The faculty room of Reikōsha Academy felt unusually heavy, like the walls themselves were listening.
Griffin stood near the window, adjusting his hat slightly as his sharp eyes stared into the distance, far beyond what normal sight could reach. His posture looked relaxed, but the tension in his fingers said otherwise. One of his flintlock pistols rested at his side, untouched, yet ready.
Across the room, Shougo Takahano sat in silence, elbows on his knees, fingers interlocked in front of his face. His usual calm expression was still there but thinner now, like it was being held together by discipline alone.
Judas Iscariot leaned back against a desk, arms crossed, watching both of them with a faint, uneasy smile. Her long hair fell slightly over one eye as she tilted her head, studying the room like she already knew how this would end.
"So… no one's going to say it?" she muttered.
The old woman, Tine, sat quietly in her chair near the corner, her wrinkled hands resting on a wooden cane. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't asleep. She was listening to something deeper than sound.
"They've reached him," she said softly.
Shougo didn't look up. "…I know."
Judas clicked her tongue and straightened a little. "Then why are we still here? That's not a normal opponent. You saw the reports."
Griffin finally spoke, his voice low and measured. "They chose to go."
"That's not the point," Judas replied, her tone sharpening. "They're students, not sacrifices."
Shougo's fingers tightened slightly.
Tine opened her eyes. "They are neither," she said. "They are warriors in the making. Whether we like it or not."
Silence settled again, heavier this time.
Judas stepped away from the desk and walked a few steps closer, her gaze fixed on Shougo. "Say something."
Shougo slowly lifted his head. His eyes weren't calm anymore.
"They're not ready."
Griffin turned slightly. "No one is ever ready to face something like that."
"That's not an excuse," Shougo shot back, standing up now. "You know what he can do. You've seen it. Erasure isn't something you learn against it's something you survive if you're lucky."
"And yet," Griffin replied, his tone unchanged, "they're still alive."
That hit.
Shougo clenched his jaw. "Barely."
Tine's voice cut in again, softer this time. "You taught them to stand together."
Shougo didn't respond.
Judas folded her arms again, but this time her expression softened just a little. "Look, I get it. You don't want to lose them. None of us do. But if you step in now, what happens later when you're not there?"
Shougo's gaze dropped for a second.
Then he exhaled slowly.
"…if I don't go now, there might not be a 'later.'"
Griffin watched him carefully. "And if you interfere, you take away their chance to grow."
Shougo looked at him.
This time, there was no hesitation in his voice.
"I'd rather have them alive than perfect."
The room went quiet.
Even Griffin didn't respond immediately.
Shougo turned, already moving toward the door. "I'm going."
Judas smirked faintly, brushing her hair back. "Took you long enough."
Tine closed her eyes again. "…bring them back."
Shougo stopped for a brief second.
"…I will."
Then he vanished.
Not stepped.
Not ran.
Vanished.
The air where he stood snapped slightly from the sudden displacement. In the next instant, he was already far beyond the academy grounds, his body moving at a speed that ignored distance itself. The world blurred past him sky, land, structures all reduced to streaks of motion as he pushed forward without slowing.
Faster than sight.
Faster than sound.
Faster than anything that could follow.
Dragonbone Ridge.
That was all that mattered.
Far away from the academy, the battlefield told a completely different story.
The silence there wasn't calm.
It was exhaustion.
The ground had long since lost its original shape. What remained was a broken stretch of unstable terrain, pieces of it flickering as if unsure whether they still existed. The air felt thin, heavy with energy that hadn't fully settled, like the aftermath of something that refused to end.
Kairo's breathing was uneven now. Each inhale burned his chest, each step felt heavier than the last. His body trembled slightly not from fear, but from the sheer limit he was pushing past.
Yura noticed it immediately.
Before he could fully collapse, she moved, fast enough that the ground beneath her feet cracked from the sudden force. She caught him just as his knees gave out, one hand gripping his shoulder to keep him steady.
"Kairo."
Her voice was calm but sharper than usual.
Kairo tried to laugh it off, but it came out weak. "…I'm good."
"You're not," she replied, her eyes locked on his. "Stay awake."
Not far from them, Tyouro stood breathing heavily, his body shaking from both exhaustion and pain. His fire still flickered but it wasn't as strong as before. The loss of his arms had slowed him, but not stopped him. His grin was still there, though weaker now.
"Man… this guy really hates me, huh…" he muttered, trying to keep his usual tone.
Kimimaru stood nearby, silent as always, but something about him had changed. His grip on his weapon tightened slightly, his eyes focused not just watching anymore, but calculating, adapting.
Every movement now mattered.
Every second could be their last.
And then…
Yoshiro Kagetsu stood in the distance, completely still.
For the first time since the fight began, he wasn't laughing.
His gaze wasn't on all of them.
It was on something else.
Something only he could see.
The destruction around him, the broken land, the fading screams none of it mattered anymore in that moment. His eyes softened, just slightly, as if the world in front of him had been replaced by a memory.
"…Akira…"
His voice wasn't filled with rage this time.
It was quiet.
Almost gentle.
In his mind, she stood there.
Not burned.
Not gone.
But alive.
Her hair moved softly with the wind, her eyes warm, her presence untouched by the cruelty of the world. She looked exactly the way he remembered her no, even more beautiful than memory could ever capture.
"You always walked ahead of me," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "Even when the path was dark… you never looked back."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I used to think… if I just stayed strong enough… I could protect that smile."
His hand trembled slightly.
"But I was too late."
The air around him began to distort.
Not violently.
But slowly.
Like reality itself was reacting to his emotions.
"You weren't just my world…" he continued, his eyes soft yet hollow at the same time. "You were the only reason I believed this world was worth saving."
His gaze hardened.
"…so if it took you away…"
The distortion grew stronger.
"…then this world doesn't deserve to exist."
The moment snapped.
His presence changed again.
Cold.
Empty.
Terrifying.
And this time
He looked directly at them.
The fight wasn't over.
It was about to become something worse.