Smoke curled into the crimson sky like the breath of a dying world. The battlefield was painted in blood and flame, screams of the fallen echoing like a final song for the lost.
Kael stood side by side with Kaito, both of them panting, blood trailing from deep wounds in their arms—remnants of Kurojin's earlier blast. But their eyes burned with fire.
Kurojin, cloaked in dark tendrils and raw malice, stepped forward again, his power flaring wildly. The ground cracked beneath him with every step. "I am the one who commands the void. You think two boys and an old man can destroy me?"
Kael didn't answer with words. He vanished in a blink—Voidstep.
Kaito came from the other side, slashing through Kurojin's cloak with a blade laced in blue flame.
The strike drew a scream from the warlord. For the first time, he faltered.
Kael reappeared behind him, twisting through the smoke like a shadow incarnate. He formed a blade out of pure Will and stabbed it deep into Kurojin's back.
"You made me think my brother was gone forever," Kael growled. "You made us fight. Manipulated everything. And now... you pay."
Kurojin lashed out, throwing both of them back with a blast that shattered the cliff edge behind them.
Kaito landed hard, coughing blood, but pushed up again. "Together, Kael!"
They charged one last time.
Kurojin's body surged with power—enough to destroy a city.
Kael's eyes glowed. He channeled every ounce of Voidstep, Overdrive, and Will Copy into one final attack. His sword extended with blinding white energy—an echo of Raizen's style.
Kaito mirrored him, his blade forming a crescent of flame and shadow.
They struck in unison.
Kurojin screamed as both blades pierced through his chest. Darkness poured out like smoke escaping a sealed tomb. His body shook… then fell to his knees.
"You... were supposed to break," Kurojin whispered. "Like I did…"
He collapsed. His body crumbled into dust, carried away by the wind.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the remaining Wielders finished the fight.
Lilith lay unconscious, her body frozen in place by Hana's Will-enhanced seal. Tetsu slumped beside her, bruised but alive.
Veyron's form flickered and fell under Ryuu's final strike, Kaede standing over the battlefield, chest heaving.
Hundreds of corrupted beasts were slaughtered. Thousands of Wielders fought. Over 500 now lay still, their weapons shattered beside them—heroes who gave everything.
Magnus Kreel stood silently among the fallen, wiping his blade clean.
Seraphine knelt beside a young Wielder's body, eyes misting.
Raizen leaned on his staff, watching the skies with a heavy heart.
The war was over.
Not with celebration. Not with cheers.
But with silence.
And the weight of every soul that wouldn't return home.
Kael stood over Kurojin's remains. Kaito beside him.
"We did it," Kael whispered.
"But at what cost?" Kaito replied, his voice barely audible.
The wind blew gently.
A new chapter would begin—but this one... this war... had ended.