Two voices tore through the thick, humid air.
Serica and Kira stormed across the beach, cutting through confused students who had gathered around their teacher, murmuring nervously.
Mr. Tachibana, still holding a half-finished paperback novel, looked up with surprise.
"Girls? What's-"
"Have you seen Kentaro?!" Serica shouted, barely catching her breath. Her hair clung to her forehead, and her chest rose and fell in ragged bursts.
Kira was only a step behind, hands on her knees as she scanned the group, eyes like blades. "He's not here…"
A shadow passed over Mr. Tachibana's face. "Unfortunately… no. None of us have seen Kentaro. Or Tengen, or Kestrel."
The other students murmured again. Someone said "volcano"
Someone else muttered, "Rogue experiment."
"But the explosion came from the mountain, right?" Serica asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes," Tachibana nodded. "Though there are no active volcanoes here. At least… none that are documented."
Kira's head whipped around. "Tengen. He was with Kentaro."
A girl nearby perked up. "Oh yeah, I saw them heading toward the vending machines near the lower pool."
Serica's jaw clenched. "He dragged him away…"
Kira folded her arms, tone flat — but her voice betrayed the smallest flicker of worry.
"He would've followed him. That idiot plays hero whenever he thinks someone's about to do something dumb."
Their eyes met — not as enemies, but as two people who realize the same horrifying truth.
Kentaro was in the danger zone.
The path was long, but Serica wasn't waiting.
She didn't ask for permission. She didn't look back. She just turned and ran straight toward the smoke curling up from the mountain.
"Wait, Serica!" Kira growled and chased after her, already knowing it was pointless to stop her.
Their hope was simple. Fragile. That maybe, just maybe, Kentaro and Tengen weren't involved. That it was a misunderstanding. A flare-up. Something explainable. Something survivable.
But deep down, neither of them believed it.
Mr. Tachibana and a few of the students yelled after them, but their voices were drowned out by the rain.
It started as a drizzle.
By the time they reached the edge of the forest, it was a full-on downpour. Heavy sheets of water slicing between the trees, soaking their skin, hair, everything. But they didn't stop.
The mountain loomed ahead like a god hunched over the island. And something about it felt… wrong.
"It's not even late," Kira muttered, wiping water from her face. "Why is it this dark…?"
It wasn't just the time. The sun hadn't set. But the sky looked like it had.
Clouds circled the island unnaturally, like vultures over a dying animal. Even the animals had gone silent. No wind. No birds. No waves. Just.
Stillness.
A second of perfect silence.
Then.
BOOOOM.
The ground split beneath them.
Serica barely saw it before the blast hit, a shockwave tearing through the clearing like a god's scream. She flew backward, her breath knocked from her lungs.
Kira was slammed into the earth, her body rolling in the mud, pain blooming across her skull. Blood streamed down her face, but she forced herself up, swaying, her vision doubling.
Then sharpening.
There were two figures standing beside Serica's collapsed body.
One tall and broad man.
The other, lithe and armed, was a woman.
Both clad in jet-black armor, humming faintly with violet light. Their design was… advanced. Sleeker than Cradle's standard units.
Kira's throat tightened.
"Y-You… Who are you!?" she shouted, stumbling forward.
They ignored her.
The man bent down, lifting Serica's limp body by the arm. The woman grabbed the other.
Then, as easily as lifting a feather, they ascended, glowing boots kicking up steam from the wet earth, and vanished into the clouds above.
Kira's eyes widened.
Gone.
She collapsed to her knees, fists clenched.
"Those weren't regular Cradle agents…" she whispered.
"They were something else."
And Serica… was gone.
Kira, frozen still trying to comprehend what had happened, snapped out of it. She stood up, drenched in the rain, breathing hard. She saw the direction they had flown off to. She could chase them. Just maybe
But behind her... a faint, distant cry echoes from the Cave.
It's weak, but it was Kentaro's voice. In pain.
She flinches.
Then makes her choice.
"Damn it... I'm not leaving you behind again."
She turns around and heads towards the mountain.
*
[Static]
"Ken… Kentaro, come in! Can you hear me?!"
The voice cut through the ringing in Kentaro's ears like a dull knife. Muffled. Distant.
"Dammit… if you're not dead, wake up already!"
Shogo's voice echoed from somewhere far away, over comms. But Kentaro wasn't answering. He Couldn't. Everything hurt.
Rain tapped against his face. Cold. His eyes opened slowly to blurred clouds and broken trees.
"…Ughhh… what… the hell…"
He barely managed to move his head when a figure sprinted into view.
"KENTARO!" Kira's voice rang out, soaked, desperate. She dropped to her knees and cupped the side of his face. Her hands trembled.
"You idiot, what were you thinking coming here?!"
"…Kira?" Kentaro blinked up at her, squinting as if unsure she was real.
"Yeah. It's me," she whispered, brushing wet hair from his eyes. "Stay awake. Don't you dare pass out now."
