Kael stood tall, his breath steady, the black lightning of his Surge State crackling faintly around his form.
The battlefield behind him was a graveyard of broken monsters and fading corruption. Over a thousand fallen. And still, nearly nine hundred remained.
But now… it wasn't his fight.
He turned, eyes scanning the remaining corrupted forces.
"Hana. Tetsu. Eri. The rest of the Wielders—finish what I started."
Tetsu blinked. "Wait—what? You're leaving us with that?!"
Kael gave him a small smirk. "You'll manage. I trust you."
Hana, bloodied and determined, nodded. "You better not die wherever you're going."
Ryuu, standing beside her, shouldered his blade. "He's not going to die. He's going to finish what he was born for."
Kael didn't reply. He just turned away and walked toward the ridge.
There, standing like kings among ashes, were Kurojin Tsukiro and the four remaining members of Team Darkshade.
Veyron, with his shadowed grin.Lilith, eyes empty, time pulsing around her.Raven, vibrating with chaotic sonic energy.And the masked one—the quietest and coldest of them all.
Behind them stood the storm.
Kael stopped ten feet away.
Ryuu, Hana, Tetsu, and Kaede appeared at his sides, ready. Silent.
Kurojin's eyes gleamed. "So. The Last Will steps forward. And with friends, too. Touching."
Kael stared straight through him. "This ends today."
Veyron laughed. "You still believe that? Even after what you've seen?"
Kaede's voice was calm but firm. "You underestimated him once, Kurojin. You won't get a second chance."
Kurojin smiled coldly. "Won't I?"
Just then—
The wind shifted.
A pressure unlike anything else blanketed the mountain.
And then a voice—calm, powerful, layered with age and thunder:
"You're pretty fast, Kael… but you still need to work on your stance after a long fight."
Everyone turned.
From the falling snow, an old man in black robes stepped onto the field, white hair drifting in the wind.
Kael didn't flinch. He smiled faintly.
"Took you long enough… Grandpa."
Tetsu's jaw dropped. "Wait. Grandpa?!"
Hana gasped. "That's… that's Kyoushiro?!"
Ryuu's eyes widened. "The hermit who trained Kaede…? The one who disappeared decades ago…?"
Kaede stood silent, arms crossed. "His real name… is Raizen Kurai. My old master. And Kael's bloodline."
Kurojin's smile finally cracked. "You… still live?"
Raizen's voice was like stone grinding steel. "You should've killed me when you had the chance."
The ground trembled.
Kurojin raised a hand, signaling his elites.
Kael's eyes narrowed. His allies stepped forward beside him.
And Raizen slowly rolled up his sleeves.
"Let's see if you're still as arrogant as thirty years ago."
And then—silence.
The final breath before the clash.