The sun had not yet risen, but the sky shimmered with a pale indigo hue, as if the heavens themselves were holding their breath. Kazuki stood alone on the rooftop of the old shrine overlooking Akiruno, his body still sore from the trial in the Hollow, and his thoughts a tangled thread of memories, pain, and whispers that weren't entirely his own.
A faint wind danced around him, lifting the hem of his black jacket and tugging gently at his hair. The world was still. Quiet. As though it, too, was waiting for something. For him.
He looked down at his hand — the same one that had been engulfed in searing flames only days ago. No burn remained, but the skin held an unnatural warmth, a pulse beneath it that beat just slightly out of sync with his heart. He closed his fist slowly. The warmth surged. The runes etched along his shoulder flickered faintly beneath his shirt — not visible to the eye, but to his senses, like embers beneath skin.
Kazuki wasn't alone in his body anymore. He hadn't been since the night he touched the fallen rune.
And now… now Kaera, the God of War, had begun to speak.
"You hesitate. "
Kazuki blinked. The voice didn't come from outside, nor from his imagination. It vibrated through his bones, calm and deep — with a strange, ancient sorrow.
"I'm not ready, " Kazuki murmured aloud. "Not for what comes next. "
"The fire within you doesn't wait for readiness. It burns regardless. "
He exhaled sharply and stepped back from the edge. "And what if I don't want to burn? "
There was no answer. Just the wind. Just the faint hum of the runes glowing under his skin.
He turned, descending the creaking wooden stairs of the shrine. His steps were slow, deliberate. He wasn't going back to his apartment yet. He couldn't. Not after what happened underground. Not after he saw what he had become — what he could become.
He had left Aoi and Haruki behind without a proper goodbye.
And it hurt.
Not because they didn't understand — but because they did.
As he walked the narrow backstreets of Akiruno, early morning dew clinging to his boots, he passed shuttered shops and sleeping homes. In this stillness, every footstep echoed like a confession. He passed the park bench where he and Aoi once sat beneath sakura blossoms that hadn't yet bloomed this season. She had looked at him then — not as someone strange or broken — but as if she saw him. The real him. Even before he knew who that was.
He hadn't told her the truth yet.
But somehow, she already knew.
Her expression that night, just after the Hollow… it hadn't been of fear. It had been recognition.
Acceptance.
A flicker of warmth surged in his chest. Aoi. If there was one person in the world he couldn't lie to anymore, it was her.
But that meant protecting her. Keeping her away from the war he was now a part of — a war he hadn't chosen.
Back at the edge of the forest near the shrine, the air changed. The temperature dropped, and a faint shimmer pulsed between the trees. He knew that sensation now — it was how the goddess made her presence known.
He turned, and she appeared.
Not from the shadows. Not in a burst of divine light. Just… there. As if the forest had exhaled and revealed her.
Tall, elegant, with hair like silver fire cascading down her back, she stood barefoot on the earth. Her robes flowed like liquid starlight, and in her eyes burned the wisdom of eternity — and a flicker of pain that never quite faded.
"Kaera is awake, " she said, her voice like wind over ancient stones.
Kazuki nodded. "He speaks in fragments. Emotions. Warnings. "
"He will do more than speak soon. " She stepped closer. "You are changing, Kazuki. Each time you draw on his power, you invite his essence deeper into your soul. "
"I know. "
"And yet you continue. "
"I don't have a choice, " he replied, lifting his eyes to meet hers. "Not if I want to protect them. "
"The power of gods is not meant to protect the weak, " she said softly. "It was forged to end wars. To destroy monsters. To make the world bleed for its sins. "
"I'm not him, " Kazuki said through clenched teeth.
"No, " she whispered. "But you are what remains of him. His vessel. His flame. And you will have to choose — whether to carry his legacy, or become consumed by it. "
She turned then, lifting a hand. A single flame sparked between her fingers — a pale blue flicker that hovered in the air like a breath held too long.
"This, " she said, "is not Kaera's flame. It is mine. And if you are to master what lies ahead… then your training begins now. "
Kazuki's breath caught.
