The Superior Rebirth: A Hero's Awakening

In the Wake of Ashes, He Descends

As Haruki stepped out from the shattered crater, boots grinding against the scorched earth, a strange stillness swept the battlefield. The air felt heavier—off. He paused, an unease crawling up his spine like a whisper of something ancient and defiant awakening behind him.

Then came a flare of light.

It wasn't just a burst of power—it was like staring into the first sunrise after a storm. A divine brilliance surged forth, radiant and pure. Haruki's eyes narrowed as he slowly turned around.

Xavier stood there like a revenant, blood dripping from his nose and lips in steady streams, his body swaying yet somehow upright. Excalibur rested in his grasp, the holy sword humming with quiet fury, as if it too had been pulled from the brink of oblivion. Though the two had been torn apart by Haruki's earlier onslaught, the blade had found its way back to its master—or perhaps, Xavier had found his way back to it.

His once sky-blue aura had been cleansed, slowly overtaken by an ethereal white glow. It radiated with the sanctity of Excalibur, a sacred light that seemed to fight back the darkening skies overhead. A final push. A last defiance. A moment gifted by the blade not to die lying down, but to stand. To fight.

The woman from his subconscious—the light in the dark void—had given him more than words. She had rekindled something within him.

The spark.

Heroe's Residual.

Haruki's eyes widened slightly. His breath hitched.

"Are you for real?" he muttered, dumbfounded.

Xavier wavered, barely able to remain standing. Yet his voice, though shaky, carried a small grin. "For real, real."

Haruki frowned. "You should be dead right now... not standing there with that stupid grin of yours."

"But I'm not," Xavier replied, his voice hoarse but steady.

Haruki clicked his tongue. "Doesn't matter. I'll just beat you down again—this time for good."

Xavier took a single step forward, the ground cracking beneath his boot. He lifted Excalibur in both hands, taking his stance. "I'm waiting..."

His body trembled, but his resolve didn't waver. This surge of power granted by Excalibur wouldn't last. He knew that. But it didn't need to.

He just needed enough.

Across from him, Haruki exhaled slowly, his eyes darkening. A cruel sneer spread across his face as he drew his blade once more, his aura now roaring like wildfire. The atmosphere cracked under the weight of his killing intent.

If he couldn't break Xavier's will, he'd simply erase him. No mercy. He even imagined the despair on Anastasia's face when he offers her the severed head of her master.

The two locked eyes.

One gaze burned with hatred. The other... shone with defiance.

And then—

Flash.

In an instant, they vanished. The land shuddered as blades collided mid-air, their auras clashing like colliding universes. A sonic boom rippled through the ruined battlefield.

Haruki scowled.

Xavier was stronger. Not enough to win—not yet—but enough to shock him. Their swords clashed again and again, faster than the eye could follow. And for every strike Haruki delivered, Xavier countered with grit and instinct. He wasn't just surviving. He was adapting.