They watched the house from the lane as the sun dipped low, and the old man's voice trembled through the window.
"Who are they, really? Can they help or will they only take advantage of my daughter? If that's the case, I must end this myself."
Yamato, Shingo and Fate moved up the path and reached the door within minutes.
Yamato knocked.
The wood creaked.
A man opened it and stared at them with a cautious squint.
He studied their faces for a long moment and then said, "Hey... you three. Let me see your faces."
For a heartbeat all three froze.
Then, because they had no choice, they revealed themselves.
The man's eyes widened in recognition. "You're the guy from the North Korean army, right?" he said to Shingo.
"And you must be Fate Hisugaya. I've heard so much about you two. Pleasure."
He offered a hand, shook theirs warmly, but when his gaze landed on Yamato he frowned.
"I haven't seen you before."
Shingo was quick to step in. "He's with me..... subordinate, lower rank."
Yamato's mouth twitched into a comic, offended expression that said more than his words: That's the best you've got, jerk. The stranger grinned and asked, "So what are you doing here anyway?"
Shingo gave a short answer. "I was hired to stay here for a while. I brought some men along."
The line gave exactly the right impression: temporary, useful, nonthreatening.
The house was small and stale with the scent of boiled greens, but inside the thin blanket hanging on a peg moved and then fell away to reveal a woman sitting wrapped in a single sheet. When the boys entered, she scrambled to pull it closer. Yamato's voice was immediate.
"Sorry... please put on some clothes. We want to talk."
She glared at him and snapped, "Are you here for my body too.... or is there anything you want?"
Shingo's eyes caught hers, and he swallowed.
For a second he could not help the thought that burned in him: How can someone this beautiful be used as a slave prostitute?
Anger rose like a hot iron inside him and shook his hands.
She dressed quickly, though it was obvious she hated every second of it.
Once she was decent, Yamato told her everything they had seen: the chains in the fields, the old man's story, Draken's cruelty.
Kate listened, arms folded; when he finished, she said flatly, "So you know everything then. This isn't your problem. Leave now before you get caught."
Yamato's answer was soft but steady.
"Sorry, lady. That's not my style."
For a moment she looked as if she would curl up and laugh at the absurdity of it, then she masked it with contempt.
She acted as if she didn't care. But when night fell and the stars slid out, the guard dropped.
Kate found them again and faced them, her voice brittle. "Do not get involved. Don't touch me, my father, or the other slaves."
Yamato and Fate both stepped back with respectful gestures, Fate's face worried, Yamato's eyes level while Shingo could not.
He pushed forward, rage bright in his chest. "Why won't you let us help?" he demanded. He grabbed her hand before she could step back.
Kate's shoulders trembled.
She fought for a moment to be angry, to stay hard, but the grip on her hand and the sincerity in Shingo's voice broke something.
"It's not that I don't want help," she said at last, voice shaking. "It's just.... help here is impossible."
Shingo didn't let go. "Don't say that. I promise I'll free you and everyone here."
At that she finally broke.
Tears came fast; she folded against his palm and whispered, "Thank you for your brave words. But please...stop. Don't die for me."
They sat in the dark for a long time after that: a chain of three unlikely resolve, a guarded woman, and an old man who watched from his window, hope and fear mingled in his face.
The island around them groaned with a slow, hard sleep, the kind of sleep that holds a thousand wrongs.
But for the first time in years, someone had promised to wake it.
Kate served them coffee late into the night. Her hands trembled slightly as she placed the cups on the table.
Yamato stretched, Fate yawned, and Shingo smiled, unaware of her worry.
Within minutes, their eyes grew heavy and their bodies slumped into deep sleep.
Kate stood over them for a moment, her face twisted with guilt.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But if I don't go, he'll find out."
She left quietly, heading toward the Koruzan headquarters where she worked as Draken's new assistant.
The morning fog hung low as she entered the steel gates.
The soldiers at the entrance gave her mocking grins and blocked her path, tossing cruel remarks. One stepped closer, smirking.
Before he could finish his words, a hand gripped his wrist like iron.
There was a sharp crack, and the soldier fell to his knees. Kate gasped... standing before her, eyes blazing, was Shingo.
