Sophie was once an evil Aether Core, born from Rayogar — a corrupted form of Aether (red and black energy).
She was feared as the Scarlet Witch of the Rift, one of Hokori's strongest allies.
But everything changed when she met Kai, the quiet but powerful warrior. He didn't fight her with hate — he saw the good inside her.
Slowly, Sophie's heart began to change. She turned against Hokori.Sophie and Kai fell in love in secret — a forbidden bond between darkness and hope.
She left Hokori and joined the Guardians of Airladinas, a secret group meant to protect the last Aether Tree.
But when Kai and Kazuya left their universe to stop a dimensional collapse, Hokori struck.
Sophie, knowing she couldn't win, used the last of her power to send her unborn child — Marine — into another universe, erasing all trace of Kai's existence to protect her.
Marine isn't just any Aether Core…
She is the fusion of corrupted Rayogar and pure Solunarian light. That's why she has unimaginable power — and also why Hokori fears her.
(Marine stands in front of the Aether Tree, eyes glowing, as visions of Sophie's past flash around her. She sees her mother in red-black flames — destroying, then loving. Loving Kai. Crying while sending baby Marine away.)
Marine: "So that's who I am… born of light… and shadow."
Isaka (gently): "And yet, you chose kindness."
Kazuya (whispering to himself): "Kai… you really loved her, didn't you?"
Years have passed in the twisted space between universes.
Kai, once the guardian of the balance, now roams the ruins of war-torn realms—no longer a savior, but a shadow. His armor, once golden and gleaming, is now darkened and cracked, laced with red veins of Wrath Aether.
He doesn't smile anymore.
He doesn't dream anymore.
He only breathes for one reason:
To destroy Hokori.
After Sophie's apparent death… after witnessing Airladinas burn…
He believed his entire family was gone.
He trained under the Elder Flame Spirits of Universe-13, absorbed forbidden energies from the Crimson Abyss, and bound his soul with the ancient War Titan's will.
He became what legends feared:
Black Kai — The Wraith of Ruin.
No one dared speak his name.
Meanwhile, far away…
Marine, unaware of her true origins, lives peacefully in a humble realm.
But when she touches a broken artifact one day—a pendant that once belonged to Sophie—it flickers with a strange pulse…
And somewhere across the cosmos, Black Kai's wrath flares unexpectedly.
"Who… DARED… touch her memory?!"
His dark Aether pulses like a storm.
He doesn't realize it yet, but… a bond still remains.
Not through love…
Not through hope…
But through a piece of his own soul embedded in Marine when she was born.
The skies of Universe-37 tear apart like paper.
From the rift steps a figure—eight feet tall, a body carved like war itself, muscles like molten rock, every breath glowing with crimson steam.
Chains of broken Aether Cores hang around his neck like trophies. His bare chest burns with Red Flame sigils, and behind him trail the screams of dying stars.
> "They called me a protector."
"Now I protect nothing."
"I devour."
Black Kai was no longer just a warrior.
He was a Flame Titan, master of the forbidden Red Aether Flame, a power so unstable it once consumed entire civilizations. But he didn't care.
He embraced it.
His goal?
Not just revenge on Hokori.
Not just to end the pain.
But to erase the entire concept of Aether Cores themselves.
> "They're the reason I lost everything.
So I'll take it all back. One Core at a time."
He arrives on a dying planet holding Nyxryn, the Silver Aether Core. She begs him to stop.
> Nyxryn: "You've changed, Kai! This isn't what Sophie wanted!"
Black Kai: (smirks coldly)
"She's dead. And I'm all that's left."
He grabs her, crushes her core mid-air, absorbs her energy, and a new crimson rune appears on his back.
---
Meanwhile, Kazuya, still seeking his brother, sees the latest flare in the Aether Wave map.
> "No… not again… he's hunting the Cores."
"Kai… what the hell have you become?"
And on a distant peaceful world…
Marine looks up at the sky…
Her chest hurts. Her core pulses.
> "Why does it feel… like someone is crying through fire?"