The battlefield had finally become quiet after Kichatsu's defeat, but something still felt wrong. The dust that had covered the area slowly disappeared into the wind while Daisuke stood there breathing heavily, his body covered with scratches and burns from the battle. Everyone expected the same thing they had always seen happen before. Wrestling creatures were supposed to disappear after death, break apart into dust, and return to nature. That was the rule. That was what had always happened. But this time nothing happened. Kichatsu's body suddenly started shrinking. The monstrous appearance slowly disappeared while cracks around his body faded away. Everyone stared silently. Nobody moved. Nobody understood what they were looking at. The giant body slowly became smaller and smaller until finally a human body remained lying there. Silence. Absolute silence. Daisuke's eyes widened. Airi looked frozen. Batch C looked toward each other with confusion because none of them had ever seen something like this before. Before anyone could even understand what had happened, they suddenly remembered why they had come there in the first place. Their mission was never about defeating Kichatsu. Their mission was to find Batch A. After gathering themselves, they immediately moved through the damaged lands searching for signs of them. The place had become quiet after the battle. Trees had fallen. Rocks had been destroyed. The ground itself carried marks left by attacks. As they moved forward, Daisuke suddenly noticed footprints and broken branches leading toward another path. Everyone immediately followed them. A few moments later voices could be heard in the distance. They finally found Batch A. The moment they saw each other, relief immediately appeared on everyone's faces. But that relief disappeared almost instantly because Batch A looked nervous. One of them immediately stepped forward.
"We found something."
Everyone looked at him.
"What happened?" Daisuke asked.
Instead of answering, they slowly revealed a strange mark carved into a nearby surface.
Silence.
Batch C froze.
Because they had seen the exact same thing.
The Wrestling mark.
"...Wait..." one of them said quietly.
"...You found it too?"
Confusion spread across everyone's faces. Batch A immediately explained that they had discovered the mark in multiple places during their search. They thought it was strange but ignored it at first. But after finding the same thing repeatedly, they started believing something was wrong. Batch C looked toward each other because they had also found the same thing earlier. One incident could be ignored.
Two could not.
Days later, after returning to the Guardian headquarters, reports about the mission immediately spread through the area. A meeting had been called. The Inquiry Guardians wanted every detail. Inside the large hall, the atmosphere felt heavy. Daisuke and the others stood in front while multiple Guardians observed silently. Kazen sat quietly at the front listening carefully. One after another, every event from the mission was explained. The marks. The battle. Kichatsu's strength. Everything.
Then Airi finally spoke.
"And then..."
She hesitated.
Everyone looked toward her.
"And then Kichatsu changed."
Kazen slowly looked up.
"Changed?"
Airi took a breath.
"He transformed back."
Silence filled the room.
Kazen narrowed his eyes.
"...Into what?"
Airi looked nervous.
"...A human."
The room froze.
Kazen's expression changed instantly.
"A human...?"
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Kazen slowly repeated it again.
"...A human?"
For the first time in a long time, uncertainty could be seen in his eyes.
Because that should have been impossible.
Guardians disappeared into nature.
Wrestling creatures disappeared into dust.
Not this.
Never this.
Something had started moving beneath the surface.
Something they could not yet see.
And far away from them, beyond the places they knew, beyond the lands they had ever walked upon, a figure sat silently in darkness. His eyes slowly lowered toward the mark resting on his hand. A small smile appeared across his face.
While they remained unaware...
Someone...
Somewhere...
was already planning their extinction.