TOKYO STATION
Tokyo Station was completely locked down. The military had heavily fortified the entire perimeter, deploying everything from high-caliber firearms to armored battle tanks.
A soldier rushed over to General Skander, stopping to deliver a crisp salute.
"General Skander, the perimeter has been fully secured. All sectors have been swept, and no hostile activity has been detected."
Skander nodded calmly. "Very well. Now, I want you to compile a complete list of every single name currently in this area."
"Right away, General!" the soldier replied before turning on his heel and marching off.
Skander made his way down into the lower levels of Tokyo Station.
He walked directly toward an old man, a heavy, mocking smirk playing on his face. "Ohhhh... if it isn't the great leader of the UOKI clan. How are you holding up? How did you like the Fake World? Pretty tasty, huh? Hahaha."
Tokugawa, the leader of the UOKI clan, glared back at him, his fists clenching tight. "You think this is a joke? You want a piece of me, you piece of scum, Skander?"
"Alright, alright, calm down," Skander chuckled dismissively. "You're in our custody now. Quite ironic, isn't it? The military protecting Sorcerers... look how far we've come."
With a cold, snide laugh, Skander turned around and walked away.
Tokugawa, the leader of the UOKI clan, looked around the lower levels of the station and asked, "Hajima Osana, who else is still alive?"
Hajima Osana, clutching his bleeding hand where his severed finger used to be, looked across the floor.
"Uh... I can see Kuramoto, Kuna, Master Tamishia, Elira, Fabio, and Rena," he muttered hoarsely. "But as you can see, every single one of them is completely unconscious."
Looking up at his leader, Osana asked with pure anxiety, "Do you think they'll make it?"
"I don't know, Osana. I have no idea," Tokugawa replied. "The only thing that matters to me right now is whether we are actually safe here."
Tokugawa walked over, knelt by Osana's side, and gripped his hand firmly. "I know it hurts right now, Osana. But your body is strong. Just wait until Mireya gets here; she'll restore your finger. Forget about it for now. It's just a flesh wound. Remember, we are always strong."
Sinking back onto the hard floor, the UOKI leader stared at the ceiling and whispered into the dim light: "When will this hell finally end? I don't even know if we're safe or if we're just hostages to the military. All of this... happened because that fucking Farzo betrayed us."
Suddenly, shouting echoed from outside. Someone was screaming furiously at the guards. "Let me in, you idiots! I'm not the enemy! Let me through; I need to see everyone right now!"
Pushing past the military guards, Yukito burst into the room. He sprinted directly toward Tokugawa. "Lord Leader! Are you alright? Tell me!"
"I am fine, I suppose... unlike the others," Tokugawa replied heavily. "What is happening out there? Tell me."
Yukito gasped for air, trying to steady his ragged breathing. "Chaos... It's pure chaos. We are trying; everyone is doing everything they can."
He looked over at the other sorcerers lying unconscious across the floor. Turning back to Tokugawa, he muttered, "I'll be right back. Hang on."
Yukito hurried over to a nearby soldier, grabbed a casualty report sheet, and walked back to the UOKI leader.
Tokugawa eyed the paper grimly. "What is that you've brought now, Yukito?"
Yukito went silent for a moment, the weight of the data crushing his spirit. "It is heavy, what I am about to tell you... Out of the 35 sorcerers, we managed to locate 19. But 7... 7 are completely missing, unaccounted for. And out of the 35 we knew... 9 are confirmed dead."
Tokugawa exhaled a slow, weary breath. "I knew it before you even spoke the words. Fate had already written their end before you brought the report. Whether they became traitors, wound up dead, or ended up psychologically broken... every man has his time, my boy."
He lowered his gaze, his voice dropping to a faint whisper. "And my own time is coming. Whether it is near or far, it will come."
Yukito stared at him, his eyes filled with profound sorrow. Unable to find any words to comfort the old leader, he simply sank down and sat on the cold floor beside him.
On the other side, just outside Tokyo, where the Fake World barrier once stood, everything had completely vanished, leaving behind a massive, yawning crater.
Sora, Alexandra, and Ruka lay collapsed on the ground, piled on top of one another. Ruka, who had been at the top of the heap, tumbled off her friends, but her vision was pitch black—she couldn't see a single thing.
She tried to scream with every ounce of her remaining strength. "Sora! Alexandra! Can you hear me? Are you still alive? Did we succeed? Tell me where you are!"
She tried to force herself up, but her broken body utterly refused to move.
Suddenly, frantic voices echoed from a distance. It was Cairo and Luno, tumbling violently down the mountainside.
