On the way to the meeting chamber —
Moon, White, and the manager floated through the air above the island's terrain.
White glanced at the open sky ahead, then spoke inward.
"Hey, Light — can we switch? I know how to float on my own."
A brief pause from inside.
"…Alright. Ready on three."
"1… 2… 3."
Switch.
White's control returned. He steadied himself in the air without difficulty.
They continued forward.
Below them —
Two Great Fang Lions circled each other in the open ground. Both male. Both are enormous. Their movements were slow and deliberate — the kind of slowness that precedes something violent. They were competing for dominance, and everything smaller had already cleared the area.
The manager watched them for a moment.
Then spoke — quietly, almost to himself.
"I think I've forgotten my family because of this work."
White glanced at him.
"I don't even remember my daughter's name properly." His voice didn't waver, which somehow made it worse. "The last time I saw her, she had just been born."
A pause.
"…It's been almost ten years."
Moon heard every word. She didn't turn. She kept her gaze forward and her expression still.
"I just want one day," the manager continued. "Me, my wife, my daughter. One full day with no work. No pressure. Nothing."
White looked at him for a long moment.
Then —
"You told me your problem. I heard it."
The manager straightened slightly. "…Yes, sir."
"Then let me ask you something."
"Of course."
"Why are you still doing this?" White's voice carried no judgment — only directness. "This year, any year — why not go back to them? You clearly love them. So what's keeping you here?"
The manager exhaled slowly.
"…Society."
He looked at the ground far below.
"My clan is the lowest rank in my country. Society sees us as nothing. As servants. Less than that." A pause. "But when I became Adolf sir's manager — everything changed. People respected me. My daughter gets to live a life I never had."
His hands tightened.
"If I lose this position, I can't even imagine what happens to us. So no matter what it costs me —" His voice steadied. "I have to continue. This isn't just a job anymore. It's how we survive. It's my family's only hope."
Silence followed.
Moon continued floating ahead, neither agreeing nor interrupting.
White was quiet for a moment.
Then —
"That's not nothing," he said. "Thinking about your family — that matters."
The manager looked at him.
"But why society?"
White's gaze drifted slightly — not unfocused, but turned toward something internal.
"I have a friend."
A pause.
"No matter what happened to him — hatred, pain, people who tried to kill him — he always smiled. Always said he was fine."
His voice dropped slightly.
"And when I asked him why, he said — society only hates you when you give it a reaction. So smile. Break its rules. Crush its expectations. Live the way your heart actually wants."
He looked at the manager directly.
"He never wasted energy on people performing cruelty for an audience. He just kept moving."
A breath.
"And he taught me something I didn't expect."
"…What?" the manager asked quietly.
"That sometimes — a single smile, offered honestly — can reach somewhere inside a person that no argument ever could."
"It doesn't fix the world."
"But it reminds someone that light still exists."
The manager stared at him.
Something in his expression had changed — not broken, not transformed. Just... shifted. Like a door that had been closed for a long time, opening slightly.
He closed his eyes.
And somewhere behind them —
A field appeared.
Simple. Quiet.
His daughter ran through it, laughing at something small and unimportant.
His wife called them to eat, her voice carrying easily across the open space.
No title. No status. No performance.
Just life.
When he opened his eyes —
Tears were falling.
But he was smiling.
White noticed.
"…You understand now."
The manager nodded. His voice, when it returned, was unsteady in a way he didn't try to hide.
"…Yes."
A breath.
"Thank you, sir. Truly. I won't forget this — not for the rest of my life."
White shook his head slightly.
"Don't thank me."
A quiet pause.
"Thank him."
From slightly ahead —
Moon's voice.
Steady. Calm.
"…Guys."
Both of them looked up.
"We've arrived."
The meeting chamber stood before them at the island's centre.
Ancient. Immovable. Waiting.
White exhaled once.
"…Good."
He moved forward.
"Let's go."
The meeting chamber was not what Moon had expected.
It wasn't a chamber at all.
It was a mansion.
Massive. Ancient in its bones but reinforced with something modern and deliberate. It sat at the centre of the island's forest like something the trees had grown around rather than something built between them — approximately five hundred meters in length, six hundred wide. The kind of structure that didn't announce itself. It simply existed, and everything else arranged itself accordingly.
Around it — a fence.
Not decorative. Not symbolic.
The electricity running through it moved at a level Moon couldn't calculate precisely, but the air near it had a particular quality. Still. Warning. The kind of stillness that meant contact would end a person before they registered the pain.
Beyond the fence — soldiers.
Every nation's army, unified into a single perimeter. High-calibre weapons. Formation spacing that left no gap. Motion sensors embedded at ground level. Heat sensors positioned at every angle that mattered. The forest around the mansion was not a forest anymore. It was a controlled boundary.
Creatures moved between the distant trees — the island's original inhabitants, unbothered by human authority, watched by every sensor simultaneously.
White observed all of it in one slow pass.
The moon stood beside him, unusually quiet.
The entrance gates opened as they approached.
A figure walked toward them — tall, measured, with the particular posture of someone who had never needed to announce their authority because it arrived ahead of them.
He stopped in front of White and extended his hand.
"Hello, White. Good to meet you in person." A brief nod. "I am Red War — head of the United Forces military."
