The world was healing.
After the massacre of the Second Floor, after the awakening of horrors like Kalygra and the bitter truth of mortality, Earth had fallen quiet—not out of peace, but exhaustion.
Cities were rebuilding. Memorials stood tall in every capital. Names etched in stone. Survivors lit candles for the fallen. Some screamed their pain to the sky. Some could no longer speak at all.
But life, as always, pushed forward.
---
[New Delhi, India – Rajpath Memorial Grounds]
Dev Rajan stood silently among thousands, Meera's fingers laced tightly with his. Rows of coffins—marked and unmarked—lined the grounds. Flags fluttered. A river of mourners passed through, heads bowed.
Neither of them spoke.
Their bond was now unshakable, but their pain was not shared through words. It was in their eyes. In every tightened grip, every heartbeat. Survivors' guilt was cruel, but their promise remained:
To protect what they could. Until the very end.
---
[Vatican City – Elijah & Xenovia]
In the courtyard of ancient cathedrals, the Vatican duo lit incense for the 3,000 they had failed to protect in the mist. Though the devout called it divine trial, Elijah knew better.
"It was a purge," he whispered.
Xenovia glanced at him. "And still… we endured."
---
[Tokyo, Japan – Kaito's Apartment]
The apartment was too quiet.
Kaito Yamada lay sprawled across the sofa, not from laziness, but recovery. The System's regeneration had restored his shattered body—but only once. The pain of battle echoed in his bones.
Aya leaned against the balcony railing, looking over a silent Tokyo.
"They'll hate us," she said softly.
Kaito didn't reply at first.
Then: "They should. It was Japan again."
Aya turned, a flicker of pain in her expression. "Not our fault."
"No. But maybe our fate."
He sat up slowly, brushing hair from his eyes. "This land seems cursed to be chosen."
---
[27 Days After the Second Floor – Global Broadcast]
—DING—
> [System Notification – Global]
[System Update: Gate Coordinates Stabilized]
Next Gate Location: JAPAN – Honshu Region
Gate Activation Countdown: 3 Days
Participating Country: JAPAN
Eligible Participants: All Japanese Awakened Duos
Warning: This Gate cannot be ignored. World Consequences Apply.
This will be the third Gate. The Trial deepens.
---
[World Reaction]
The announcement spread like wildfire.
"Japan again?"
People whispered in every tongue. Some angry, some afraid. But those who knew—the ones who had seen the system's cruelty—understood.
The location was not about chance.
It was about convergence.
Kaito sighed, glancing at Aya. "I guess we're back in the spotlight."
She nodded, stepping closer. "Then let's not waste time."
---
[Later That Day – Mount Fuji Base Camp]
A gathering unlike any other formed in the shadow of Japan's greatest peak.
The top duos—India, Russia, Pakistan, Vatican, China, and more—arrived one by one, not as soldiers, but as family.
A global pact had been born in blood.
They laughed, ate, shared stories from childhoods long forgotten beneath power and trauma. Kaito even cracked a joke so bad Dev actually groaned out loud.
For a night… the world was not dying.
For a night… they were just people again.
---
To Be Continued…