Cairo was roaring at the top of his lungs, cursing Luno out. "I told you to jump to the right, you idiot! If I die from a fucking fall and not from a devil, I swear I'll come back as a devil and haunt your ass, motherfucker!"
"Shut up! Ahhhhh! Tree! We're hitting a tree!" Luno shrieked.
"My head... my head... what happened?" Luno groaned as they hit the dirt.
Cairo immediately slapped him across the face. "Idiot! This is the absolute last time I ever listen to you!"
Cairo looked back up the steep slope, still fuming. "Fucking hell! Of all the sorcerers, I had to get stranded on the same mountain with the most useless one? Hold on to something, you blockhead! Wait... what the hell is that? What is that massive hole? Holy moly!"
Suddenly, Vanessa's voice echoed from high above the ridge. "Did you find them?!"
"Fuck off! We're exhausted!" Cairo screamed back.
"You're lucky you're down there, you moron!" Vanessa yelled down. "Tell them right away that our mission to stop Yugo failed, which is why we came here!"
Cairo ignored her, his eyes darting to the floor of the crater. He ran forward and stumbled upon Alexandra, Sora, and Ruka.
"Luno, stop messing around and help me right now!" Cairo shouted, panic setting in as he signaled up to Vanessa.
They had located Alexandra and Sora, both in terrible shape. But Ruka... Ruka was in an absolutely tragic, catastrophic state.
Vanessa tossed a rope down to them, shouting, "Tie it tightly! Do you copy, you morons?!"
"Alright, Cairo, are we really that stupid?" Luno muttered. Then he snapped at Cairo, "This is your fault, asshole! We ended up stranded on the road, and now we're stuck with this crazy, red-haired chick!"
Meanwhile, in another part of Tokyo, Jin and Ronika lay completely unconscious. The entire area around them had been utterly devastated by the massive energy wave.
Clara and Roe clutched their chests, a sharp ache radiating through their bodies as if their very hearts had taken a direct hit from the blast. Marios, however, remained entirely calm.
"It's time to move out," he said quietly.
"Are we just going to leave them like this?" Clara demanded, her voice rising. "We need to kill them!"
Mario cut her off coldly. "Listen to me. I don't take orders from you, nor do I take them from anyone else. I only do whatever the hell I feel like doing. As for orders, they came directly from Amaya. She said, "Retreat, you slaves."
"Since a command came from Her... I don't care about anything else," Roe chimed in immediately. "I'm pulling back. If she ordered me to jump off a cliff, I'd throw myself over without hesitation. She's the only reason I live, man."
"You really are a filthy slave," Clara spat at him. "You're completely disgusting, you motherfucker! A dirty, degraded slave! But damn it, you're right... the orders came down, so we have to leave now."
With that, they turned and retreated into the ruined streets.
Jin snapped awake, panic surging through him. He gasped for air, struggling to breathe. He looked around wildly and screamed with all his might:
"You're fucking dead, Farzo!"
He finally remembered. He remembered who was responsible. "When I find you, I'm going to slaughter you!"
Suddenly, Ronika began to laugh hysterically.
"Unbelievable! Do you realize what's happening? All this... the bodies, our friends, the fake world... behind this entire shitstorm stands one of our own! Our 'friend'! He sold us out completely! Hahaha, it's perfect!"
She paused, letting out a long, shaky breath. "Ahhh... You know, Jin, honestly? The Fake World was actually better than the Real World."
Jin joined in, his laughter forced and ragged.
"Ha! Hahaha! No, tell me this is a joke! How many more hidden secrets are there?"
He tried to stand up, wincing. "Arrgh, my God... It feels like someone hit me in the head with a frying pan. My brain is in shock. Loading all that information... it feels like I died."
Ronika stood up, dusted off her clothes. "Farzo has been digging our graves for a long time. He came over on New Year's and gave us that filthy sweet. I swear to God, that's the last time I ever eat anything from him."
"Same here," Jin agreed. "From now on, I'm cooking everything myself."
Ronika started laughing again, but this time with actual amusement. "You don't even know how to fry an egg for me! And you want to cook all your food yourself? Just how deluded are you, Jin?"
Her face suddenly turned serious. "Forget it. Let's go find the others. Save the jokes for another time."
Both of them left quickly.
A solitary figure has climbed to the rooftop of a towering skyscraper, driven to the absolute brink and ready to end it all amidst the unfolding chaos.
Stepping right up to the ledge, he looks down at the ruined city below. Taking one final breath, he takes a step forward into the abyss, letting his foot extend into the open air—as if stepping directly into the sky.