... the origin
(the black)
The Kara, from the ancient language meaning "Breath" or "Essence," is the primordial energy that composes all things, visible and invisible. It is neither good nor evil; it simply is. Like a river, it can nourish the earth or drown it, sculpt the rock or shatter it. The ancient scholars divided it into two great currents:
The Celestial Kara, which draws its strength from order, harmony, and creation. It is an energy of preservation, light, and serenity.
The Black Kara, its inverted reflection, which draws its power from chaos, raw emotion, and destruction. It is an energy of change, instinct, and passion.
Two banks of the same river. Two faces of the same coin.
And two ways to manifest it:
Through the body, also called Internal Kara ,allowing one to become a living weapon, to amplify one's physique phenomenally, to have perfect control over one's own body.
Or through the world, also called Elemental Kara, which consists of commanding nature itself. Without Elemental Kara, it is impossible to possess what is called "power."
It has a Source...
The air of the Forest-Library was so pure it seemed to crackle with energy. The eternal song of the waterfall lulled the silence. Raizen sat cross-legged, back straight, eyes closed. The storm within him had calmed since he had cut through the water, leaving behind a deep, quiet lake.
In front of him, Takashi Aomi rose. His shadow stretched, covering that of his student.
Takashi Aomi: "You've learned to channel Kara. But do you even know what it is? Where it comes from?"
Raizen opened his eyes. Doubt painted his gaze.
Raizen: "It's… the Breath. The life energy."
Aomi smirked, a smile devoid of joy, a grimace of pure knowledge.
Takashi Aomi: "Just words. Definitions. But the origin... the origin is a story. A story of blood and sacrifice."
He paused, letting each word weigh in the air.
Takashi Aomi: "It all began over forty years ago. With a seed."
He paused again.
Takashi Aomi: "A primordial seed named the Kara Arkhé."
Raizen's utter incomprehension was palpable. He didn't even ask a question his silence spoke louder than words.
Takashi Aomi: "That seed appeared from the void. Right in the middle of a wedding. The first person to come into contact with it, the first to bear its root mark on her hand, was a woman named Halie Takahashi."
The name "Takahashi" struck Raizen, but he didn't have time to make the connection. Aomi continued, his tone merciless.
Takashi Aomi: "But the Breath was too pure, too powerful for a mere mortal. A few months after her wedding, Halie was consumed by that energy... The seed that had fused with her was devouring her from within, despite her pregnancy. And in her final moments, beside her husband and sister, she gave life."
Aomi's eyes locked onto Raizen's, cold and sharp as shattered glass.
Takashi Aomi: "She gave birth to twins. Those the world now knows as Kuro... and Shiro."
A deathly silence fell. Even the waterfall seemed to hold its breath. The revelation wasn't just information; it was a weight, an anchor that had sunk deep into Raizen's soul, dragging him toward an abyss of truth he had never suspected.
Raizen: "So that's it…"
The thought exploded in his mind. The origin of this power... of this energy... of those two almost divine beings... It was just a seed, the Kara Arkhé.
The camera stays fixed on Raizen's face as he struggles to absorb the revelation. Aomi's voice continues, relentless, a voice-over over the shocked face of his student.
Takashi Aomi (voice-over): "Right after Halie held her children one last time, she took her final breath. And the seed, the Kara Arkhé, emerged from her body as silently as it had entered."
He paused, then continued...
Takashi Aomi: "The twins were identical. Same face. Same faint mark on the forehead a simple dot that longed to grow. The only difference between them... was the color of their hair."
Raizen's gaze was empty, lost in the story. The camera slowly zooms in on him as Aomi's voice continues to paint the scene.
Takashi Aomi: "One had hair as dark as a starless night. The other... hair as white as snow on forbidden peaks."
A silence. Aomi takes a breath, as if recounting the story drained him.
Takashi Aomi: "Without knowing why, driven by a desperate survival instinct, the father tore a piece from his own robe. He wrapped the still-warm seed, entrusted it to Halie's sister, who stood beside him, and handed her the two newborns."
Flashback:
The scene is chaotic. Night has fallen. Cries echo in the distance. The husband, his face ravaged by grief, pushes a terrified young woman.
The Husband (broken but urgent): "Run. Run and don't look back. Take them to the Takahashis. Tell them... tell them everything."
The young woman, the sister-in-law, clutches the two babies and the seed against her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The Husband (grabbing her shoulders): "I don't have much time left. But listen to me... Never give them to my family. Never. Do you hear me?"
Aomi pauses. The image returns to the forest, his face hard as stone.
Takashi Aomi: "She obeyed. She carried the children and the seed with her, fleeing into the darkness of that cursed night."
Final shot of the flashback — brutal and swift. The silhouette of the husband stands alone in the devastated clearing. Another figure, indistinct and fast as lightning, appears behind him. A whistle. A spray of blood in the night.
Takashi Aomi: "And the father's head was severed by an unknown blade."
Raizen: "I never would've imagined that Master Kuro's origins... were so dark."
Aomi looks at him — no pity in his expression, only the cold edge of truth.
Takashi Aomi: "After the aunt explained everything to the family, the Takahashis made a decision. They chose to keep the seed a secret... and to raise what was left of their daughter — her two children."
Quick flashback: Gentle, luminous images. The twins, Kuro and Shiro, growing up together in the Takahashi estate. They are inseparable — playing, laughing, sleeping side by side. Life seems to have resumed its course.
