"You’ve got to be kidding... He can still move after all that!?"
Dragging his battered, blood-slicked body, Zaraki forced himself to his feet and roared at the heavens.
His eyes locked onto Yugo. With a howl of pure rage, he launched a desperate charge.
"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"Damn it...!"
"Yugo, look out!"
Having just poured everything into his last attack, Yugo didn’t have the strength left to react.
Melt’s scream echoed through the air as Yugo stood frozen, watching the monster barrel toward him. Suddenly, Marcos lunged in, grabbing Yugo by the shoulder and tackling him to the ground just in time.
"Guh! You still with me, Yugo?"
"Thanks to you. You saved my neck, Marcos."
Breathing heavily, the two looked up to see Zaraki at the end of his charge.
They had hoped the impact would finally keep him down, but Zaraki remained upright. Gasping for breath, his face was twisted with a level of hatred and fury that defied death as he glared at them.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill every last one of you!"
"Persistent bastard. If he wants more, let’s give it to him!"
"Yeah! Let’s show him what we're made of!"
Though they spoke with bravado, both were well past their limits. Yugo’s transformation had unraveled the moment he hit the dirt, and Marcos’s exhaustion was plain to see; the fact that he had chosen to dodge rather than block the earlier charge proved he was running on fumes.
Yet, surrender wasn't an option. As the two struggled back to their feet and raised their guards, Ryuga stepped past them, his voice calm and steady.
"Yugo, Marcos, stay back. I’ll be the one to finish this."
"Ryuga...?"
"What are you thinking? Do you really think we need protection?"
Marcos questioned Ryuga’s intent as he prepared to face the monster alone. Ryuga didn't offer his usual catchphrase. Instead, he spoke from the heart.
"Zaraki is only standing because of his rage and hatred. To truly defeat him, we have to break his spirit. Unless I take him down in a fair duel, he'll just keep rising again and again."
"So you’re going to do this alone?"
"Yeah. Right now, Zaraki is exactly like I used to be. I think overcoming him is the final test I have to face. Besides... I’m not alone anymore."
Ryuga spoke with absolute conviction, pressing a clenched fist to his chest. Even if they weren't standing directly beside him, his comrades' feelings were right there with him. He turned his head slightly and addressed his partner.
"Yugo... will you trust me to handle this?"
"Hah! Don’t ask me that, partner."
Smiling, Yugo gave Ryuga’s back a firm, encouraging push. Empowered by the support of his best friend and his many allies, Ryuga turned toward the final confrontation with a faint smile of his own.
"Ryuga...! You eyesore... you've been a thorn in my side until the very end!"
"I have nothing left to say to you. Come, Zaraki!"
Ryuga’s hand moved slowly to the hilt of his katana. He gripped the scabbard, settling into an Iai stance. Zaraki, consumed by a final explosion of fury, threw himself forward.
"Stay out of my way! I... I will transcend humanity!"
Father—!
Zaraki’s screeching no longer reached Ryuga’s ears. In the midst of the carnage, Ryuga had finally shed the weight of his vengeance. With a tranquil heart, he reached out to his father in the heavens.
I spent so long looking at the past, trapped by the need for revenge. But since coming to this academy, for the first time, I’ve been able to look toward the future. I’ve found so many friends I want to keep walking with. So—!
His father’s legacy resided within this blade. His heart hammered against his ribs, pulsing with the desire to live up to the faith his comrades had placed in him. He had friends he could rely on. He had friends who believed in him.
Watching Zaraki howl like a madman, lost in his own fury, felt like looking into a mirror of the man Ryuga used to be. But those days were over. He didn't fight for spite or blood anymore.
Father... please!
His eyes tracked Zaraki, who was bleeding from every pore yet still swinging his arms in a blind rage. Wringing out every last drop of his strength, Ryuga gripped the hilt of Ryuo-ga and offered one final prayer to his father just before drawing the steel.
Give me the strength to carve a path to the future—to the life I’ll lead with my friends!