"I thought you said I wasn't ready. "
"You're not, " she said. "But neither was he. "
The flame surged. The ground trembled beneath them. And in the distance, something stirred — a pulse in the dark, as if something ancient had begun to wake.
Another Hollow? Kazuki's heart pounded.
"No, " she said, as if reading his thoughts. "This one does not hide in shadows. This one hunts. "
Kazuki stepped forward, the runes along his arm glowing faintly, the voice of Kaera whispering at the edge of his mind.
"Then let it come. "
Kazuki stood in silence before the woman who claimed to be a goddess—his supposed mentor. Her presence alone was enough to bend the air around her. She exuded calmness and control, but there was something behind her eyes. Not just power, but sorrow. A heavy, ancient grief.
She hovered above the moss-covered ground without touching it, her bare feet suspended just inches above the earth. Her long silver hair floated around her shoulders like drifting mist, and her robe, a mixture of crimson and dusk-blue threads, shimmered with divine energy. Gold etchings pulsed softly across her sleeves like living runes. She was serene, timeless—and entirely terrifying.
"You hesitate, " she said finally, her voice neither soft nor stern. It simply was—resonant, ethereal, echoing with countless centuries.
Kazuki swallowed, his throat dry. "I don't know what you expect of me. "
The goddess tilted her head ever so slightly. "Expectation is a human notion. I don't expect. I demand. There is no room for fear in what you are now becoming. "
Kazuki took a cautious step forward. "I didn't choose this. The runa—Kaer's power—it came to me without warning. "
"You speak as if the flame chose wrong, " she replied. "But it did not. It never does. "
"I don't even know who you are, " he said, trying not to sound accusatory. "You speak as if you've been waiting for this moment… for me. "
"I have. " She descended lightly to the ground, her gaze locked on his. "I am Solena. Once worshipped as the Goddess of Valor. Once loved by the god whose power now burns inside you. "
Kazuki's eyes widened. "…Kaer? "
She nodded. "He was not just a god of war, but of loyalty, of sacrifice. When the world faced destruction, he gave everything. And I lost him. " Her voice cracked subtly at the edges, though her composure didn't waver. "I wandered this world for eons, seeking the vessel that would carry his legacy. When I saw the runa awaken in your body… I knew. "
Kazuki's thoughts spun. This wasn't just about fighting monsters. There was a deeper war—older than time—and he was now its latest soldier.
"You said you'd train me. What does that mean, exactly? "
Solena raised a hand. The forest around them responded. Roots twisted upward, forming a circle of living wood. The air shimmered.
"It means pain. Transformation. Suffering. And clarity. "
Flames sparked to life between them, blue and gold, licking the ground without consuming it. Kazuki flinched, feeling the heat prickle his skin even from meters away.
"The power inside you is not fully awakened. You've seen shadows of it, flickers in combat. But Kaer's might is not something granted freely. It tests you. "
The flames shot upward, forming a wall between them.
"You must survive the first trial. "
Kazuki clenched his fists. "What kind of trial? "
Solena's voice came through the fire. "You will face your shadow. Not the enemy you fight in the world—but the one you fight in your heart. "
A pulse ran through the ground. The sky overhead dimmed, even though it was only late afternoon. Clouds twisted, unnatural.
A figure stepped from the other side of the fire. Identical to Kazuki.
But with one difference.
His right eye blazed red, and the right side of his body was already consumed by Kaer's dark flame. Unlike Kazuki's partial transformations, this version looked complete—like a perfected version of what Kazuki feared becoming.
Kazuki stumbled back, a cold sweat running down his spine. "What is this? "
"Your darkness, " Solena's voice echoed. "Your fear of losing control. Of hurting those you care about. Of becoming the very monster you try to hide. "
The doppelgänger smirked. "You try to act like you're still human. But you're not. Not anymore. "
Kazuki's heartbeat roared in his ears.
He launched forward.
Kazuki's fist collided with the jaw of his shadow—but the figure didn't even flinch. Instead, it tilted its head, eyes glowing brighter, a mocking grin tugging at the corner of its lips.
"Is that all you've got? " the shadow rasped, voice like Kazuki's, only distorted, darker, tinged with venom.
