Watari crossed his arms, eyes shifting between the two warriors standing before him.

  “So… this pce is some kind of spirit realm, right? How long have we been here?”

  Ayase shrugged.

  “A few weeks, give or take. You all showed up after the explosion. We found you unconscious near the edge of the realm, and, well… here we are.”

  Koharu waved her hand through the air, and the space in front of them rippled, distorting like a mirage.

  Then, the scene shifted.

  The image of the explosion returned.

  The ruined city, the bodies strewn across the ground.

  But from this angle, it was different.

  It wasn’t from the mortal world.

  It was as if the Chūkan itself had been watching.

  Ren narrowed his eyes.

  “Wait. Were you able to see it all?”

  Koharu smirked.

  “Yes. From the Chūkan, we see everything.”

  The tension in the room thickened.

  Watari’s hands clenched into fists.

  “Then why did no one help?”

  Ayase’s expression remained neutral.

  “Because the Chūkan handles Chūkan matters.”

  Silence.

  Then, Ren took a step forward, anger bleeding into his voice.

  “It was Kuroda. Not some random mortal affair—Kuroda is a threat to everyone. You can’t tell me that wasn’t a Chūkan matter.”

  Koharu tilted her head, her smirk widening ever so slightly.

  “No, he’s not.”

  Ren’s expression twisted.

  “What?”

  “We had someone handling that,” Ayase continued, “but it seems they’ve been taken out.”

  Akira’s brow furrowed.

  “Who?”

  A single name fell from Ayase’s lips.

  “Mori.”

  Shock rippled through the group.

  “Wait. Mori?”

  Yumi’s voice wavered.

  “You mean the Mori we’ve been fighting against this entire time? My sensei?!”

  “The same, yes,” Koharu confirmed, crossing her arms.

  “We let him handle Kuroda. He figured it out, he knew—Japan is where Tamashkii flows most naturally. It’s where all soul energy originates. His love for Japan wasn’t just national pride. He knew the truth. So when we heard Kuroda was going overseas with his pn, we knew he wouldn’t accept that. That’s why we made him our Kuroda specialist.”

  Akira exhaled, running a hand through his hair.

  “So Mori… wasn’t just some nationalist freak.”

  Yumi looked away, her fingers tightening into fists.

  “I trained under him for years… and he never told me? ……I’ve despised that man…. This whole time….. If he was really trying to stop Kuroda, why didn’t he say anything?”

  “Because we weren’t supposed to know,” Ren muttered, eyes shadowed. “We were never part of his pn. If he had to kill us or complete his pn, he’d choose the former every time.”

  A heavy silence hung between them.

  Then—

  “Either way, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Ayase said smoothly.

  Ren’s fists shook.

  “Doesn’t matter?… Now that he’s gone… isn’t that a problem?”

  Ayase shook his head.

  “Hmm, not really. We always knew Mori was plotting to betray us and unleash the cores in Japan. He was going to have to get taken out one way or the other. As for the other matter, Kuroda can never reach this pce. So it isn’t the Chūkan’s main priority.”

  Watari narrowed his eyes.

  “What do you mean he can’t reach it?”

  Koharu let out a small, almost devilish chuckle.

  “Because the only way to enter the Chūkan Yūrei is for your spirit to be perfectly aligned with your energy. A man that’s relying purely on those disgusting things you call cores can never reach here.”

  A heavy pause filled the space.

  “Wait…” Watari whispered.

  “Then how are we here?”

  Ayase gestured toward them.

  “Think about it. At the moment of the explosion, your Tamashkii all resonated in perfect alignment. That’s why the Chūkan let you in.”

  One by one, the realization set in.

  Yumi’s mind fshed back—her hands desperately reaching for Kaito, her heart screaming for nothing else.

  Ren saw the memory of his own resolve—his only thought had been to save everyone.

  Akira’s fists clenched as he recalled his battle, the world shaking around him, yet his mind only focused on saving those trapped inside.

  And then…

  There was Ryuko.

  He frowned slightly.

  “Wait… then how the hell did I get in?”

  A beat of silence.

  “Intent matters in Tamashkii resonance, but so does instinct,” Ayase said. “Some warriors don’t think about what they want. They just act. And if the Chūkan responds to anything, it’s pure, unfiltered intent.”

  Ryuko’s expression twisted, confused.

  Because unlike the others, he hadn’t been thinking about saving anyone.

  He had just been fighting.

  Pushing himself to his limit, completely in the moment.

  He had wanted to be in that fight.

  And yet, somehow… that had been enough.

  Watari looked at him, deadpanned.

  “Wait, so you’re saying you got in… purely because you love to fight?”

  Ryuko smirked.

  “It would seem so—”

  “Whatever it was,” Koharu interjects, “it happened. Your Shinsei-Gai proves it.”

  “Our what?”

  Ayase gestured to them. “Your outfits. Only the warriors of Chūkan wear the Shinsei-Gai.”

  That was when Watari finally noticed.

  His fingers brushed over the fabric of his own robes.

  The same as Ren’s. As Yumi’s. As Akira’s. As Ryuko’s.

  “I’ve been wearing this the whole time?”

  Then, his eyes fell to the weapon at his side.

  He slowly reached for it, fingers wrapping around the hilt.

  The moment he touched it—

  A pulse.

  His breath hitched.

  It was weightless yet solid in his grip, as though it barely existed yet completely belonged in his hand.

  As if it was calling his name, telling him to wield it.

  The air around it hummed, reacting to his Tamashkii—not just his own, but the energy flowing through the Chūkan itself.

  “What… is this?”

  “Your Reibaku,” Koharu said. “All weapons here function the same way. They resonate with their wielder’s soul energy. That’s why they seem to hum—to respond to the raw, unfiltered Tamashkii of this realm.”

  Watari swallowed hard.

  Then it hit him.

  He had sensed it before.

  When he first saw the others fighting.

  They had leveled up.

  And now… he realized.

  So had he.

  “This pce… it’s boosting us.”

  Ayase nodded.

  “The air in the Chūkan is made of pure soul energy. You’re basically standing inside Tamashkii itself. And that’s why you feel stronger here.”

  Watari slowly exhaled.

  He could feel it now.

  The way his energy moved differently.

  Koharu stepped forward.

  “And that’s why you’re going to train. So that you can take this newfound strength back with you.”

  Watari blinked.

  “Train?”

  Ayase smiled.

  “What, did you think you’d wake up here and just magically get stronger? The Chūkan may boost you, but only if you can handle it. Otherwise…”

  His voice took on an amused edge.

  “It’ll tear you apart.”

  A chill ran through Watari.

  “This was a mission given to us directly by Ancient’s ancestors. The Ten households, but we just call them Elders. Starting today, you’re all going to forget about that hero mess and learn what it means to be a warrior of the Chūkan Yūrei.”

  Cut to bck.