She helped him sit up slowly. His body was shaking from the cold, the fall, and everything else in between. A low groan to their left broke the moment.
"Uggghhh… did anyone catch the license plate on that bombshell?" Tengen muttered, staggering to his feet, holding the side of his ribs.
Kira's expression twisted in pure rage.
"You!" She stood, stormed over, and shoved Tengen backward. "You dragged him here, didn't you?! I told everyone not to go near that mountain!"
Tengen lifted both hands like he was surrendering. "Whoa, whoa, chill! It was supposed to be treasure or something! Not my fault some overpowered waifu showed up swinging!"
Kentaro leaned forward, still catching his breath. "Wait… did you say girl?"
"Yeah," Tengen said, rubbing the back of his head. "Some crazy hot chick with glowing eyes and a temper worse than my mom's. She called us trash, then blasted us off the damn mountain like anime villains."
Kira's expression froze.
She whispered, "…So it's true. There's another one here."
Tengen blinked. "Another what?"
She ignored him completely, rushing back to Kentaro and grabbing his wrist.
"We need to move. Now. We're not safe."
Kentaro didn't move.
Kentaro staggered upright, drenched and still wincing from the fall. The trees behind him burned from where the girl's blast had cut clean through them.
"Kira, where is she?"
Rain crashed down like the world was trying to wash itself clean.
Kira was already pulling at his arm, panic in her voice. "We have to go, now. You don't understand."
"KIRA. Where is SERICA?!"
Kentaro's voice thundered, cutting through the storm.
Kira stood frozen in place. Her soaked hair clung to her cheeks. Her lips parted, but no words came. Only silence. The only sound was the hiss of rain and the distant rumble of thunder.
Then she spoke.
Flat. Cold. Detached.
"She's an Alberline."
Kentaro blinked.
"What?"
"I left her." Kira's voice stayed low, her eyes not meeting his. "She was unconscious. Two soldiers dropped in, Cradle equipment, but upgraded. I had a split second."
She finally looked up.
"And I chose you."
Kentaro's face twisted, not in confusion, but something worse.
"You chose me," he repeated.
"I chose the human. I chose the one who matters."
His breath caught. His fists clenched at his sides.
"So that's it?" he said slowly. "That's what it all comes down to?"
Kira's voice snapped, frustration boiling beneath it. "You don't understand, Kentaro! They're not like us. They're weapons. I've seen what they become, what they do to people. You saw what that other one did up there!"
"But Serica didn't hurt anyone," Kentaro said, stepping toward her. "She smiled. She joked. She fought beside us. She protected people."
"She will hurt someone. That's what they're built for."
His chest was rising and falling. His voice cracked when he spoke next.
"She trusted you…"
Kira looked away
She laughed and fought beside you on this trip. That girl wasn't some monster; she was just like us."
His chest was rising and falling. He took a trembling breath.
"You don't think that's human?"
Kira froze. Something in her expression softened just a little. But she stayed silent.
That's when Tengen stepped forward. His face looked like he had been holding something back.
"Ken…"
His voice was quiet. Guilty. Torn.
"I need to tell you the truth. All of it."
Kentaro slowly turned toward him, breath still sharp. "What do you mean…"
Tengen clenched his jaw. "I've been working with the Spire.
Kentaro's eyes widened. "What…?"
Tengen's fists tightened. "They contacted me not so long ago. Offered me a deal. To save my sister from her diseases caused by a bloom years ago, they wanted me to get you away from Serica and have her alone for Kestrel to do something.
"You!" Kentaro's voice cracked. "You… lied to me this entire time, everything from the day you met me to now, all of this was your plan?!"
"No… I mean I-i-i'm sorry, ken it jus-just my sister. She was going to die if I hadn't accepted this, but the more I spent time with you, the more I realised you were just a good guy, who was nice to me even though you didn't even know me that well, and the fact that I was doing this for too you. I couldn't keep going!" he said, his tears began to pile up due to the guilt.
But Kentaro wasn't in the mood for any reasoning.
"YOU TWO," Kentaro shouted, his voice a roar, "ARE THE REASON SHE'S IN DANGER!"
He pointed at both of them.
"You stood there and let her be taken! And now you want me to just forget that because you meant well? You stood there while you helped her get kidnapped!!"
The rain came down harder. It poured off his shoulders. Off their faces. The island felt like it was being swallowed by the storm.
Kira opened her mouth.
"Kenta-"
"No."
He backed away from them, shaking his head.
"I can't. I can't do this."
He turned around and started walking.
"Ken, wait!" Kira started to step forward, but stopped. Her voice had no weight left.
"Shogo… Shogo, come in. You hear this? Serica's gone. Kira left her. And Tengen, he's been feeding us lies since day one."
Static.
Then.
A click.
A voice came through.
But it wasn't Shogo.
It was Tenka
"I heard everything," she said. "And I think you'll want to hear what I found out, too…"