—
The child didn't move.
Wind swept across the broken skyline as Ayame knelt beside the unconscious boy, fingers trembling. His skin glowed faintly, pulsing with a soft blue hue—just like Hoshiro's aura.
Kazuki approached slowly, checking his gear. "Time travel? Clone? Or did that thing… split you?"
Hoshiro stared, mask hanging from one hand. "I don't know. But I felt something when we struck the core. Like… it unraveled something inside me. A memory. A truth I wasn't ready for."
The boy stirred, eyes fluttering open—bright blue and terrified. He looked straight at Hoshiro, whispering:
"Run… before *they* come."
A sudden rumble split the silence. From the shadows of the fractured skyline, cloaked figures emerged—dozens of them, wearing symbols Hoshiro had seen once before.
"Crimson Syndicate," Ayame said grimly. "But they're different. Stronger."
"No," Hoshiro replied, stepping in front of the boy. "These aren't the ones we fought before. These… are from the *future*."
—
And somewhere deep beneath Tokyo, alarms began to sound.
The real war was only beginning.
—