Reiji sat alone in his room once again. The dorm lights were dim, and the air was heavy with the faint scent of sweat. He had retreated right after the incident at the training grounds, ignoring everyone's surprised looks. The others were too stunned to stop him. Perhaps, deep down, they knew he needed to be alone.
Now seated cross-legged on his bed, Reiji hunched over a battered notebook. Its pages were filled with frantic scribbles of diagrams depicting energy flow arrows, and hastily written equations. The rhythmic scratching of his pen was the only sound in the room.
Decoding the physics behind his technique reversal was proving to be far more exhausting than he had anticipated. Cursed energy often defied logic, but that didn't stop Reiji from trying to make sense of it.
He sighed deeply, tapping the pen against his forehead.
"I'm not sure about this… but this is the only plausible outcome."
Reiji had learned long ago that his cursed technique, Blood Manipulation, operated at a far smaller scale than it appeared. Most sorcerers controlled the macroscopic flow of energy and matter, but Reiji's manipulation, brushed dangerously close to the atomic level. It was certainly not directly; he couldn't move atoms like sand… but his technique influenced the forces between them.
And now, after his technique's mysterious reversal, everything had flipped: vectors, polarities, even atomic vibrations.
He frowned, sketching a rough model of a molecule and crossing arrows around it.
"This should be impossible in nature," he muttered. "But then again… cursed energy never follows nature's rules."
He flipped the page and began writing faster, thoughts racing ahead of his hand. The more he thought about it, the clearer the terrifying implications became.
When the reversal occurred, every electromagnetic field… every atomic interaction, had been forcibly inverted. Charges and dipoles had flipped orientation in less than a heartbeat, generating enormous transient currents and magnetic stress. Bonds that normally held matter together were suddenly forced in the opposite direction of their restoring forces, compressing energy instead of releasing it.
The results were catastrophic.
At the microscopic level, those reversed forces would shatter molecular structures, collapse biological tissue, and generate explosive bursts of heat. The momentary chaos would ionize the surrounding matter, creating plasma, a raw, unstable energy that could vaporize anything nearby in an instant.
He paused, realizing his hands trembling slightly. The pen clattered onto the bed.
"So that's what happened back there…" he whispered.
The scene replayed in his mind, the blinding flash, the pressure, the moment when his blood rushed with power far beyond what he'd ever wielded. The realization sent a faint chill crawling down his spine.
'If I can refine this…' he thought, smirking nervously.
'If I can manage to control this… the output could rival even Special Grades.'
He leaned back against the wall, the notebook resting loosely in his lap. For a moment, he almost allowed himself to feel pride. The scale of what he had achieved, was beyond comprehension. Reiji had created a reaction that broke natural law.
But the satisfaction didn't last.
The memory of the green-scaled hand that tore through his body as if he were paper… returned in full force to haunt him. The smile on his lips faded, replaced by something darker.
His fingers clenched around the notebook.
"Even he…" Reiji muttered, his voice trembling between defiance and despair. "Even he shouldn't be able to walk away from this unscathed."
He stared at his palm; it was pale, and still faintly trembling. His reflection in the window stared back at him.
Was this enlightenment? Or prelude to madness?
He really could not tell anymore.
His cursed energy flared subtly, as if responding to the emotional spike.
He picked up the pen again, slowly returning to the page. His handwriting grew neater, more deliberate. He added a single line, to summarize his discovery in words that were almost poetic:
"To invert the nature of blood is to rewrite the laws of nature itself. And in the moment of inversion, destruction is unleashed."
Reiji exhaled, closing the notebook gently, his expression unreadable. His fingers slowly brushed against Akame's edge. For just an instant, he felt it pulse… as if approving the recent turn of events.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," he murmured to the relic, his tone grim. "We're not done yet."
*******************************************************************************
In a quiet café tucked into the backstreets of an unnamed Japanese town, time seemed to flow slower than usual. The soft murmur of conversation mixed with the mellow hum of jazz playing from an old radio. Steam rolled lazily from freshly brewed cups, diffusing partially into the amber light that spilled across polished tables.
By the window sat a woman… beautiful in a way that transcended time. Her charm wasn't flashy or deliberate. It was quiet and captivating. Long strands of red-amber hair were braided loosely, shimmering like molten copper where the sunlight touched them. A few freckles dotted her pale cheeks, softening the otherwise regal composure she carried.