Kazuki recoiled, instinctively stepping back as his twin lunged forward. Their movements mirrored each other—same speed, same force, same reflex. He blocked a punch, only to receive a spinning kick to the ribs that sent him skidding across the grass.
Dust rose.
Kazuki coughed and rolled to his feet. His side throbbed, pain pulsing with each breath.
This wasn't like any fight he had experienced before. The shadow wasn't just stronger—it knew him. Every hesitation, every doubt, every internal crack was being exploited.
"You hold back because you're afraid, " the shadow said, pacing like a predator. "Afraid of what happens when you stop pretending to be normal. When you stop lying to yourself. "
"Shut up, " Kazuki hissed, summoning the runa's flame to his palm. It flickered, hesitant—like his own conviction.
The shadow raised its hand, and black fire erupted like a storm, wild and unrelenting. It clashed with Kazuki's weaker flame, swallowing it whole and forcing him to the ground.
"You think you can protect Aoi like this? " the shadow sneered. "You'll get her killed. Just like you got your parents killed. "
The words struck like daggers. Kazuki froze.
"They died because of chance, " he growled.
"They died because you were weak. "
The forest blurred. Rage boiled. The memory of his parents' faces—fading into the smoke of a burning car, the sound of metal crunching, the screaming silence that followed—surged up from within.
And with it, fire.
Kazuki roared.
Flame surged from his body—not just from his arm but his chest, his legs, his back. Black and crimson, edged in violet. The right side of his body ignited once more, but this time, the runes stretched across his neck and jaw, pulsing with divine rhythm.
His eyes turned crimson.
"You're not me, " he spat, charging forward.
They clashed again—blow for blow, flame for flame. The shadow no longer held the upper hand. Kazuki's strikes were precise, his movements fluid, his fear eclipsed by sheer will.
But the shadow grinned, even while bleeding.
"You're only tapping into a fraction of what lies beneath. The real monster… still sleeps. "
With a final strike, Kazuki drove his palm into the chest of the shadow, unleashing a surge of divine fire. The mirror image screamed—not in pain, but in laughter—before dissolving into ash.
The forest fell still.
Kazuki dropped to his knees, chest heaving.
Solena appeared behind him, her expression unreadable.
"You passed, " she said simply.
He looked up, eyes still glowing faintly. "That thing… it's still part of me. "
"Yes, " she replied. "But now, you know its name. "
He furrowed his brow. "Its name? "
"The part of Kaer that was never tamed. The flame without a master. Until now. "
Kazuki slowly stood, hands shaking. "So what now? "
Solena's gaze burned through him. "Now… we begin the real training. "
The air still shimmered with the remnants of divine fire as Kazuki followed Solena deeper into the ancient forest. The place felt suspended in time—branches arched like cathedral ceilings, and glowing particles drifted in the shadows like lost fireflies. With every step, the pain in his muscles reminded him that what he had just faced was no dream.
Solena moved ahead of him like a ghost, her robe brushing nothing, her silver hair reflecting the faint light in strands of liquid moonlight. She hadn't said a word since the trial ended.
Kazuki finally broke the silence. "Was that… always inside me? "
Solena slowed but didn't turn. "No. That was inside Kaer—and now inside you. Your soul merely acts as the crucible. "
He exhaled. "It felt like it wanted to tear me apart. "
"It did, " she said simply. "And it will try again, every time you falter. You don't tame fire by fearing it, Kazuki. You master it by surviving its burn. "
Her words echoed with weight.
They reached a clearing ringed by towering stones, each etched with ancient glyphs that glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat. In the center stood a large stone pedestal, and upon it—an obsidian weapon, curved and jagged, glowing faintly like it was forged from volcanic glass.
Kazuki's breath caught.
The sword.
"You're not ready for it yet, " Solena said before he could move. "But you will be. "
He frowned. "Why show it to me, then? "
"To remind you of what awaits, " she said. "And what must be earned. "
Kazuki stared at the blade. In it, he saw flickers of destruction. Cities burning. Shadows crawling. A figure—himself—standing atop a battlefield soaked in fire and blood.
