The wind howled at the highest peak of the ancient tower, where a boy stood tall—his blue jacket fluttering, hair tousled by the ocean breeze. His eyes, one red and one blue, pulsed with ethereal glow. Kairyuuha gazed over the land beneath him, his tone cold and calculating.

  "So this is the freedom I longed for… Maybe it’s time I gave Kazuki a taste of how it felt inside that seal."

  —

  Meanwhile, deep within the forest, Kazuki and his party—Elara, Garron, Drake, and Rinara—faced a monstrous horde. The creatures surged like waves, but Kazuki, with his new strength, moved through them effortlessly. A single motion, a slash, a flash of aura—and monsters fell.

  As they finished, Kazuki stepped forward, eyes glowing faintly.

  He muttered something under his breath in ancient Japanese, then spoke louder:

  "Come Forth."

  Dark mist surrounded the corpses as they rose. Some retained their beastly silhouettes, others morphed into humanoid forms. As the last one stood, a status screen appeared before Kazuki:

  Stolen story; please report.

  > Dark Army Count Updated:

  Soldiers: 1463

  Mages: 254

  Flight Units: 123

  Tanks: 54

  Kazuki nodded, storing them in his dimension.

  Another status screen followed:

  > Combat Stats: 1452

  INT: 645

  But then… he froze.

  His expression sharpened. His head slowly turned.

  They were being watched.

  Above, perched on a tree branch cloaked in strange swirling magic, stood a figure. Its presence felt ancient—its aura twisted.

  Before Kazuki could react, the figure lifted a hand and unleashed a vortex of shadow. Time seemed to halt. Elara screamed his name.

  “KAZUKI!!”

  The vortex engulfed him. Then—he was gone.

  Garron rushed forward, Drake unsheathed his weapon, but the figure had vanished.

  Silence.

  —

  The figure reappeared far away, removing the magical veil to reveal his face.

  Kairyuuha.

  "So fragile in this timeline… but I can’t kill you. Not yet."

  He smirked darkly.

  "That would create a paradox. One the universe would reset to avoid. So… let’s play a little longer."

  He looked into the distance.

  "I wonder… how are you doing in the void, Kazuki?"

  —

  Within a swirling world of pitch-blackness and silence, Kazuki stood alone.

  Emotionless.

  His daggers drawn.

  He tried Elemental Fury—but the flames, wind, and lightning were absorbed into the endless darkness.

  He focused and summoned his Non-Elemental Spell—but it flickered and vanished.

  A purple status screen hovered before Kairyuuha:

  > Kazuki – Status: Sealed. Consciousness: Stable. Emotion: Null.

  —

  Back at the capital, in the Duke’s quarters, silence reigned.

  The news had reached them.

  Kazuki—vanished by a mysterious figure no one recognized. An unknown vortex. A glimpse of strange eyes. That was all.

  Drake clenched his fists, trembling.

  Elara cried in silence.

  Even the Duke—his expression stone-cold—turned away, unable to speak.

  "He’s gone," Rinara whispered. "Just like that…"

  But somewhere, deep inside the Duke’s heart, a fire burned.

  “Kazuki… I swear, we’ll bring you back.”