A crystalline, pure sound echoed in the night.
Darly reopened his eyes.
A man stood between him and the Blood Burn. He had appeared out of nowhere.
About twenty-five years old, he wore a simple and elegant traditional Japanese outfit. His hair was a deep black, and on his forehead, a strange mark resembling dark roots was visible. He had no weapon.
He had stopped the sword's blade with two fingers.
The Blood Burn took a step back, stunned and furious.
— Who are you?! Where did you come from?!
The mysterious man did not answer him. His calm gaze fell on Leroy's body, then on Darly, broken on the ground. A flicker of sadness passed through his eyes.
The Mysterious Man: (in a soft voice)
— You have done enough harm here.
The Blood Burn: (screaming with rage)
— I'm going to kill you!
He lunged forward, his sword wreathed in Black Kara. The mysterious man didn't move. He simply raised an open hand.
The Mysterious Man:
— Celestial Kara: Extreme Embrace.
He didn't shout it. He whispered it, like a secret.
Thousands of filaments of white light, as fine as hair, shot out from his palm. They didn't seek to strike, but to embrace. They wrapped around the Blood Burn, his limbs, his sword, his neck.
The monster froze, trapped in a cocoon of pure light. His Black Kara was smothered, absorbed, neutralized. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. His body began to disintegrate, turning into dust and ash that was scattered by the wind before it even touched the ground.
In a few seconds, nothing was left.
Silence fell again, broken only by the sound of the rain.
The mysterious man turned to Darly. He crouched down, his expression full of gentle compassion.
The Mysterious Man:
— Don't be afraid, little one. Sorry I was late. I can't do anything for your parents anymore...
He paused, his gaze filling with deep empathy.
The Mysterious Man:
— ...but I can still save you.
He held out his hand.
The Mysterious Man:
— So, take my hand and follow me.
Darly looked at the outstretched hand. Then he looked at the man's face. For the first time in months, he didn't see pity or contempt, but a promise. The promise of a future.
Slowly, his good, trembling hand rose and grasped the stranger's.
A slight smile formed on the mysterious man's lips.
[ Transition – Return to the Present ]
The night wind swept through the silent ruins. The ashes of what was once Johan, Number 5 of the Blood Burns, had scattered, leaving no trace of the cataclysmic battle that had just taken place.
Duck and Danky walked in silence on the path back to the Zenith hideout in Goma. The tension of the fight had subsided, replaced by an atmosphere heavy with unspoken questions and lessons. Danky, for his part, was still in shock from his master's demonstration of power. It wasn't strength; it was something else. Absolute mastery.
It was Duck who broke the silence, his calm voice cutting through the memory of the past violence.
Duck:
— He bet everything on a final attack that consumed everything. That's a loser's gambit.
Danky turned to him, surprised.
Duck: (continuing, his gaze fixed on the horizon)
— A true master doesn't destroy the game board to win. He takes the king's piece, that's all. "Fracture" didn't destroy his energy; it simply broke the link between him and his Kara. That's the difference between a scream and a command.
They arrived at the concealed gates of the hideout. They had barely crossed the barrier when a nervous figure rushed toward them. It was Pierre, the Astroforge from the infirmary, his face pale and covered in sweat.
Pierre: (voice trembling)
— Master Duck! I... the Kara fluctuations... it was you! I can't cover for you anymore! Hana is going to kill me!
Duck patted him on the shoulder with a casualness that contrasted with Pierre's panic.
Duck:
— Don't worry, Pierre. Just tell her the duck went for a little digestive walk.
As Duck walked away, Danky, whose mind was still haunted by Johan's flashback, called out to him.
Danky:
— Duck... That name... Shiro Takahashi. What do you know about him?
Duck's pace slowed. His usually relaxed posture tensed imperceptibly. His tone, for the first time, lost all trace of irony.
Duck:
— Shiro Takahashi... is a ghost. A ghost who likes to create monsters and watch them fight.
He turned halfway, his gaze under the mask seeming to fix on a point far beyond Danky.
Duck:
— For now, stay away from him. He's not in your league yet.
Then he walked away, hands behind his head, completely relaxed, whistling like the boss he is.
"In this world, strength is not a gift… it is the price one pays to stay alive."
"The Kara is the vital energy that flows through all things. Some shape it to create, others to destroy… but all depend on it to survive."
"When the breath of Kara fades, the heart stops beating, and the soul disappears into the eternal shadow."
