Mars swung.
His fist, wrapped in fire and jagged mineral, came at my head with enough force to shatter a building. The air itself seemed to scream as it parted around his knuckles. I watched it come. My newly reinforced muscles tensed. My densified bones braced for impact.
The blow connected with my raised forearm. The sound was like a thunderclap. Stone shattered—his mineral plating, not my bones. The flames washed over my skin, and Fire Resistance (High) turned the inferno into a warm summer breeze. The force of the impact traveled down my arm, through my shoulder, into my spine, and down into the floor. The stone beneath my feet cracked in a spiderweb pattern that spread ten feet in every direction.
I didn't move an inch.
"That all you got?" I asked.
Mars's empty eyes flickered. Something registered there—not fear, not yet, but confusion. He was nine feet of mineral armor and regenerative flame, a weapon that had broken armies, and I had just blocked his punch like it was a child's slap.
He threw another punch. His left fist this time, the one encased in thicker mineral, shaped like a battering ram. I caught it in my palm. The impact clapped through the room like a second thunderclap. The minerals on his knuckles cracked. The flames tried to surge forward and heal them, tried to burn me, but my grip held firm.
I squeezed.
The mineral armor on his fist shattered. Chunks of grey-black stone fell to the floor. Mars tried to pull back, but I didn't let go. My fingers, reinforced by the adaptation, dug into the cracks and held him in place.
"You were made into a weapon," I said. My voice was quiet, meant only for him. "They took a child and filled him with magic that wasn't his. They told you to fight. To kill. To obey. And you did, because you didn't know there was another way."
Mars stared at me. His flames were sputtering now, trying to heal the damage I'd done to his hand, but the regeneration was slower than before. The forbidden art was taking its toll. "I... I don't..."
"I know. You don't understand why we fight for each other. You don't understand what it means to choose." I released his hand. He stumbled back, cradling his shattered fist. "But you can learn. First, though..."
I rolled my shoulders. The ten tons in my shadow felt like a warm-up weight now. My muscles were hungry to be tested.
"Let me show you what this body can do."
I moved.
One step closed the distance between us. My fist drove forward, not at his head, but at his chest—the center of that massive mineral armor. The impact was different from his punches. There was no thunderclap. Just a deep, resonant CRACK that echoed through the chamber like a bell being struck.
Mars's chest plate cratered. Fragments of mineral exploded outward. The nine-foot giant was lifted off his feet and hurled backward, his massive body crashing through a pile of treasure. Gold coins erupted like a fountain. He hit the far wall, and the stone cracked behind him. The flames on his body flickered weakly, trying to heal the damage.
"Did you see that?!" Asta shouted from the sidelines. "OUGA JUST PUNCHED HIM ACROSS THE ROOM! THAT GUY IS NINE FEET TALL AND OUGA JUST THREW HIM LIKE A RAG DOLL!"
"I saw it," Yuno said. His voice was calm, but his eyes were wide.
"He adapted to ten tons," Luck said, his grin returning. "His muscles are carrying that weight like it's nothing. That means his physical strength right now is... I don't even know how to calculate it."
"A lot," Noelle said. "The answer is a lot."
Mimosa was watching from behind Yuno. Her cheeks were still pink from earlier. "He saved me. He didn't even hesitate. He just... jumped in front of me."
"That's Ouga for you," Noelle said. Her voice had a strange edge to it. Almost like pride. Almost like jealousy. "He protects people. Even when it's stupid. Even when it almost gets him killed."
Mars pushed himself out of the rubble. His chest plate was a mess of cracks and missing chunks. The flames were working overtime to regenerate it, but they were dimmer now. Slower. The forbidden art had pushed his body past its limits, and the cost was starting to show.
He looked at me. His empty eyes had changed. There was something new in them now. Not just confusion. Not just recognition. Something that might have been the first stirrings of fear.
"How?" he asked. His voice was flat, but the question was real. "How are you this strong?"
"....if you really wanna know. Then write it down 👇. One hundred pushups, One hundred situps, One hundred squats and a ten kilometre run.... Do it. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY." I held up my fist.
"""..."""ABSOLUTE SILENCE 🤐.
"Ahem.....I want to see how much punishment that armor of yours can take."
I came at him again.
This time I didn't punch. I grabbed his arm—the one with the thicker mineral plating—and pulled. He stumbled forward. I spun, using his own momentum against him, and threw him over my shoulder. His nine-foot body crashed into the stone floor with an impact that made the entire room shake. More cracks spread through the ground. More chunks of mineral broke away.