He looked away.
Solena turned toward him. "Training begins tomorrow. Tonight, you rest. No more battles, no more questions. "
"Where? " he asked.
Solena raised a hand. A small shelter shimmered into existence beside the stones—wooden walls, warm light inside, surrounded by the safety of glowing wards.
"I may be a goddess, " she said with a faint smile, "but even gods understand fatigue. "
Kazuki smirked, barely. "You don't seem like someone who rests often. "
She looked at him then, truly looked—and for a moment, there was something human in her expression. Not divine. Not eternal. Just lonely.
"I've waited a long time for someone who could survive the first trial, " she said. "I'll rest when the world no longer needs saving. "
He nodded, unsure what to say.
As he entered the shelter, the door whispered shut behind him. The inside was warm, filled with soft fabrics, cushions, and scents of herbs and cedarwood. He sat down, still catching his breath, his body finally succumbing to exhaustion.
And then he saw it.
Lying on a small wooden table, next to a flask of water and a folded blanket—
A single blue flower.
Aoi's favorite kind.
His heart stuttered.
He touched the petals, and a memory surfaced—her voice, laughing under the sakura trees at school, sunlight dancing on her hair. That fragile moment of warmth in a world spiraling into chaos.
Kazuki clenched the blanket in his fists.
"I'll come back, " he whispered to the memory. "I have to. "
At dawn, the forest groaned awake with the sounds of ancient life—rustling branches, slow drips of dew, and the distant caws of shadowbirds circling the misty canopy. The sky above the valley blushed with the first fire of morning. But within the stone-ringed glade, warmth had nothing to do with sunlight.
Kazuki stood barefoot in the clearing, his shirt off, breath fogging the cool air. The marks of the runa still pulsed on his right side—deep obsidian lines tracing his ribs, arm, and collarbone like molten veins etched into flesh.
Solena stood a few meters from him, arms crossed.
"No sword. No divine blessing. Just you, your body, and your pain, " she said calmly. "Let's begin. "
The first strike came without warning.
Solena moved like lightning—her palm slamming into his chest, sending him skidding backward. He barely had time to brace before she appeared behind him, sweeping his legs from under him and slamming his back to the ground.
Kazuki gasped, but no time for air.
She yanked him up again by the collar.
"You think battle is about power? " she snapped. "It's about endurance. It's about choosing to rise when your bones scream no. "
Another strike. His ribs ached.
He tried to fight back. He swung—a punch, then a kick. She dodged both effortlessly and countered with a roundhouse that clipped his shoulder, making him stagger.
Again.
Again.
The sun rose slowly over the glade, but to Kazuki, time blurred into a blur of motion, sweat, dirt, and fire. His arms grew heavy. His legs trembled. But each time he fell, Solena stood over him like an unrelenting force of nature.
"You're holding back, " she growled. "Why? "
Kazuki coughed. "Because… you're not the enemy. "
Solena knelt, grabbing his chin. Her eyes bored into his. "And the enemy will show you mercy? "
Silence.
"Again, " she commanded.
And he rose.
This time, he didn't think. He moved.
He dodged her first strike, barely, and spun with a counter elbow. She caught it, but a spark ignited in her gaze.
"Better. "
They clashed again. Her strikes were surgical, but now he adapted—anticipating, adjusting. He still got hit, but he stayed standing longer. His muscles began learning—pain as teacher, instinct as guide.
At one point, he managed to land a glancing blow to her side. She smiled.
"Good, " she said. "Now take your shirt off. "
He blinked. "What? "
"I need to see how far the runa has spread. "
Still panting, Kazuki peeled off the torn remains of his shirt. Solena stepped closer, running her hand just above his skin, not touching, as if reading heat. The obsidian runes had spread slightly—now curling up his neck, branching into his shoulder blade, and edging toward his heart.
"Too fast, " she murmured.
Kazuki tensed. "Is that bad? "
"It means your bond with Kaer is deepening rapidly. His essence is responding to your awakening. But if you lose control…"
She didn't finish the sentence.
