The wind howled through the shattered mansion as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Then it broke.
Gunfire ripped through the courtroom.
Jax's minigun screamed, its barrel glowing red as it tore Obsidian soldiers apart in sprays of blood and shattered armor. Bodies collapsed faster than they could fall. Eda and Rosemary moved with mechanical precision behind him, rifles snapping, never missing twice.
Shell casings rang like rain.
Alice didn't move.
She knelt where Michael had fallen, eyes empty, ears ringing, the world distant and muffled.
Evelyne watched her.
The sight twisted something deep inside her chest.
She moved.
Hana reacted first.
"ALICE—!"
Evelyne blurred forward, scythe carving through the air where Alice's head had been a second before. Hana slammed into Evelyne from the side, both crashing into a pillar that shattered on impact.
Rhea fired.
The bullet grazed Evelyne's shoulder, spinning her just enough for Mika to rush in, blade flashing.
Evelyne screamed.
Not in pain.
In memory.
The gunshot.
The eye.
Alice's voice—That's not my daughter.
Michael's body falling.
Something snapped.
Evelyne exploded.
She struck Hana once—hard enough to knock her unconscious before she hit the ground.
Rhea tried to reposition.
The scythe punched through her thigh.
Rhea collapsed with a cry, hands immediately pressing into the wound as black veins crawled outward from the cut.
"Poison…" she muttered.
Gritting her teeth, Rhea drew her knife and cut the wound open wider, blood pouring freely as she forced the toxin to spill out with it. She stayed down, shaking, vision blurring.
Mika screamed and charged.
Evelyne turned on her like an animal.
The fight wasn't fair.
Evelyne beat her.
Again.
And again.
Mika was slammed into the floor, ribs cracking, breath leaving her lungs in a wet gasp. Evelyne lifted the scythe, eyes burning—
—aimed at Alice.
Time slowed.
Mika moved.
She threw herself in front of Alice.
The scythe went through her.
Clean.
Mika gasped, blood spilling down the blade, dripping onto Alice's hands.
Alice looked down.
Mika smiled.
Weak.
Soft.
She mouthed the words.
Thank you… for being my mother.
Evelyne pulled the scythe free.
Mika collapsed.
"NO—!" Alice screamed.
Rhea forced herself up with a roar, blood slicking the floor beneath her. She slammed into Evelyne with everything she had, tackling her, clawing, rage boiling over her usually hidden face.
Rhea pressed a pistol to Evelyne's head.
Pulled the trigger.
The gun went off as Rhea collapsed, unconscious mid-fall.
The bullet tore through Evelyne's shoulder instead.
She screamed, trying to rise—
—and Rosemary appeared.
One clean strike.
Evelyne dropped.
Out cold.
Across the courtyard—
Shan and Jax hit Thorne together.
It didn't matter.
Thorne caught Shan mid-kick, slammed him face-first into the ground, and stomped down on his back. The stone beneath Shan cracked as he screamed.
Jax roared and charged.
Thorne backhanded him across the courtyard like a toy, sending him crashing through a marble wall.
Leo moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
He drove his blade straight into Thorne's side.
The blade sank deep.
For a heartbeat—
Hope.
Thorne looked down.
Then he grabbed Leo's arm.
Lifted him.
And crushed it.
The sound was wet.
Leo screamed as bones folded inward, his arm collapsing like glass under pressure.
Thorne smiled.
Red and blue flashes sparked across the mansion as Haruka's katana clashed against Raito's axe.
Steel screamed.
The two locked for a breathless moment—weapons pressed, sparks raining between them. Haruka's breath wavered, chest rising fast and uneven.
Raito stood calm.
Unshaken.
"Why?" Haruka asked, voice cracking beneath the roar of battle.
Raito didn't answer.
He lunged.
Flames tore across the floor behind him as he charged. Haruka staggered back, grabbing a shattered chair and hurling it forward. It burst against Raito's shoulder in a spray of splinters.
Haruka surged in.
An open palm crushed into Raito's ribs—then his jaw.
Raito slid back several steps, boots grinding stone, before straightening as if nothing had happened.
Then he countered.
A brutal overhead fist slammed into Haruka's face, driving him into the floor.
Haruka rolled, gasping, and locked onto Raito's arm—twisting, snapping into an arm bar. He wrenched hard and threw Raito across the room.
They rose at the same time.
Both sprinted.
Both struck.