He swung at me from the ground. His fist caught my ribs. The flames washed over my side. The mineral scraped against my skin. But my body, reinforced by the adaptation, absorbed the blow. I didn't even stagger.
"Good," I said. "Keep fighting. Show me everything you have."
Mars pushed himself up. His flames roared back to life, brighter than before. His minerals thickened, jagged spikes erupting along his arms and shoulders. He was drawing on the forbidden art again, pushing his body even further past its limits. Lotus was screaming something from the back of the room, but Mars didn't seem to hear him anymore. He was focused entirely on me.
He lunged. Both fists came down like a hammer. I crossed my arms above my head and blocked. The impact drove me down—my knees bent, my feet cracked the stone—but I held. His flames washed over me. My Fire Resistance shrugged them off. His minerals ground against my forearms. My reinforced bones didn't break.
"My turn."
I exploded upward. My fist caught him under the chin. His helmet cracked. His head snapped back. I followed with a body blow—left hook to the ribs—and felt the mineral armor crater under my knuckles. Right straight to the chest. The cracks spread wider. Left uppercut to the jaw. More fragments flew.
I wasn't using magic. No Soul Slash—that was sealed. No spells. No techniques. Just pure physical strength, the accumulated power of a body that had adapted to ten tons of pressure in sixty seconds.
Mars stumbled backward. His flames were guttering. His armor was a mess of cracks and missing pieces. But he didn't fall. He was still fighting. Still obeying the last order he'd been given.
"You don't have to do this," I said. I lowered my fists. "The fight is over. Lotus can't help you anymore. It's your turn to decide what happens next."
Mars looked at me. His chest was heaving. His flames were dying. The forbidden art was eating him from the inside. "I... I don't know how to decide," he said. "I've never... chosen anything."
"Then learn." I stepped back and spread my arms. "I'm not going to hit you anymore. The fight is done. Whatever you do next... it's your choice."
Lotus screamed from the back of the room. "MARS! KILL HIM! THAT'S AN ORDER! STOP STANDING THERE AND KILL HIM!"
Mars looked at Lotus. Then at me. His fist was still raised. His flames were still burning, weakly.
Then, slowly, his arm dropped to his side.
"I..." He struggled with the word. "I don't want to fight anymore."
Lotus's face contorted with rage. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! YOU DON'T GET TO WANT! YOU'RE A WEAPON! WEAPONS DON'T WANT! NOW OBEY ME!"
Lotus raised his staff. "Smoke Magic: CHOKING MIASMA!"
Grey smoke erupted from his grimoire, thick and suffocating. It filled the room, cutting off vision, seeping into lungs. But I had already walked through smoke today. The smoke mage we captured had given the Talent everything it needed.
I stepped through the miasma like it wasn't there.
Lotus saw me emerging from the smoke. His eyes went wide. His staff was trembling. "Stay back! I've been a mage for forty years! I've killed more enemies than you've ever—"
I was in front of him before he could finish. My hand closed around his staff. Not crushing it. Not yet. Just holding it in place.
"You were saying?"
Lotus opened his mouth. No words came out. His composure was completely gone. His eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape. But there was none. Mars was standing still, his arms at his sides, watching. The other mage was unconscious on the floor. And I was between Lotus and every exit.
"I want you to deliver a message," I said. My voice was calm, cold, carrying the weight of absolute certainty. "To whoever sent you. To the Diamond Kingdom. Tell them the Clover Kingdom knows about their dungeon raids. Tell them their mages failed. Tell them that if they send anyone else to the border..." I leaned closer, and my voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll be waiting."
I crushed the staff.
It didn't break. It shattered. Splinters of ancient wood exploded in all directions. The gem at its head fell to the floor and cracked. Lotus stumbled backward, his hands empty, his grimoire flickering as the connection to his magic wavered.
"You... you..." He couldn't form a sentence.
"Leave. Take your mages. Don't come back."
I flicked his forehead.
It was a light tap. Barely enough to sting. But Lotus's eyes rolled back in his head, and he crumpled to the floor, unconscious before he hit the stone.
Silence.
The room was still. The smoke was fading, drawn out through cracks in the ceiling. The torches flickered back to life. The treasure that remained—a few scattered piles—glittered in the dim light.
Asta climbed out of his pile of coins. His hair was full of gold dust. His robe was torn in about five different places. But his grin was so wide it looked like it might split his face. "Is it over? Did we win? Did we WIN?! WE WON! THAT WAS AMAZING! OUGA, YOU WERE LIKE—LIKE A DEMON! A REALLY COOL DEMON! WITH THE PUNCHING AND THE THROWING AND THE FLICKING! CAN YOU TEACH ME THE FLICKING?!"
