The jump from the smoky, cluttered world of the Tokyo scrap yard to the icy, austere reality of the Siberian Defense Line was immediate and brutal.
Kenji stepped off the military transport jet and was hit by air so cold it burned his lungs. The sky was a vast, unforgiving gray, and the ground was a battlefield carved into the permafrost, fortified with massive, utilitarian concrete walls instead of the elegant Kesshō barriers of Japan. This was General Sergei Volkov's territory—a place where power was raw, not refined.
Kenji, now wearing his new dark gray Seimei Initiative uniform, shivered despite the thermal lining. The cold seemed to seep into the Yami-ishi core in his chest, making the scar tissue on his fused arm throb.
He was met by a hulking man in heavy, customized Russian armor who introduced himself as Major Dmitri.
"Ikeda," Dmitri's voice was a low, rumbling growl, translating roughly from Russian. "General Volkov does not tolerate inefficiency. You are late by seven minutes. That is seven minutes the Tundra-Eater could have tunneled through our power conduits."
"Tell the jet I'll upgrade its engines for free next time, Major," Kenji retorted, falling back on his arrogant mask. "Where's the junk? And where's the General?"
Dmitri ignored the retort. He pointed toward a massive, walking fortress of a Sentinel suit parked near a command tent. "The General is preparing. You will be briefed here. Your asset is code-named: The Scalpel."
The Unconventional Briefing
Kenji was led into the command tent. The air was thick with the scent of cheap tobacco and stale coffee. Volkov, a mountain of a man with a scarred face and eyes like chipped ice, was reviewing holographic terrain maps. He wasn't in armor yet, wearing only a thick military coat over a heavy sweater, but his presence filled the tent.
"Ikeda," Volkov stated, not looking up. His Russian was perfect, crisp, and terrifyingly clear. "Hoshina sold you as an asset who deals with 'structural vulnerabilities.' I deal in crushing power. We will see which one is more useless."
Volkov stabbed a gloved finger at the holographic map. "The enemy is the Tundra-Eater—a burrowing Kyojin, unique to this region. It specializes in using Null-Stone vibration to collapse infrastructure. It's too tough for conventional Aether artillery."
"It's not too tough, General," Kenji corrected instantly, walking right up to the map. His Kesshō Insight was already working overtime. "It's too rigid. Your power is too broad. You need a focused pressure point. Where does it vent heat?"
Volkov finally looked up, his icy gaze pinning Kenji. "You question my tactics, technician?"
"I question your engineering, General. You're using a sledgehammer when you need a drill. Every creature has a weak link. If this Tundra-Eater relies on internal vibration, it has to have a pressurized vent or a heat sink. If we find that, we bypass the armor."
Volkov slowly smiled, a terrifying gesture that promised pain. "You have five minutes to find this 'vent.' You will use my drone feeds. If you waste my time, I will feed you to the next wave."
Kenji didn't waste a second. He ignored the threat and leaned over the holographic map, calling up the drone infrared data. The Russian Sentinels watched with open hostility. Kenji filtered out the noise, using his Kesshō Insight to track the Kyojin's path and energy output.
"There," Kenji announced, pointing to a tiny, dark spot on the creature's back near the base of its spine, where the heavily armored shell met its propulsion muscles. "That's not armor; that's a heavily shielded Null-Stone resonator. It controls the vibration. If you hit that, you overload its entire system. The window is one second—when it prepares its next collapse."
"One second," Volkov repeated, his eyes burning with assessment. "If you are wrong, my artillery misses, and the command center collapses."
"I'm a D-Rank scrapper, General," Kenji said, meeting his gaze with pure arrogance. "I don't waste time on theories. I only deal with facts. Now, give me the weapon to hit it."
The Siberian Charge
Volkov didn't hesitate. He climbed into his massive, heavily armored command suit—a true walking fortress called the "Polar Hammer." Dmitri's squad followed suit, their vehicles designed for raw, sustained conflict.
"Dmitri will clear the surface area. We will draw its fire," Volkov ordered over the comms, his voice now metallic and booming. "Ikeda, you will be on foot. Your role is scouting and target confirmation. You hit the target only when the window is clear. Do not interfere with the heavy assault."
"Got it. Scout. Don't interfere," Kenji muttered, already planning the exact opposite.
