The forest exploded into light.
Red and gold flames surged in all directions, a typhoon of divine fire sweeping across the sacred grove. Trees ignited in columns of smoke. Spirit-tech drones malfunctioned mid-air and plummeted like comets, while elite students screamed and scattered.
Shin Mishima stood at the epicenter of the storm, his violet robes fluttering in the vortex. But even he stepped back when Genji Takashima's body began to rise.
Not by will.
By power.
> "He's overcharging—!" Nari shouted, shielding her eyes.
Genji's hair whipped around him like a banner of fire. The Phoenix pendant on his chest pulsed faster, uncontrollably, a beat away from shattering.
> "Too much," Nari murmured. "Vilerasa's feeding him too much—!"
The dragon's essence wasn't merely awakening—it was unleashing. Wings of flame fully formed now behind Genji, expanding and crackling. His hands glowed, scorched with burning glyphs. His mouth parted—
—and he screamed.
A scream of agony and divinity, echoing across the valley like a dragon's roar.
Shin Mishima shielded his face. "Fall back! FALL BACK!"
Guards scrambled. The earth itself split beneath Genji's feet as fire clawed upward into the sky, forming a column that touched the heavens. For a moment, he became a sun.
But then—
> PING.
The Phoenix pendant on his chest turned crimson. A deep hum pulsed outward like a shockwave, and in a single heartbeat—
All went still.
The flames died down instantly, folding into the pendant like threads being re-woven. The red glow remained, dimming with every breath. Genji's wings vanished. His body slumped forward.
Nari caught him in mid-fall.
> "Genji! GENJI!"
His chest rose faintly. Still breathing.
But unconscious.
Mishima's forces emerged from the trees cautiously, weapons drawn, but Mishima raised a hand.
> "No. Stand down."
His gray eyes narrowed, calculating.
> "He's... stabilized. For now."
Then, with a cold smile:
> "The dragon sealed himself again. But we now know it can be awakened."
He turned to Aoyama, who emerged limping from the side.
> "We pull back. For now. Let him believe he's free."
Aoyama frowned. "You're letting them go?"
Mishima's eyes shimmered with hidden malice.
> "Let the flame grow brighter… so we can snuff it out at its peak."
---
G.O.D Medical Wing – 6:11 PM
Metal doors hissed open as Nari burst into the high-tech infirmary, Genji draped across her back. White-robed healers rushed forward, but Nari ignored them, marching toward a private chamber lined with reinforced spiritsteel.
> "Stabilizer core, now!" she barked. "He's over-exerted. Flame nodes are cracked."
As the healers moved, a pair of figures appeared near the entrance.
> "Genji—!" cried Asumi, his cousin, eyes wide with terror.
> "Damn it… what happened?" muttered Blaze Kuronuma, fists clenched.
Trailing behind them, stoic and commanding, came Kazuya Takashima, Genji's uncle. He took one look at the limp boy, then glared at Nari.
> "You told me this was under control."
> "It was," Nari snapped, her braid slightly undone, face slick with sweat. "Until Mishima forced our hand. He tried to abduct Genji—extract Vilerasa."
> "And you thought awakening that thing was the best response?" Kazuya growled. "You've endangered the bloodline—again."
> "Don't lecture me," she hissed, stepping forward. "You're the one who hid the boy in a school run by Mishima!"
Blaze stepped between them.
> "Enough! He's not dead, so stop arguing like this is politics!"
Asumi knelt beside Genji, her hand brushing his. "His skin… it's hot. But not burning."
> "The pendant calmed him," Nari said, her voice softening. "It absorbed the flame surge. Probably the last command Naomi left within it."
Kazuya stared at the pendant—a faint red now, like cooling lava.
> "He shouldn't even be wearing that. Not yet."
> "He earned it," Nari said quietly. "Vilerasa stirred. And chose him."
Kazuya's jaw tightened. But he said nothing more.
Outside the window, the Mishima tower still loomed. But Genji, for now, was safe.
---
Mishima Headquarters – Executive Floor – Same Time
Shin Mishima poured himself a drink in a room lit only by screenlight. On one panel, footage replayed: Genji's transformation. Flames. Wings. Power.
Juliet Carl's bracket still blinked "MISSING" beside her name.
> "The girl saw it first," he murmured. "Touched the flame. And vanished."
Behind him, Aoyama entered. "The shrine is purged. No evidence left behind."
Mishima took a sip.
> "Evidence is irrelevant. The world saw enough. The G.O.D tournament will spin this as 'system glitches and misbehavior'—but internally, we prepare."
> "For what?" Aoyama asked.
Mishima turned. His voice was cold steel.
> "For war. Vilerasa is awake. And every bloodline with a claim to power will soon be clawing for Genji Takashima."
He smiled faintly.
> "Let them come. Let them burn."
---
Elsewhere… Unknown Location
Flickering lights. A soft velvet curtain. A wine glass, half-full.
Juliet Carl sat on a red velvet throne, legs crossed, eyes on a floating screen showing Genji's form wreathed in fire.
> "Beautiful," she whispered.
A shadow moved beside her. A man in priest-like robes and silver earrings.
> "He's changed," he said. "It has begun."
Juliet smiled.
> "No. It's still beginning."
She licked her lips.
> "And when it ends—I'll be the only one who survives the burn."
---
G.O.D Infirmary – 10:04 PM
Genji awoke to dim lights and beeping monitors. The first thing he saw was Asumi, asleep beside his bed. The second was his red pendant, resting on the blanket.
> "You carry the flame… but will you carry the burden?" Vilerasa's voice echoed in his mind again.
He sat up slowly, muscles aching.
Nari entered the room quietly.
> "You're alive."
He nodded.
> "Barely."
She handed him water. "You tamed it. That matters."
He glanced down. "No. It tamed me."
She paused. Then sat.
> "Maybe. But now you have a choice. Run… or fight."
> "What happens if I do neither?" he asked.
> "Then someone else makes the choice for you."
Genji closed his eyes.
> "I'll fight."
She smiled faintly.
> "Good. Because the world's already hunting you."
---
To Be Continued…