The arena was no longer a battlefield—it was a crater.
Cracked stone. Burning air. Silence that screamed louder than any roar.
Kael's body moved with terrifying purpose, his new aura swirling like a living storm. His eyes—still glowing that eerie white-blue—locked onto Lilith.
CRACK!
His fist slammed into her face, sending her skidding backward across the shattered arena floor, smashing through what remained of a wall. Before she could even lift her head—
Kael was there.
He stomped down—again and again—each blow shaking the arena. Lilith raised a barrier of time fragments, but Kael shattered them like glass. He gripped her by the collar and kicked her hard in the side, launching her across the field.
Then—
He turned away.
He ran to where Tetsu and Hana lay.
He dropped to his knees beside them, carefully moving their bodies closer. His hands shook. Blood covered his fingers.
"Tetsu… Hana…"
Tetsu coughed. A weak smile curled on his lips.
"You're… incredible now," he whispered, eyes fluttering.
Kael's breath caught.
"Don't say it—"
"Goodbye, old friend."
And his head tilted back… eyes closed… chest still.
Kael stared, frozen.
Then—
"Kael…"
Hana's soft, broken voice.
She reached up—barely. He took her hand.
"Do your best… okay?"
She smiled—just once—and her hand went limp.
Both were gone.
Kael's vision blurred with tears. But his aura flared again, even more violently. The entire sky seemed to tremble with him.
The storm inside him was no longer raging.
It was unleashed.
He stood slowly, eyes cold, voice gone. And then—
Raven struck from behind.
But Kael didn't flinch.
He turned, caught Raven's attack mid-air, and slammed him to the ground with enough force to break stone. Lilith reappeared—only to be blasted back by a single palm strike from Kael.
He fought them both.
And won.
Fists, void bursts, even time-bending distortions meant nothing against the ancient energy pulsing from Kael. The two elites, overwhelmed, were knocked unconscious, bloodied and broken.
Kael stood above them—breathing heavily—but not shaking.
He didn't look victorious.
He looked hollow.
Slowly, Kael walked back to his fallen friends, lifting Tetsu in one arm and Hana in the other.
He didn't say a word.
Didn't look at the others.
As he walked away, cloak fluttering in the wind, the crowd and all fighters watched in stunned silence.
Veyron and Azrael appeared, retrieving Lilith and Raven, both speechless.
Even they hadn't expected this.
No one knew what Kael had become.No one knew what to say.
All except one.
Kyoushiro, arms folded, eyes narrowed, whispered to himself:
"So… the Last Will is awakening after all."