The battlefield fell into an uneasy silence.

The mutated Phantom Beast remained motionless, its three eyes fixed upon Hyosei and Asatsuyu.

Its towering frame loomed over the burning village like a calamity given form.

Behind Nobutaka's stone wall, no one dared to breathe.

"This is bad," Nadare whispered.

"We're dead if we don't get away from here," Nobutaka said.

"No, we have to help them!" Eiji protested.

"But what can we do? We're clearly out of their league!" Seiya hissed.

Eiji clenched his fists.

"But..."

The words caught in his throat. Seiya was right.

Everything they had witnessed told the same story.

The Warrior Beast wasn't an opponent they could hope to overcome.

Not now. Yet every instinct in Eiji's heart screamed at him to move.

His father stood only a short distance away.

His friends. His village.

Everyone he cared about was risking their lives while he hid behind a wall.

His fingers tightened around the hilt of his odachi.

"There has to be something..."

"Anything..."

...

Hyosei slowly exhaled.

He tightened his grip around his odachi. The icy wind swirled around him.

Then, a gentle voice echoed within his mind.

"Son of Tsutsumi..."

Hyosei's eyes widened.

"Yuki Onna–"

He stood frozen.

The familiar voice carried the same quiet warmth he had heard before.

"You cannot defeat this evil in front of us, alone. You need my power."

Hyosei lowered his gaze.

"But... Didn't I already use it earlier to wipe hundreds of them?"

"No. I have yet to lend you everything."

His breathing faltered.

"What do you–"

The words died on his lips.

A realization slowly dawned upon him.

His eyes softened.

"I see..."

"But before that, I need your help."

Hyosei closed his eyes. The battlefield disappeared. Darkness surrounded him.

An endless void stretched in every direction.

There was no wind. No fire. No sound.

Only silence.

Within the endless darkness stood a lone figure.

A young man with dark hair. Not in flesh.

But as though their consciousness had drifted into the same silent space.

"Haruki..."

Hyosei called softly. His son turned toward him.

The darkness remained still.

...

Outside the psychic plane, Hyosei's body began radiating an overwhelming surge of mana.

The frozen ground trembled beneath his feet. The temperature dropped even further.

Asatsuyu instinctively stepped back.

"...Hyosei?"

The silver armor surrounding his friend glowed brighter than before.

Then, thin cracks spread across Hyosei's skin.

Dark veins of miasma crept through the scar he once sustained decades ago from a battle between him and a skyborn Phantom Beast.

Blood slowly trickled down his arms. Asatsuyu's expression changed immediately.

"Hyosei..."

Hyosei opened his eyes.

Though pain lingered across his face, his gaze remained calm.

"Don't worry about me, Asatsuyu."

"Although I need your help."

Asatsuyu answered without hesitation.

"Anything, Hyosei. Tell me!"

Hyosei glanced toward the massive stone wall in the distance.

"The children are behind that massive wall of rock."

Following his gaze, Asatsuyu finally noticed the familiar faces peeking from behind Nobutaka's barrier.

Eiji.

Fuyuki.

Seiya.

Nobutaka.

Nadare.

His heart sank.

"Get them to safety."

Hyosei's voice grew firm.

"This is going to be deadly for everyone."

He slowly turned back toward his oldest friend.

Their eyes met.

"Even for you."

For a long moment, Asatsuyu remained silent.

Every instinct urged him to refuse. To stay.

To fight beside Hyosei until the very end.

But he understood.

If Hyosei had reached this decision, then there was no other way.

His shoulders slowly fell.

"We'll just get in your way, aren't we?"

Asatsuyu whispered in defeat.

The wind howled between them.

Neither man spoke again.

Neither needed to.

After decades of fighting side by side, they understood each other without another word.

Asatsuyu clenched his jaw. There was no more time.

With one powerful leap, he launched himself toward Nobutaka's stone wall.

The frozen ground shattered beneath his landing.

To Eiji and the others, they had only recently earned the title of samurai.

But to Asatsuyu, they were still children.

Children with lives yet to live.

He planted his spear into the ground. Crimson flames surged around him.

With a mighty swing, he unleashed a roaring torrent of fire.

The inferno tore through the streets ahead, swallowing every Phantom Beast in its path. The corrupted creatures vanished within the blazing current, leaving behind a clear road leading toward the southern caves.

Walls of fire continued burning along both sides of the path, keeping the remaining beasts from crossing.

"Hurry to the caves! Move! Move! Move!"

There was no room for hesitation.

One by one, they sprinted through the corridor of flames.

Eiji remained rooted to the ground.

His eyes never left his father.

"But what about Dad!? He's still out—"

"Eiji!"

Asatsuyu's voice cut through him. The young samurai froze.

The Vice General looked at him. His expression remained firm.

But his voice no longer did.

"I know... I know how you feel. But..."

His words faltered. His shoulders trembled ever so slightly.

Tears welled within his eyes. Eiji stared in disbelief.

