Yoshinori drew a long, steady breath. Blue sparks danced over his skin, gathering in crackling ribbons that lifted dust and pebbles from the broken street. This is it. Every drill, every night of study, it all leads here. A hush seemed to fall over the battlefield as he raised both hands, focusing the charge until his forearms glowed white-hot. “Let’s see how you handle this, Suzu,” he whispered, eyes blazing. The bolt he unleashed tore the silence apart. It streaked forward like a living spear, striking Suzu square in the chest with a thunder-crack that rattled broken walls. The blast hurled her backward; stone shattered, smoke and scorched detritus fountained skyward. A scorched path smoldered between them, the air pungent with ozone and burnt cloth. Suzu screamed, part pain, part fury, as she smashed through a half-collapsed wall. Her body twitched under the lingering charge, blood tendrils thrashing uncontrolled. “Keep the pressure on her! Don’t let her recover!” Yoshinori barked, voice sharp with urgency. Shunjiro felt hope flare. Yoshi did it, my turn! He leapt, fists glowing, and drove a barrage of hammer-blows into Suzu’s torso before she could steady herself. Each punch landed with a dull boom, rippling the ground. Tetsuo followed, ripping chunks of fallen masonry free. “Debris incoming!” he roared, hurling boulders that crashed around Suzu like meteors, stealing her sight and space. Suzu, smoking and staggered, fixed burning eyes on Yoshinori. “You’ll pay for that,” she hissed, blood gathering into razor coils. Yoshinori stood his ground. “I’m just getting started. We will stop you, no matter what it takes.” For an instant Suzu hesitated, wounded, anger clouding her focus, and the guild felt the shift. They closed ranks, attacks dovetailing, hope flickering like dawn. Aiko flashed between allies, swapping herself and teammates to keep Suzu guessing. “Progress!” she shouted, exhilaration threading her fatigue. Suzu reeled, yet refused to fall. Blood surged around her anew. “You think you can stop me? You are insects beneath my power!” “We’re not afraid of you anymore,” Yoshinori answered, voice iron-hard. “We’ll take you down, whatever you throw.” The guild tightened its ring. They had found a crack in her armor; now they had to drive the wedge home. Suzu’s crimson whips lashed out, but the team met them with fire, stone, lightning, and fists, each fighter pouring the last of their strength into keeping that advantage alive. Hope glimmered, but so did peril. The real test had only begun, and every heartbeat would decide whether that fragile light blazed into victory…or guttered out forever. 5:49 a.m. – the western gate of the Coastal Kingdom Kaito’s boots skidded to a halt on the rain-slick main road, a single heartbeat after he blurred out of his superspeed stride. Dawn’s first embers had just begun to smear the horizon, yet ahead of him a vast crimson dome pulsed like a heartbeat over the harbour district. It stained the predawn sky the colour of fresh wounds. That wasn’t here fifty minutes ago, he thought, chest tightening. What in the world are you trapped inside, Shunjiro? Shops and houses this side of the city wall were intact, but every door was barred, every window shuttered. Not even a stray cat prowled the gutters; the streets felt abandoned, as though people had simply vanished when the red light rose. Kaito padded forward until the barrier towered above him, an immense membrane of coiling scarlet veins, humming low like a distant war-drum. He drew his katana in a single clean motion; the blade’s mirrored surface caught the sanguine glow. “Let’s see what kind of cage you are,” he murmured. He extended the flat of the sword and tapped the barrier. The surface flexed, ripples spreading in slow concentric rings, each one crawling with microscopic droplets that resealed in the wake. A faint metallic tang touched the back of his tongue. Blood, he recognised instantly. Refined, empowered…Suzu’s signature. Fear pricked under his ribs, but he steadied his breathing. “If She’s the architect, then the kids are facing something worse than the Reaver ever was.” He stepped back, feet shoulder-width, and raised the katana overhead. Blue-white spirit-light raced down the edge as he gathered power. “One cut.” The sword descended, screaming through the dawn air. Blade met barrier with a clash that rang like steel on temple bells, but the dome only shivered, ripples rebounding, knitting whole in a blink. Not even a scratch. Kaito exhaled, eyes narrowing. He pressed two fingers to his lips; the blood taste lingered, coppery and cold. She’s woven reactive will into the membrane, hurt it and it strikes back. He lifted the katana again for a heavier arc, but before the swing completed, the barrier reacted. Two titanic hands, sculpted entirely from congealed blood, erupted from the dome’s surface, palms big enough to flatten wagons. They thundered toward him with murderous speed. Time dilated. Superspeed flared; Kaito vanished in a swirl of rain and dust, reappearing ten paces left. His blade flashed twice and each hand split at the wrist, splattering into crimson mist. The droplets slithered back toward the barrier, reabsorbed like mercury. Kaito landed, breath frosted in the chill morning air. “Adaptive defense confirmed,” he muttered. “Can’t brute-force this.” His gaze drifted over the dome, trying to sense openings, but the barrier’s heartbeat only throbbed heavier, as though warning him to stay away. If Suzu’s power is holding the seal, the only way in is to disrupt her focus from the inside, assuming anyone’s still alive to do it. A knot formed in his stomach at that thought. He sheathed the katana with deliberate care, planted it upright in the cobbles, and settled cross-legged before the barrier. “I can’t out-slash a fortress of blood,” he said softly, closing his eyes. “So I’ll find the rhythm underneath.” He slowed his breathing, four counts in, four counts out, letting the city’s hushed heartbeat blend with his own. On the other side of this wall, his pupils were fighting for their lives. He had minutes, maybe less, to crack the code of the blood prison, or to die trying. Kaito pressed his palms together, letting spirit-energy spiral inward.