The forest breeze swept through the trees, rustling the leaves effortlessly. A couple of days had passed, and the group seemed to be in better shape. Everyone had taken on a specific role: Amber was in charge of finding food in the forest, Yusuke gathered useful materials from the places they traveled through, and Hayase handled preparing the meals.
Amber sighed in relief and stretched.
"It sure is hot out here, isn't it, boys?" she said as she bent down to adjust her boots.
"Yeah, now imagine being out here with no air conditioning? That's a total bummer…" Hayase replied.
"I still don't get how people live out here," Yusuke said, jumping into the conversation. "Especially when this forest is supposed to be never-ending! I mean, it's cool I managed to find us some cutting tools, but... it's still weird."
"Apparently, there was a man who managed to escape this cursed nightmare forest," Amber said. "Although I never confirmed it—I only saw something about it on the news a couple of years ago."
She walked over with a bucket of fish and handed it to Hayase, who was standing near the riverbank.
"Be a good boy and prep these for us," she teased.
"Right away… ma'am," Hayase said, rolling his eyes.
"It never ceases to amaze me how much you put up with her, big brother," Yusuke muttered.
As the sun began to set, Amber excused herself and headed toward the opposite side of the river to bathe.
"I know you wanna peek… Hay-Hay," Yusuke said with a smug grin.
Hayase froze. "N-No! Of course not! It's Amber we're talking about—I can't think of her that way!"
"Uh-huh… yeah, well, you're not exactly a saint, Hayase! I know what kind of man you are!"
Yusuke burst out laughing.
"What do you mean, 'what kind of man I am?!' Have you lost your damn mind?!"
"I know what I saw on your computer, Pervy-se!" Yusuke shouted. "WHAT I SAW WAS FAR FROM HOLY!!! I SAW IT!!!"
"DUDE, THAT WAS A ONE-TIME THING, OKAY!? I SWEAR, IT ONLY HAPPENED ONCE, AND I WAS LIKE—TWELVE!"
"OH, YES! YES! YOU ADMITTED IT! NOW TURN AROUND AND PEEK!!"
"Peek at who now?" a voice said coolly from behind them.
The boys froze—and slowly turned around to see Amber standing there, arms crossed.
"Oh, Amber—"
Boink!
"OW! That was mean!" Yusuke whined, rubbing his head.
"Y-Yeah…" Hayase echoed, embarrassed.
Suddenly, a snap echoed from deeper in the woods. The trio looked up to see a group of six grown men emerging from the trees, each holding knives.
"We're just doing what we have to, kids," one of the men said darkly. "It doesn't have to be this way."
"Get behind me—now!" Amber shouted.
"Grab anything you can to defend yourselves!"
"My, my, my… pretty girl," said the fattest of the group, licking his lips. "Do you really think you stand a chance against us?"
Amber didn't hesitate. She launched a blazing fireball toward the group—but to her shock, one of the men countered it with a water bullet.
"We're in trouble," she muttered. "They know Seikai too…"
The group split. Four of the attackers charged at Yusuke and Hayase, blades flashing, cutting the boys in the chaos.
Amber focused on the other two, unleashing fiery blasts—but the enemies retaliated with powerful water techniques.
The trio fought with everything they had. It was a life-or-death battle, and they knew it.
"Gah!" Yusuke cried out.
One of the men plunged his blade into Yusuke's stomach, causing him to collapse.
"One down. Two to go!" the man snarled.
"Y-Yusuke!" Hayase screamed.
Amber looked back—but that second of distraction was enough. The two water-users blasted her with forceful waves, slamming her into a nearby tree.
"AMBER!!" Hayase shouted.
"One left," said a man, stepping toward him with a menacing grin.
They closed in on Hayase, laughing cruelly.
"Listen, kid… you knew what you were getting into, messing with our territory. Now, you're gonna pay."
One of them raised his blade high above Hayase.
The wind howled—then sliced.
Wind Style: Razor Winds!
Two strikes of cutting wind slammed down, knocking the attacker's blade from his hand. Everyone turned to see a tall, masked man standing atop a nearby tree, cloaked in mystery.
"Your territory?" the cloaked figure scoffed. "You're mistaken. This isn't your land, buckaroo."
The men shouted in fury and charged at him, but he dodged with impossible speed, striking them down one by one.
The Seikai users prepared more water bullets—but were stunned to see their own attacks redirected back toward them.
Chaos erupted.
The cloaked man handled the entire group with ease. But just as victory seemed near, one of the wounded enemies reached for his blade—
Fire Style: Fire Ring!
Amber appeared, flames blazing, and incinerated the man in one clean strike. The cloaked man nodded at her and stepped beside her.
"Are you ready, kid?" he asked in a deep voice.
"More than ever," Amber replied fiercely.
Yusuke clutched his bleeding wound as Hayase rushed to help him. As Yusuke blinked through the pain, he saw Amber and the cloaked warrior standing side by side, defending them.
In that moment, he made a promise to himself:
One day, I'll fight beside someone strong, too…
"Yusuke!! Yusuke, wake up!!" Hayase cried.
Slash!
A blade pierced through Hayase's stomach.
He turned—eyes wide—to see the same man Amber had burned. Somehow… he was still alive.
"O-One l-last o-one…" the man wheezed, blood pouring from his mouth.
Hayase's vision blurred.
He collapsed—and awoke in blinding light.
He was back in the mysterious realm again.
But how?!
"It's been a while, Hayase Souta," said a familiar voice.
"Kimiko?" he asked.
Kimiko appeared before him—smaller than last time. Though still taller than him, her form had shrunk noticeably.
"Why am I here again? Last time, it was just a dream…"
"I saw everything," she said gently. "Through your eyes."
"What… you can see through my eyes?"
"I can see and feel what you feel, depending on what you do," she replied. "So yes—I can."
Hayase stepped forward. "Kimiko… when I called your name back there—did you have something to do with saving us?"
Kimiko looked down solemnly.
"He was a tough opponent. I managed to hold him back… but it drained my Seikai. That's why I'm smaller now."
"Thank you… Kimiko. You saved me."
"No, Hayase. Thank us. Without you, I wouldn't exist. I'd have no one to talk to, no one to fight with."
She stepped closer, raising her hand.
"Let's protect each other. Together, we'll never be alone, Hayase Souta. I'll give you my strength—and you'll give me yours. So… let us become one."
Hayase raised his hand and placed it in hers.
"Let us be one, Kimiko," he said, his eyes full of resolve.
As the palace faded away, so did Kimiko. But before she vanished completely, her voice echoed in his mind:
"I have a good feeling about that cloaked man…"