They ran relentlessly through the corridors of the floating island, bathed in an oppressive reddish atmosphere. Long cables hung from the ceiling and snaked along the walls, vibrating with the surge of energy coursing through the structure. Lights flickered frantically, casting unstable shadows that made the walls themselves seem to breathe. Maki and Miya didn't slow down. Their steps were synchronized, precise, driven by urgency. Several times, soldiers emerged from side passages, accompanied by combat robots that immediately trained their weapons on them.
But the confrontation was one-sided. Miya drew and sheathed his sword in a fraction of a second: a clean line cut through the air, and his opponents collapsed before they even knew what had happened. Maki, on the other hand, advanced like a contained storm, striking with brutal efficiency; Lightning flashed with every movement, disabling the robots and hurling the soldiers against the metal walls.
They passed through the defenses as if they didn't exist, leaving behind a heavy silence, broken only by sparks and the still-active alarms.
Without another word, they resumed their run, aware that every second lost brought their enemies a little closer to the relic of the dark heart… and that the real battle awaited them even further, at the very center of the floating island.
Miya and Maki stopped abruptly, their footsteps echoing one last time in the metal corridor before silence fell once more. The red lights were still flashing, but their momentum had just been broken.
Miya frowned slightly.
"There's no point in running forever. We don't have the exact location of the black relic." Maki turned her head toward her, surprised.
"I thought you still had the device that mapped the entire floating island?" Miya shook her head slowly.
"I gave it to Suka. The idea was that he, Yamero, Daru, and the little girl could advance while we kept the right-hand men of the extremist organization occupied." Maki let out an irritated sigh and leaned her back against a cold metal wall, still warm from the recent fighting.
"So what do we do?" We can't stay here. They must be waiting for us somewhere.
Miya closed her eyes briefly, concentrating. She placed a hand against the wall, as if trying to sense something beyond the metal.
"This island is unstable. All this energy, these alarms… it has to converge on a central point. The relic is the source, or at least the heart of the system."
Miya continued, her voice low but steady:
"The black relic isn't an energy source like any other. Suka and I have tried countless times to locate it using the energy it emits, but because it's ancient and mythical, it can completely conceal its presence… while still providing enough power for the organization's leaders to fuel their abominable project."
She remained silent for a fraction of a second, then her gaze hardened. Footsteps echoed in the distance, quick and numerous.
"I have an idea," she whispered.
A few seconds later, about ten heavily armed soldiers and robots burst into the corridor. Miya was lying on the floor, looking panicked. She looked up at them, her voice trembling, but perfectly convincing.
"Help! I'm being hunted! The rebels who entered this island have massacred half the people here! Help me!" Alerted immediately, the soldiers trained their weapons in all directions, the robots' sensors frantically scanning the surroundings for an unseen threat.
Meanwhile, Maki hung from the ceiling, motionless, lost in the shadows. Her eyes shone for a brief moment. She extended her hand slightly, and a silent electric friction rippled through the air. In a fraction of a second, the electricity spread through the metal frames: the robots crackled, their systems froze, and then they collapsed heavily to the ground.
The soldiers jumped in panic.
"What's going on?!"
"Return, defensive formation!" They searched everywhere, spinning around, unable to understand where the attack was coming from.
Miya slowly straightened up. Her expression had changed: all trace of fear had vanished, replaced by an icy calm.
"You're all far too easily influenced." She drew her sword in a fluid motion and simply swept it through the air before her. There was no explosion, no scream, only an almost imperceptible hiss. A clean cut ripped through the space, and the soldiers' bodies were severed into a multitude of fragments that collapsed with a dull, macabre sound.
Only one soldier remained standing, trembling, frozen with terror, his weapon slowly slipping from his hands. Miya turned a piercing gaze toward him.
"You... you're going to tell us where the leaders are headed. And where they're hiding the black relic." Silence fell once more in the reddish corridor, broken only by the flickering of lights and the distant hum of the floating island.
The soldier, pale as a ghost, stammered in a trembling voice:
"Well... of course... just... please don't kill me..." Miya stared at him without the slightest emotion.
"It will depend on the quality of your information." Under the pressure of her gaze, he immediately gave in.
"Go straight ahead... then take the left side... and straight ahead again. That's all... I swear it's true!" A short silence followed. Maki frowned, visibly annoyed by the simplicity of the answer.
