Ren helped Cass to her feet once Taro deactivated the restraints. The girl took his hand with grudging respect and a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"Your beast is Iron rank," she said, as if that statement alone should invalidate everything that had just happened. She brushed dust from her uniform, her gaze darting between Ren and her fallen teammates. "How is it possible that you defeated Jin like that...?"
"Beasts are important," Ren replied as he deactivated the fusion with his hydra, the scales gradually disappearing from his skin, "but never underestimate the big difference that two bodies can have with the right training."
A crowd of murmurs followed Ren and his team as the auxiliaries attended to the injured and everyone cleared the arena. Within a day, they had transformed from objects of ridicule to walking anomalies that defied all expectations.
