Kael's vision trembled.Not from pain—he had learned to ignore pain.Not from fear—he had lost that the moment Kurojin threatened his family.
It trembled because something inside him was cracking. Something ancient. Something buried.
The Last Will was no longer the only force within him.
As Kael stood locked in a brutal clash with Kurojin, time seemed to slow, not from Lilith's power—but from Kael's own mind expanding. Voices. Echoes. Fragments of memories that weren't his. Wills from before The Fracture. From the original Wielders.
"Kael!" Kaito shouted through the roaring wind. "Don't lose yourself!"
Kael clenched his fists as Kurojin's hand wrapped around his throat and slammed him into the ground. The impact shattered stone and sent shockwaves outward, knocking debris into the air like shrapnel.
"You're not ready for this," Kurojin growled, standing above Kael, his eyes glowing red. "You've unlocked something… ancient. Something that should have stayed buried."
Kael coughed, blood on his lips—but he smirked.
"I never asked… what I was ready for."
He grabbed Kurojin's wrist—and unleashed a blast of void energy so dense it cracked Kurojin's corrupted armor.
The tyrant stumbled back—but not for long.
Kurojin's body pulsed. His corrupted Will flared like a black sun, darkening the sky above them. Tendrils of monstrous energy coiled from his back, forming what looked like wings—jagged, skeletal, and alive.
Kaito's eyes widened. "He's entering his final state…"
"No," Raizen muttered from the ridge above, watching with solemn eyes. "This isn't his final form. He's still holding back. He hasn't even tapped into his full abyssal core."
Kael didn't wait.
He rushed forward again, fists glowing with a new aura—a violet flame laced with threads of gold and black.
And the world exploded around them.
Elsewhere, the war raged without pause.
Hana collapsed to one knee, her energy drained from clashing against Lilith's endless distortions. Tetsu stood protectively in front of her, breathing heavily, one arm dangling uselessly at his side.
Lilith looked barely human anymore—her veins glowed with twisted chronal fire, her body flickering in and out of time, sometimes a blur, sometimes a statue.
"You can't win," she said, voice echoing in layered tones.
"Maybe not…" Tetsu whispered, tightening his grip. "But we're not giving up either."
He lunged forward, sword coated in raw Will energy, and Hana rose behind him, unleashing a blast of phoenix fire that scorched the air.
Their combined attack pierced Lilith's veil.
Farther away, Veyron and Ryuu's duel had become a storm of blades and shadows. Kaede had fallen back, wounded, letting Ryuu take the lead.
Ryuu's movements had grown sharper, faster. He was adapting. Rising.
"I'm not the boy you beat back then," Ryuu growled.
"No," Veyron admitted, panting, eyes locked on Ryuu's blade. "You're something much worse."
Their swords clashed again—fire against shadow.
At the center, Kael rose above the crumbling battlefield. His aura now distorted the sky. The violet flame around him had become a storm, and even Kurojin took a step back.
"This boy," Kurojin whispered. "He's beginning to ascend…"
Kael's eyes glowed as he raised one hand to the sky, void energy surging into a spear of condensed Will.
"For Zhen Kairo. For everyone you've hurt."
He launched the spear—straight for Kurojin's heart.