He stumbled out of the room, fleeing until he reached the quiet sanctuary of the park. Collapsing onto a bench, he let out a ragged sigh. "At least this place won't vanish into thin air..."
Tears spilled over, tracking hot down his face. Suddenly, a soft, familiar hand gently brushed across his eyes, wiping the moisture away. Kael flinched, his eyes snapping wide.
"Azune? You're… you're here?!"
She quietly slipped onto the bench beside him, gesturing faintly to the space around them. Kael followed her gaze and gasped. Nyxara, Drakes, and Sara were sitting right there, watching him with solemn eyes. Kael looked from his friends back to Azune, a dizzying realization washing over him.
"Does this mean..." he whispered, his voice trembling. "Are you a soul, too?"
Azune looked at him, offering a bittersweet smile. "Kael, I have always existed as a soul bound to a physical form."
"Then that means Renjiro is also—"
Before he could finish, Azune pressed a finger to his lips, cutting him off. "My brother isn't a soul, Kael. He is a true, living being."
Kael dropped his gaze, burying his face in his hands. He gripped his thighs so tightly his knuckles turned white, fighting back the heavy sobs threatening to break through. After a long moment, he forced himself to calm down, staring up at the darkening sky.
"Wait," Kael said, turning back to Azune. "How did any of you even manage to get transferred here?"
"We were granted a transfer because of our sibling bond," Azune explained softly. "And Renjiro had already submitted his own application beforehand."
"What a nightmare of a process," Kael muttered. A sudden thought sparked in his mind, but before he could voice it, Nyxara spoke up.
"Did you find Renjiro?" she asked, her voice laced with anxiety.
Azune lowered her head. "No."
"Maybe he was taken," Drakes suggested, his jaw tight. "What if the Devil King kidnapped him?"
The group went still. Nyxara's eyes widened. "Is that why he blamed the demons? Kael, you remember what happened, right?"
The memory flashed vividly in Kael's mind—the chaotic incident where Vajr had coldly stated, 'The demons are behind this,' before abruptly vanishing.
Kael looked around at the group, a cold dread pooling in his stomach. "What is his real name? Vajr... what is he actually called?"
Sara answered, her voice barely a whisper. "His true name is Asura Vajrakal."
The pieces clicked together in Kael's mind with sickening clarity. "Vajr... it means Devil. He's the Devil King."
Azune pressed her palm to her forehead, a look of sheer frustration crossing her face. "The biggest clue we needed, and we completely missed it."
"My, my. Look who finally figured it out."
A chilling, agonizingly familiar voice cut through the air. Kael's blood ran cold. Vajr—or rather, Asura Vajrakal—was standing just a few feet away, wearing a smug, mocking grin.
Rage blinded Kael. He leaped up and lunged at the villain, throwing a desperate punch, but his fist sailed straight through empty air. He stumbled, staring down at his useless hands. He clenched his fists so hard that his nails bit deep into his flesh, leaving four sharp, crescent-shaped imprints bleeding into his palms.
"I can't even touch him..." Kael hissed, his voice shaking with impotence.
"I knew Renjiro possessed the power of the limitless, the power of infinity," the Devil King purred, completely ignoring Kael's outburst. "So, I had our most powerful pet fetch him for me."
"I will kill you!" Kael roared.
Around him, his team exchanged worried glances. To them, Kael was shouting and throwing punches at empty air; they couldn't see or hear the phantom of Vajr standing there. Drakes quickly stepped forward, placing a heavy, grounding hand on Kael's trembling shoulder.
"Kael, snap out of it," Drakes whispered urgently. "We'll find a way to track him down, I promise."
"Oh, little bro… don't get so aggressive," Vajr taunted, stepping closer. "We will have our fight, and when we do, I am going to break you."
Vajr crouched down right in front of Kael, making a grotesquely childish, teasing face. "What's wrong? Are you angry?" Laughing, he stood up and reached out to pat Kael on the head.
Whoosh.
Vajr's hand slipped harmlessly through Kael's hair. The entity chuckled, feigning disappointment. "Oops! Forgot I can't actually touch you right now."
The rest of the team crowded around Kael, trying to pull him back. "Kael, don't let whatever is happening get to you! You're letting it provoke you!" Sara pleaded.
Vajr's teasing expression suddenly vanished, replaced by a malice so dark it seemed to drop the temperature in the park. He leaned in, his eyes boring into Kael's.
"If you won't make the first move, Kael, then I will. And I think my next target... will be your parents." He dragged out the word parents, savoring the cruelty of it, waiting for Kael to utterly break.
Instead, the frantic rage left Kael's face. He went entirely still. He looked directly into the phantom's eyes, and a slow, deeply unsettling smile spread across his face.
"If you even breathe in their direction," Kael whispered, his voice dangerously calm, "I won't just kill you. I will erase you."