Kaito froze abruptly.
His gaze swept across the devastated hall until it stopped on a figure among the rubble.
—That…— he felt his teeth clench.
—He's Chizuro's son.—
His body stiffened against his will.
Reiji stared at him in silence, his sister still in his arms.
Then, with glacial calm, he bent down and laid Kagura against the wall.
"My compliments," he said, slowly removing his black jacket.
—Déjà vu…—
In that gesture, Kaito saw movements identical to Chizuro's.
"You wiped out the elite squad…" Reiji continued, rolling up his white sleeves.
"Your companion took my sister out of the fight…"
He paused for a moment, his gaze sharper than a blade.
"And above all, you got rid of my mother.
And the collapse of the tower… that's your doing too."
In a sudden burst, he lunged toward Kaito.
Now only a few meters separated them.
"You're giving me a lot of credit," Kaito provoked coldly.
"I see that despite your miserable condition, you're not begging for mercy," Reiji replied with a half-smile.
"Tell me… after all this, what do you expect me to do to you?"
"I imagine you'll want to kill me…" Kaito began.
"But at the same time, you also want to get your family out."
Another violent tremor shook the tower.
"That's true," Reiji confirmed without hesitation.
"However… I need very little to complete my mother's battle."
Kaito's eyes widened. Before he could even form a thought, his body reacted on its own: he instinctively stepped back, increasing the distance.
At Reiji's feet, the shadow moved.
"Come on… appear, Amatsugi."
Behind Reiji, the floor cracked open.
Three enormous chains burst from the ground, slamming into the floor with a dull clang.
Bound to them was an almost imperceptible figure: a transparent silhouette, devoid of detail, except for two completely blue eyes, without pupils.
"Kūdan."
The air trembled.
It bent in on itself, taking the shape of invisible swords.
An instant later, the blades of air hurled themselves at Kaito with a speed that warped the surroundings.
The Shadow Knight stepped into their trajectory and deflected them.
From the collision with the rubble, shockwaves exploded outward.
Reiji moved again.
With each step he took, the chains around Amatsugi tightened.
—So it's just as I thought,— Kaito realized.
The Knight's sword met the advance of the Fuyumi: Reiji, his arm wrapped in vortices of compressed wind, blocked it without retreating.
"You're nothing but a puppet."
He opened his hand.
Another explosion of pressure tore through the air.
The Shadow's body trembled… then split open.
A massive hole ran through it from the left leg to the neck, as if its form had been pierced by an invisible blow.
—He destroyed it…—
Kaito raised his blades defensively.
Reiji's fist struck them an instant later.
"Your body's a mess," he commented, holding the blades back with a single arm.
"Let's see if you can still endure this."
He drew his hand back…
and opened his palm.
An explosion of pressure engulfed Kaito, sweeping away rubble and debris as if they were paper.
When the air finally stilled, the boy was crushed beneath a mass of concrete and broken beams, breath short, half his face covered in blood.
Reiji approached with slow steps.
"You're barely breathing," he observed, tilting his head. "It's already a miracle you're still alive."
"Tell me…"
Kaito's voice was broken, uncertain.
"You're… a Possessor without a contract… right?"
A pause.
"One of those who bend spirits… against their will."
Reiji's gaze slid for an instant toward the chains behind him.
"The chains prove it," Reiji replied.
"I'm surprised someone like you knows about Contractless Possessors."
"At death's door and you're still making deductions? What an idiot."
He narrowed his eyes coldly.
"I suppose you were hoping that information would help you come up with a strategy. But look at you."
He kicked aside a piece of rubble.
"You're completely immobilized."
Kaito held back a painful breath.
"You… are not a Fuyumi."
The statement made Reiji stiffen.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Kagura has a spirit…" Kaito murmured, coughing blood.
"So does Chizuro… That means your sister inherited it from her father…"
He barely lifted his gaze, cutting into Reiji like a blade.
"So… you are not a Fuyumi."
Reiji hesitated for just a moment, but his face remained impassive.
"That's true. I'm not a biological child of the Fuyumi," he admitted without wavering.
"I too… was nothing but merchandise. But Reijirō Fuyumi, the former head of the family, took me in."
He slowly brought his hands to his face and unclasped the mask.
It fell to the ground with a dry sound.
The lower half of Reiji's face was completely burned.
"When he discovered what my buyer was doing to me… he saved me."
His voice deepened, icy.
"I'll be indebted to him forever. That's why… I will get Chizuro and Kagura out of here."
He straightened up, his gaze hard as stone.
"We've talked long enough. Kūdan."
The sword materialized in his hand.
"With this… my mother's battle will end."
The blade descended toward Kaito.
"Move, Enzo!!"
Reiji jumped back.
A storm of ash slammed violently into the ground.
"Still you…" he snarled, turning toward the shattered entrance of the White Place.
The Reikeitai had arrived.
"But that… that's Akizame…" Kaito whispered with the little breath he had left.
"What do you two want?" Reiji demanded irritably.
Tetsuya stepped forward with a steady gait.
"Surrender. You Fuyumi have hurt too many people. The Reikeitai administer justice. We won't allow you to take them away."
Reiji looked at his sister: faintly glowing handcuffs encircled her wrists.
"I…"
A sound cut him off.
"Return to the origin!"
Chunks of collapsed ceiling began to rise into the air, suspended.
"This voice…" Kaito recognized it instantly.
Yume had created the perfect diversion. In a flash, she reached Kaito.
—Her again…— Akizame spotted her first.
"Yume… what are you doing here?" Kaito murmured, exhausted.
She looked at him with an anxious expression.
"What kind of question is that? Look at the state you're in."
"I don't have enough energy to heal you completely… but you'll recover."
Spiritual energy flowed from her hands, wrapping around him.
In just a few moments, the wounds vanished. Even the severed arm reappeared in its place.
"Done!" she said, as the suspended rubble fell rapidly back to the ground.
"Thank you, Yume."
Kaito immediately grabbed his blades and reactivated Pressure Mode, pulling Yume to safety from the falling debris.
—She healed him…— Reiji was struck despite himself.
Kaito assessed the situation in an instant.
"Yume, we can't face both the Fuyumi and the Reikeitai at the same time."
His eyes settled on Akizame.
"Especially him."
"S-so… what do we do?" Yume asked, struggling to stay on her feet.
"Tsk… I don't know yet. Stay close to me."
She wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to his neck.
The clash between Kaito, Yume, Reiji, Tetsuya, and Akizame was now inevitable.
Three minutes and forty-three seconds remained before the tower's collapse.