Takeshi had begun to fear Raiga; his aura had completely changed. Yet his pride outweighed his fear, and he spoke mockingly:
— Now, only you ca—
Raiga raised his index finger, signaling Takeshi to be silent.
— Be quiet… Not yet.
Takeshi, enraged, slammed his hands onto the ground, forming a massive spear of earth and hurled it toward Raiga. But the moment it touched him, it turned to ash instantly. Takeshi was stunned; there was no trace left of Raiga's previous form.
Black flames began rising from Raiga's body. Takeshi had seen such fire only in Rion, a fragment of Kaos. Raiga slowly lifted his head, eyes blazing with hatred, a pure black flame. Takeshi used his growth technique to cover his entire body with earth. Raiga, however, filled his sword with black fire.
He planted his right foot firmly and suddenly appeared in front of Takeshi. With a single swing, Raiga cut off Takeshi's arm. Takeshi froze; the arm didn't regenerate, and the severed end continued burning. The earth could not absorb this flame. Glancing behind him, Raiga was there, slowly turning around.
Takeshi could not accept this in his ego and shouted in fury:
— Brat! You might have gained some strength, but you'll never defe—
Before he could finish, his right leg ignited. Fire spread upward. In panic, he tore off his leg and hurled it. When he opened his eyes, Raiga was standing before him again. He reached toward him, shouting, but Raiga vanished in an instant. Next, his other arm was gone. He realized that if this continued, he would truly die.
A black dragon began forming behind Raiga. Takeshi was now truly afraid. He knew he couldn't stop the flames, yet he created a massive wall of earth in defense. When Raiga completed his dragon, he unleashed it on Takeshi. The dragon shattered the earth wall instantly.
Takeshi's only thought at that moment: "I should have run…" He began retreating, trying to escape unnoticed from the dragon. The destruction caused by the dragon was immense; the entire forest was ablaze. Moving a little further, he thought: This… this is like Rion's flames! If I don't run, I'll definitely die! I have to leave this to Kael!
He thought he had escaped… until he saw Raiga before him. He froze, sensing death.
Raiga extended his right hand, burning with black flames, toward Takeshi's chest. His face was filled with rage and hatred. He closed his eyes, recalling first the beautiful moments with his family, then his friend Yui. He opened his eyes in fury and spoke in a low, terrifying voice:
— Die.
Takeshi's body instantly ignited. He screamed in agony. He tried to extinguish the flames with earth, but it was useless. Within moments, his body melted entirely into ashes.
Raiga's black flames finally died out. He collapsed to the ground. He needed to reach Akira; he couldn't collapse yet. Bloodied and exhausted, he strained to stand but could not. Finally, he accepted reality and closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, Akira was still being tossed around by Kael. His body was covered in blood. His eyes were narrowed, on the verge of closing. He didn't want to die, but he had to accept it. His eyes shut. Each strike of ice tore his body further; each hit drained him more.
Then… he heard a faint voice. He focused. The voice grew louder. It was a small child's voice, continuously calling: "Valen… Valen…" At first, Akira thought it was a hallucination, but as the voice grew clearer, he realized something had changed.
He forced his eyes open. Before him stood a massive mansion. He froze. Dark, three stories tall, old yet majestic… Around it, a vast garden lay empty. The light of the full moon illuminated the scene. Silence prevailed, except for the child's voice echoing:
— Valen…
Akira searched the garden for the child but found nothing. Then he entered through the enormous front door of the mansion. He was met by a grand hall. Two long staircases flanked the right and left. This place seemed familiar… he remembered it from somewhere.
He followed the child's voice to the grand staircase. The door was firmly locked, but the lock had been broken. He gently pushed it open. Stairs descended into darkness.
The child's voice was now crystal clear. A shiver ran down his spine, but he descended. Alongside the stairs, long candles lined the walls. At the last step, he saw bloodstains and froze. He grabbed a candle and began following the trail.
It led to a basement… dark, cold, and devoid of light. In the long corridor, he followed the blood. It ended at a closed room. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
The sight inside left him speechless. The candle fell from his hand. A small child was bound to the wall with ropes and chains, covered in blood. Light streamed from above, and the room was filled with torture devices.
