Fuyuki sprinted through the burning streets, a surge of electricity crackling wildly around his fingertips.

A Phantom Beast lunged from the smoke.

Without breaking stride, he thrust his hand forward.

A bolt of brilliant purple-blue lightning exploded from his palm and struck the creature square in the chest. Its body convulsed violently before collapsing into a heap of black ash that scattered with the wind.

Another emerged. Then another.

Fuyuki twisted on his heel. Arcs of electricity danced between his hands before branching outward like the roots of an ancient tree. The bolts tore through the charging beasts, illuminating the smoke-filled streets with blinding flashes of purple-blue light.

The creatures fell one after another.

His movements were calm.

Precise.

Years of relentless training under the care of the Kannushi had transformed the timid boy into a mage whose command over lightning rivaled even seasoned practitioners.

Yet, his eyes never stopped searching.

"Eiji..."

"Where are you?"

He darted around a collapsed home when he heard frightened cries echoing nearby.

A family had become trapped beneath a burning beam while several Phantom Beasts slowly closed in.

Fuyuki clenched his jaw.

"Damn it..."

He wanted to keep searching, and every passing second felt like another second his brother could be dying somewhere beyond the smoke.

But he couldn't ignore them.

He raised both hands.

Lightning erupted across the street.

The beasts never reached the family.

The bolts pierced through their bodies with deafening cracks before disappearing into the blackened sky.

Without wasting another heartbeat, Fuyuki rushed toward the burning house.

"Stay still!"

He forced the charred beam off the trapped villagers with all the strength he could muster. Once they were free, he guided them toward a safer street.

"Head south! Everyone's been evacuated there!"

The family bowed repeatedly before disappearing into the smoke.

Fuyuki watched them leave.

Only for a moment.

Then he ran again.

"Eiji..."

"Please be safe..."

Another roar shook the street.

Three Phantom Beasts descended from the rooftops.

Fuyuki immediately fired another barrage of lightning.

The first creature collapsed.

The second stumbled before crashing into a stone wall.

The third slipped past the attack.

Its claws rushed toward him.

Fuyuki narrowly ducked beneath the strike and retaliated with another bolt, but the beast twisted away before the lightning could find its mark.

"Tch..."

The creature lunged again.

Fuyuki sidestepped and swept his leg beneath its footing.

The monster stumbled.

Lightning burst from his palm at point-blank range.

The blast hurled the beast backward. It convulsed once, then dissolved into black ash.

"If only Naoki-sensei allowed us to have our own Bladeheart."

A sharp whistle sliced through the air.

Fuyuki's ears twitched.

Too late.

An arrow shot straight toward his blind side.

"I can't dodge—"

Clang!

Steel collided with steel.

The arrow spun harmlessly away.

Fuyuki turned.

Nadare stood beside him, katana raised.

Before Fuyuki could even speak, Nadare grabbed him firmly by the wrist.

"Eiji and the others went to find you!"

Fuyuki's eyes widened.

"Everyone has already been evacuated to the southern caves," he tightened his grip.

"And you should too."

There was no time to argue.

The two immediately sprinted through the ruined streets.

Burning embers drifted overhead while distant screams of phantom beasts echoed across the village.

As they ran, Fuyuki glanced toward the northern district.

Dark smoke billowed into the heavens. His expression slowly hardened.

"The flowers..." Fuyuki whispered.

"What about it?"

"The corruption..." Fuyuki swallowed, "...It withered the Tsutsumi Flowers."

For a heartbeat, Nadare forgot to breathe.

"What...?"

Nadare's stomach sank.

If what Fuyuki said was true, then somewhere within the burning village...

Is a creature powerful enough to corrupt the very spirit that had guarded their village for centuries.

...

The smoke grew thicker with every street they crossed.

Burning rooftops groaned overhead as embers drifted like crimson snow through the village.

Then, from within the wall of smoke, something enormous emerged.

It stood nearly twice his height.

Four muscular arms extended from its broad torso, each gripping a sword blackened by corruption. Jagged horns curled backward from its skull, and its eyes burned dark crimson.

The Phantom Beast slowly lowered its stance, like a seasoned swordsman preparing to duel.

"...This one's different."

Eiji tightened his grip on his odachi.

The creature disappeared.

A deafening clang erupted as four blades descended at once.

Eiji barely managed to raise his weapon.

Steel screamed.

The impact forced him backward several paces, foot carving deep trenches through the frozen ground.

"Too fast..."

The monster refused to relent. Its four swords flowed together with terrifying precision, every strike naturally leading into the next.

There was no hesitation, no wasted movement, only flawless technique.

Eiji blocked one slash, dodged another.

A third scraped across his shoulder.

