The storm of war howled louder than ever.
Kael and Kaito charged forward together, twin blurs of motion, tearing across the scorched battlefield. Behind them, Raizen stood still, watching with narrowed eyes, blood trailing down his arm but his Will flaring just enough to cloak the area in protective energy. He knew he couldn't fight anymore—but he could still protect his grandsons from afar.
Kael's heart pounded with more than adrenaline. It was rage, sorrow, loyalty—everything that had led him to this moment. His hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his Will-forged blade, pulsing with the power of the Void and his own evolving strength.
Kurojin Tsukiro stood before them, unmoved.
His cloak billowed in the wind, surrounded by the faint crackle of corrupted elemental Wills twisting like serpents in the air. Lilith had returned to his side, bruised and limping, her time veil flickering like shattered glass. Veyron hovered nearby, half his body scarred and flickering with unstable void energy, facing Kaede and Ryuu with fury still burning in his eyes.
"You both came," Kurojin said calmly, his voice a blade of its own. "I raised you better than that, Kaito."
"I'm not the boy you corrupted," Kaito snarled. "I'm Kael's brother. I'm Raizen's grandson. And I'm ending you."
Kael didn't speak. He just moved.
In a flash, he and Kaito split off—Kaito flanking right, Kael to the left. Their teamwork was seamless, muscle memory forged from a childhood long lost but not forgotten. Kurojin met their blades with his bare hands at first—his skin hardened by dark Will, deflecting their attacks with brutal grace.
Then he finally moved.
A single sweep of Kurojin's arm unleashed a tidal wave of compressed Will, black and red, that split the earth. Kael voidstepped through it, appearing above him in the air with a roar. He brought down his blade—and Kurojin smiled as he blocked it with a single finger.
"Not strong enough yet," he whispered, then punched Kael midair, sending him flying backward like a comet.
Kaito caught Kael mid-flight, both tumbling into a crater. "You good?"
Kael wiped blood from his mouth and nodded. "We go again."
Meanwhile, the rest of the battlefield was chaos incarnate. Hana's eyes burned with determination as she and Tetsu overwhelmed Lilith, forcing her back with synchronized attacks—blades of energy and seismic punches. Lilith screamed as her chrono-tech twisted time around her, buying her only seconds before the next blow landed.
Kaede and Ryuu were a blur of motion against Veyron, who now looked cornered for the first time. "You should've stayed down," Kaede warned as his blade sliced into Veyron's left arm. Ryuu followed up with a Will-infused kick that cracked the villain's ribs.
"Fools," Veyron hissed, still bleeding shadows. "You think you've won?"
Back at the heart of the battle, Kael stood again beside Kaito. Both were cut, bruised, but alive. Kurojin, still calm, began to lift one hand—and the sky darkened.
Above them, swirling shadows began to form the outline of something massive. A beast… no, a manifestation of raw corrupted Will.
Kael grit his teeth. "He's calling on that now?"
Kaito smirked. "Then we hit harder."
Their blades lit up again—one with void, the other with a crimson variant of Will. They rushed forward.
And the real fight began.