"You don't have enough mana pressure to make a flick knock someone out."
"I'LL TRAIN MY FLICKING! I'LL DO A THOUSAND FLICKS A DAY! TEN THOUSAND! MY FLICK WILL BE LEGENDARY!"
"That's not how fingers work."
"MY FINGERS WILL ADAPT! JUST LIKE YOU!"
Luck landed beside us, his lightning finally settling down. His grin was back to its normal size, but his eyes were still wide with the aftermath of the fight. "That was incredible. You just... walked through him. Through both of them. Like they were nothing. You adapted to ten tons in one minute, and then you beat a nine-foot armored monster with your bare hands."
"They weren't nothing," I said. "Mars was strong. If I hadn't adapted, he would have crushed me. But I had sixty seconds and a Binding Vow."
"What did you seal?" Luck asked. "What secret ability did you give up for a month?"
I looked at him. Then at Asta. Then at Noelle, who was walking toward me with a mixture of relief and exasperation. Then at Mimosa, whose blush still hadn't completely faded. "I sealed something I haven't shown any of you yet. Something that would have ended this fight in one strike. But it's locked away now. For a month."
"What is it?" Noelle demanded. "What power did you give up?"
"A secret."
"That's not an answer!"
"It's the only one I'm giving."
Noelle put her hands on her hips. Her voice was sharp, but her eyes were soft. "You sealed a power we've never seen to save us. You fought Mars with your bare hands and won. You saved Mimosa without thinking. You ended the fight with a flick of your finger." She paused. "You said you'd protect me until I become invincible. You didn't say anything about protecting you too."
"That's what squadmates do."
She looked down at her feet. Her cheeks were pink. "I suppose it is."
Mimosa stepped forward. Her hands were clasped in front of her. Her green eyes kept darting to my face, then away, then back again. "What you did. Jumping in front of me like that. You didn't even know if you could take the hit. You just... moved."
"You needed help."
"But you could have died."
"I've died before. It didn't stick."
She stared at me. A small laugh escaped her lips. "You're very strange, Hasegawa Ouga. But I'm grateful. Truly. If there's ever anything I can do to repay you..."
"Keep healing people. That's enough."
The blush on her cheeks deepened. "I... yes. I will."
Noelle made a sound that was somewhere between a cough and a growl. "Are we done with the thank-yous? We have prisoners to transport and treasure to secure. Less talking, more moving."
"Are you jealous?" Asta asked.
"I am NOT jealous! Why would I be jealous?! I'm a royal! Royals don't get jealous! We're above such common emotions!"
"Your face is all red."
"It's hot in here!"
"The dungeon is cold."
"Then it's cold-red! From the cold! It's a medical condition!"
Klaus pushed himself to his feet. His glasses were gone. His robe was in tatters. He walked toward me with steady steps, stopping when he was close enough to crane his neck up at my face.
"You," he said. "Hasegawa Ouga. You carried ten tons of treasure on your back while we fought. You sealed away your own power to speed up your adaptation. You walked through their attacks like they were nothing. You beat a nine-foot armored warrior with your bare hands. You saved Mimosa without hesitation. And you ended the fight with a flick of your finger." He adjusted his nonexistent glasses. "I called you a freak earlier. I was wrong. You're the most formidable mage I've ever seen."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I'm stating facts." He turned to Asta and Yuno. "All three of you. Commoners. You fought when I couldn't. You protected me when I didn't deserve it. I misjudged you. All of you. The Black Bulls... maybe they're not the worst squad after all."
"Did you just compliment us?!" Asta's face split into a massive grin. "TSUNDERE!"
"I am NOT a tsundere!"
Mars stood in the center of the room. His flames were gone. His armor was crumbling. He looked at his hands.
"What happens to me now?"
"You come with us," I said. "The Wizard King will decide. But you're not a prisoner. You made a choice. That means you're already more human than they wanted you to be."
Asta bounded over. "I think you could be a good guy if you wanted to!"
"Good guy," Mars repeated. "Is that something I can be?"
"Anyone can be a good guy!" Asta held out his hand. "You just have to choose!"
Mars looked at Asta's hand. Then, slowly, like he was learning a new skill, he reached out and took it.
"Choose," he said. "I would like to try."
We gathered our prisoners. Lotus, bound in chains. The smoke mage over my shoulder. Mars, walking beside us of his own free will. The dungeon was cleared. The treasure was secured. And the Black Bulls were heading home.
(Author note; here you go and give me the power stones)