The child lifted his head.
— Valen…
Akira approached.
— I-I've seen you before! Who are you?
The child smiled faintly.
— My name is Ares Volgrath. I am the youngest of the Volgraths.
Akira was stunned.
— The tenth Volgrath… Then why am I here?
The child replied cheerfully:
— Because you died… your heart stopped.
Akira sighed.
— I know. Your brother Kael killed me.
Silence fell.
Akira continued:
— I had so much left to do… but life doesn't tell you when you'll die.
He turned toward the door. The child spoke again:
— Akira… do you want to live?
Akira was surprised. He spun around quickly.
— But I'm already dead!
The child laughed.
— Since you're here, you haven't really died yet.
Akira's excitement grew.
— You… can bring me back?
The child tried to move his body but could not.
— Of course. Fate has given you a second chance. Would you… untie me first?
Akira quickly took a knife and cut the ropes from the child's arms and legs.
But hopelessness settled on his face.
— Even if I return, I'll die again. He's too strong…
The child touched Akira's face with his bloody hands. Suddenly, the space turned into a completely white void.
— Akira… I will entrust you a small fraction of my power to defeat him.
Akira muttered:
— Is a small fraction really enough to kill such a monster?
The child smiled.
— It will be more than enough. Even if I give you just a little, you will need to restrain your power. Otherwise, Velmorya itself will suffer.
Akira nodded. When he opened his eyes, Kael stood before him. Green energy swirled around him. Kael noticed immediately and retreated.
Akira slowly rose. He felt an indescribable power within him. Kael formed a massive ice ball and hurled it. Akira ascended; the ice shattered. He spread his arms and looked at the green power in his hands. The strength intoxicated him. A terrifying expression appeared on his face, and he laughed:
— This power… feels amazing!
Kael began to fear, realizing the source of this power.
— N-no… could it be…
Suddenly, the scenery changed, and darkness fell all around. Kael looked around, and the full moon illuminated the surroundings. Before him lay a lake of blood and mountains made of millions of corpses. Fear took hold, and he turned around; the Volgrath mansion now stood before him.
— This… this is our family mansion…
Above the mansion, yet another massive pile of corpses appeared. But this time, a man stood atop them. Kael couldn't comprehend what was happening, yet he sensed a sinister aura.
A voice came from the top of the corpses:
— Kael!
Kael continued looking around and walked toward the mansion. The voice called again, but this time it came from behind. He quickly turned around. His own corpse stood before him. Fear made his hands tremble as he reached out to touch it.
— Th-this… is me? Th-this can't be!
Another voice came from behind, this time familiar. It was undoubtedly the voice of his killer. Slowly, he turned around. Standing before him was a man in his twenties, black hair, striking green eyes, and about 1.80 meters tall.
The man spoke in a cold voice:
— Hello, Kael.
Kael froze, his lips trembling:
— A-res… y-you… a hundred y-ye-ears ago…
Ares' voice was firm:
— Should I have been dead?
Kael clenched his fists, trying to suppress his fear:
— The angels… they should have taken your soul to hell! How are you alive?! How are you here?!
Ares touched Kael's head with his finger:
— Kael… I never fought the angels. I'm here to finish what I couldn't a hundred years ago. I've already made my decision about you; you are dead!
Kael could not move from fear. His whole body trembled. He fell to the ground and tried to crawl away:
— L-let me go! L-leave me!! I don't want to die!!
A small smile appeared on Ares' face. He pointed at Kael's corpse with his finger:
— As I said before… you're already dead.
Kael clenched his fists and formed his legs from ice, struggling to stand, shouting:
— N-no… no! This time you won't kill me! This must be the spirit realm! Here I can use my full potential! And the billions of people you've killed will curse you and drag you down!!
Ares spoke mockingly:
— You think you can defeat me?
Kael shouted back:
— Yes! I will defeat you! I will harm your soul! Then I'll kill the child who carries it!!
A strange grin appeared on Kael's face.
— Full Potential Violen Zareth: Frozen Gravity Realm!
Suddenly, a wave of ice shot forward, snow began to fall, and everywhere became covered in ice. Including the mansion. He formed a massive block of ice—nearly the size of a country—and hurled it at Ares. But the moment it touched him, it shattered into tens of thousands of pieces.
