Kaito came back to consciousness in fragments.
Cold stone against his cheek.A ringing pressure behind his eyes.The taste of iron in the air.
He tried to move.
Pain answered.
His vision swam, then slowly focused.
The first thing he saw was Aria.
She lay several paces away, unmoving, her blade fallen from her hand. Blood darkened the stone beneath her shoulder. Beyond her—Ryo, Mira, Liona, the others—scattered across the courtyard like broken pieces, breathing shallow, bodies still.
None of them stirred.
Dex lay near the far wall, chest rising unevenly.
Kaito's breath hitched.
"No…" he whispered.
Something inside him shifted.
Not heat.
Not fire.
Something older. Heavier.
The attackers were still there.
They stood in a wide ring around him, weapons trained outward, confident. Patient. Like hunters waiting for prey to finish dying on its own.
Kaito's fingers twitched.
The pressure sigil beneath him flickered—then cracked.
A low sound escaped his throat, not a shout, not a growl, but something wrong, something pulled from deep inside his chest.
The air around him changed.
Blue light bled outward from his body—not flame, not smoke, but a violent aura that bent the space around him, rippling like heat off stone.
"What—" one attacker started.
Kaito stood.
The sigil shattered completely.
The nearest attacker fired.
The bolt never reached him.
Kaito moved.
Too fast.
He was suddenly there—the spear a blur as it tore the weapon from the attacker's hands and sent them crashing into the ground. He spun immediately, striking again and again, each blow precise and brutal, fueled by something far beyond anger.
The aura flared brighter.
Blue light lashed outward with every movement, cracking stone, throwing attackers back like toys.
"Hold the line!" someone shouted.
They tried.
They failed.
Kaito didn't slow.
Didn't speak.
Didn't hesitate.
He ripped through the formation, breaking weapons, disarming, striking with a violence that left no room for recovery. Every step was rage given shape. Every breath was control lost.
An attacker lunged from behind—
Kaito didn't even turn.
The aura surged and sent them flying.
The courtyard shook.
Those still standing began to retreat, fear finally breaking through their discipline.
"This wasn't—" someone gasped.
Kaito turned toward them.
For the first time, his eyes burned the same cold blue as the aura surrounding him.
They ran.
He did not chase.
Instead, he staggered.
The aura flickered violently, then collapsed inward.
Kaito dropped to one knee beside Aria, breath ragged, hands shaking as the world rushed back in.
"…I told you," he whispered hoarsely, more to himself than anyone else, "to stay behind me."
The alarms still screamed.
The night had been broken.
And whatever had awakened inside Kaito—
It was no longer sleeping.