The night in the forest of the port city of Congo.
The air was warm, vibrant, full of the humid whisper of the jungle. The river water slid gently against the rocks, steady, peaceful.
Kneeling at the edge of the current, a young woman let her fingers caress the cool surface. Her long golden hair cascaded over her shoulders.
"The water breathes with the world... If it is touched, everything is."
She closed her eyes. Her Kara, light as a breath, spread into the river, probing the density of the liquid, its impurities, the traces left by the fauna. Nothing bad.
"Perfect."
But the calm shattered.
A sound. Tiny. A crack too controlled, too human.
Her eyelids snapped open, her blue eyes turning icy and attentive. She remained motionless, but the entire forest suddenly felt alien.
"I'm no longer alone."
The silence became heavy. Then something tore through the canopy.
Five figures dropped from above, fast, incisive, surrounded by a dark aura—Black Kara so aggressive it seemed to bite the air. They landed in a circle, trapping her with military precision.
One of them, scarred, laid his eyes on her with a dirty glee.
— "We found you, little Zenith. Alone and defenseless."
She didn't answer. Her heart didn't even speed up.
"Them again… you people never learn."
The leader raised his hand and barked:
— "Kill her!"
The five of them sprang forward together, their blades hissing with Black Kara. The ground vibrated under their momentum.
Facing the deadly assault, she simply raised a hand, palm open.
???:
— Elemental Celestial Kara: Barrier of Plants.
The ground answered her call. The earth broke. Dozens of thick vines shot out at once, animated by a vibrant Kara. In a fraction of a second, they coiled and wove around her an impenetrable dome of vegetation, shining with life.
KLANG! SHRIIK!
The blades struck the barrier, embedding themselves in it, powerless.
"You are too slow."
Before the Blood Burns could even realize their failure, the vines turned against them. They shot out like angry snakes, grabbing them by the arms, legs, torso, lifting them off the ground and squeezing with merciless force.
— "Sh— agh!"
— "Wai—"
In three seconds, it was all over. The dome opened like a green corolla. She stepped out, impassive, not even out of breath.
"That was just a distraction."
But suddenly, the earth trembled. No: it roared.
A deep vibration rose through her legs. Birds flew away screaming, the fauna fleeing in raw panic.
"That… is not human."
A fissure tore through the clearing. A black energy erupted from it, heavy, crushing, as if the light itself was recoiling in fear. A clawed hand emerged, followed by a massive torso covered in bone plates.
A Superior Kageyami. Much larger than anything she had ever faced.
It pulled itself completely out of the ground, crushing the earth under its colossal weight. Its cavernous breath made the vegetation around it vibrate. Its eyes, two glowing red embers, fixed directly on her.
She met its gaze without flinching.
"So it's you… the real threat. Superior Kageyami."
The creature raised its head, sniffing the air as if to taste her presence. Then its voice, heavy as a collapsing tomb, tore through the atmosphere.
Superior Kageyami:
— Emma Moji… of the pure Stellar Zenith. Your heart will stop here.
The very moment it spoke her name, something in her relaxed, almost amused. A slight smile slipped onto her lips.
Emma Moji:
— I'd like to see you try.
Emma's smile widened, but her eyes remained cold and focused. The Superior Kageyami let out a roar and raised one of its massive claws, ready to strike.
In response, Emma bent her knees slightly, her body tensing like a spring. She lowered her hand, palm toward the ground, and the Celestial Kara began to accumulate around her, making the vegetation vibrate. She was about to charge and then...
Abrupt Transition
Hot Spring, in a corner of the forest.
Water vapor rose in lazy wisps, mixing with the cool late-afternoon air. The soothing sound of hot water lapping against the rock was the only noise in this small, isolated clearing.
A graceful figure slowly rose from the spring. Water beaded on her skin, her long black hair stuck to her back. Diana Kurogami stepped out of the bath, grabbing a towel placed on a rock to wrap herself in. She stood still for a moment, her gaze lost in the distance, pensive.
"It's already been two weeks since we separated..." she thought, a hint of melancholy in her heart. "I hope you are all doing well, my friends."
The image of her first meeting with Danky and Raizen came back to her: the tension, the rivalry, then the camaraderie that had developed. A slight smile formed on her lips and a soft blush rose to her cheeks.
Suddenly, a sharp sound pulled her from her thoughts. A cracking of branches in the trees overlooking the spring.
End of Chapter 30