He had never imagined seeing the Vice General cry.

Not Asatsuyu. Not the man who always smiled in the face of danger.

His heart sank. Without another word being spoken.

He understood.

"Let's go!"

Asatsuyu urged them once more.

Eiji lowered his head. His feet finally moved. Every step felt heavier than the last.

...

They hadn't gone far when a tremendous explosion erupted from the direction of the southern caves.

A pillar of crimson fire shot into the heavens.

The clouds themselves seemed to split apart.

A violent shockwave swept across the valley, forcing everyone to brace themselves against the fierce winds.

The blast was so powerful that even Asatsuyu stopped in his tracks.

Silence followed.

Only burning embers drifted through the air.

"What was that..."

Nadare whispered. Asatsuyu slowly looked toward the caves.

The explosion. The villagers.

The very people they had been trying to protect.

"...No..."

He denied the thought before it could fully form.

His fists tightened.

"Let's keep moving!"

No one questioned him. They broke into another sprint.

Moments later, the mouth of the southern caves finally came into view.

Everyone slowed. The entrance remained intact.

No Phantom Beasts. No smoke. No signs of battle.

Only frightened villagers gathered safely inside.

Asatsuyu immediately approached one of the guarding samurai.

"What happened? We just saw an explosion while on the way!"

The samurai bowed.

"It was Haruki."

He quickly explained everything that had happened.

The crimson mana.

The enormous explosion.

The flames that annihilated the Phantom Beasts.

The miracle that healed every samurai caught within them.

Asatsuyu listened in silence.

His eyes slowly widened.

"...Divine Flames."

The words escaped almost instinctively.

...

Nearby...

Eiji stood at the mouth of the cave.

His eyes drifted back toward the burning village.

Toward the distant battlefield where Hyosei remained alone.

His chest tightened. A familiar warmth suddenly wrapped around him.

Fuyuki.

The younger boy held onto his brother without saying a word.

Then, quietly...

"Everything's going to be fine... right, Eiji?"

Eiji looked down.

He gently rested a hand upon Fuyuki's head, pulling him closer against his chest.

"Yes..."

His voice barely rose above a whisper.

"Everything will be alright..."

But even as he spoke those words.

His eyes never left the battlefield beyond the cave.

Deep within his heart...

He prayed they would be true.

...

The battlefield had fallen silent.

The flames consuming the village crackled softly in the distance.

Snow drifted gently through the scorched air, melting the moment it touched the blackened soil.

Hyosei stood alone.

The Warrior Beast remained several paces away, its three eyes fixed upon the General.

Neither moved. Neither looked away.

Slowly...

Hyosei drove the sacred odachi into the frozen ground.

The blade sank effortlessly, as though the ground itself welcomed its master.

He released the hilt. Then rolled his shoulders.

A long breath escaped his lips.

"Looks like it's just you and me, now."

The monster answered with a low growl.

Hyosei closed his eyes for only a moment.

He could feel it.

The curse.

The familiar pain buried deep beneath the scar across the back of his body.

Ever since Yuki Onna had lent him her full power...

The seal suppressing the miasmic rot within his blood had begun to unravel.

Dark veins slowly spread from the scar beneath his armor.

Each pulse of power carried another pulse of agony.

This time, power had come with a price.

Hyosei lowered his gaze.

His hand reached behind his waist.

From within his armor, he withdrew something few had seen in many years.

An old Bladeheart.

Its polished frame bore countless scratches earned from battles long before he inherited the title of a Yaibasho.

Hyosei smiled faintly.

"I never got to use this blade after I got the sacred odachi."

His fingers gently brushed across the worn metal.

Memories quietly surfaced.

A younger Hyosei.

Years of training.

His first victories.

The weapon that had once fought beside him through every battle.

He opened his hand.

A brilliant sphere of icy-blue mana slowly formed above his palm.

His Manacore.

It pulsed like a living heart.

Without hesitation, he placed it into the waiting Bladeheart.

When the Bladeheart awakened, brilliant frost-blue light radiated from every engraved line across its surface.

The air grew colder.

The snow beneath Hyosei's feet crystallized into flawless ice.

The light expanded. Flowed. Took shape.

Steel emerged from freezing mana.

A slender blade.

A perfectly balanced guard.

A hilt wrapped in pale blue silk.

His Soulborn Weapon awakened once more after lying dormant for decades.

A Glacial Katana.

Hyosei slowly wrapped his fingers around its hilt.

The weapon felt familiar.

Like greeting an old friend after many years apart.

He raised the katana before him.

The blade shimmered beneath the falling snow.

Across the battlefield, the Warrior Beast remained motionless.

But then, it spoke.

"A...scend... ascender..."

Its voice rumbled like distant thunder.

Deep.

Ancient.

Filled with unmistakable hatred.

Hyosei's breathing stopped.

For the first time in many years, fear found its way into his heart.

Not because the creature had spoken.

But because of the way it had spoken.

It knew exactly what he was.