had vanished, a purple light began to emanate, glowing brighter with each passing moment. The light was unlike anything Kaiza had ever seen—both warm and foreboding, as if it carried a power beyond comprehension.
Even in his weakened state, Kaiza could feel the energy radiating from the light. It sent a shiver down his spine, a sensation that was both terrifying and oddly reassuring. Something was happening, something beyond his understanding, but he could sense one thing clearly—this moment was far from ordinary.
Time resumed its natural flow. Kaiza, still groaning in pain, slowly raised his face, squinting as his vision adjusted. But the brilliance of the light was overwhelming. It pierced his eyes with a blinding intensity, forcing him to roll over and shield his face. He instinctively moved away from the source, his body protesting every motion.
Meanwhile, M. Boss was moments away from delivering another blow to force Kaiza to relinquish the bag. But he froze mid-step, his attention drawn to the dazzling purple light that suddenly illuminated the forest. The once-darkened woods were bathed in an otherworldly glow, erasing every shadow and filling the air with an inexplicable energy.
"What is this?" M. Boss muttered, his voice laced with both astonishment and unease. His eyes darted around, taking in the surreal transformation. This was unlike anything he had ever witnessed in all his years of encounters with the strange and powerful.
Kaiza, still lying on the ground, rubbed his eyes, struggling to recover from the blinding light that had nearly overwhelmed him. Despite his pain and exhaustion, he couldn't ignore the phenomenon unraveling around him.
The light, originally concentrated in a single spot, began to expand outward, spreading through the forest like ripples on water. It climbed the towering trees, illuminating their leaves with an ethereal glow, before eventually dissipating. As the purple radiance faded, it left an eerie silence in its wake, as though the forest itself was holding its breath.
When the light finally vanished, the forest was plunged back into darkness, save for the soft, silvery glow of the moonlight filtering through the canopy above. The sudden stillness was almost deafening, leaving both Kaiza and M. Boss in stunned silence.
But the quiet was deceptive. Something had shifted. The air was different—charged, like the calm before a storm. Whatever had just happened, it wasn't over yet.
Everything unfolded in a whirlwind, leaving M. Boss momentarily stunned. The radiance of the purple light had left him in a state of deep contemplation, trying to piece together its origin and significance. Yet, his mission burned brighter in his mind than his curiosity. He shook off the lingering amazement, focusing once more on his goal—defeating the boy and claiming the briefcase.
Confident it would take only seconds to finish the half-dead Kaiza, M. Boss started walking toward him, flexing his fingers with a menacing smirk. His muscles tensed as he dashed forward, closing the gap between them.
But just as he was within striking distance, less than two meters from Kaiza, something inexplicable occurred. A strange, shimmering barrier materialized around Kaiza, its surface glowing faintly with a mix of purple and blue hues. Before M. Boss could process what was happening, the barrier reacted violently to his presence.
The force emanating from it hurled him backward with immense power, sending him crashing into a nearby tree. The impact was brutal, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to slump to the ground. For a moment, everything went dark.
When M. Boss regained consciousness moments later, his vision was blurred, and his body throbbed in pain. Through the haze, he saw Kaiza, now standing weakly on trembling legs. Before M. Boss could muster the strength to move, he saw Kaiza stagger toward what appeared to be a staircase leading underground. The boy descended, disappearing into the shadows of what seemed to be an underground hideout.
"What is that?" M. Boss muttered weakly, his voice barely audible. He was both baffled and enraged. The strange barrier, the sudden strength that allowed Kaiza to move, and the hidden passage—none of it made sense.
His body refused to cooperate. The injuries from the collision and the blood loss drained him of any ability to act. As his vision dimmed again, his thoughts raced with confusion and frustration before his eyes shut once more, pulling him into unconsciousness.