She stepped back and raised her hand. Flame erupted from her palm—pale white fire, unlike anything Kazuki had seen. It hovered in the air like living silk.
"This is divine fire, " she said. "You've used fragments of it. But to truly wield it… you must become one with it. "
Kazuki's brows furrowed. "How? "
Solena walked toward him, fire still dancing in her hand.
"Let it burn you. "
Without another word, she pressed the fire to his chest.
Kazuki screamed.
It wasn't pain like anything he'd ever known—not burning, not tearing, but a sensation of being unmade. Like memories, doubts, and regrets were being stripped from his soul.
He dropped to his knees.
And still, she held the fire there.
Until—
Silence.
He looked up. The flame was gone. But on his chest, where it had touched—another rune had appeared. Smaller, more intricate. A sigil of flame within a circle.
Solena nodded slowly.
"You survived the first purification, " she said. "There will be more. "
Kazuki trembled but stood.
He looked her in the eyes. "Then I'll survive those too. "
Her lips curved faintly. "We'll see. "
That night, long after the training had ended and his aching body found fleeting rest beneath the open sky, Kazuki dreamt.
But it wasn't a dream.
It was a memory.
Not his own.
He stood upon a scorched battlefield beneath a blood-red sky. The air was heavy with the scent of ash and iron. The horizon cracked with thunder, and the ground was littered with the remnants of broken weapons and fallen giants—some still smoldering, their forms too large, too otherworldly to be human.
In the center of it all stood a man.
No, not a man—something more.
He wore a long black mantle, half-burned at the hem. Golden markings glowed across his muscular arms, echoing the same sigils that now scarred Kazuki's body. His eyes blazed not with rage, but with weary determination.
Kaer.
The God of War.
But this was not his triumph.
This was his end.
Around him, divine beings fell. A woman with wings of pure light collapsed to her knees, her blood soaking into the earth like molten gold. Beside her, a serpent-headed warrior crumbled into dust. The world was collapsing.
Kaer stood alone.
His sword—a colossal, twisted black blade—was embedded in the heart of a monstrous entity whose body still pulsed with corrupted energy. Even in death, the creature radiated hatred. A shadow-born god, nameless and eternal.
Kaer removed the sword, turned toward the sky, and shouted words that shook the heavens—ancient, primal, incomprehensible. But Kazuki felt their meaning.
A sacrifice.
A sealing.
A promise.
Kaer's body began to break—his skin cracking with light, fragments of divine essence exploding outward, streaking across the skies like falling stars. One final flare, brighter than anything Kazuki had ever seen, erupted from his heart… and then—
Darkness.
Silence.
Cold.
Kazuki gasped as he awoke, sweat-soaked and trembling. His chest burned—not from the training, but from the rune etched into him by Solena's divine flame. It pulsed, like a second heartbeat.
He sat up.
Solena was nearby, sitting on a stone beneath the trees, eyes half-closed in meditation. She opened them slowly when he stirred.
"You saw it, " she said softly, not a question.
Kazuki nodded. "The end… of Kaer. "
She looked away for a moment, then back at him, her expression unreadable. "He was the last to fall. But not because he was the strongest. He survived long enough to end it. That was his punishment. "
Kazuki's voice was hoarse. "He… sacrificed everything. "
"He chose to seal the remnants of the enemy into himself. And then…" she gestured to Kazuki, "into you. "
Silence passed between them.
Then Kazuki asked, "Who was she? "
Solena blinked. "What? "
"The woman in the vision. With wings of light. She died before Kaer… and his face—he looked—" He hesitated. "He looked like he'd lost everything. "
Solena didn't answer immediately. She stood, walking slowly toward the fire.
"She was the Goddess of Dawn, " she said. "His… companion. His hope. "
A pause.
"…And my sister. "
Kazuki froze.
The flames crackled between them.
Solena continued, voice like falling snow. "We were both born of the same divine breath. But while I watched the heavens, she walked beside Kaer. She loved him… and he loved her. "
Her hands clenched into fists.
"He couldn't save her. "
Kazuki rose slowly, unsure of what to say. The weight of history bore down on him—ancient love, loss, war. It wasn't just power he carried. It was memory. Pain.
