The golden sun burned brightly over the capital of El Dorado, casting warm hues on the polished marble streets. The volcano in the distance rumbled softly as if sensing what was to come. A soft breeze whistled through the tall spires of the kingdom as tension built in the air.
Citizens gathered at the perimeter, murmuring curiously. Soldiers stood on edge, gripping their weapons tightly.
"Who's that guy walking like he owns the place?"
"That can't be a human, right?"
Middray, standing calmly with his arms crossed, whispered under his breath, "Yeah... this is gonna be a problem."
Leon Cromwell emerged from his palace gates, long white cape billowing behind him. His golden eyes locked onto Yujiro.
"So you're the infamous Yujiro Hanma," Leon said calmly. "I've heard tales. That you beat Demon Lords. That you fought True Dragons."
Yujiro cracked his neck, eyes sharp and wild, smirking. "Heard, huh? I guess you're here to see if they were true."
Leon raised his right hand, and his aura surged like a holy explosion. A blinding light engulfed him as he summoned Gold Circle, his legendary-grade sword, the blade shimmering with ancient runes. The heat in the air intensified.
"You stepped into my kingdom uninvited," Leon declared, voice cold. "Let me show you what happens to intruders."
He vanished.
CLANG!
He reappeared behind Yujiro, sword swinging like a golden arc of death. But Yujiro just slightly tilted his head, dodging by millimeters. Leon didn't stop. He unleashed a flurry of attacks, a hundred slashes in seconds.
Cling! Clang! Wham!
Yujiro weaved and parried with nothing but his hands and forearms, laughing softly.
"You're fast... but not fast enough."
With a simple flick, Yujiro caught Gold Circle mid-swing, fingers gripping the blade.
CRACK!
The legendary sword shattered like glass.
"Wha...?!" Leon gasped, staggering back. Citizens screamed. Soldiers stared wide-eyed.
"Did he just... BREAK Leon-sama's sword?!"
"That's impossible! That sword's cut through mountains!"
Leon didn't hesitate. He summoned his second blade—Flame Pillar, a God-grade weapon, burning with pure flame. The air warped around it.
"HUNDRED BREAKER!!"
Leon blitzed forward with light-speed slashes. Yujiro stood unmoving, his eyes tracking every move. Then Leon chained it with Hundred Prison, summoning a maze of light pillars to trap his target.
Yujiro leapt high, cracking the air. He twisted mid-air and landed behind Leon.
"Nice light show," Yujiro smirked.
Leon shouted, "DISINTEGRATION!"
A holy beam of pure destruction roared from the sky. It vaporized everything in its path.
But Yujiro walked out of it, unharmed. Steam rose from his shoulders.
"Cute."
Then, without warning—BOOM!
Yujiro's gut punch landed.
GASP!
Leon bent over, air gone, blood spurting slightly from his mouth. He dropped to one knee.
Yujiro towered over him. "Is this all you've got? Honestly, I expected more."
Leon grit his teeth. Rage ignited.
"METATRON: LORD OF PURITY!"
Holy light burst from Leon, his wings of brilliance spread out, six in total. His speed multiplied. He blurred and appeared all over the battlefield, chaining magic.
Holy Slash. Spatial Sever. Aspect Blade. Lightstream Burst. Water Dragon Spear.
The sky above twisted as Leon summoned a greater elemental spirit. Rain and light cascaded.
"MELT BREAKER!"
A torrent of radiant fire spiraled like a heavenly drill.
Yujiro smiled. He didn't move.
Then suddenly — he did.
He ducked the fire, turned Leon's spin against him, and countered.
BAM!
A Kendo strike to the ribs. WHAM! Akido twist to flip Leon mid-air. CRACK! A roundhouse kick from Kickboxing to the jaw. Leon flew back but Yujiro was already there.
POP! Tai Chi palm strike to the heart. POW! Muay Thai elbow to the temple. SLAM! Pressure point finger strike paralyzing Leon's arm.
The crowd gasped.
"Leon-sama is losing!"
"He's not even using magic!"
"That guy... he's just muscle and madness!"
Leon hit the ground, gasping. His body wasn't responding.