The fourth came from his blind side.

He twisted away just in time, but the blade still grazed his fur.

The creature pressed forward without pause.

It fought like a warrior.

Eiji gritted his teeth.

"I can't find an opening..."

The beast suddenly raised all four swords above its head.

Every instinct in Eiji's body screamed for him to move.

Then massive blades came crashing down.

"I can't–"

Before the blades could reach him, the ground erupted.

A thick wall of stone burst from the frozen spot between Eiji and the creature.

The swords slammed into solid rock, shattering half the wall.

"Nobutaka!" Eiji shouted.

"I got your back!" Nobutaka shouted back.

Before the creature could recover, a sharp whistle sliced through the air.

Seiya released her arrow infused with purple-blue lightning.

The arrow pierced the Phantom Beast's shoulder, then an electric explosion erupted across its massive body.

The creature convulsed, its muscles locked.

"Now!"

The three immediately sprinted into a nearby building wall that remained mostly intact.

Nobutaka quickly reinforced their cover with layers of stone walls while the beast roared somewhere outside.

Silence followed; the only thing they could hear was their heavy breathing.

Eiji slowly turned toward Seiya.

"So..." He blinked, "since when could you do that?"

Nobutaka stared just as blankly, wondering the same.

Seiya looked down at her bow.

"I, um..." She hesitated before continuing.

"I awakened it back at the summit, then seconds later I could hear everyone's thoughts."

She gently touched the fingers that had released the arrow.

"Though I still don't know how to use it whenever I want."

"Earlier was just a lucky shot," she added.

Eiji quietly lowered his head.

Lightning... Hearing thoughts... His mind drifted elsewhere.

"Fuyu-kun..."

Eiji closed his eyes; his breathing became steady.

Nobutaka tilted his head.

"What are you doing?"

"If Seiya could communicate through her mind because she's a lightning wielder..."

He whispered.

"Then Fuyuki might be able to do the same."

Seiya's eyes widened. "I never thought about that."

Eiji concentrated and beyond the sounds of burning timber...

Beyond the screams... beyond the clash of steel...

Hoping Fuyuki could hear his thoughts.

"Fuyu-kun..."

"Can you hear me?"

...

Meanwhile, Fuyuki and Nadare continued racing through the burning streets toward the southern district.

Fuyuki slowed down.

"...Eiji?"

Fuyuki glanced sideways.

"What?" Nadare looked around in confusion.

"I heard..." His ears twitched. "I heard Eiji's voice."

There was no one nearby, yet the voice echoed again.

Weak. Distant.

"Fuyu-kun..."

Fuyuki closed his eyes.

"Eiji? Where are you?"

He focused with all his strength.

"Eiji?"

No reply, only the same voice calling for him.

...

Back inside the ruined building, Eiji remained motionless.

"Fuyu-kun, if you can hear me, please go to the southern caves."

Again, and again. The words drifted outward like ripples across a frozen lake.

Seiya suddenly raised her head.

"I'll try."

She stepped beside Eiji and closed her own eyes.

For a long moment, nothing happened, then her expression changed.

"Found him." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Fuyuki! Go to the southern caves."

"Eiji and the others will follow you shortly."

...

Fuyuki's eyes snapped open. This time, the voice was unmistakable.

Not Eiji's.

"Seiya..."

Relief washed over him.

Only for an instant, he turned toward the north. Toward where the voices had come from.

"Eiji's still there..."

Nadare reached for him.

"Fuyu—"

Fuyuki swatted his hand away and sprinted back toward the northern district.

"Fuyuki!" Nadare clicked his tongue.

"Seriously!"

With no other choice, Nadare chased after the young mage.

...

A Phantom Beast collapsed beneath Hyosei's blade.

Its body dissolved into black ash before the winter wind scattered what remained across the snow.

Silence settled over the ruined street, and only the crackling of distant flames disturbed the stillness.

Hyosei slowly lowered the sacred odachi.

"Is everyone accounted for?"

A nearby samurai nodded.

"This district is clear, General."

Hyosei exhaled quietly.

"Good."

Beside him, Asatsuyu glanced toward the rows of Tsutsumi Flowers lining the base of the massive hill that made up the island's walls.

His expression froze.

"Hyosei..."

The General followed his gaze.

His heart sank.

The sacred blossoms had withered.

The once vibrant blue-violet petals now hung lifeless from their stems, black veins spreading across every flower as though corruption itself had seeped into their roots.

Hyosei knelt before them. His trembling hand reached toward a dying flower.

The faint spiritual glow that had protected Tsutsumi for generations...

Gone.

"No..."

His voice barely escaped his lips.

"It can't be..."

Asatsuyu stared in disbelief.

"The Tsutsumi Flowers..."

