This is the match that everybody was waiting for. Almost nobody has ever seen Shiryu fight. At least not seriously. Not even Todo, who is his regular sparring partner. “You ready for this, Brother?” The brute could hardly contain himself.

  “Yes, of all fighters here, I expect the most out of you.” says the cloaked emperor. “Then enough talk. IRON BODY!” Similar to when he faced Ashio, Todo tensed up his muscles to form a protective shield. But this time, he charges at Shiryu. He just stands there, trying to whip up a counterattack. He decides to create some distance between the two of them.

  OH, LOOKS LIKE LORD CLOAK IS BACKING UP!!

  Shiryu’s aura begins to surround his body. It has a thick purplish-black theme to it. Almost like it’s made of smoke, and not the usual thin appearance of everyone else’s aura. “Alright here it goes, 45%!” He begins to prepare for Todo’s oncoming assault. (With this, I should be able to match his strength for the time being. Should he get any more stronger I might have to use it. But, it comes with unknown risks.)

  Todo breaks through Shiryu’s guard without breaking a sweat. “Heh. Looks like I forgot to tell you, this form is equivalent to your strength at 80%. I suggest that you get more serious, and not mess around.”

  Shiryu goes from being shocked, to locked in. “Very well. It seems that I have to do this now. I had originally planned to hold back because you’re my friend.” His aura became thicker and darker, almost as if you would be able to physically touch it if you tried to. The sky begins to darken and he gets covered fully with his own aura.

  The surrounding atmosphere began to feel heavy due to the shift in energy. Like if death itself was staring down on you.

  H-HEY!! WHAT’S THIS UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING I’M FEELING ON THE INSIDE!! AND WHAT’S WITH THIS VISIBLE AURA AROUND LORD CLOAK?!!

  Even Sumiko, who has no knack for fighting can feel this pressure. (What kind of sinister power is this? I feel tingly all over. Just what is this man?)

  Shiryu begins to laugh maniacally, as if he’s lost his humanity. “Let me show you the real reason why I earned the name Demon! I call it, "Cloaked Mode: Asura!!” Although he said all that, he’s just standing there, heavily breathing. (I must maintain my humanity. I can only hold this form for two minutes. Afterwards I will become the demon itself!)

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  “D-Did he just say Asura? Like that demon? Holy Crap! Things can get dangerous from here on out!” The spectators begin to feel uneasy being around the arena. One person however, is calm. That person being Sumiko, who watches intently how this fight ends.

  “I’ve never seen this one before. You must have been training really hard to pull this one off.” Todo, yet another person who stayed calm in the presence of Shiryu’s demonic-like energy, tries to formulate a plan of attack. But it was meaningless. Before Todo could even finish blinking, Shiryu is already within inches from Todo. He delivers a fist straight into his gut so hard that not even Todo was able to endure.

  TH-THAT’S THE MATCH GUYS!! LORD HEAVYWEIGHT IS ASLEEP, IT’S LORD CLOAK’S VICTORY!!

  The audience is stunned as this is the first time that they’ve ever seen Shiryu, who is usually a chill person, emit such a terrifying aura. At the very least, he was able to suppress that feeling once the match had finished. But the damage has already been done. A new fear has been unlocked for pretty much every single person who attended the tournament.

  Now that the dust has settled, a girl runs onto the stage to tend to Todo. “Lord Heavy! Are you alright my Lord?” Todo looks up at her with a smile. “Yeah, I’m alright, Hilda. Don’t worry about it.” Now that she’s confirmed Todo’s status, she angrily looks toward Shiryu. “Lord Cloak! Why did you have to hit him so hard? He’s barely alive because of you!”

  Shiryu looks at the girl with sharp eyes. “Tell me, Hilda. Do you doubt your lord’s abilities?” Hilda seems to be disgusted by that question. Almost like her loyalty was being tested. “I beg your pardon, my Lord? I have nothing but respect for my Lord and his abilities.”

  “Then trust him when he says that he’s fine. Besides, he should be lucky to have a princess, such as yourself, to care for him.” After hearing this, Hilda stands up and spaces herself from the two emperors and gives a little bow. “I’m sorry, my Lords. Forgive me for my insolence. I will accept any punishment that you deem fit.”

  Todo stands up and walks towards her. “Don’t worry about it Hilda. It’s only natural for a medic to care for her patients.” Hilda looks up at her lord with tears in her eyes. “My lord, I-”

  This heartwarming scene is interrupted by Shiryu, who begins to cough up blood. Hilda’s attention turns to him. “Lord Cloak!?” Shiryu looks at them, trying to act all cool. “Heh Heh, it looks like I messed up.” His final words before collapsing onto the floor. Todo lets go of Hilda. “Now's not the time to worry about me. Tend to him. Now!” Hilda rushes to Shiryu’s body to check on him. He’s still alive. “He seems to still be breathing. Hurry! Take him to my room!” A few students dressed like nurses pick up Shiryu and he is carried off the stage.”

  Seeing all of this, Sumiko pushes her way through the crowd and makes it to the emperors’ entourage. “Wait!” (Why am I doing this? I don’t know them. My body just moved on its own.) “Let me come with you guys.”

  Hilda looks at her, she doesn’t have the time to play games right now. “Who are you? What reason do you have to come with us?” Sumiko stands there, stumbling over her words due to her shyness and embarrassment. “W-Well, I.” She takes a deep breath to focus herself. “My name is Sumiko, today was actually my first day here, but since Shiryu personally invited me to come watch him fight, I figured that there must have been a reason for that.”

  Even more angered now, Hilda tries to push Sumiko away. “Huh? That’s your grand reason? This isn’t some game. Lord Cloak needs immediate attention!” Todo comes back to diffuse the situation. “You're the girl who Shiryu told me about, right? Then come on, we don’t have much time to waste.” Now that she has Todo’s approval to go with them, Hilda resigns herself to let Sumiko pass. “Very well then. Let’s go.”