The bullet train screamed through the night, metal screeching under the strain as it sliced through the darkness. Inside, the chaos was absolute.
Sparks exploded from shattered panels, lights flickered wildly, and terrified screams bounced off the cold steel walls. Passengers scrambled in panic, desperate for safety. But none dared to break from the protective circle of grey flames wrapping the train like a living shield.
Inside the domain, the battlefield was hell unleashed.
Kaname Hisakawa stood face-to-face with a furious Electric Shikiban. The enemy crackled with wild arcs of blue-white lightning, their unstable energy snapping and spitting through the air like deadly serpents.
Kaname's crimson eyes locked onto the foe, expression ice-cold.
"You're reckless. Your lightning's volatile. You'll burn yourself out long before you consume me," he said, voice low but cutting.
The Shikiban snarled, energy pulsing violently as it unleashed a blinding arc of lightning, smashing nearby panels to molten slag.
Kaname didn't move.
Instead, his hands glowed with creeping black flame—the cursed Endō Hi: Ember Path.
"Your electricity is chaos. I am control incarnate."
The black flames crawled along the floor, devouring the deadly arcs midair like a ravenous beast. The enemy's lightning sputtered, flickering in sudden weakness.
Souta's grey flames flared fiercely as he raised his arms, forming an unbreakable shield around fleeing civilians.
"Kaname, steady! That domain won't hold forever."
Kaname's crimson gaze flicked sharply to Souta as he blocked an incoming electric whip with a flash of ember.
"I don't burn half-measures," Kaname said, voice deadly.
Souta's eyes narrowed.
"Truth is brutal. Learn to take it."
Kaname's flames exploded outward as he summoned his Awakened Form.
The air thickened with suffocating ash and heat.
"Shōmetsu no Entei," Kaname growled.
A massive greatsword of living flame ignited in his grasp, glowing with unbearable heat. Even standing near it, memories twisted and burned in the oppressive heat like fragile paper.
The Shikiban roared in desperation, lunging with claws crackling and surging with deadly electricity.
Kaname didn't flinch.
He swung the ember greatsword in a devastating arc, flames trailing like the tail of a comet through the cramped train car.
The strike slammed into the enemy's chest, sending them flying backward through steel and glass. Sparks rained down, the enemy's electric form sputtering violently.
Souta's domain flared higher, his grey flames licking the walls, pushing back the wild energy surging through the train.
"Kaname! Hold position. Don't overextend."
Kaname sheathed the flaming greatsword and stepped back into the shadows.
Suddenly, a torrent of lightning spears whipped through the air, aimed straight at the passengers scrambling for safety.
Souta didn't hesitate.
His hands blazed, summoning a massive, pulsing grey dome around the civilians.
"Phoenix Blaze: Sanctuary!"
The dome absorbed multiple electric blasts, the backlashes crackling but harmless inside the cocoon.
"Keep moving! Evacuate!"
Kaname's eyes narrowed as the electric Shikiban reformed, their body crackling with desperate energy.
The battle was far from over.
The enemy lunged again, bolts of lightning crackling into deadly whips.
Kaname's hand ignited in black flame, voice low and lethal.
"Endō Hi: Inferno Judgment."
His ember blade reappeared, swinging with brutal precision through the volatile energy.
The Shikiban shrieked, unable to withstand the searing flames that burned through their electric form.
Souta moved like a shadow through the chaos, his grey flames flaring in perfect sync with Kaname's relentless assault.
"Phoenix Blaze: Firewall!"
The domain erupted into an unbreakable barrier, swallowing wild bolts of lightning and turning them to harmless smoke.
Kaname's blade slashed again, the ember fire trailing like the death of a star.
The enemy staggered, collapsing into a heap of smoldering ash.
The train car fell into tense silence.
Kaname wiped ash from his hand, eyes locking with Souta's.
"You saved them."
Souta smirked, lowering the domain but keeping his guard razor-sharp.
"I keep the flames burning. You decide what burns and what survives."
Kaname nodded once.
"More are coming. This isn't over."
The train screamed onward, a battlefield raging with electric fury and ember wrath.
The deafening metallic groan of the train was the soundtrack to a war being waged in the shadows of speed and steel. Kaname's crimson eyes scanned the car, searching for the next threat.
"They're not finished yet. Keep that domain tight. I'll burn through any who try."
Souta's grey flames danced around him, a living wall of power.
"We won't let them break through. Not while we stand."
Kaname's voice dropped, low but razor-sharp.
"Every second I waste, the flames weaken. I need the next one."
Souta's eyes flicked toward the narrowing tunnels rushing past.
"We keep the civilians safe, you keep the fire alive. Deal?"
Kaname smirked slightly.
"Deal."
As the train thundered into the night, the battle continued—flames against lightning, wills against chaos, and two warriors carrying the weight of lives in the burning balance.