Takashi Aomi: "Life returned to normal. Or so it seemed. Until the day of their fifth birthday."
Aomi's tone hardens. The flashback shifts the atmosphere grows tense. Men with stern faces, bearing the colors of the Mukula clan, stand at the gate of the Takahashi estate.
Takashi Aomi: "The husband's family, the Mukulas, came to claim what they believed was theirs. Their right to one of the children. Despite the Takahashis' fierce resistance, it was Shiro who ended the debate."
In the vision, little Shiro, with white hair, steps forward. He has the face of a child but the gaze of an old soul. He turns to his brother, Kuro, who does not try to stop him.
Takashi Aomi: "He chose to go of his own free will. And Kuro, sensing his brother's resolve, stopped his family from holding him back."
Key Moment:
As Shiro stepped across the threshold to join the Mukulas, a burst of golden light erupted from the room where the seed was kept. The Kara Arkhé, the original seed, cracked in two with a crystalline sound. One half, pure white, appeared in Kuro's palm. The other, black as ink, materialized in Shiro's hand.
Takashi Aomi: "At that exact moment, the Kara Arkhé was divided. And thus, the two halves were separated."
Aomi paused, letting the image of that separation imprint itself in Raizen's mind.
Takashi Aomi: "A day later, both awakened a natural constraint. Shiro could no longer bear contact with water. For Kuro, it was intense heat. But in exchange for that weakness, they inherited a divine gift… That's when the two Karas truly came into existence."
The camera focused on Raizen's eyes, widening as understanding dawned.
Takashi Aomi: "Kuro had gained the ability to transmit his power through what would later be known as the Celestial Kara. And Shiro… through the Black Kara."
Raizen (gasping): "The origin… of the Celestial Kara and the Black Kara…"
Takashi Aomi: "Exactly. But to receive the Kara of either one, a single, absolute condition was required."
Aomi leaned slightly toward Raizen, his voice dropping to a whisper.
Takashi Aomi: "You must be either a being of truly pure heart… or an irredeemably wicked soul. There is no in-between. And if the process fails, the burden is terrible. The receiver loses all memories completely. And the giver… Shiro or Kuro… loses the use of his Kara, paralyzed for an entire day."
A flash of realization struck Raizen. Aomi's words echoed a scene he had lived through, but barely understood at the time.
Raizen's flashback: His own transmission ceremony. He remembers the tense faces of the Zéniths, Hana's worried words, and above all, Kuro's weary yet determined face as he explained the risk, the danger the all-or-nothing of awakening.
Kuro's voice (echoing): "If your heart isn't pure, Raizen, we'll lose you forever… and I'll be left vulnerable. It's a gamble we both take."
Back to the present. Raizen clenched his fists, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He finally understood — the weight of the risk Kuro had taken for him.
Raizen's gaze drifted into emptiness, retracing the threads of his memories in light of this revelation. His fists tightened; the sweat glistened. Takashi Aomi's voice cut through the silence — heavier than ever.
Takashi Aomi: "Since that day, Shiro — who learned to love despair and cruelty among the Mukulas — has sought his brother's half of the Kara Arkhé. His goal is simple: to devour it, reunite the original seed, and rule as absolute master over a humanity he despises."
Raizen lifted his eyes to his master, a burning question on his lips.
Raizen: "Then… why doesn't Master Kuro simply destroy his half? End it all?"
Aomi slowly shook his head, as if explaining a law of the universe itself.
Takashi Aomi: "Because it cannot be destroyed. The only way to annihilate the Kara Arkhé is to reunite it, to make it whole again, and then shatter it. That's why this war exists. It's a race toward unification, fought for two opposite reasons: destruction… or salvation."
A bitter light of understanding crossed Raizen's eyes. He exhaled, a joyless smile curling on his lips.
Raizen: "Yeah… I get it now. Otherwise, it would've been too easy."
Aomi stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The touch was heavy bearing the full weight of their mission.
Takashi Aomi: "It's our duty to protect the people of this world. And to prevent, at any cost, even at the price of our lives, Shiro Takahashi from claiming the other half. That's our duty. That's your duty, Raizen Vithar."
With those words, Aomi withdrew his hand. His body began to fade, merging with the shadows of the Forest-Library. In an instant, he was gone — vanished, leaving behind only the weight of his words and the whisper of the waterfall.
Raizen stood motionless, head bowed. The name "Vithar", his family name, one he never used, echoed within him like a vow.
Fade to black.
Split-screen.
LEFT SIDE:
In a clearing bathed in timeless light. At its center stood the Zénith Temple, a sanctuary of polished stone walls and ancient beams. Inside, Kuro Takahashi, dressed in white kimono, meditated. In his palm rested his half of the Kara Arkhé, a pure white crystal emitting a gentle glow. His face bore serene sadness. He carried the burden of preservation.
RIGHT SIDE:
In the Burning Lair, a subterranean palace of unreal beauty. Hundreds of floating lanterns illuminated marble walls. At the center, Shiro Takahashi sat upon a throne within a magnificent sanctuary. In his palm lay his half of the Kara Arkhé — a shard of obsidian that absorbed all light. He carried the promise of destruction.
The two brothers — perfect and inverted reflections of each other. Two halves of a single soul, divided by fate, ready to clash for the future of the world.
The image froze for a few seconds.
Final fade to black.
END OF CHAPTER 14