The sky was grey.
Not cloudy. Not storming.
Just… grey.
Like a breath held too long.
Raya's fingers trembled as she gripped Kira's sleeve, her voice barely a whisper above the wind.
"You need to eliminate me."
Kira's jaw clenched.
She smiled through her pain. "If I'm out... I can stay with Chris. I can look after him."
"You're dying."
"Then at least let me choose where I die."
Kira looked down at her—not the vessel of Leo anymore, not the fighter—but his friend.
His comrade.
He didn't speak.
He just reached forward.
She didn't flinch.
The moment his palm pressed to her chest, a soft light bloomed from within her like a star breaking at dawn.
"Goodbye, Raya."
Her body dissolved into light.
And for the first time since the incident, Kira felt something twist inside him.
Something ugly.
Scan: ACTIVE
One signal.
West quadrant.
HP: 6%
Rhea.
He vanished.
*Western Battlefield*
Snow drifted silently through the air.
Rhea stood at the edge of collapse, eyes unfocused, arms limp at her sides. Her breathing was shallow, her HP flickering like a dying ember.
Two squads circled her.
Six enemies.
None of them moved yet.
They were waiting—for the perfect moment to strike.
But it never came.
Because Kira arrived first.
He appeared behind her without a sound, just as her knees began to give way.
His arms wrapped around her.
She gasped. And then—
She broke.
Tears burst from her eyes as she pressed her face into his chest, fists clinging to his uniform like it was the only thing keeping her alive.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I tried. I really did. But I—I'm weak, Kira…"
He didn't respond.
Not with words.
But she could feel it—his body shaking. Not from exhaustion.
From rage.
"I couldn't protect Chris... or anyone. I couldn't even hold the Blade…"
Her hand fumbled to her belt.
The Blade of the Shadow King slipped from its sheath.
She offered it to him with both hands.
"I'm not worthy. But you are."
Kira took it.
He closed his eyes and the phantom appeared in front of him.
"How long do you think you can keep going without me. Or should I say your other half"
"I thought I wouldn't need your help but it seems I couldn't"
"So are we becoming one again or you will keep running"
"Let's do it then, since I can't run forever"
An unknown entity then appeared in front of them.
"Do you mind if I join you"
Kira and phantom direct their gaze towards her.
"What is the water goddess doing here" Phantom asks without hesitation.
"It doesn't matter since we will need all the help we can get" Kira speaks before the goddess could speak.
"Fine then. I'm aqua."
"Kira… I think that is all you need to know"
And then everything around him shattered.
Transformation: Phantom Aqua Mode – Full Sync
"Seal release—*Phantom Merge: Aqua Synchro."
The air froze.
Literally.
The moisture in the atmosphere solidified into fractal snowflakes, mid-fall, suspended in time.
A surge of blue-black energy erupted from Kira's back like wings, crashing down into the ground and sending a tidal shockwave in all directions.
His eyes glowed with dual halos—one icy, one deep ocean-blue.
"You dared corner her?"
His voice echoed—not just through the air, but into the bones of everyone present.
"Then drown."
The snow answered his fury.
It rose like a tidal surge, swallowing the battlefield in a white vortex.
"Attack him! Don't let him—!"
Too late.
❄ KIRA'S RAGE – UNLEASHED ❄
One enemy charged—sword blazing with lightning.
Kira raised a finger.
"Flash Freeze."
The attacker froze mid-stride.
Literally.
From feet to throat, ice enveloped him—and then shattered.
Eliminated.
Another tried to escape.
"Hydro Clutch."
A serpent of water burst from the ground, wrapping around the fleeing student and slamming them into the frozen earth so hard the ground cracked.
Eliminated.
The remaining four tried to regroup.
But the snowstorm moved at Kira's will, veiling the field, blocking vision, silencing footsteps.
A ghost in a blizzard.
"Phantom Pulse."
He moved—blinking through the snow like a mirage.
One step—strike.
Two steps—shatter.
Three steps—silence.
They never saw him.
Only the cold.
Only the fear.
Only—
Him.
The remaining enemy captain dropped to their knees, gasping, trembling. "W-We surrender…"
Kira raised his arm.
The snow lifted with it—forming a massive crescent behind him, shaped like a full moon forged of ice, water, and phantom energy.
"I'm done holding back."
> "Saigo no Tsuki — Final Moonfall."
The crescent dropped.
Like the moon crashing into the world.
BOOM!
The explosion swallowed everything in blinding white.
Time stopped.
HP: 0
HP: 0
HP: 0
All enemies eliminated.
Rhea stood in the middle of it all, untouched.
Kira walked toward her—ice cracking beneath his boots, vapor curling off his shoulders.
She looked up at him, tears still on her face.
"You…"
"I what?"
She smiled faintly, breathing shaky.
"You're incredible."
Kira looked down.
His hand slipped into hers.
"You're the reason I am."
System Notification:
*Remaining Crimson Survivors: 2*
*Remaining Teams: 1*
Kira's eyes narrowed.
Something was coming.
But for now, he stood in the ruins of his own storm, holding the only person he had left.
And he wasn't going to lose her.
Not again.