The air was wrong. Watari and Yumi could feel it in their bones. The glow around Kaito was twisted—no longer the golden light of his own Tamashkii, but something sickly, something invasive.

  His body jerked unnaturally, his limbs twitching as raw energy surged violently through him. His head snapped upward, but the eyes staring back at them weren’t Kaito’s. They were hollow.

  Yumi sucked in a sharp breath. “No… Kaito.”

  Kaito’s mouth opened, but his voice came out distorted, yered over itself like two overpping souls fighting for control.

  “Initiate… sequence… stabilize core…”

  His body convulsed violently, veins glowing under his skin like molten cracks in breaking gss.

  And then—

  A pulse.

  A force smmed outward, sending both Watari and Yumi skidding back across the floor.

  Kaito took a single step forward, his presence pressing down on them with suffocating weight. His arm twitched, then snapped into pce like a puppet adjusting to its strings.

  The fight was inevitable.

  But then—

  A flicker. Just for a moment. A tremor passed through Kaito’s expression. A hesitation. The faintest sliver of himself trying to cw its way back.

  Yumi caught it first. Her eyes widened. “Wait… he’s still in there.”

  Watari wiped blood from his lips, nodding. “Then we’re not fighting him. We get him back.”

  Kaito lunged.

  His fist shot forward, connecting with Watari’s gut and sending him crashing into the far wall. The impact cracked the concrete.

  Watari groaned, struggling to his feet. But he wasn’t angry. He stepped forward again.

  Kaito struck him again, this time an open-palmed blow to the chest, sending him tumbling.

  But Watari coughed, rolling back onto his knees, and grinned weakly. “Ahh my proud Okachi, is that all you got?”

  Yumi moved next, weaving through the air like a fme barely disturbed by the wind. She ducked under Kaito’s next blow, pressing a hand to his chest.

  “Kaito, listen to me. You can fight this.”

  He swung wildly, knocking her back. She hit the ground hard, blood streaking from her lips, but she still got up.

  And still, they didn’t fight back.

  Kaito’s breath was ragged. His entire body was trembling, twitching, something inside of him screaming to break free. His fingers dug into his hair, his breathing shallow and uneven.

  His chest heaved.

  “I…” The distortion in his voice wavered. “I—didn’t want this.”

  Watari took another step closer, his own injuries forgotten. “I know, man. You just wanted to be stronger.”

  Kaito let out a broken cry, his hands shaking. “I wanted the core so bad… and now look at me. I messed everything up.”

  Watari reached forward, gripping his wrist. “No. You didn’t. I’d never bme you for this.”

  Kaito’s breath hitched.

  And then, just as quickly as the moment of crity came, the energy inside of him spiraled out of control. His body arched violently as a surge of light burst from within him, the core inside of him rejecting the humanity trying to take hold.

  The sheer pressure made the entire room tremble.

  Kaito’s hands clenched into fists. Tears streamed down his face as he spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Watari… Yumi… go. I’ve known the whole time you guys were on your own mission. You don’t need to be a part of this.”

  Watari shook his head immediately. “Not happening. None of that matters.”

  Yumi took her pce beside him. “We’re not leaving you.”

  The energy crackled and fred, burning away at the ground beneath Kaito’s feet. It was breaking him apart.

  Kaito’s voice broke. “You idiots… run.”

  Watari stepped forward. “I’m not letting go.”

  He gripped Kaito’s wrist tighter, holding him in pce, refusing to let him fade away.

  Yumi wrapped her arms around Watari, her voice steady, but her entire body trembling. “We’re not letting you go.”

  The light around Kaito surged. The entire room was shaking.

  He let out a strangled sob, his fingers twitching at his sides. “Please… please don’t do this to me. Don’t make this harder.”

  Watari’s eyes burned. “I have to. I know you’d do it for me.”

  And then—

  Through the chaos, through the spiraling destruction, Watari heard something.

  A whisper. A memory.

  “If you only help those who ask for it, are you really saving anyone at all?”

  Ancient’s words.

  Watari’s breath caught. The weight of it crashed into him all at once. The realization. The truth.

  The boratory was in chaos, but Kuroda stood untouched. His fingers drummed idly against the desk as the distant echoes of battle reverberated through the walls.

  Tenzan was already watching the monitors, analyzing the shifting tide. The Musabori elites were putting up a fight, but it was clear now—this battle was no longer theirs to win.

  Kuroda exhaled, slow and measured. Then, he lifted his hand and activated the communicator on his wrist.

  “It’s time to go.”

  Tenzan gnced back, raising an eyebrow. “Leaving already? You don’t wanna stay for the fireworks?”

  Kuroda’s lips curled into something resembling amusement, though it never reached his eyes. “There’s nothing left for me here. The preparations for New York are complete. This was merely a distraction—one that served its purpose well.”

  He adjusted his coat, stepping toward the exit. “Besides, if they believe they’ve won something here, let them. False victories breed compcency. And compcency makes extermination that much easier.”

  Tenzan cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders before trailing behind. “Fine, fine. But what about the brat? The one with Tsukuyomi?”

  At that, Kuroda finally stopped. He turned his head slightly, his gaze flickering toward Ren, who stood across the b, still catching his breath, his knuckles white from gripping his bde.

  The tension in the air was thick—Ren’s body was ready to lunge, but something kept him frozen. Kuroda could feel it.

  A smirk ghosted his lips.

  “Tell me, Ren—” he spoke, voice deliberate, measured. “Do you believe in fate?”

  Ren’s jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

  “Because I do.”

  Kuroda’s eyes gleamed. “That’s why I was always going to win.”

  With that, he turned away, walking through the door as the shadows swallowed him whole.

  Ren’s fingers twitched, but he didn’t move.

  His breath came out ragged, his heart hammering.

  What did he mean by that?

  The words echoed in his skull, looping like a curse, sinking into his mind like a splinter too deep to pull free.

  Watari then muttered under his breath, barely audible. But Ren heard it.

  “If you only help those who ask for it, are you really saving anyone at all?”

  His eyes snapped toward them. The inner turmoil inside of him finally cracking under the weight of the moment.

  “Not this time…” Ren whispered.

  His fingers curled tightly around Tsukuyomi’s hilt. His pulse pounded in his ears. He could feel it—the hesitation that had once held him back, the fear, the regrets. It would not rule him again.

  “I refuse to stand still. I refuse to hesitate.”

  The silver glow around his bde intensified, casting long shadows across the ruins of the b.

  Ren’s breath steadied. His stance shifted. His mind cleared.

  This time, I shall act.

  His voice rang out, firm and unwavering.

  ”—Tsukuyomi.”

  A fsh of silver light was the st thing that was seen before the building was obliterated.

  Cut to bck.