Prologue: Beneath the Hanging Roots
The night before the final battle, Kyota sat beneath the ancient Weeping Cypress, its gnarled roots dangling over the cliff's edge like skeletal fingers. The moon cast silver ripples over the ocean below, painting the world in an ethereal glow. He exhaled, steam curling from his lips—his body still thrummed with the aftershocks of the Calamity-Level spell he had unleashed.
"I pushed too far."
A rustle of silk.
Princess Saya stepped into the clearing, her royal armor replaced by a simple midnight-blue kimono. Her silver hair shimmered like liquid mercury under the moonlight.
"You're not hard to find," she said, sitting beside him without ceremony.
Kyota didn't turn. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
She smirked. "Shouldn't you be healing?"
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the distant crash of waves.
Then—
"Did you just cast a Calamity-Level spell on me?" Her voice was sharp, but beneath it, something trembled—fear? Awe?
Kyota's fingers twitched. "...Sorry about that."
"Sorry?" She scoffed. "You could have killed me, you idiot."
"I tried to resist it."
She stared at him, then exhaled sharply. "...I'm sorry too. For beating you half to death."
A chuckle escaped him. "Fair trade."
Another pause. Then, softer:
"Who are you, Kaito Sensaki?"
Kyota tilted his head, just enough for the moonlight to catch the edge of his mask. "Just a wandering traveler."
Saya rolled her eyes. "Wanderers don't wield spells that make the ocean kneel."
Kyota didn't answer.
She leaned back, gazing at the stars. "You know… my mother used to tell me stories about a woman who could command the tides with a whisper. Lady Aqua—her elder sister."
Kyota's breath hitched.
Saya's eyes flicked to him. "You were so eager to listen… you didn't even question why I brought her up." A slow, knowing smile curled her lips. "What's your relationship with her?"
Trap.
Kyota stiffened. "I—"
"Don't bother lying." She crossed her arms. "I saw your face. Your hair. That spell—it's hers, isn't it?"
Kyota clenched his fists. "...I knew her. From the village she lived in. That's all."
Saya's gaze bore into him. "If you see her again… tell her I miss her."
Kyota's throat tightened.
Before he could reply, the rustle of armor echoed—royal guards approached.
Saya stood, brushing off her kimono. "Rest well, wanderer. Tomorrow, my father won't hold back."
Kyota watched her leave, his chest heavy.
"I know."
The Final Dawn – Clash of Tides
Morning came with a roar.
The coliseum trembled under the weight of the crowd—nobles, knights, foreign dignitaries, all gathered to witness the Water King face the nameless challenger.
The announcer's voice boomed:
"NO TIME LIMIT! NO RESTRICTIONS ON WATER MAGIC! OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE SPELLS OF OTHER ELEMENTS ARE FORBIDDEN!"
Kyota stepped onto the arena, his tattered cloak fluttering. Across from him, the Water King loomed—a mountain of muscle and regal fury, his trident gleaming.
"BEGIN!"
Round 1: The King's Dominion
The king moved first.
A single step—
The ocean erupted.
A tidal wave, taller than the coliseum itself, surged upward, its shadow swallowing the sun. The crowd screamed as it crashed down—
BOOM.
Kyota vanished beneath the deluge.
Silence.
Then—
SPLASH.
Kyota shot upward, propelled by a whirlpool beneath his feet. He gasped, blood dripping from his nose.
The king didn't wait.
"High-Class: Leviathan's Maw!"
The water coalesced into a monstrous jaw, snapping shut around Kyota.
CRUNCH.
Kyota barely twisted free, but the fangs grazed his side—blood sprayed. He hit the ground rolling, his breath ragged.
The king loomed over him. "Pathetic. You think you can steal her spells and face me?"
Kyota spat blood. "I don't need to steal."
The king's trident flashed—
"Then DIE like a dog!"
The strike came faster than sight.
Kyota's world went white.