"Wait... is it really that easy to get to? Pfft... pathetic." Miya then placed a hand on the soldier's shoulder. Her tone was calm, almost polite.
"Thank you for your valuable information." Before he could even understand the meaning of these words, she violently shoved him backward. Her body crashed through a metal wall with a deafening thud, the sheet metal ripping like paper.
Without even glancing back, Miya and Maki resumed their movements. Their footsteps echoed once more in the glowing red corridors of the floating island, their silhouettes disappearing into the depths of the passageways, determined to reach the black relic before it was too late.
After a few minutes of running without stopping, they finally spotted a massive, imposing door, adorned with mysterious patterns deeply engraved in the metal. A strange aura seemed to emanate from it, heavy and oppressive.
Right next to it, Suka, Daru, Aika, and Yamero were waiting for them, motionless but vigilant.
Suka spoke first, relieved:
"Miya, Maki… are you alright?" Miya nodded.
"We're fine, don't worry. And you? Did you manage to get into the room?" Yamero crossed his arms.
"Not yet. We were waiting for you to arrive before going in." Daru nodded gravely.
"It was the wisest decision. Confronting the organization's leaders while separated would have been a mistake." The group gathered in front of the large door. Yamero stepped forward, stretched his fist, cracking his knuckles. A determined smile spread across his face. "Let's rock." He slammed his fist on the door. The impact was colossal: the metal warped instantly before being ripped from its hinges and hurled several meters into the room with a deafening crash.
Before them, the relic of the Black Heart was finally revealed.
In the center of the room sat a transparent box, suspended within a complex machine. Inside lay a blackish, mummified heart, beating slowly as if still alive, emanating a dark and suffocating energy. The machine rotated it methodically, as if it were at the heart of an endless ritual.
Countless cables of various colors connected the device to the walls, ceiling, and floor, crisscrossing the entire room like a nervous system. Some plunged into open conduits, disappearing into other parts of the floating island.
A heavy silence fell.
Aika cried out, full of hope:
"The organization's leaders are clearly not here. Let's retrieve this relic and escape." She took a step forward, but Yamero immediately blocked her path, abruptly extending his arm. His gaze was closed, hard, almost worried.
"Don't take another step." At that precise moment, the air twisted around the machine. An overwhelming pressure filled the room.
Three figures suddenly appeared, materialized beside the relic.
Oswald.
Griselda.
Har'arm.
Griselda's smile was both amused and deeply unsettling. She applauded slowly.
"I must admit, you fascinate me. Your determination to stop us has led you straight to our headquarters." She inclined her head slightly, her gaze sliding over each of them. "All the rebel groups we've faced have never survived… let alone thwarted our plans." Oswald spoke in turn, his voice cold and confident:
"However, it's too late. You will perish here, knowing that the world is already in our hands." Suka clenched his fists.
"What are you talking about?" Miya took a step forward, his gaze sharp.
"We destroyed most of your production facilities with the help of other rebels in Japan. We also found your ultimate control center. I don't see how it could be too late." Har'arm didn't reply immediately. He calmly placed his hand on a control panel connected to the machine containing the relic, then pressed a button. A hologram instantly appeared above them.
The image showed a vast ghost town, seen from above, stretching for nearly four kilometers. The buildings were frozen, distorted, as if petrified in an eternal moment. A dark energy coursed through the streets, connecting each structure to the others. Daru paled.
"This is... the city we saw."
Oswald declared in an icy voice:
"Exactly. But do you even know what we use it for?"
Griselda took over, a demonic smile stretching her lips.
"Have you ever heard of Project Horizon?" Aika's eyes widened abruptly.
"No..."
Griselda continued, her voice trembling with unhealthy excitement:
"A project developed long ago to allow travel from one continent to another, easily, thanks to portals scattered throughout the world. However, the project was halted due to the uncontrollable waves of crime it unleashed. But even so... some of these portals remain buried in the wilderness."
Oswald continued, implacable:
"And we managed to find one, gigantic enough to allow our army to deploy simultaneously across the globe. We've reactivated it."
Griselda sneered. "So, while you're busy with us, the world will already be in ruins, ready to welcome the new era." Oswald raised his hand and cried out,
"Activation." An earthquake of unprecedented violence shook the ghost town. At the edge of the city, a colossal circular portal—the size of an entire city—slowly rose before activating with a deafening crash.
