Ten years ago, the rain had finally stopped by the time Mizumi's funeral came to an end, leaving the Tomioka estate wrapped beneath a cold silence that somehow felt heavier than the storm itself. Cherry blossom petals drifted lazily through the damp evening air, carried gently across the stone pathways and gardens surrounding the estate grounds while the fading light of dusk painted everything in soft shades of gray and pink. The scenery was beautiful in the cruelest possible way, as though the world itself had decided to remain untouched by grief even after taking something irreplaceable away. Inside the estate, the sound of distant conversations echoed endlessly through the halls as relatives and family friends offered formal condolences to Ayato and Rui, their voices blending together into meaningless noise that only made the atmosphere feel more suffocating. Rui tried several times to step away so she could find Shoto, but every attempt was interrupted by another visitor stopping her to speak, forcing her back into conversations she no longer had the strength to endure. Hikaru watched all of it quietly before eventually slipping outside through the back entrance, escaping the oppressive atmosphere inside the house and wandering toward the edge of the estate gardens where he already knew Shoto would be.
Beneath the old cherry blossom tree overlooking the hill sat Shoto Kazami completely alone with his knees pulled tightly against his chest while petals continued falling around him one after another, landing softly against his dark hair and black funeral clothes without him making any effort to brush them away. His eyes remained fixed on the ground beneath him, dull and lifeless in a way no child's eyes should ever become, and the emptiness surrounding him felt so heavy that even the wind itself seemed quieter near him. Mizumi's death replayed endlessly inside his mind without mercy, her final moments repeating over and over again no matter how hard he tried to stop thinking about them. He had watched his sister die right in front of him, and ever since that moment it felt as though something inside him had simply stopped moving forward. The world had ended for him that day, yet everyone else continued talking, walking, breathing, and pretending life could somehow continue normally afterward.
Hikaru approached slowly before lowering himself beside him beneath the tree, remaining quiet for several moments while the wind rustled softly through the branches overhead. "Hey," Hikaru finally muttered awkwardly, trying to sound casual despite the tension tightening in his chest. Shoto didn't respond at all, his gaze never lifting from the ground. Hikaru glanced sideways at him before scratching the back of his head nervously because he had never been good at comforting people, especially not Shoto, whose sadness always felt far deeper than anyone else's. The silence stretched onward between them while petals drifted endlessly through the air above their heads, and eventually Hikaru stood up abruptly before stepping directly in front of him with forced determination written across his face.
"Listen Sho—" Hikaru stopped himself before correcting his words with unusual seriousness. "…No. Kazami." Shoto slowly lifted his head, confusion faintly appearing across his exhausted expression. "H-huh…?" Hikaru crossed his arms confidently even though he clearly had no idea what he was doing. "As of today, you and I are rivals." Shoto blinked slowly. "Rivals…?" Hikaru nodded immediately. "Yeah. Rivals. And one day I'm gonna beat you." For several seconds Shoto simply stared at him in silence before the faintest smile slowly appeared across his face. "Sure…" he murmured quietly while lowering his eyes toward the ground again. "…Not if I beat you first." Hikaru grinned proudly at that response without either of them realizing the childish promise they made beneath that cherry blossom tree would one day drag both of them toward destruction.
Back in the present, Hikaru didn't give him even a second to breathe after the battle resumed because the instant Shoto's body crashed against the ground, the pressure surrounding the forest intensified violently until it felt as though the entire battlefield had been dragged beneath the ocean itself. Trees bent unnaturally beneath the invisible weight while roots groaned beneath the soil, and the air thickened so heavily that even breathing became difficult. Shoto tried forcing himself upward despite the pain screaming through his ribs, but Hikaru had already vanished before he could recover properly. A blur of mist crossed the battlefield in an instant before agony exploded through Shoto's body as Hikaru's knee slammed directly into his ribs with devastating force, the impact lifting him completely off the ground while his breath erupted violently from his lungs.
"Too slow," Hikaru said coldly before grabbing Shoto by the collar and spinning violently, hurling him through the forest like debris caught inside a hurricane. Trees exploded apart around him as his body crashed through branches and bark before slamming into the earth hard enough to carve another crater into the dirt. Shoto groaned painfully while black scales spread further across his arms, dark energy desperately surging outward from within him, but Hikaru shut it down immediately with a single motion of his hand. The ground beneath Shoto liquefied instantly into violent churning mud that dragged him downward onto his knees before spears of compressed water erupted around him in rapid succession, slamming mercilessly into his back, ribs, and shoulders with terrifying precision. Every strike was controlled, deliberate, and unbearably punishing. Shoto screamed as one spear pierced through the mud beside him and pinned his arm downward, the pressure crushing muscle and bone alike while the Zamroak Sword slipped free from his grasp and skidded uselessly across the battlefield beyond his reach.