"Wh-What... are you?" he breathed.
Yujiro crouched beside him.
"I'm what you fear in your dreams. A human beyond reason."
Leon, shaking, finally believed the stories.
Yujiro Hanma had no magic, no skills. And yet he was stronger than anyone Leon had ever known.
Middray clapped slowly from the back. "Told ya. Seen this scene before. Always ends the same."
The soldiers dropped their weapons. The citizens were silent. Even the volcano seemed to quiet down.
Yujiro stood tall over the broken Demon Lord.
The battlefield was silent. The wind, once dancing around the volcano of El Dorado, seemed to have stilled. The very air held its breath.
Leon Cromwell — the radiant Demon Lord of El Dorado — lay on one knee, his once proud figure reduced to a broken silhouette. Blood stained his golden armor, his body twitching, muscles seizing in involuntary spasms. His limbs were paralyzed. He could do nothing… but talk.
Yujiro Hanma stood above him, back straight, arms folded behind him like a war god gazing down at a failed mortal. No aura. No magic. No skills. Just him. Just power in its rawest, scariest form.
Middray stood a few feet behind, watching calmly, as if he'd seen this outcome long before it even began. He wasn't smiling. No… his expression was unreadable. Almost like respect… mixed with pity.
Around them, the soldiers of El Dorado had gathered in stunned silence. The capital's townspeople, who had seen the flashing lights of divine magic moments earlier, now stood frozen beyond the city's protective barriers. Alrose, sword halfway drawn, didn't dare move. Claude's hand trembled on the hilt of his blade, but his instincts screamed don't.
Then, Yujiro spoke.
His voice didn't boom like thunder. It didn't need to. It was quiet. Heavy. Sharp. Every word stabbed like a blade into the hearts of everyone listening.
"So this is what the mighty Demon Lords are like... crawling on the ground when their crutch is kicked away."
"You hold your heads high because of your borrowed strength. Your sacred magic, your divine artifacts, your flashy titles. But strip all that away... and what are you?"
Leon struggled to move, but nothing responded. His voice, shaky but filled with anger, spat out, "You… monster…"
Yujiro crouched slightly, looking him directly in the eye.
"Monster? No. I'm the truth you all refuse to face. While you play with spells and rituals, I honed my body to the peak of what nature itself could offer. I don't borrow power. I am power."
The guards stepped back unconsciously. Citizens gasped. Mothers held their children tight. Even Alrose, known for never flinching, swallowed hard.
Yujiro slowly stood again, eyes sweeping across the city. His gaze met the people… and they looked away in fear.
"You believe strength lies in magic? That it lies in rituals passed down by gods who never bled? You're all trapped in an illusion. The illusion of control. Of safety. Of invincibility."
He gestured down at Leon with a scoff.
"This man here… he truly thought he could challenge me. He even used a god-grade sword. And yet... he couldn't even scratch me."
Alrose took a step forward, fists clenched, but Claude stopped him with a quiet, "Don't. You'll die."
Yujiro took one final look at Leon, then cracked his knuckles.
"Let this be your lesson, Leon Cromwell. If you think you have power, then I am what lies beyond power. I am the reminder. I am the reality."
He turned, walking away with that same smug confidence, his hands slipping back into his pockets. Middray, still calm, gave a final nod to the crowd.
"Count yourselves lucky," he said simply. "He let your lord live."
Then, just like that, they both walked away — no flashy exit, no teleportation spell, no sound but the crunch of their footsteps.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Claude ran to Leon's side. "Leon-sama! Your body—what did he do?!"
Leon coughed hard, gasping, "He… didn't… use magic. No skills… nothing…"
One of the soldiers whispered, "He broke a god-grade sword… with his bare hand..."
Another muttered, "That wasn't a fight… that was an execution."
Citizens began murmuring:
"Was that really a human?"
"Is he a god? Or something worse?"
"He humiliated our Demon Lord like it was nothing…"
"We're alive only because he let us live."
As the chaos settled and Leon was carried back to the palace, all of El Dorado buzzed with a single terrifying truth:
Yujiro Hanma was real. And he was not just strong.
He was what lies beyond strength.