The sky had quieted, but the ground still rumbled. The battlefield was strewn with smoking craters, fallen Wielders, and shattered relics. The corrupted beast was gone, but the pressure in the air hadn't lifted. If anything, it had gotten worse.
Kael and Kaito stood side by side, facing the man who had haunted their bloodline for generations—Kurojin Tsukiro.
"Even without that thing," Kaito muttered, "he still feels like a monster."
Kael nodded. "That wasn't the end. It was just his warm-up."
Across the war-torn plains, Hana and Tetsu regrouped with Ryuu, Kaede, and the surviving Wielders. Some were injured, others barely standing, but none of them backed down. They stared ahead, eyes on the three figures in the distance—Kael, Kaito, and Kurojin—knowing that this was the battle that would decide everything.
"I can't believe they're still standing," Hana whispered.
"They're not just standing," Ryuu said. "They're preparing to break fate."
Raizen stood farther back, holding his injured side. His eyes stayed locked on his grandsons.
"Don't die, either of you," he muttered. "You're Kurai blood. Show him what it means."
Kurojin slowly began to remove the restraints on his arms—black seals that pulsed with ancient energy. With every lock that shattered, the air twisted, and the earth groaned beneath him.
"You two have strength," Kurojin said, his voice deeper, more distorted. "But strength without dominion means nothing. I am the rightful ruler of this fractured world."
He vanished—then reappeared between Kael and Kaito, slamming his hands into the ground.
A massive shockwave erupted.
Kael was thrown back, but Kaito braced the impact with a wall of Will. "He's faster now!"
"Then we have to be faster," Kael growled, rising to his feet, his eyes glowing with black flame.
The brothers launched forward at the same time, one striking from above, the other from below. Kurojin blocked both attacks effortlessly, but this time, Kael had a plan.
He activated Voidstep Echo—leaving behind a flicker of himself. While Kurojin countered the illusion, Kael appeared behind him, Will-charged fists slamming into Kurojin's back.
Kaito followed with Infernal Pierce, driving his blade straight through Kurojin's ribs.
Kurojin flinched—for the first time.
"You…" he hissed. "You're evolving. Mid-battle."
Kael grinned. "I always do."
Suddenly, Kurojin exploded with energy, a sphere of burning shadows pushing the brothers back.
"Then evolve faster," he spat, "because I'm done holding back."
His body began to glow with a strange, foreign light—corruption and raw elemental power merging together.
From the edges of the battlefield, the Wielders braced themselves.
Kaede turned to Hana and Ryuu. "Get ready. If they fall—we step in."
Tetsu clenched his fists. "They won't fall. I believe in Kael."
In the center of the chaos, Kael and Kaito steadied their stance. The final phase of the battle had begun, and the true form of Kurojin was only now being revealed.