The sound of battle was distant at first.
A dull hum beneath the ringing in his ears.
Then came the memory
Bakuza's fist, wreathed in black flame, tearing through the air like a comet.
The impact.
The silence.
Kenji's body twitched.
Dust clung to his lips as his breath dragged itself back from the void.
For a moment, there was only darkness.
Then air.
The scent of scorched stone and lightning.
The faint tremor of Shinrei pressure shaking the ground.
He opened his eyes.
And the sky was burning.
Flame pillars from Kaen's duel with Bakuza painted the horizon crimson.
Wind currents twisted in chaos, disturbed by Khael's dragon aura and Rael's radiant Judicator storm.
The world itself was coming apart and he had been lying useless in the dirt.
Kenji pushed himself up, spitting blood.
"…Bastard."
His voice cracked, half a snarl, half a vow.
You think you can just knock me out and erase me from the fight?