Kael fell to the ground. Looking down, he realized he had no feet. He couldn't suppress his fear.
— Th-this is impossible…
Ares calmly walked toward Kael, bent down, and grabbed his hair:
— Weren't you going to defeat me? You'll need to try harder to fight me. Come on… push yourself, struggle!
Kael did not respond; fear filled his eyes. Ares placed his foot on Kael's head:
— I'll leave the rest to Valen.
Now, Akira stood before Kael. Kael, without feet, tried to crawl:
— L-let me go! S-sandl! Help me!
Kael formed his legs from ice and stood up. Looking at Akira, he thought:
If Ares were in front of me, I'd have no chance… but this is just a carrier holding a fraction of the power! I can beat him!
Kael began raining ice from the sky, then quickly hurled a massive ice sword at Akira.
Akira grinned terrifyingly. As the sword came toward him, he caught it and broke it. His eyes locked sharply onto Kael. In an instant, he appeared beside him.
Kael raised his hand.
— Zareth! Glacial Burst!
Kilometers of terrain, including Akira, were covered in ice. Excited, he shouted:
— I've won!
He raised his arms and turned around—but there was Akira behind him. He had switched places with Arisawa to avoid harm from the attack. Then he returned to his original position and grabbed Kael by the throat, lifting him into the air.
Kael struggled to escape using his ice, but it had no effect on Akira. While holding Kael's throat with his right hand, Akira smiled as he plunged his left hand into Kael's chest.
Kael screamed:
— Stop!! Don't!! Du—
Akira crushed Kael's heart and threw his corpse. The green energy in his body slowly faded, but Akira did not want to release his power. He shouted:
— Don't go! With this power, I am invincible!
The energy left Akira's body. He looked upward and shouted:
— Ares! Give me your power!
But nothing happened. Exhausted and bloodied, he fell to the ground.
Struggling, he managed to stand, carrying Arisawa on his back, and began walking slowly toward the Raigas. Fatigued and drained, he still had to help them.
With great effort, he kept moving. After a while, he saw a wide, large pit. Something had happened there, but no ongoing battle was visible. Fearing that Raiga and Yui might already be dead, Akira ran to the end of the pit. There, a man sat on a stone: it was Raiga.
Akira became excited. He ran to Raiga and shouted:
— Raiga!!
Raiga turned at the sound of his voice.
— Akira… I'm glad you're alive.
Seeing Arisawa on Akira's back, he was surprised.
— And… is he alive?
Akira gently laid Arisawa down and smiled:
— Yes, he's alive. He just fainted.
Raiga continued looking ahead, morose:
— Hmm… good.
Akira looked around:
— Where's Yui?
Raiga clenched his fist:
— He… he… is dead…
Akira laughed:
— That's a cruel joke, but now is no time for jokes.
Seriousness was on Raiga's face. He pointed with his finger at the bones before him:
— This… is all that's left of her.
Akira stared at the bones for a while. Then his smile froze. He knelt beside them and touched them.
Tears began to flow:
— Yui… this can't be!!
Raiga stayed silent. Memories of Yui flooded Akira's mind. He shouted, tears streaming like a river:
— Yui! We were supposed to live to see our dream fulfilled! Weren't you going to spread your brother Darius' ideals across the world? Why… why did this happen?!
Raiga clenched his fists:
— He died protecting me… because of me… because of my weakness…
Akira glared at Raiga. He stood and punched him, then climbed atop and began beating him. Raiga did not retaliate.
Akira wiped his tears, his face full of anger:
— It's all your fault! You couldn't protect her! You allowed his to die! Because of your weakness, Yui is dead!!!
Seeing Raiga's tears, Akira stopped punching. Raiga spoke in a cold voice as tears streamed:
— If I had been stronger… he wouldn't have died…
After a long silence, Akira stood quietly, removed his clothes, and began gathering Yui's bones. Looking at Raiga, he said:
— I'm sorry… this isn't your fault…
Raiga said nothing. He just raised his right arm toward the sunset.
In his mind, he thought:
"Why must everyone I love die…"