Their punches collided mid-air—
—and the impact sent them flying in opposite directions, crashing into the walls.
Haruka groaned, vision swimming.
To his left lay Evelyne, Rhea, and Hana—motionless. Rosemary and Eda knelt beside Mika's body, blood soaking the floor beneath her.
Ahead—
Leo stood.
One arm shattered and hanging uselessly, blood pouring down his side.
In his other hand, a futuristic Desert Eagle was pressed flat against Thorne's forehead.
Leo smirked.
"Eat lead, motherfu—"
BAAAAAM!
The shot tore through Thorne's forehead.
Thorne slammed backward, staring blankly at the ceiling as blood poured from the hole in his skull, his body going limp.
Haruka screamed.
He forced himself upright, katana shaking in his grip, and broke into a full sprint.
Blue energy ignited along the blade.
Raito saw it.
He reached his axe in one fluid motion, flames roaring to life, and charged to intercept.
Raito swung—
Haruka slid beneath the axe.
Raito spun, a full three-sixty turn, bringing the weapon down toward Haruka's katana—
And then—
Light.
A blinding white flash swallowed the mansion.
The explosion ripped through stone, wood, and memory—walls vaporized, gardens consumed, years of history erased in an instant.
Silence.
Then morning.
Sunlight crept over ruins where the mansion once stood.
Stone shifted.
Thorne's hand burst through the rubble.
He dragged himself free, half his body mangled, blood steaming as he stood. His fingers brushed his forehead.
Still alive.
His eyes found Haruka.
Haruka lay still.
Thorne lifted him, studying the mask, then wrapped a massive hand around it.
He pulled.
Nothing.
Thorne planted his feet and pulled harder.
The mask began to bend.
A blue stream of energy erupted from Haruka's face, flowing into the mask like a river tearing itself free.
From the rubble, Hana watched in horror.
Then—
BAAANG!
A shotgun slug tore through Thorne's elbow.
His arm went dead.
The mask snapped back into place, sealing itself to Haruka's face.
Thorne turned.
Alice stood there—shotgun raised, tears streaking her face, her leg dragging beneath her.
"You're not taking any more of my children," she said.
More gunfire erupted.
Therma.
The Neutrals.
Trucks roared in, mounted machine guns ripping into Thorne's body. Bullets tore through flesh, through armor—
Thorne raised Haruka as a shield.
Even then, rounds still punched through them both.
Thorne snarled and reached out—
A truck lifted into the air and slammed into another, exploding in fire.
Rain began to fall.
A Neutral stepped forward, RPG braced.
The rocket split mid-flight—
Multiple warheads erupted.
The blast hurled Thorne across the battlefield, tearing half his face away.
Haruka's body landed apart from him.
Broken.
Raito rose.
Flames engulfed him as he pulled Evelyne into his arms, then Thorne. He didn't push back.
He knew.
Before lifting off, Raito looked down at Haruka.
Not as an enemy.
As a brother.
Then he vanished.
The gunfire stopped.
Medics rushed in.
Hana ran to Haruka, blood soaking her hands as she knelt beside him.
Alice grabbed her.
"Hana—look at me. He'll heal. The mask won't let him die."
"Where were you?!" Hana screamed, shoving Alice away.
"When we needed you most! Mika is dead because of you!"
The words cut deeper than any blade.
Alice turned.
Jax knelt, holding Mika's limp body, blood soaking her clothes. Shan carried Rhea—barely conscious, reaching weakly for Mika.
Alice stumbled—then ran.
"Rhea—my baby—" Alice sobbed, kneeling.
"I'm so sorry. I'll never leave you again."
"Mama…" Rhea whispered, pale fingers touching Alice's face.
"Mika… Mama… my Mika…"
Alice turned.
Mika lay still.
Black veins crawled across her face. Blood stained her lips.
Yet she smiled.
"Mika…" Alice whispered.
"You know… before we met you… before the Fracture…" Mika coughed, struggling for breath.
"We lived in an orphanage. I never wanted a mom."
Jax chuckled softly.
Then Leo.
Then Alice.
"But then I met you," Mika said.
"And I'm glad it was you."
"And you're the best daughter," Alice whispered, gripping her hand.
"Mr. Shan…?" Mika asked.
"I'm here."
"I did it," Mika smiled.
"I traded my life for someone else's."
Black liquid spilled from her eyes.
"Mama… I love you."
Her hand went slack.
The battlefield went silent.