The first shot shattered the silence.
Concrete exploded inches from Kaito's head as he dove sideways, rolling across the cracked asphalt outside the coastal facility. The sound wasn't just loud—it punched the air, compressing it into a concussive wave.
— Sniper! Ren shouted.— No—decoy!
Three figures dropped from the cliff above them, landing hard with enough force to crater the ground. They weren't wearing Association insignias. No uniforms. No emblems.
That was worse.
— Contractors, Ryuji growled, katana already drawn.— They don't care if they die.
One of them charged immediately—no hesitation, no strategy. Just raw momentum. He swung a reinforced baton straight at Kaito's skull.
Kaito barely raised his arm in time.
The impact slammed him backward, ribs screaming as he crashed into a rusted railing. Metal bent around his spine.
— Ngh—!
Pain flared white-hot.
The attacker didn't stop. He followed, driving a knee into Kaito's stomach. The air exploded out of his lungs.
— KAITO! Jun shouted.
Jun tried to move—
—and collapsed.
The Anchor flared weakly, but his body couldn't support it yet.
Ryuji intercepted the second attacker, steel screaming as katana met blade. Sparks burst into the air as the two exchanged rapid strikes—Ryuji sliding back, adjusting, adapting with every clash.
Ren fired.
The bullet bent mid-air.
— Damn it, Ren snarled.— They're wearing trajectory dampeners!
Haneul slammed their hands into the ground.
— Fracture resonance—now!
The ground rippled beneath the attackers' feet. One stumbled. Ren took the opening.
Crack.
The shot punched through the man's shoulder, spinning him into the dirt.
But the third attacker didn't slow.
He reached Kaito.
Kaito raised his fists.
Too slow.
The baton came down.
— STOP!
The word tore out of Kaito's throat.
His left eye ignited.
Symbols flared—looping, collapsing—
—but he had nothing to apply them with.
The baton smashed into his forearm.
Bone cracked.
Kaito screamed as he hit the ground, blood splattering across the concrete.
— KAITO! Aoi shouted.
The attacker raised the baton again.
— End of the line.
Kaito saw it.
The end.
Not metaphorical.
Actual.
The moment where everything collapsed into a conclusion he didn't accept.
— No…, he gasped.
The baton descended.
Something slid across the ground.
Metal.
A fragment skidded to a stop beside Kaito's hand.
Shiori's voice cut through the chaos.
— KAITO! TAKE IT!
Kaito's fingers closed around the object.
Cold.
Heavy.
Incomplete.
A short blade—broken, jagged at the tip. Symbols etched along its surface pulsed weakly, mismatched, unfinished.
— It won't cut flesh! Shiori shouted.— It's not ready!
The attacker laughed.
— Then you're dead.
Kaito pushed himself up, arm shaking, blood dripping from his fingers.
— Good, he said hoarsely.— I'm not trying to kill you.
He stepped forward.
The blade vibrated violently, resisting him.
— Don't force it, Aoi shouted.
Kaito breathed.
Once.
Twice.
He stopped trying to win.
Stopped trying to end the fight.
He just refused to let it finish like this.
The symbols on the blade aligned.
The air folded.
The attacker swung.
Kaito slashed sideways.
The blade didn't touch the baton.
It cut the moment between the swing and the impact.
The baton froze mid-motion.
The attacker staggered back, eyes wide.
— What the—?!
Kaito moved.
He punched the man square in the jaw, snapping his head sideways. The frozen motion shattered, momentum collapsing inward instead of outward.
The man flew backward, skidding across the ground like a ragdoll.
Silence—brief, stunned.
Then chaos.
Ryuji roared, pressing his advantage, katana blazing as he drove his opponent back step by step.
Ren fired again.
This time, Kaito slashed forward—
—and the bullet's path straightened, ripping cleanly through the second attacker's leg.
— HOW—?!
Haneul slammed their palms down again.
— NOW!
The ground surged upward, throwing the third attacker off balance.
Kaito moved without thinking.
The blade guided him.
He slashed downward.
The enemy's attempt to recover simply… failed.
His body didn't fall.
It stopped trying to stand.
He collapsed in a heap, unconscious but alive.
The remaining attacker tried to retreat.
Ryuji didn't let him.
One clean strike.
Down.
Breathing.
Broken.
The battlefield stilled.
Kaito stood there, chest heaving, blood dripping from his arm and brow. The blade hummed faintly in his hand, unstable but awake.
Jun stared from the ground, wide-eyed.
— That was… that was insane.
Ren approached cautiously.
— That thing… didn't cut him.
Kaito shook his head.
— It cut the ending.
Shiori stepped closer, eyes locked on the blade.
— It's incomplete, he said.— But it responded.
Aoi looked at Kaito—really looked at him.
— Because you didn't choose violence.
Kaito swallowed.
— I chose delay.
The blade trembled, symbols settling slightly deeper into the metal.
Far away, a system updated.
ZERO ENGAGED IN DIRECT COMBATUNREGISTERED ARTIFACT DETECTEDOUTCOME: INCONCLUSIVE
A pause.
Then—
THREAT LEVEL: INCREASING
Kaito closed his fingers around the blade.
— Then let them watch.
He looked at the fallen enemies.
— Next time, we go harder.
The blade pulsed once.
Not eagerly.
Patiently.