The surge of electricity snapped through the air like a scream.
Mizu barely had time to raise his arms before the bolt struck. It didn't hit him directly—but even grazing his barrier sent a violent jolt through his limbs. The sheer force knocked him back three steps.
"Honkai!" he shouted. "Snap out of it! It's me—Mizu!"
But the figure floating in the air didn't flinch.
Eyes like stormclouds. Veins pulsing with purple corruption. A faint smile played on his lips, distant… almost peaceful.
"Peace is a lie," Honkai said calmly. "But Ranshin showed me… silence. Silence is better."
Sayos stepped forward, wind swirling aggressively around his fists. "That's not you talking. You hate silence. You snore like a dragon!"
No reaction.
Rika's voice was tight. "He's fully infected. The crystal in his chest—it's like the others. Like Kuzuki."
Mizu clenched his fists. His blue crystal flickered, confused… as if it couldn't decide whether to protect or attack.
"I don't want to fight you," Mizu said. "But I will if I have to."
"Then bleed," Honkai whispered.
He raised his hand—and the sky within the chamber cracked open.
Lightning rained down in jagged streaks. The ground exploded. The floor split into shards of rising platforms and falling debris. A full-on storm erupted.
Rika dove to the side, hurling a shield of flame around herself. "Okay, fine—WE'RE FIGHTING."
Sayos gritted his teeth and launched into the air with a gust of wind. "Mizu—go high! I'll distract!"
Mizu nodded.
---
Sayos darted between bolts of lightning, wind curving behind him. He was fast—so fast even Honkai had to adjust. The corrupted version of their friend tracked him with robotic efficiency, casting burst after burst of thunder in Sayos' path.
But he was buying time.
Mizu leapt from broken stone to broken stone, closing the distance to Honkai. His body was soaked from the storm, but his energy pulsed stronger than ever.
He shouted over the noise. "You taught me how to channel water through resistance. You showed me how to flow around attacks. Now *you're* the one I have to stop."
No reply.
Instead—Honkai raised his other hand.
Two bolts crossed midair—and slammed into Sayos.
"NO!" Rika screamed.
Sayos spiraled down, crashing through a floating platform and vanishing into the mist below.
Mizu felt something *snap* inside him.
He roared.
A tidal surge erupted from his chest, wrapping him in a violent cyclone of water. He struck—his punch slicing the air, cracking with oceanic pressure.
But Honkai *caught* the blow.
One-handed.
Mizu's eyes widened. "You're holding back."
Honkai's lips curled slightly. "Not enough."
He twisted—tossing Mizu like a ragdoll across the chamber.
Mizu slammed into a crystal pillar, coughing hard as he slid down. Blood trickled from his lip. He forced himself up. "You're still in there. You wouldn't hesitate if you weren't."
"Silence… is better," Honkai whispered again.
Mizu staggered forward. "Then let me remind you who the hell you are."
---
Rika appeared beside him. Her hair clung to her face, soaked and wild. "I've had it with these mind-controlled friends. Let's fry the damn crystal."
"You sure?" Mizu asked. "He might—"
"I *know* what's at stake," she said. "But that's not Honkai right now. That's a puppet with a name."
The storm intensified.
Honkai's body surged upward—his arms raised, calling forth an enormous spear of lightning. It hovered above him, spiraling like a vortex.
"Whatever you're gonna do," Rika muttered, "do it now."
Mizu closed his eyes.
The water around him shimmered, resonating with the memory of every fight, every laugh, every lesson Honkai had shared.
He felt the ocean inside him.
Then… he *released it.*
---
Mizu and Rika launched together—one flame, one tide.
Honkai hurled the lightning spear down like a divine hammer.
Mizu rolled sideways, water shielding Rika from the burst. She somersaulted forward, spun mid-air, and *punched* flame directly toward Honkai's chest.
The impact hit true.
For a split-second—the corrupted crystal *cracked.*
A scream tore from Honkai's throat.
Lightning exploded outward in all directions, knocking both Mizu and Rika away.
Silence fell.
Honkai hovered midair… then collapsed, hitting the ground hard.
Mizu crawled over to him, hands trembling. "Honkai…"
The violet glow had faded.
His breathing was weak. But his eyes… they were his own again.
"I remember…" Honkai whispered.
"You're okay," Mizu said. "You're safe."
"I… saw things. Ranshin's world… it's not darkness. It's *emptiness*. He wants to erase everything… not just rule it."
"What do you mean?"
But before Honkai could answer, the crystal in his chest flared *one last time*—and shattered.
Mizu caught him before he hit the floor again.
He was unconscious.
Rika knelt beside them, blood on her face, fire slowly dying. "Is he…?"
"Alive," Mizu said. "But barely."
A moment of heavy silence followed.
Then Sayos' voice echoed from above.
"I'm… not dead yet."
He landed beside them with a thud, limping badly, one leg barely working.
Rika stared at him. "You survived *that*?"
Sayos shrugged. "I'm built different."
---
The chamber shifted again. A new platform rose from the ground—on it, a black box.
A voice echoed:
> "You have passed the fourth trial."
> "The final seal is now within reach."
The box opened slowly.
Inside—another key.
The fourth and final one.
Mizu took it in hand.
But as he did… the temperature in the chamber dropped.
A cold wind swept through.
And a voice unlike any before whispered:
> "You're not supposed to win."
> "But I guess I'll have to fix that… myself."
A shadow began to form on the far side of the platform.
A human silhouette.
Tall. Broad. Cloaked in smoke and fire.
Rika stood up. "Who the hell is that?"
Mizu felt his crystal *react*—not with fear, but with something else.
Recognition.
The figure stepped into the light.
Half of his face was covered by a black mask. The other half… was familiar.
Mizu whispered:
> "That's… that's *me.*"
---
**To be continued…**