There was a lot of fuss when the medical team had to transport the massive Tatsuya out of the stadium. He was simply too heavy. Eventually, they got him out of there, and the voice of the announcer could be heard once more over the stadium.

"Participants Koji Tachibana and Ren Noroi, please prepare for your match!"

The words hit him like a punch to the face, awakening him from the slumber caused by the last not-so-interesting duel. He had already forgotten that he was part of this competition because his fight had not come for a long time, and so much had happened in the meantime. But when the words reached his ears, he felt a burst of adrenaline in his veins.

His nostrils began tingling, and his heart shifted to the next gear, increasing the speed it was beating at.

He didn't even realize when his muscles tensed, and his body automatically got up.

"You will do great," Kazuki assured him, smiling, but Ren barely heard that.

It was as if his friend was speaking through a barrier of sorts, his voice turning into a whisper. And when his body turned to head toward the exit, Ren saw him, his opponent. The massive Koji Tachibana was not easy to miss, especially due to the heavy mace resting on his shoulder. Besides, they were already familiar with one another, as this giant attempted to pick a fight with Ren back in the underground park.

As he was passing by, the lips of the giant moved, silently producing quite an obvious sentence, 'I will crush you,' which was followed by a smirk. Then he accelerated slightly, quickly vanishing into the entrance to the tunnel, joined by one of the guards who was there to escort him.

The second guard approached Ren, bringing him back to reality.

"This way," said the man.

"Y-yes," he stammered in response.

The part of his journey leading through the passages within the stadium was a blur. There was darkness, then artificial light, but his mind drifted again away from his surroundings.

‘I have to win fast. I need to be quick. Overwhelming power… Overpower the enemy,’ the thoughts and flashes from his previous conversations with Satoru and Hiroshi blinked through his mind, and then another voice joined.

‘Huuuungeeeer! Heaaaaaarts!’ The loud hiss of the ghost penetrated his mind just as he emerged into the light of the arena.

Koji already awaited him on the other side. There also was the voice of the announcer present in the background, but it was hard for Ren to focus on that while watching his opponent standing right in front of him.

The massive young man was grinning, very full of himself. There was something intimidating in this confidence, which worked on Ren as his mind was split between the fight and the worry about his sword, which already started to act out.

As he reached the middle of the arena, standing in front of Koji, the sound of the gong brought him to reality. Just in time, as his opponent didn’t stand idle, immediately leaped forward while swinging the mace from above.

Ren avoided the attack by jumping back, but his footwork was so messy that he almost fell over his own feet, allowing the next strike of the giant to land. While at first, the mace slammed into the sand, raising some dust, he dragged it to the side in a fluid motion, transitioning from the initial attack into the next swing.

The power of the blow sent Ren into the air. He hit the ground, rolling to the side, but quickly got up, grabbing the handle of his weapon. He could taste the blood on his tongue and feel it sliding down from the corner of his mouth, right across his chin.

"What a weakling," Koji said, relaxing his body and straightening his back. Then he chuckled. "I’ll punish you for humiliating my clan. I’ll smear you right across this arena."

Ren responded with a growl, right before he pulled the Maken out. The razor wire whipped out, entangling itself around his arm and scraping against the metal glove. This surprised not only the giant but also the few people in the stands. Some even stood up to see better. Quite a bunch had already seen it, during the first duel, but there was plenty who didn’t. Especially the other participants.

Ren couldn’t hear it, nor did he see a thing, but they were looking at one another, asking if this was actually what they thought it was – a Maken.

‘Huuuunger!’ The voice of the Hearteater appeared in his mind. ‘Killlllllllll’

Ignoring the voice of the Hearteater, Ren charged forward. Despite the blow, he felt fine. There was no pain hindering his movement. He stopped abruptly, raising the weapon to attack, and bringing the surprised Koji back to reality. The giant tried to block, but when the powerful wave delivered by the blade hit him, he was pushed back, sliding on the sand. The invisible force tore through his clothing, causing bloody blossoms to change the color of the fabric.

‘Killll him! Taaaake hisssss heaaaaart!’ The ghost struck again, which briefly distracted Ren.

He did his best to ignore it once more and seized the moment instead by rushing forward. It was a perfect opportunity to strike a few times in sequence. The attacks were simple, so the giant just hid behind his mace, trying to block them all, but each carried the ravaging power behind it, which was cutting and bruising him, despite that each attack seemed deflected.

Koji was growling out of pain, trying to endure, but ultimately collapsed on one knee, panting heavily.

Ren jumped back, making sure to keep enough distance to avoid a counter, which was completely unnecessary.

"Fuck you, Noroi!" Koji said with so much hatred that the spit came out of his mouth like venom. "I’ll kill you!" He yelled at the top of his lungs before mustering enough strength to raise and charge once again.