His grip tightened around his spear.

"They've been corrupted."

Neither of them spoke. They didn't need to.

The answer was already before them.

No ordinary Phantom Beast could ever overcome them.

Which meant, somewhere within the burning village...

A creature existed powerful enough to corrupt the very spirit that defended their homeland.

This happened before.

The realization struck them harder than any blade.

Hyosei slowly rose.

His sharp eyes swept across the village.

Smoke drifted between shattered homes.

Blades clashed in every direction.

Then his gaze stopped.

Far beyond the ruined streets, there, a towering silhouette stood amidst the sea of flames.

Four massive arms. Four swords. Every swing forced groups of samurai backward.

Hyosei's pupils narrowed.

Asatsuyu followed his line of sight.

The color immediately drained from his face.

"No..."

He could make out familiar figures desperately holding the monster back.

A massive odachi.

A stone wall erupting from the ground.

An arrow streaking through smoke.

"Eiji!"

Asatsuyu whispered. Hyosei's eyes widened.

Without another word, the two vanished.

Snow exploded beneath their feet as they sprinted through the burning streets faster than either had moved in years.

...

Elsewhere...

The entrance to the southern caves had become another battlefield.

Haruki stood at the front of the defensive line.

His breathing had grown ragged; blood stained his fur.

Fresh wounds covered his arms and shoulders, remnants of the desperate battle from the Icy Storm Mountain.

Yet, he refused to fall back.

His naginata swept through the air, cutting down another Phantom Beast before immediately shifting to intercept the next.

Behind him, hundreds of frightened villagers huddled within the caves.

The remaining high-ranking samurai stood shoulder to shoulder beside him.

The snow apes that they had faced from the summit now fought alongside the phantom beast.

"No wonder they got so strong..."

"The snow apes have been corrupted..."

More creatures emerged from the smoke. Then more. And more.

The horde stretched endlessly through the burning streets.

Haruki clenched his jaw.

"They're not stopping..."

Another beast leaped toward the defensive line.

Haruki's weapon flashed; the creature fell.

Two more immediately came forward.

The defenders were slowly being overwhelmed.

Haruki's breathing became heavier, his vision blurred.

His exhausted body screamed for rest.

Then...

A strange warmth stirred within his chest and into his right hand.

He frowned.

Without thinking, he raised his hand.

A crimson sphere slowly formed above his palm.

It pulsed like a living heart. Its flames burned neither wildly nor violently.

Instead, they danced with an almost gentle rhythm.

Haruki stared at it.

"What is this?"

Several nearby samurai turned.

One of the senior Blades froze.

His eyes widened in horror.

"Haruki!"

The veteran immediately abandoned his position.

He sprinted toward the young warrior with everything he had.

"Don't–!"

Confused, Haruki looked at the blazing sphere once more.

Then, acting entirely on instinct, he hurled it into the center of the advancing horde.

The veteran screamed.

"No!"

The crimson sphere touched the ground.

The world turned white.

Silence.

An overwhelming explosion consumed the battlefield.

The ground shook violently. A deafening roar swallowed every other sound.

Flames burst toward the heavens like a pillar reaching the sky itself.

The shockwave tore through the village.

Rocks. Snow. Ash.

Splintered timber. Everything was thrown into the air.

The Phantom Beasts vanished beneath the inferno before they could even scream.

Nearby samurai had no chance to escape.

The flames swallowed them whole.

Haruki looked up just as the crimson sea engulfed him as well.

Then, the fire changed.

Its unbearable heat disappeared.

The crimson flames became strangely warm.

Comforting. Gentle.

Like sunlight after the longest winter.

The samurai slowly opened their eyes.

None of them had burned.

Instead...

The cuts across their bodies slowly disappeared.

Broken bones mended.

Bruises faded. Exhaustion melted away.

The flames passed over them like a blessing.

One by one...

The warriors stared at their hands in disbelief.

"My wounds..."

"They're gone..."

"I..."

Another samurai looked toward the battlefield.

The endless horde had disappeared. Not a single corrupted beast remained. Only drifting embers filled the silent air.

Every pair of eyes slowly turned toward one person.

Haruki.

He remained standing. Confusion filled his face.

He slowly touched the deep wound across his shoulder.

It had vanished. Not even a scar. Only the stain of blood remained.

"What..."

He looked around. No one spoke.

The battlefield had fallen completely silent.

Several long seconds passed, and Haruki's vision darkened.

His knees buckled.

Before he could collapse onto the ground, strong arms caught him.

Ishito steadied him against his shoulder.

He stared at Haruki, eyes closed, unconscious.

Ishito stared with open disbelief before shaking his head.

"You, idiot. What kind of fire was that?"