Night. Rain taps against the window. Aki sits at his desk, sketchbook open, headset glowing beside him. He flips through the pages—each drawing now moves faintly, like ink breathing.
Aki (thinking):
"Every time I go back… more of me stays there. And this world—feels more fake than that one."
---
Cut to Yumi, alone in the school library. She types "Yūgen" into a dusty old terminal. One result appears:
> Yūgen Protocol – Subjective Reality Access Point
Project terminated. Classified.
Yumi (muttering):
"What the hell are you into, Aki?"
---
Back in the Yūgen Realm. Aki walks through a twilight desert, golden sand shimmering under a dark sky. Rei walks beside him, silent for a long moment.
Rei:
"You're not like the others who come here. You're… leaking."
Aki:
"Leaking?"
Rei:
"Your memories. They're not just fading—they're warping the Realm. That's why it's reacting to you."
A sudden tremor. Cracks split the ground. Strange tendrils of black code rise up, like corrupted roots. A voice echoes:
Enforcer (distant):
"Decay accelerates. Reset required."
Rei grabs Aki's arm, pulling him away from the corruption spreading fast beneath their feet.
---
They take refuge in a collapsed observatory. Inside: glowing constellations mapped across the ceiling. Rei speaks quietly.
Rei:
"There's a place. Deep in the center. The Heart of Yūgen. It's said it can rewrite rules—maybe even break your contract."
Aki:
"So… I can get my memories back?"
Rei (hesitating):
"Maybe. Or lose everything."
---
Suddenly, a loud clang. The door is kicked open. A new figure steps in—young, confident, wearing a strange half-mask. He twirls a silver revolver.
???:
"Well well… Seeker and the Exile. Fancy meeting you in my sector."
Rei (tense):
"Don't move. That's Kael."
Kael:
"Relax. I'm not here to kill anyone—yet. Just passing along a message."
He tosses a small device onto the floor. It projects a hologram—
Watcher (from last episode):
"You're being hunted, Aki. Not just by the Enforcer. Others want the Heart. And they'll tear you apart to get there first."
Kael (smirking):
"So… are you gonna run again? Or are we finally starting a war?"
---
Kael vanishes in a flash of light. Aki stares at the spot he stood, fists clenched.
Aki:
"No more running."
Rei (softly):
"Then we head for the center."
---
Real world. Yumi walks through Aki's neighborhood. She looks up—his apartment window is glowing blue. She gasps as shadows ripple behind the curtain.
Yumi (whispers):
"…What are you?"
Yūgen Realm. Night in the desert. Aki and Rei stand at the edge of a vast canyon. At its center: a broken bridge leading to a spiraling black tower, barely visible through mist and lightning.
Rei:
"The way to the Heart starts there. The Spiral Gate."
Aki (quietly):
"It looks like it wants to kill us."
Rei:
"It probably does."
---
They begin their climb across the jagged remains of the bridge. Glowing eyes flicker in the mist. As they step forward, the environment glitches—sand turns to glass, sky splits into code.
Aki (panicked):
"Why is the world breaking around us?"
Rei (gritting teeth):
"Because you're breaking. You're syncing too fast."
---
Flashback: Real world. Yumi sits at her desk, notebook open. A page flips on its own. The ink moves, sketching symbols she doesn't recognize. Her nose bleeds. She gasps, clutching her head.
Yumi:
"What the hell...?"
She opens her phone camera. For a moment—her reflection in the glass isn't her. It's Aki. In armor. Bleeding.
---
Back in the Realm, Aki falls to his knees mid-bridge. Visions slam into his head—
His mother's voice fades into static.
Rei screaming, reaching for him.
The Enforcer, smiling as the world collapses.
Aki (clutching head):
"Make it stop! Just let me remember something real!"
---
A tremor hits. The tower cracks open. A figure floats out—masked, in golden robes, with thousands of tiny gears orbiting them like moons. Voice metallic, calm.
Figure:
"Seeker Aki. Sync rate: 73%. Reset recommended."
Rei (pulling him back):
"Don't listen. They're the Architects. They want your core."
Aki (shaking):
"Who are they?!"
Architect:
"We are the original builders of Yūgen. And your mind is corrupting our design."
---
Aki staggers up, Sketchblade forming—but the Architect raises one finger. Time freezes. Rei stops mid-breath. Wind stills. Dust hangs in the air.
Architect:
"You were not meant to exist this deep. Let us unmake you gently."
Aki trembles—but closes his eyes. Reaches inward. The blade glows red.
Aki (firmly):
"No. I'm done being erased."
---
Time shatters. Aki moves—faster than he ever has—slashes the Architect's gear-shield, breaking one ring. The tower pulses in agony. Rei gasps as time resumes.
Rei:
"…You moved through time."
Aki:
"I don't know how. I just… wanted to protect myself."
Architect (retreating, glitching):
"You are dangerous. The Enforcer will handle you."
---
They reach the tower's core. Inside: glowing veins of data spiral into the sky. In the center, a pulse—like a massive heart, beating slowly.
Rei (softly):
"We're close. But once you step into the Nexus Path, there's no turning back."
Aki places his hand on the platform. Lights rise. The whole tower groans alive.
Aki:
"Then let's finish what we started."
Cut to the real world. Yumi sits across from a man in a dark office. A symbol—identical to the one in Aki's palm—is tattooed on his wrist.
Mysterious Man:
"You found someone inside, didn't you?"
Yumi (nodding):
"He's slipping. But I can still reach him."
Man:
"Then do it fast. Because if he opens the Heart… we all burn."