The battlefield had become a furnace of chaos.
Smoke curled into the blood-colored sky, and the ground trembled beneath the fury of gods and monsters. Every Wielder still standing was soaked in sweat, blood, and sheer exhaustion—but none of them backed down. Not now.
Not when they'd come this far.
Kael stood motionless for a moment, staring at the space around him. The pulse he'd felt in the last chapter… it wasn't just power. It was alive. Something within his Will—something beyond the Last Will—had stirred. Not a voice. Not a memory. A presence.
Kurojin sensed it too. His expression, usually composed and cruel, twitched.
"You've changed," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "There's something wrong about you now."
Kael didn't answer.
He took a step forward, and the ground beneath him cracked.
Void energy rippled off his back like burning wings. Kaito flanked him, blood running down his arm, but his stance steady.
"You want to see what you turned me into?" Kael whispered. "Then keep standing."
Kurojin smirked. "With pleasure."
The world around them shattered.
Kael moved with speed that bent space, his fist cracking against Kurojin's face with enough force to send him flying through the remains of a beast tower. Before he could recover, Kaito was already above him, a tempest spiraling around his blade.
The strike came down like a divine sentence.
Kurojin blocked—barely—but the sheer force buried him beneath rubble.
But he didn't stay down.
From the broken earth, a massive surge of cursed Will erupted. Kurojin stepped out slowly, his body now pulsing with black lightning, veins glowing with corrupted crimson. "I was saving this form for Raizen," he said calmly. "But you two brothers have earned it."
He disappeared.
Appeared behind Kaito.
Struck.
Kaito flew across the field, coughing blood.
Kael roared and met Kurojin in a new flurry of combat. Each strike shattered the air, sending tremors through the battlefield that even the others felt.
Meanwhile, the chaos spread across the field.
Tetsu and Hana were locked in a desperate struggle against Lilith. Time distortions wrapped around them like webs, and both had fresh injuries.
"She's weakening," Tetsu gasped, sword sparking in one hand, the other arm limp.
"We can do this," Hana said, burning brighter. "Just a little more—"
Lilith screamed, unleashing a wave of Chrono Veil energy that bent the world around them, but Hana shielded them both with a flare of phoenix Will. Tetsu leapt forward through the burning veil, blade aimed for Lilith's throat.
Not far away, Veyron was bleeding badly, but still smiling as he battled Kaede and Ryuu.
"You know," Veyron coughed, "I admire your stubbornness. Pity it's all for nothing."
Kaede gritted his teeth. "That's what villains always say—right before they lose."
Back near the cratered center, Raizen watched from afar, hand clutching his ribs. He couldn't join the fight—but his eyes burned with faith.
"Kael," he whispered. "Don't lose yourself."
Kael heard none of it. He moved through Kurojin's attacks like a man possessed. His Will pulsed again—and this time, it almost overwhelmed him.
His body was changing.
Or… evolving.
His shadow lengthened unnaturally. The space around him bent.
Kurojin noticed. "You're awakening something dangerous, boy. Something even I don't recognize."
Kael didn't care.
He charged forward again.
The war raged on.
And the storm had only begun.