Hakari was on his knees, sweat pouring down his face, his eyes wide and unfocused. His hand clutched at his forehead as if trying to keep his skull from splitting apart.
"I… I saw the world ending." His voice was thin, hollow, almost broken.
Kage froze, confusion flashing across his face. "What? What do you mean, the world ending? Hakari, what happened to you? What did you see?"
Hakari trembled, still pale, still shaking. "I saw a lightning strike. It hit Koha."
Kage frowned, baffled. "What? That's it? A lightning strike? You were afraid of that?"
Hakari's eyes widened further. He shook his head violently. "No… no, no! It wasn't a normal strike. It was thirty times bigger than anything I've ever seen. I saw… I—" His words collapsed into silence.
Kage's voice hardened, though there was doubt in his tone. "A strike that big is unheard of. It was probably just an illusion. A trick, maybe, from someone who doesn't want us to dig deeper."
Hakari slammed his palm to the ground, sweat dripping from his chin. His voice cracked with desperation. "No, you don't understand! To manipulate a crystal you need an unimaginably concentrated amount of code energy—something beyond human limits. Even those born with a Code, blessed with tremendous energy, have never reached even ten percent of pure code energy. And even if you could, you still can't bypass the cube, can't manipulate it. The cube is indestructible. Command-resistant."
His breathing came in sharp, frantic bursts. "Even when a crystal is destroyed by overflow, the cube remains untouched. Unscratchable."
Kage swallowed, his voice dropping into a fearful whisper. "…So you mean… soon, Koha will be destroyed?"
Hakari's reply was hollow, broken. "No. No… you're not listening. Those strikes were thirty times bigger than a normal thunder strike. Now imagine them twenty times bigger still. Tens of thousands of them… all around the world. And they weren't natural. They were stopped, frozen—then targeted at Earth."
Kage's face went pale, his chest heaving. His words stumbled out in a terrified breath. "Yo… you're kidding. I—I don't believe this. Hakari… how much time do we have left?"
Hakari shook his head slowly, his eyes distant. "I don't know. All I saw was… it activating. By someone's command. The strikes were launching at Earth, and that's all. Nothing more… nothing less."
Kage's breath turned frantic. "We… we have to hurry. Akami. No—Heena! Heena is there. My sister is there, in Koha—we have to leave!"
Hakari forced himself to steady, his voice sharp. "Kage! Get a hold of yourself. Heena is alive. So is Akami. Mother, too. You've forgotten—our father is there as well. Even though he's a jerk, he ended the Koha conflict with a single strike. Don't forget—at only fourteen, twelve kings across the world gave him a name. The Pride of the World. If anyone can hold back what's coming, it's him. And besides—what are we going to do if we run? Our job is here. We have to uncover the secrets of the Codes. Maybe—just maybe—we can stop this disaster."
---
Meanwhile, in the mainland of Koha—Murakami.
Akami stood frozen, hesitant, his voice trembling. "H… Heena?"
Her eyes, still shut, opened slowly. They glowed an otherworldly green. Her voice was calm, heavy, yet not entirely her own. "You… you have a mission. I am giving the command."
Before Akami's stunned eyes, Heena—or something within her—raised a hand. From nothing, a locket formed, sealed in air itself. A crystal pulsed faintly within, marked by a ∅ symbol. The locket floated forward until it hovered before Akami.
His hands shook as he reached for it. The moment he touched it, his vision blurred.
Flashbacks—visions—images tore through his mind. He saw himself, older, standing in a fog so dense it swallowed the horizon. The image flickered, then broke.
Akami gasped back into his senses, clutching the locket against his chest. "I… I'm not sure what I saw. But something bad is going to happen."
Heena's glow faded. Her body stilled. When her eyes opened again, they were her own.
Akami's breath caught. Tears spilled freely as he stumbled forward and pulled her into his arms. "I… I'm so glad. Welcome back, Heena."
Heena blinked in surprise. "Oh… alright, don't just crush me." A tired smile flickered on her lips. She rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm going to sleep."
Akami's grip tightened. His voice broke. "No. No, just wait. Let me see you. Let me sit beside you. If not around you, I'll be invisible—just don't leave me now."
A firm hand yanked Akami back by the ear. His mother's stern voice cut through the moment. "She is your little sister. Let her rest. Don't behave like a baby. I am with her—I'll watch her. You cannot afford to be weak, Akami. You are working for Koha's future, for the world's future. Be strong. Train. Not just for Koha—for those you love."
Akami's chest heaved as he tried to calm himself. At last, he nodded, wiping his tears. "…Alright. I'll take my leave, then. Take care of Heena, Mother. I'll check on her later."
"Don't worry," she said softly. "Go."
Akami turned away, heading to train. But in distant Akuma, Kage and Hakari stumbled into a new problem.
A child clung to Hakari's back.
Hakari groaned, nearly collapsing. "Hell… god… was it just me out of the whole of Akuma?"
Kage gave him a withering glare. "I'm not sure. But you deserve this."
Hakari stammered, panicked. "Wh… what? It wasn't my fault! I just… I was just trying to help—"
"Help?" Kage snapped. "You saw a kid being slapped by someone. A kid trying to run away. And without asking a single question, without any proof—you decided that man was a kidnapper?"
Hakari's voice rose defensively. "He was crying in the middle of the desert! That adult was being so rough with him—"
Kage exploded. "Yeah, sure. And what did you do? You kicked the man's guts in! And now I have to carry him, you fucking dumbass!"
The unconscious man groaned on Kage's back, stirring for a moment. His lips moved faintly. "Cave of Mura… Cave of Mura…" Then he collapsed again.
Kage froze. "Hakari. Did you hear that? I think… they were heading for Mura Cave too. But how? How did they know about it?"
Hakari scratched his head, uneasy. "We'll ask later. Just… carry him carefully. Please, he's slipping."
The man slid off Kage's back, hitting the sand with a thud.
Kage threw his hands up. "Oh, hell no. I'm done."
"Kage—"
"No."
"Kage, you have to. Please."
Kage growled, dragging a hand down his face. "…Alright. Just shut the hell up."
And so, burdened and reluctant, Kage and Hakari set off once again—toward the Cave of Mura, a place whispered of for its shadows, its mysteries, and its horrors.