Flames of black and white wrapped around Azeron's body, each lick of fire tearing deeper into his soul. His knees struck the sand, his hands clawing at the ground as if he could anchor himself against the storm inside.
One voice screamed weakness.The other commanded wrath.
Akira's voice (inside):"Run. Hide. It hurts too much. You'll fail like always."
Azeron's voice (inside):"Kneel? Never. The world itself bends to me."
Their clash split his mind into two halves.
One was the broken boy on the classroom floor, cowering as laughter filled the air.The other, the god who drowned monsters with the sea itself.
And the Guardian's judgment loomed above, silent, faceless, waiting to see which would devour the other.
Akira's vision clouded.He was back in the classroom.
His desk smeared with chalk. His books scattered. His lunch spilled on the floor, trampled under shoes.Riku's laughter drilling into his skull.
"Trash stays trash. You'll never be anything else, Tanabe."
The words burned sharper than any blade. His chest constricted, his breath stuttered. He was Akira again—weak, worthless, invisible.
But then… something else bled into the memory.
The classroom walls dripped with water. The floor cracked, flooding. Shadows rose from beneath the desks. And in the reflection of the window, the boy who once sat trembling was gone.
In his place, Azeron glared back.
Azeron (reflection):"No more. Those days are ash. I am not your prey… I am your god."
The voices screamed. The fire surged. And then—he seized it.
Azeron forced the storm inside him to heel. The black flames bent around his arms like armor. The whispers in his veins silenced, bowing, twisting into raw power instead of torment.
He stood, towering, the sand beneath his feet turning molten from the heat of his divinity. His shadow stretched like wings behind him.
Azeron: "Akira Tanabe will not vanish.He will kneel.He will obey.At last."
The Guardian of Nex finally moved. Its faceless helm tilted in acknowledgment.
Guardian:"Then you are no longer merely born… you are chosen."
The spiral mark on its chest blazed, splitting the sky with light. That power poured into Azeron, sinking into the runes already etched in his skin. His veins glowed like rivers of fire. His heart thundered, not human anymore but something greater.
The island itself shifted. The ocean calmed. The air thickened with reverence. Nex had accepted him.
Azeron raised his hand, summoning the sea once more. This time, it bowed instantly, without hesitation, without resistance. Every drop of water, every grain of sand, every whisper of wind — obeyed.
And Azeron smiled, sharp and merciless.
Azeron: "Obey at last… that is what the world will do."