He was wearing light armor, which allowed for speed, but was useless against a direct attack. He had only two weapons: a standard issue energy rifle, and his own hidden Gattai power.
The battle began with earth-shattering intensity. Volkov's unit was a terrifying meat grinder, firing massive Aether rounds into the ice to lure the Tundra-Eater out. The Kyojin responded by tearing out of the ground—a colossal, plated beast that looked like a fusion of a beetle and a tank.
The ground shook constantly as the Tundra-Eater launched massive sonic vibrations, turning the ice to powder and cracking Volkov's armor.
"The resonance is too high!" Volkov shouted over the comms. "It is collapsing the northern barrier! Ikeda, where is the window?"
Kenji was sprinting across the unstable terrain, using his Kesshō Insight to anticipate the shifting ground. He saw the shimmering, localized air distortion around the Kyojin's spine—the vent—as it charged its next massive vibration.
"Now, General! It's venting!" Kenji screamed into the comms.
Volkov hesitated for a fraction of a second—just enough time for the Tundra-Eater to let loose its attack. A wave of sonic pressure hit Volkov's suit, cracking the armor plating near the shoulder.
Kenji knew Volkov's unit was compromised. He had to act.
He abandoned his scout role. He sprinted toward a pile of collapsed structural steel—the perfect scrap. Gattai.
The Yami-ishi core screamed to life. Kenji's armor instantly warped, fusing the scrap into heavy, dense, black plates over his body. His speed dropped, but his power surged. He had created a crude, temporary version of his Kuro-Tetsu form.
He ignored Volkov's angry shouts over the comms. He pulled the standard-issue rifle to his gauntlet and fused its firing mechanism with an unstable, high-density metal rod he salvaged from a broken turret. He overloaded the system for a single, focused shot.
He aimed not at the vent, but at the ice in front of the vent.
Kenji fired. The weapon disintegrated as the projectile shot out—not energy, but a super-dense, high-speed Kuro-Tetsu spike. The spike hit the ice, which shattered, sending a cascade of super-cooled water and ice shards directly onto the tiny, exposed Null-Stone resonator.
The effect was instantaneous and explosive. The sudden cooling shock-fractured the crystal vent. The Kyojin's internal vibration—its own power—surged uncontrollably through the fracture.
The Tundra-Eater didn't explode; it imploded. Its colossal body collapsed into a heap of inert, fragmented Null-Stone. Silence fell over the Siberian ice.
The Dangerous Patronage
Kenji, breathing heavily, ripped the unstable Gattai plates from his body, returning to his standard uniform just as Volkov's colossal Polar Hammer stomped over.
"You disobeyed a direct order, technician," Volkov's booming voice filled the silence. The General's armor was smoking, the shoulder plating visibly cracked.
"I delivered the kill shot, General," Kenji replied, meeting the mechanical visor's stare. "Your shot was delayed. Your unit was compromised. My engineering was correct; your timing was not. I neutralized the threat."
Volkov climbed out of his suit. He studied Kenji, his eyes piercing through the arrogance and the cheap uniform, seeing the raw, terrifying capability. The General was not angry; he was impressed.
"You are correct," Volkov conceded gruffly, a rarity among S-Ranks. "Your structural analysis was flawless. Your disobedience was insubordination. In my army, insubordination is death. In this war, insubordination is sometimes necessary."
Volkov slapped a heavy, gloved hand on Kenji's shoulder. "You are an uncontrollable weapon, Ikeda. And you proved your usefulness. You are now under my personal observation. You will stay here. I will ensure your B-Rank remains secure."
Kenji knew what that meant: he was safe from Aoi's elimination list, but he was now a soldier under the patronage of a brutal, ambitious General who would constantly test him. His cage had simply grown larger, and the pressure had intensified.
His comm unit crackled, connecting him to Akari Hoshina. "Ikeda. Report. What was that uncontrolled discharge? You almost vaporized Volkov's position!"
"Just a lucky reflection, Hoshina-san," Kenji drawled, looking at Volkov. "Told you I just know how things break. The Tundra-Eater's armor was defective. Blame the manufacturer."
Kenji knew the lie wouldn't hold up forever. But with Volkov's silent, formidable approval, he had bought himself more time. More time to get stronger, and more time to worry about Sanae and Kaito Jin back home. He was now a global asset, and that meant his danger—and his power—had reached a new level.