Attempting to counter him, Ren struck, sending the ravaging wave, but Koji was clearly prepared. He jumped to the side, avoiding it, and then swung with all his might. Ren blocked the attack with the Maken, but it was still powerful enough to throw him into the air. Only a little bit, but enough for him to lose his footing upon landing on the sand.

He tumbled to the side, opting to create more distance because of the disadvantageous situation he found himself in. He did his best to avoid his own blade, only to quickly get up because the giant was already rushing after him.

They both swung at the same time, their weapons clashing in a cascade of orange sparks, spraying everywhere. The mace was no match for the Maken, as the teeth of the blade sank into the steel.

Noticing this little detail, Ren pulled down with all his might, causing more sparks to shoot everywhere and cutting off part of his opponent's weapon, which fell to the ground. Koji noticed in the last moment and delivered a kick, which once again sent the young warrior of the Noroi clan into the air.

"ARGH!" Ren grunted before he coughed up some blood, only to wipe his mouth with the already torn sleeve of his black kimono.

'Kill him!' The Hearteater demanded in his mind. 'Fuck you!' Ren replied to this demand before rushing forward once again, but he suddenly felt as if his own legs weren't fully obeying him. There was this different presence piloting the body instead of him.

He cut from above, but Koji already learned his lesson, and instead of trying to block the attack, he jumped to the side, swinging his damaged mace. But this surprise counter was dodged swiftly with only a single step back, so the heavy weapon plowed the air, delivering no damage.

This created a marvelous opening for Ren. He seized it, striking twice. Although the sword didn't hit directly, the powerful wave, that came after, did. It pushed Koji off balance, making him stumble before falling on his ass, while the shockwave tore through his clothing, cutting through the flesh as if he had an accident with a chainsaw. Parts of his meat sprayed around, followed by a lot of blood that covered the sand. Grunting and panting, the giant attempted to get up, but this was only his iron will, which the body refused to obey.

'I won,' Ren thought, realizing that he had regained control.

A momentary silence fell upon the stadium, but it was quickly broken because of the medical team rushing into the arena.

As the doctors swarmed both participants, Ren was brought back to reality from the depths of his thoughts. He couldn't shake off the fact that for a second, his body was taken over by the Hearteater.

The medics tried to check his wounds, but he grabbed the first hand that reached to touch him. "I'm alright," he told them, as he didn't even feel any pain.

It seemed odd, but he had this feeling that the presence of the ghost strengthened his body for that short moment and also fixed some damage. He slid his Maken back into the saya, causing the wire to retract, and left the stadium.

On his way back to the stands, Hiroshi intercepted him. "Let me heal you," the doctor said, coming out of the darkness and blocking Ren's path in the tunnel sparsely illuminated by the buzzing electric lamps on the walls.

The young warrior nodded in response, and then the doctor put his hand over Ren's chest, healing the damage with shinryoku.

"If you don't want to talk about this, it's fine... But... Something happened there, in the stadium," Hiroshi pointed out with a very calm voice.

"Yes," Ren admitted. "The Hearteater... He possessed me for a moment."

The doctor nodded as if the information didn't surprise him at all. "He was an incredibly powerful ghost. For now, you should be careful, but after the competition is done, you should speak with that saiin in the temple. Maybe she will be able to help."

Ren didn't respond to that, but his mind ventured to what Isamu said to him about creating a bond with the spirit. He even glanced at the weapon by his side. 'Is it even possible with this ghost?' he asked himself. ‘He is a homicidial maniac.’

"I'm finished," Hiroshi interrupted Ren's contemplation. "Let's go back to the stands."

The young warrior nodded, so the two started heading back up, arriving moments later.

"Great fight!" Kazuki greeted them as soon as they emerged from the darkness of the entrance into the sunlight enveloping the designated area on the stands. "I didn't know your sword was so strong," he smiled.

"T-thanks," Ren squeezed out awkwardly.

Hiroshi completely ignored that, heading straight to his spot next to Satoru. The two participants did the same, returning to their sitting place, which was nearby.

"We both made it to the last round," Kazuki pointed out. "We are a step from becoming candidates. Let's both do our best in the last round," he said, slightly embarrassed by his encouraging speech.

"Yes," Ren accepted, although his mind was in a completely different spot.

On one hand, he had this extreme confidence that with the help of the ghost, he could win the tournament, but there was also worry. He couldn't help but be afraid that if the Hearteater took over once again, he might not let go.

This was a terrifying vision. A vision that made him desperately look for a possible way out of this predicament. Everything he had worked so hard for was within his reach, but this last stretch could also be something that would ruin his new life completely.

'I wish Tsukiko would be here... She could tell me...,' The inner monologue was interrupted by a sudden lack of confidence. With everything going on, Ren didn't have as much trust in the goddess as he did before. This made him start to question if she really did help him, or if he was only a part of some deeper plot.