The wind didn't return to normal after Azeroth vanished.
It stayed wrong cold, heavy, distorted, as if reality itself were holding its breath.
The team stood in the shattered street where he had disappeared, staring at the bloodstained cloth lying at Rei's feet. No one spoke. No one moved. The silence felt louder than any explosion.
Aira was the first to breathe, unsteady and sharp.
"Rei…" Her voice trembled. "That mark… it's real, isn't it?"
Rei bent down slowly and picked it up. The fabric was ancient, woven with symbols that pulsed faintly, as if still alive. The blood hadn't dried. It never would.
Because whatever had died hadn't completely left the world.
"Yes," Rei said quietly. "It's real."
Kai swallowed. "He said… one of the Five is dead."
Zeke's metal fists clenched. "No. He said he killed one of them."
Rena's silence field flickered unconsciously around her feet. "That's worse."
Suki stared at the mark, the fire on her fingers trembling. "If someone can kill one of the Five," she whispered, "then what does that make us?"
Rei didn't answer.
He was asking himself the same question.
---
They didn't need news feeds to know something massive had happened. They felt it.
A deep tremor rolled through the earth not violent, not destructive, but vast, like a bell ringing at the center of the planet.
Kai stumbled. "What was that?"
Rei's mark flared painfully. His vision blurred.
Then the screams came.
Not nearby. Not distant.
Everywhere.
Aira clutched her chest. "People are awakening… all at once."
Rena pressed her palm to the ground. "Across the city. Farther than that."
Zeke looked up at the sky. The cracks weren't spreading anymore.
They were stabilizing.
"The balance shifted," he muttered.
Suki laughed bitterly. "So killing a god doesn't end the world."
She looked at Rei. "It accelerates it."
Rei closed his eyes.
Your first main villain is dead.
And guess who killed him.
His stomach twisted.
---
They regrouped inside the abandoned academy, now a shelter for survivors.
Children who couldn't control their powers. Adults terrified of what they had become.
As Rei entered, eyes turned toward him—fear, hope, desperation tangled together.
"They're looking at you like an answer," Aira whispered.
Rei hated that.
He stepped into an empty classroom and shut the door behind them.
Zeke spoke first. "So what now?"
"I'm not a leader"
"You are," Zeke cut in. "Whether you like it or not."
Kai nodded. "They listen to you. I did too."
Suki crossed her arms. "You stopped my fire without touching me."
Rena leaned against the wall. "And Azeroth knew you."
Aira reached for Rei's hand. He pulled away, slow and deliberate.
"I need to tell you something," he said.
"When Azeroth looked at me, he wasn't judging me."
The room went still.
"He was measuring me."
"For what?" Kai asked.
Rei looked down at the mark. "For succession."
Aira stepped back. "You think he's trying to replace the Five?"
"Yes."
Suki laughed, sharp and broken. "So the man who trained you might be the final villain."
Rei didn't deny it.
---
The explosion came without warning.
The academy shook. Screams filled the halls.
Outside, a man floated above the street, electricity tearing through buildings. His eyes glowed purple, his grin too wide.
"When one god dies," he screamed, "we get stronger!"
Rei felt cold spread through his chest.
"He promised," the man laughed. "The golden-eyed god promised."
Azeroth.
The battle tore the street apart. Rei forced his rift wider than ever before, reality screaming as it bent. The villain vanished into the void, dragged in still laughing.
When it ended, Rei dropped to one knee, blood running from his nose.
"This is just the beginning," Zeke said quietly.
Rena nodded. "He wasn't acting alone."
Suki looked at Rei. "Azeroth isn't stopping this."
"He's guiding it."
---
That night, Rei stood alone on the rooftop.
His mark burned.
"You're learning faster than I expected."
Rei didn't turn. "Why did you kill one of the Five?"
"Because many villains are inefficient," Azeroth replied calmly.
"What are you turning this world into?"
"A crucible."
He leaned closer. "One of your teammates will betray you."
When Rei turned, Azeroth was gone.
Only his words remained.
And for the first time, Rei didn't know who to trust.
---
Chapter 13 Ends