She stirred her coffee with delicate movements, eyes distant, as though lost in a memory older than the world itself.
Across from her sat a man clad in emerald robes embroidered with golden patterns that seemed to shimmer faintly. Threads of cursed energy were woven directly into the fabric. His presence drew glances from the other patrons within the cafe, though none of them dared to stare for long. A fearsome, draconic mask covered his face; majestic, regal, and yet undeniably dangerous.
The contrast between them was almost poetic: she was simple and human in appearance; he was otherworldly and adorned in symbols of conquest.
And yet, somehow, she drew more attention than he did.
The dragon's gaze lingered on her for a while, unmoving. His long fingers were clasped before him, patient yet imposing. When she continued to ignore him, his composure began to falter.
"I must say, Aurelia…" his voice was muffled under the mask, but smooth and commanding nonetheless, it was the voice of someone who was used to being obeyed. "This is the last place I expected to find you."
Aurelia did not respond. She lifted her cup, took a small sip, and exhaled as though the coffee was far more interesting than the ancient dragon who sat before her.
The dragon's tone sharpened. "What is this? Is it beneath you to converse with me, woman?"
Finally, she looked up, her golden eyes glinting faintly, calm but utterly cold. "I have no business with you, dragon."
The man tilted his head, then slowly reached for his mask. He removed it with deliberate grace, revealing a strikingly handsome face beneath; sharp, symmetrical, and unnervingly perfect. His beauty was almost divine, but there was an undeniable cruelty in his smile, like fangs hidden behind wool.
"But you do, don't you?" he said, voice drenched with amusement. "What are you doing here? This is not your homeland. I can only assume your presence here ties back to him."
Aurelia set her cup down, porcelain clinking lightly against the saucer. Her gaze hardened. "No. I did not come here because of him."
The dragon leaned forward slightly, his emerald robes shifting like rippling scales. "Then why?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, her voice soft but resolute. "That is none of your concern, dragon."
A smirk formed on his lips. "My, my. Why should I not concern myself with it? You were the only one foolish enough to walk into that bastard's trap willingly. For all I know, you might still be acting on his behalf."
Her brow furrowed slightly, but her voice remained dangerously calm. "Choose your words carefully."
He chuckled, low and pleased. "Hah! But you should know… your efforts, whatever they are, will be for nothing. His resurrection failed."
The words hung heavy in the air, but Aurelia's expression didn't change. No grief, no anger, only a stern, quiet indifference.
That reaction unsettled him even more. He studied her for a long moment, eyes narrowing.
'No sorrow? No denial either. How curious…' he thought, irritation fuming beneath his calm façade.
Running a hand through his hair, he sighed dramatically. "Though, knowing that devious bastard, he must have left behind a failsafe. It would be just like him to scatter fragments of his design across centuries."
Then, with a dangerous smile that showed a hint of his sharp teeth, he asked, "Tell me, Aurelia… what can you share about his grand scheme?"
Her golden eyes flicked toward him, devoid of emotion. "I know nothing. I came here because this place… is perfect. The density of cursed energy here is immaculate." She paused, as if she was contemplating something. "It's the perfect place to observe and wait."
The dragon's smile faltered. "You expect me to believe that?"
"I do not lie, dragon," she replied simply, turning back to her drink.
He clicked his tongue, visibly annoyed. Rising from his chair, he retrieved his mask and placed it back over his face. The carved emerald scales shimmered faintly as cursed energy pulsed beneath them.
"I do not intend to fight you, woman," he said finally. "But know this… I will not allow his shadow to walk this earth again. If any trace of his will lingers, I will destroy it."
Aurelia didn't even glance at him as she picked up a large pastry and began eating, her cheeks puffing slightly as she chewed. "You've grown dramatic, dragon," she said between bites.
He stopped mid-step and exhaled sharply through his nose. "Tch. How unsightly. Is this what the Amber Moon Goddess has been reduced to?"
The title hung in the air like a ghost.
Aurelia's eyes softened for the first time, something ancient flickering behind them… nostalgia, guilt, and... longing.
As the Green Dragon melted into the crowd beyond the glass doors, Aurelia watched his silhouette disappear among the humans. She stared at her half-empty cup, the reflection of the café lights shimmering over its surface.
Quietly, almost to herself, she murmured,
"Your rage has consumed you, dragon. Even now, you cannot see that the wheel has already begun to turn…"