Legacy.
"Why me? " he whispered. "Why choose someone like me for this? "
Solena looked at him now, truly looked. "Because you're human. And in all the divine realms, only mortals carry both the strength to destroy… and the will to protect. "
She stepped closer.
"You think this is a curse. But Kaer believed in you—before you were born, before you even touched that runa. His will lingered. And now it lives in you. "
Kazuki swallowed hard.
A gust of wind passed through the trees, scattering ash from the campfire. Above, the stars shimmered in the sky, ancient witnesses to a story repeating itself.
"What happens now? " he asked.
Solena's expression hardened.
"Now we begin the real training. No more games. No more hesitation. "
She reached into the air—and light coalesced into a blade. Long, slender, humming with energy. A divine training weapon.
And handed it to him.
Kazuki took it.
It felt warm. Familiar. Alive.
"From this point forward, " Solena said, "you no longer train as a vessel. "
She locked eyes with him.
"You train as a god. "
The sky above the forgotten shrine had deepened into a bruised indigo, shadows gathering thick as velvet across the moss-covered stone. Wind stirred through the broken archways like whispers of something ancient, rustling the tattered fabric that hung from the remnants of banners long since forgotten.
Kazuki stood shirtless in the center of a circular courtyard carved from obsidian stone. His chest rose and fell with each breath, muscles tense, sweat glistening under the cold breath of the mountain air. The silence around him was absolute — not the absence of noise, but a weight that pressed in from all directions. The stillness before a storm.
Soleina stood several paces away, arms crossed, her silver hair swept behind her like a comet's tail. She wasn't dressed as a goddess now — no radiant robes or celestial glow. Instead, she wore black training attire, loose yet tightly bound at her waist, her bare feet planted firmly against the cold stone. Her golden eyes watched him without mercy, like fire honed to a blade.
"You're trembling, " she said at last.
Kazuki gritted his teeth. "I'm not. "
"You are, " she replied calmly. "Not from fear of pain… but fear of who you're becoming. "
His throat was dry. "I'm ready. "
Soleina stepped forward, the courtyard responding with a tremor beneath her feet. With a wave of her hand, glowing runes lit up the obsidian circle around them. Each one pulsed with ancient energy — the remnants of the same divine script that now lived inside Kazuki's body.
"You want to use power you barely understand. Then understand this first. " Her tone sharpened. "Every god who ever walked this world bled in this place. "
She raised a hand — and Kazuki's body reacted before he could think. The runes on his shoulder flared, his skin tightening as darkness crawled up his right side like smoke twisting through his veins.
The first strike came like lightning.
A flash — Soleina's palm to his chest — and Kazuki flew backward, crashing into a pillar. The stone cracked with the impact. He gasped, pain flaring through his ribs.
"You're not channeling it, " Soleina called, approaching with slow steps. "You're letting it control you. "
Kazuki spat blood to the side, forcing himself up. "Then teach me. "
Soleina didn't smile. She vanished — or so it seemed — only to reappear behind him, striking with the side of her foot. He ducked by instinct, rolled, and fired a pulse of dark energy from his hand. It missed.
"Your instincts are improving, " she said. "But instincts won't save you from what's coming. "
They clashed again — power versus precision. Kazuki's movements were raw, driven by a force inside him that hadn't yet found form. Soleina's were elegant, devastating, a dance born from centuries of war. She didn't hold back.
He fell again. And again.
Pain blurred into exhaustion, but something was changing. Each time Kazuki rose, the runes burned brighter. The darkness on his skin pulsed — not like a curse, but like armor forging itself in fire.
And then it happened.
Soleina struck him square in the chest, sending him flying into the air — but instead of falling, Kazuki stopped mid-air. Gravity bent. The runes across his body ignited fully, and his right arm became enveloped in a dense, smoky gauntlet of swirling black flame. His eye — the one that turned red — glowed fiercely.
Soleina stopped.
In the space between them, time seemed to slow.
"Good, " she whispered. "Now speak its name. "
Kazuki landed lightly, the darkness wrapping around him like a living cloak. He looked at his hand, his voice low, rough.