Monsters burst from every ruined house, emerging from the darkness, and all converged on the gaping portal. Griselda burst into laughter, letting out cries of joy and excitement, thrilled by the nascent chaos.
Oswald concluded coldly,
"Now… goodbye, you bunch of microbes." He released his aura.
The pressure was immediate, crushing. The air became heavy, suffocating. Aika clutched her throat, gasping for air, before collapsing to her knees.
"Aika!" cried Maki, rushing toward her.
But Oswald instantly teleported to the group's side. He reached out and unleashed a terrifying wave of energy, hurling everyone off the floating island.
The group plummeted into a dizzying freefall.
Against all odds, a long, white dragon descended from the sky to save them. Its body was long and serpentine, wingless, covered in luminous scales. A long, thin whisker rippled in the wind, giving it a majestic, ancient appearance. In a fluid, commanding movement, it caught each of them and lifted them onto its back. The void was filled with the powerful breath of this mythical creature.
The dragon, without opening its mouth, made its voice resonate directly in their minds:
"Are you alright, young people?"
The group froze. Seeing a dragon this close was already surreal… but feeling a voice resonate within their minds was beyond comprehension. Their eyes widened, their breaths caught.
Yamero finally exploded:
"Holy shit… a talking dragon?!"
Suka, calmer despite his astonishment, asked:
"Why are you helping us?"
The dragon replied with an almost solemn serenity:
"It's a long story… but you'll soon understand." Its ancient gaze turned toward the ghost town. Below, monsters were still swarming toward the gigantic portal. The group leaned over the dragon's back, observing the scene with dread.
Maki gritted his teeth. "We have to do something…" Suddenly, a terrifying presence split the sky.
A blue glow, of overwhelming intensity, plummeted at breakneck speed and crashed down upon the city. The impact was cataclysmic. In an instant, the entire city was obliterated, the portal swallowed up with it. Nothing remained… except a vast crater of sand that slowly closed in on itself, as if it had never existed.
Silence.
Aboard the floating island, Oswald let out a predatory smile.
"He's here…" Then he murmured, almost reverently,
"The Shibuya dragon." A familiar presence then appeared before Yamero, Daru, Suka, Aika, Miya, and Maki. A figure floated in the air, calm, imposing… with a draconic aura still palpable around him.
It was Merphis. Maki froze, incredulous.
"I can't believe it… Merphis? You're… still alive?" Aika's eyes filled with tears. Without thinking, she ran and jumped toward him. Merphis caught her and immediately pulled her close.
"Where the hell have you been?!" she cried, her voice breaking. "I looked everywhere… everywhere… I never found you!" Merphis gently ran his hand through Aika's hair.
"It's hard to explain… but I'm here now. Everything's okay." Then his gaze darkened slightly.
"I told you to stay hidden, didn't I? Why are you here facing these bastards?" Aika wiped away her tears and answered bluntly:
"Because you disappeared without a trace. They needed help… and so did I. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing." Merphis landed on the dragon's back and gently set Aika down. He looked at her for a few seconds, then gave a small smile.
"You've really grown, haven't you…" He ruffled her hair.
He had barely finished when Yamero put an arm around his neck, while Daru grabbed his legs.
"You disappear for ages, and then you come back like nothing happened?! And on top of that, you raze an entire city?!" Merphis let out a strangled sigh.
"You guys are annoying…" Miya approached and patted him on the shoulder.
"I have to admit, that was quite an entrance."
Suka approached Merphis and extended his hand.
"An extra helping hand never hurt anyone." Merphis shook his hand firmly and nodded, a slight smile crossing his face.
His gaze shifted to the floating island still bobbing above the void.
"I presume Griselda, Har'arm, and Oswald are still inside that… thing." Maki frowned and asked suspiciously,
"Indeed… but what do you intend to do?" Merphis took a deep breath, his dragon aura intensifying around him, and replied calmly, almost nonchalantly,
"I intend to put an end to the extremist organization, once and for all. And I will exterminate their leaders… all by myself." Daru, a mocking smile on his lips, taunted him:
"You really think you can take on all three of them at once?" Merphis sighed, as if the remark were insignificant, and an icy glint passed through his eyes.
"Pfff…" He inhaled again, his aura thickening, and declared with implacable serenity:
"I will win."