The day after the assassination of the Emperor, the world trembled—not just from fear, but from something more sinister awakening. Deep under the crust of the Frost City ancient spiritual currents began to surge. The Soul Invasion had begun.
Inside the hospital, where Akane was restrained, the lights flickered. A low hum—like the earth groaning in pain—echoed through the air vents. The doctor backed away from Akane's bed. Her skin had turned snow-pale, and her eyes had deepened to a near-black hue with a sinister red glow at the core. She was no longer the friend they knew.
Haruko noticed it first—the mark on her neck: a swirling sigil that resembled the Soul's seal. "She's been infected… by a Soul," he muttered, voice trembling.
Before anyone could react, Akane screamed—a bone-chilling sound that pierced the halls. The restraints shattered. Energy burst from her hands, black and crackling like corrupted lightning. She launched a spike of Seiki at Arata. He barely dodged, rolling behind a fallen stretcher.
"Akane! It's me, Arata!" he shouted.
But she didn't respond. Her body moved with unnatural speed, her limbs jerking like a puppet on strings. Her mouth opened, but the voice that came was not hers:
"This body is mine now… Arata Kiryū will be the first to bleed."
A rush of corrupted Kōshin needles struck toward him—sharper, colder than any he'd ever seen. Arata gritted his teeth and braced himself.
"I can't use Hyōsō: Tsukikage no Kusari…{Ice Burial: Chains ofMoonshadow} I've only seen it demonstrated."
Instead, he raised his arms and cast a quick burst of basic Ice needles forming several weak ice needles to intercept the oncoming attack. His defense was shaky, but it was all he could do. Some of the enemy's needles shattered on impact, but others got through—one grazing his arm, sending a jolt of dark energy through his body.
"This… isn't Akane," he said, clutching the wound.
Haruko shouted from behind a barrier: "That's not her! The Soul Invasion—it's possessing people!"
Arata fired more Iced Needles barely holding her back, when a blur of movement slashed through the chaos—Akari. Her eyes burned with fury, and her Seiki surged like a frozen storm.
Without hesitation, Akari shouted, "Kōri Kekkai: Tōha no Tatsumaki!"{Ice Barrier: Blizzard Cyclone}.
A whirling surge of frost energy collided with Akane's corrupted body, forming a frozen vortex around her. Akane screamed—not just in pain, but in rage.
Arata joined with his remaining strength, launching more basic Ice Needles, aiming for the soul seal on her neck. The two siblings' attacks combined—precision and power. Akane stumbled, her body faltering. Her limbs twitched, and her mouth gasped open.
"I—I can't… stop it," she whispered faintly, the real Akane surfacing for a brief second before falling to her knees.
"She's weakening," Akari said, panting. "We've damaged the soul's control… but not destroyed it."
Suddenly, Amaya turned, face pale with realization. "This is beyond us now."
Without another word, she sprinted from the shattered hospital and summoned a Tenkai Ryūjin{messenger hawk} from the emergency post. It flew toward the Royal Court of Gyokuden 玉殿 {Jade Hall} with her sealed request:
"Call the Great Sensei. Now."
Time passed in tense silence as Akane collapsed unconscious. The winds changed, carrying with them a sensation none of them had felt before—an ancient, suffocating pressure. Then, a single message returned:
"The Great Sensei is on the way."
From the edge of the horizon, a shadowed figure approached, cloaked in silence and dread. His presence turned the very air cold.
What would happen next… no one knew.