"…Kaer. "
The courtyard trembled.
Far below, in the world of mortals, something ancient stirred.
—
In the dormitory at the edge of Akiruno, Aoi sat on her bed, hugging her knees. The sky was turning black, and Kazuki hadn't returned.
She stared out the window, eyes distant. "Where are you…"
Haruki sat across from her, quiet for once. He held a piece of cloth — the one Kazuki had used to tie a bouquet of flowers days earlier. His fingers clenched around it.
"I think… he's changing, " Haruki said at last.
Aoi looked at him. "You felt it too? "
Haruki nodded. "That thing we fought underground… and what came after. It wasn't human. But it was Kazuki. "
Aoi's voice broke. "I saw his eyes. "
Silence fell again.
In that stillness, they both felt it — a distant pulse. Like thunder, but from somewhere deeper. A heart beating not in a chest… but in the fabric of the world.
Haruki stood. "We need to find him. "
Aoi clenched her fists. "We will. "
Kazuki stood still in the middle of the flame-scorched clearing, his breathing slow and controlled. Ash drifted like snow, swirling around him, but none of it touched his skin anymore. It was as if the world had finally acknowledged his place within it, or rather… above it.
The pain had faded, but its memory lingered in his bones — not as weakness, but as clarity. His right hand, once trembling, now held the training blade with calm certainty. Across from him, Soleina watched in silence, her golden eyes narrowed in deep concentration.
"You've begun to listen, " she said finally, breaking the silence that had stretched like the sky overhead.
Kazuki turned to her, his expression unreadable but centered.
"I'm done running, " he said. "From you. From myself. From… Kaer. "
At the name, the ground trembled faintly. The flame that curled at his feet seemed to bow, recognizing its master's awakening.
Soleina's lips curved faintly. "Then it's time. "
She raised her hand slowly. The air shimmered.
A deep, vibrating hum erupted from the earth, and from it, a symbol emerged — the runic sigil of Kaer — no longer carved on stone or scarred into his skin, but manifesting in light itself. It hovered in the air before Kazuki, pulsing with every breath he took.
"You carry his soul, " Soleina whispered, walking slowly around him. "But your flesh, your will, your choices… they are yours. From this point on, Kazuki, you're not merely a vessel. You are the bearer. "
Flames rose in a spiral around him, not to consume, but to cloak. The fire bent at his knees, snaked up his back, and traced down his arms, forming black, ethereal armor — jagged, divine, and otherworldly. It didn't weigh him down; it lifted him.
The gauntlet on his right hand tightened, glowing crimson at the fingertips. The curved mark on his shoulder split into fractal veins of red and black energy.
And then — the sword.
Not conjured. Not forged.
But remembered.
It emerged from the shadows of his right hand like a living thought. Black steel, curved in wicked elegance, as if it had waited for centuries in the folds of time to return to its wielder. The sword pulsed once, then fell silent in his grip.
The flame ceased. The wind stopped. Time, for a brief second, knelt before him.
Soleina's voice cut through the moment. "What will you call it? "
Kazuki looked down at the sword. His reflection danced along its edge — not the boy from weeks ago, but the one who had been broken, reforged, and reborn.
He whispered, "Zetsugan. "
"The Eye of Ending…" Soleina said. "Fitting. It is a blade made to cut through fate. "
He looked at her. "Then I'll use it to write a new one. "
Their eyes met. There was no more need for commands. No tests. Soleina took a step back and lowered her arms.
"Then your training here… is complete. "
A stillness settled over them.
But even as silence reigned, a distant roar echoed through the valley — not from the forest, nor the sky. But from elsewhere. A ripple in reality itself. It was the warning of what was to come.
Soleina's tone shifted, her gaze sharp. "They've sensed it — the awakening. Your flame has stirred what should have remained dormant. "
Kazuki's expression didn't falter. He stared into the horizon, blade in hand.
"Then let them come. "
He walked past her, shoulders squared. Each step left behind scorched impressions of his will. The mountains ahead trembled with something ancient, but Kazuki didn't look back.
He didn't need to.
Because now, finally…
He was ready.