Hikaru slowly approached while the black bow in his hand dissolved into flowing water before reforming into a razor-sharp blade that hummed violently with compressed pressure. "You feel that?" Hikaru asked calmly, his voice sounding less like a rival and more like a teacher correcting a student. "That gap between us?" He slowly raised the blade overhead while the nearby river suddenly exploded upward behind him, enormous amounts of water ripping free from their banks before spiraling high into the air and compressing into a massive rotating sphere above the forest canopy. "It proves I'm stronger than you."
"No—!" Dark fire suddenly erupted around Shoto's body as he forced himself upward while black shadows exploded violently outward from beneath his feet. "I don't…" His voice trembled painfully. "…want to fight you." His body staggered from exhaustion, but he immediately turned the stumble into momentum before gripping the Zamroak Sword tightly once more. "But if I have to end this now—Hikaru!!" Shoto swung the blade violently across his body, black energy crossing together into a massive X-shaped blast that screamed through the forest toward Hikaru with enough force to tear apart the ground in its path.
Hikaru reacted instantly by reforming his bow within his grasp before drawing the string backward and releasing a single arrow. The projectile transformed mid-flight into a massive water trident that pierced directly through Shoto's attack before slamming violently into his chest. The impact launched Shoto over a hundred feet through the forest before his body smashed directly into a massive boulder hard enough to fracture the stone itself. He slid slowly downward before collapsing motionless against the ground while the black scales faded from his face and hands one by one until nothing remained except silence.
Hikaru stood there breathing heavily while blood trailed slowly from the corner of his mouth and the draconic wing extending from his back flickered unstably beneath the moonlight. His legs trembled beneath him before finally giving out completely. "…Tch…" he muttered weakly before collapsing forward into the mud as darkness swallowed his consciousness whole.
Far away from the battlefield, another silence had settled over the Round Table chamber, though this silence was not peaceful in any sense of the word because it carried a suffocating tension that made the room feel smaller with every passing second. Nobody looked directly at one another, yet everyone could still feel the weight of every stare pressing into their skin while the massive round table reflected the dim overhead lights like an old battlefield scarred by years of conflict. Neko leaned slightly backward in his chair before exhaling slowly through his nose. "…Tch." Across the table, Slyth suddenly stirred before crawling free from the folds of Zan-Xi's jacket, his claws clicking softly against the table's surface while his scaled body shimmered beneath the dim lighting.
"Heh," Slyth said smugly while tilting his head toward Neko. "That's your team, huh?" Neko didn't answer immediately. Instead, he shot Slyth a sharp glare before lowering his eyes toward the floor. "…Yeah," he muttered quietly. "That's them." Slyth burst into loud laughter immediately afterward. "A bunch of thirteen-year-olds?!" he cackled. "That's your lineup? Hah! Pathetic." He leaned backward smugly before crossing his arms confidently. "Zan-Xi's group, though? That's mine."
Neko silently pushed himself out of his chair before hopping down from the table. "Mhm." Before Slyth could continue mocking him, Azul suddenly stood up. She had remained perfectly still throughout the meeting until now, sitting near the far edge of the room without speaking once, but her gaze suddenly locked onto the exit door with terrifying certainty as she slowly began walking away without offering any explanation whatsoever. Neko and Slyth exchanged a brief glance before following her outside onto the rooftop where the cold night air struck them immediately, heavy with something unnatural lingering within the atmosphere itself. The city stretched endlessly below while distant lights flickered beneath the dark sky overhead.
As Neko stepped forward, his body slowly began shifting while thick messy brown hair spilled around his face and two braids hung loosely beside his head. His posture straightened immediately while sharp green eyes scanned the rooftop with quiet authority, revealing the thin scar running from his eyebrow down across his cheek beneath the moonlight. Behind him, his long inhuman tail wrapped tightly around his waist like a belt while he cracked his neck slowly. Beside him, Slyth transformed as well while scales rippled violently across his body before bone and flesh twisted together until the lizard reshaped himself into a lean man dressed in a fitted black tuxedo, his sharp predatory eyes gleaming with amusement.
Azul stood near the rooftop's edge staring silently toward the horizon where the first signs of dawn had begun appearing. "You said Shoto's the key to that gate," she said calmly. "…Right?" Neko hesitated slightly before answering cautiously. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure there's another way to get th—" Azul suddenly turned toward them, her eyes burning with absolute certainty.
Then the sky changed.
Clouds spiraled unnaturally overhead while a massive pillar of radiant light pierced downward from the heavens, bathing Azul completely within glowing brilliance. "That's all I needed to hear," she whispered softly. Slyth stared upward nervously while his grin faltered for the first time since the meeting began. "…What the hell is happening right now?" Neko didn't answer because his eyes had already widened while staring upward at the heavens.
The clouds parted slowly.
And then they descended.
One after another, figures of white and gold emerged from the sky itself while enormous wings unfurled behind them and radiant light spilled endlessly from their bodies.
Angels had arrived.
And they descended toward Earth like judgment itself.