Moon turned toward him before White could respond.
"Red War?" She said it the way someone says something they're certain they misheard. "What kind of name is that?"
White's expression didn't change.
"Moon."
"I'm just asking—"
"Please don't."
Red War raised one hand slightly — not offended. Almost amused.
"It's fine. It's always the first question." He clasped his hands behind his back. "My ancestors were the first clan to survive the Great Divided War — the conflict between every species on Earth, before mankind established dominance. The first king of mankind granted our family the title War in recognition of that."
He paused.
"Red was my father's addition. He had a particular appreciation for battlefields."
"…Appreciation," Moon repeated.
"He loved the color of them."
Silence.
Inside White's mind —
*"What kind of people are we protecting?"*
Light. Quietly horrified.
*Shut up, Light.*
*"I'm just saying—"*
*I know what you're saying. Be quiet.*
Moon looked at Red War again, her curiosity outweighing her discomfort.
"Sir — the Great Divided War. You mentioned it briefly. What actually happened?"
The Red War glanced between them. "I can explain, but it takes some time."
"We're listening," Moon said.
White nodded once.
Red War's gaze shifted to the manager, who had been standing quietly to one side throughout the exchange.
"You're Adolf's manager, correct?"
The manager straightened. "Yes, sir."
"He'll need you inside. You should go."
"Yes, sir." The manager turned to White and Moon. Something in his expression was different from earlier — quieter, more settled. "I'll see you both inside."
"See you," Moon replied.
White nodded.
The manager walked toward the mansion entrance and didn't look back.
Red War watched him go briefly, then returned his attention to the two in front of him.
"Now then," he said.
"The Great Divided War."
—
After the manager left, they reached a section of the battlefield still marked by the remnants of past conflict. The air felt heavier there.
A man stood at the center—Red War.
He turned toward them, confused.
"Where am I?"
Moon stepped forward slightly, her tone calm but firm.
"You're standing in what remains of the Great Divided War. Explain."
Red exhaled slowly, as if preparing to speak.
"Alright… then listen carefully. When—"
Before he could continue, a soldier rushed toward him and saluted.
"Sir, the meeting begins in two minutes."
Red clicked his tongue softly, irritation flickering across his face.
"…Understood."
He looked back at White and Moon.
"We'll continue this later. You should head to the meeting hall."
White nodded.
"Alright. We'll hear the rest after the meeting."
Red gave a small, composed nod.
"Yes… we will."
Without another word, he turned and walked ahead, the soldier following closely behind. White and Moon followed in silence.
The meeting hall stood at the center of the island.
A massive circular structure—open at the top, allowing the sky itself to look down upon it.
At the center was a single elevated chair.
Not for power.
But for judgment.
Around it, seats formed a perfect ring.
Every position is equal.
Every presence is significant.
The meeting… began.
White and Moon took their seats beside Red War.
A voice echoed across the chamber—the Anchor.
"Today, we begin with the arrival of the Chief of C-Phi… Kirai Flow."
Footsteps echoed.
Kirai Flow entered alone.
No guards. No hesitation.
He walked calmly across the hall and took a seat beside White.
White immediately straightened.
"Sir… it's been a long time."
Kirai Flow gave a faint smile.
"It has, White. You've grown."
A pause.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine," White replied. Then, after a brief hesitation—
"…But why are you alone? No security?"
Kirai Flow leaned back slightly.
"In this hall… no one is allowed protection. Titles don't matter here."
White glanced around.
"…So that's why all the armies are outside."
Before the moment could settle—
The Anchor spoke again.
"And now, the Chief of C-Delta—"
A sudden force cut through the air.
A presence.
Heavy.
Dominating.
A man stepped forward before the announcement could finish.
Neon.
His voice echoed sharply across the chamber.
"From this moment onward—there is no C-Delta."
Silence fell instantly.
"It will now be known as the United Lands of Neon."
A pause.
"And remove the 'C' from its name."
The air shifted.
Tension rose.
Red War stood up abruptly, anger breaking through his usual composure.
"You don't have that authority!" he shouted.
"You cannot violate the Haven and Hell Accord!"
Kirai Flow immediately raised his hand.
"Sit down, Red."
His voice wasn't loud.
But it carried weight.
Red hesitated… then slowly sat back down, though his eyes remained locked on Neon.
Neon smirked.
"Authority?" he said calmly.
"I have power. Resources. Energy."
His gaze swept across the room.
"If I choose to erase borders… I will."
A pause.
"So don't lecture me about rules."
White's hand clenched.
His breathing shifted.
Something inside him snapped.
"You think power makes you untouchable?" he said, rising from his seat.
Kirai Flow turned sharply.
"White—sit down."
But White didn't listen.
He stepped forward.
Energy surged around him.
"I've seen what people like you do," White said, his voice dropping.
"And I won't let it happen again."
Electric energy began to gather in his hand.
"White," Light's voice echoed inside his mind, urgent now.
"Stop. This isn't the place."
But White's eyes were locked on Neon.
Cold.
Focused.
"Then I'll end it here."
The energy spiked violently.
"Thunder Strike—!"
"Wait."
Neon didn't move.
Didn't react.
He simply looked at White.
Calm.
Almost bored.
And that… was more dangerous than anger.