The forest had never felt this quiet.
Birds that once chirped freely now hid deep in the branches, and the breeze that usually stirred the leaves had stilled—almost as if the world was holding its breath. Billionzaruto felt the silence pressing against his ears as he sat by the creek, knees drawn close, trying to steady the tremor in his hands.
The memory of that voice—the cold whisper curling through his skull—refused to fade.
Let me out.
It repeated like a drumbeat in the back of his mind, faint yet impossible to ignore.
Raiken knelt beside him, washing blood from a shallow cut on his arm. "You held back more than you realize," he said calmly. "If you had fully unleashed what stirred inside you… we wouldn't be standing here."
The words chilled Billionzaruto more than the forest air.
"What is inside me?" he asked. His voice cracked despite his efforts to sound steady. "I know you're trying to protect me, but I need real answers now. Not half-truths. Not riddles."
Raiken exhaled slowly. The lines on his face seemed deeper, etched by years of carrying burdens he never voiced. "I feared this moment," he said. "But you're right. You deserve the truth."
Billionzaruto turned to him fully, heart pounding.
Raiken's gaze drifted toward the canopy as if searching for the right words. "There is a force sealed within you… a living flame born long before any clan or kingdom existed. It is known as the Kuroin Blaze."
Billionzaruto frowned. "Kuroin…? That doesn't sound like any fire ability I've heard of."
"Because it isn't," Raiken replied softly. "It's not an ability—it's a will. A consciousness."
Billionzaruto's blood ran cold. "You're saying… there's something alive inside me?"
Raiken nodded. "A remnant of an ancient entity. One the world believed was destroyed."
The creek water continued its gentle flow, but Billionzaruto suddenly felt trapped—as if the woods were closing around him.
"Why me?" he whispered. "Why would something like that be inside me?"
Before Raiken could answer, a sharp rustle echoed from deeper in the forest. Both of them tensed. Billionzaruto's instincts flared first—lightning tingled along his fingertips. But this presence felt different. Warmer. Familiar.
A figure stepped out from behind a cluster of trees.
A girl—around Billionzaruto's age, maybe slightly older. Her hair was a shimmering silver-blue, flowing like water, and her cloak bore the symbol of swirling currents. Her eyes were sharp, alert, glowing faintly with a turquoise light.
Billionzaruto's breath caught. He had never seen her before, yet something about her aura felt… soothing.
Raiken rose to his feet instantly, posture alert but not hostile. "You," he said. "You're from the Aqualis Clan, aren't you?"
The girl gave a curt nod. "My name is Nayumi. And I've been tracking the Shadow Tempest for three days. I saw the fight."
Her gaze shifted to Billionzaruto. When her eyes met his, she didn't flinch or recoil from his power. Instead, she studied him with an almost analytical calm.
"You're the Stormfire heir," she said quietly. "The boy with the cursed flame."
Billionzaruto stiffened. "I didn't choose any of this."
Nayumi's expression softened slightly. "I know."
Raiken stepped forward. "Why are you here? The Aqualis Clan has kept to themselves for decades."
Nayumi hesitated, then reached into her cloak. She pulled out a small, crystalline orb—cracked and pulsing with faint blue light.
"This belonged to my brother," she said. "He was murdered by the Shadow Tempest. Before he died, he found information about a weapon they're planning to unleash… something called the Ebon Pyre." Her jaw tightened. "They need Billionzaruto to activate it."
Billionzaruto felt his stomach drop.
Raiken swore under his breath. "So it's true. They're trying to resurrect it."
"Resurrect what?" Billionzaruto asked, frustration rising. "Why does every answer come with ten new questions?"
Nayumi stepped closer, her voice low but steady. "The Ebon Pyre is connected to the entity inside you. It was created long ago to channel its power. If the Shadow Tempest completes the ritual… the world will burn."
A cold breeze finally returned to the forest, brushing against Billionzaruto's skin like a warning.
"So what do I do?" he asked quietly. "How do I stop it?"
Raiken and Nayumi exchanged a look—one that said the road ahead would be nothing short of brutal.
"We train," Raiken said. "Harder than anything before."
"And you'll need an element strong enough to balance your fire," Nayumi added. "My clan has mastered water in ways the world has forgotten. I can help you control the emotional surges that fuel your flames."
Billionzaruto frowned. "You want to train me?"
"I don't want to," Nayumi corrected. "I need to. If you lose control again, that thing inside you might take over. And the consequences will be catastrophic for all of us."
Raiken placed a reassuring hand on Billionzaruto's shoulder. "You won't face this alone, boy. Not anymore."
For the first time since Emberfall burned, Billionzaruto felt a strange sense of… direction. Fear still churned in his chest, heavy and hot, but now it had shape. Purpose.
"Then let's start," he said.
Hours later…
Training with lightning and fire was tiring. Training with water was humbling.
Nayumi had him stand barefoot in the creek, cold water swirling around his ankles. She guided him on how to breathe, how to soften his energy rather than push it outward.
But Billionzaruto struggled.
Each memory, each emotion, each fear tugged at the fire inside him. Sometimes sparks slipped from his eye corners, sizzling into the water.
"Don't fight the flame," Nayumi said, arms crossed as she watched. "Acknowledge it. Then redirect it."
"That's easier said than done," Billionzaruto muttered.
Nayumi smirked slightly. "Then you'll keep practicing until it becomes easy."
Raiken chuckled from where he leaned against a tree. "She's tougher than she looks."
Nayumi shot him a glare. "I heard that."
This small exchange—simple, human—brought a fleeting warmth to the clearing.
But it didn't last.
As the sun began to set, Billionzaruto felt the shift in the atmosphere. The hairs on his arms rose. The water around his feet grew still.
Something was coming.
Nayumi sensed it too. Her hand went to the dagger at her waist. "They found us…"
The forest darkened as shadows stretched unnaturally across the ground.
Billionzaruto's breath quickened. Raiken stepped in front of him, lightning gathering at his palms.
Then a voice echoed through the trees—calm, chilling, and far too familiar.
Not the Shadow Tempest.
Not a warrior.
But the whisper he had heard earlier.
"Let me out."
A surge of black fire flickered inside Billionzaruto's chest. His vision blurred. His knees buckled.
Nayumi rushed to his side, gripping his arm. "Stay with us! Breathe!"
But the ground trembled beneath them as if the earth itself recoiled.
Raiken's eyes widened in horror. "No… the seal—it's cracking!"
Billionzaruto clutched his chest, gasping.
"I can't—stop—it—"
And with one violent pulse of heat—
The Kuroin Blaze awakened.