Round 2: The Storm of Two Calamities
Kyota awoke on his knees, his vision swimming. The crowd's jeers echoed—"Give up!" "He's finished!"
The king raised his hand. "This ends now."
"Calamity-Level: Poseidon's Wrath!"
The sky split.
Black clouds swirled, thunder shaking the earth. The ocean rose, forming a colossal trident of water and lightning, its tip aimed at Kyota's heart.
Kyota's fingers dug into the stone.
"Not yet."
He stood.
"Calamity-Level: Aqua's Requiem."
The world held its breath.
Then—
The air itself trembled. Every droplet of moisture—sweat on the skin, humidity in the lungs—obeyed.
The ocean danced.
Rivers reversed. Fountains spiraled upward. The sea split into a thousand glowing serpents, their bodies woven from liquid moonlight.
The crowd screamed.
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
"THAT'S LADY AQUA'S SPELL!"
From the stands, a woman in a sapphire cloak lunged forward, her hood falling—
"STOP!"
The guards seized her—but not before the crowd saw.
Saphire blue hair. Blue-Black eyes.
Princess Saya's breath caught. "...Big sister Aqua?"
The king's face twisted. "AQUA?! You dare return?!"
Aqua's voice was a blade. "That spell—it's mine, but not mine! Who is he?!"
Kyota's mask hid his face—but not the tremor in his hands.
The king snarled. "I'll rip that mask off your corpse!"
Round 3: The Fivefold Revelation
The spells collided.
Lightning clashed with liquid serpents. The coliseum quaked.
Kyota moved.
Wind spiraled beneath his feet—not for attack, for momentum. He slammed into the king, fist-meeting Trident.
The king blocked, sneering. "Cheater!"
Kyota's voice was ice. "I manipulated the air. Not against the rules."
The old minister, trembling, flipped through the rulebook. "H-He's right!"
The king roared.
"ZENSHIKI ENJIN!"
A ring of water blazed to life behind him, spinning like a halo. The very element bowed to his will.
Kyota coughed blood, his body failing.
The king laughed. "You can't copy this, brat! This is years of mastery!"
The crowd joined in—"Cry to Mommy!" "Give up!"
Kyota's vision blurred.
"Not yet."
He raised his head.
"Zenshiki…"
The king scoffed. "Fool—"
"ENJIN."
The world stopped.
Five rings ignited behind Kyota—
Fire. Water. Wind. Earth. Lightning.
The crowd screamed.
From the stands, a girl in black glasses lunged forward, tears streaming. "KYOTA! IT'S YOU, ISN'T IT?!"
Aqua staggered. "No… that's—"
Kyota's voice was a whisper.
"Pressurise Water."
The king collapsed, his body seizing—every drop of moisture inside him rebelling.
"H-How…?" the king gasped.
Kyota leaned down. "Humans are 70% water. Admit defeat."
The king's eyes widened. "You—what did you just say to me?!"
Kyota's lips moved—a silent phrase.
The king froze. Then, trembling, he whispered:
"I… yield."
Silence.
Then—chaos.
Kyota raised his hand. The Water Stone shot from its pedestal, embedding itself into the staff he summoned.
Aqua screamed. "WAIT!"
But Kyota was already gone—vanished into the wind.
From a distant cliff, he gazed at the kingdom one last time, the staff glowing in his grip.
"Next kingdom… I'm coming."
And like a ghost, he disappeared.
Epilogue: The Truth Unravels
In the royal palace, the king collapsed onto his throne, his face ashen.
Princess Saya stormed in. "Father! What did he say to you?!"
The king's hands shook.
"...He said: 'I'm your grandson.'"
The throne room erupted.
Aqua sank to her knees, her voice breaking.
"Kyota… my son…"
And far away, beneath a blood-red moon, a boy with snow-white hair kept running, his heart a storm of sorrow and resolve.
The mask had fallen.
The war had just begun.