"Don't touch her," he said coldly.
"Where's Draken? I want to talk to him."
The soldiers hesitated for a moment, then burst into laughter. "You? You think you can meet Draken? You're just another runaway Koruzan, we heard about you and your buddies story in North Korea."
One after another, they struck him kicks, punches, the clang of metal.
Shingo didn't fight back. He stood, enduring the blows, blood dripping down his face. Kate shouted for them to stop, her voice cracking, but no one listened.
At dawn, Yamato woke up with a pounding head and an empty room. Kate and Shingo were gone.
The sound of shouting and crying echoed from outside.
He rushed out, Fate following close behind.
The villagers, slaves and workers alike, were gathered in silence, their eyes filled with dread.
Yamato pushed through the crowd, following the sound of Kate's sobs.
There, in the center of the courtyard, Shingo knelt on the ground, bloodied but unbroken.
Around him stood the soldiers who had beaten him. Kate knelt beside him, tears running down her face.
Yamato stopped a few paces away. His eyes darkened, his aura rising like a storm. The air around him rippled, thick with power.
Even the Koruzan soldiers hesitated as his voice cut through the silence.
"Who… touched my friend?"
The moment he said it, the entire courtyard fell still. Even the wind seemed afraid to move. Kate looked up at him, hope and fear mixing in her eyes.
Draken stood within his grand Palace far away from the field, his long black coat fluttering slightly from the morning breeze that swept in through the open window.
His eyes narrowed as he sensed a powerful surge in the distance, a pressure that made even the air tremble.
A small smile curved his lips.
"So, that's the aura making all this noise," he muttered.
He turned sharply toward his throne room doors.
"Summon the Super Tag Force," he ordered.
Within seconds, five powerful figures appeared before him, each radiating an overwhelming presence.
One of them stepped forward, bowing slightly.
"Sir, it's the Six Eyes… and the three bounty hunters we received reports about."
Another spoke, adjusting his gloves.
"The Six Eyes, the one who invaded North Korea and survived. The other two are Koruzan defectors."
He smirked. "Leave the Six Eyes to me."
Draken nodded once, his smirk widening.
"Very well. Handle them quickly. I'll deal with the boy myself."
The five bowed and vanished in a flash of energy.
Draken stretched his neck, his eyes glowing faintly crimson.
"Time to have a decent fight," he said, walking toward the gates.
Yamato knelt beside Shingo, lifting him gently. Blood dripped from Shingo's lip as he barely kept his eyes open.
"Hang in there, Shingo," Yamato said quietly. "I'll end this soon."
But before he could move, a crushing pressure filled the air..... so heavy that even Yamato's knees trembled.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as the aura approached.
Slaves screamed and scattered. Koruzan soldiers ran for their lives, shouting, "Draken's here!"
From the mist, a tall man stepped out, calm, confident, and terrifying. His eyes burned red, and his presence alone silenced the world around him.
"Yamato Ishida," Draken said with a faint smile. "Word travels fast. They say you're strong, the Six Eyes who tore through North Korea and lived. Impressive."
He slid his hands into his pockets.
"But tell me, boy..... what do you gain by risking your life for a bunch of slaves? You bounty hunters are all the same.
Chasing fame, chasing bounties… yet you act like heroes."
Yamato lowered his head, his hair shadowing his eyes as he gently set Shingo down. His voice was calm, but sharp like a blade.
"Heroes, huh? Funny thing… I was told at school that Koruzan are the heroes and bounty hunters are the villains."
He looked up, his eyes glowing faintly blue.
"But this…" he gestured at the enslaved people fleeing in terror, "this looks nothing like justice."
Kate, standing nearby, clutched her chest, her heart racing as she watched.
Then, without warning... five figures appeared behind Fate. One grabbed him from the neck, and in a flash of light, they vanished.
"FATE!" Yamato shouted.
Fate's voice echoed faintly, "Don't worry… I'll be fine!"
Yamato's jaw clenched. He carried Shingo further away, laying him on the grass.
"Stay there," he whispered. "I'll take it from here."
He stood up, his hair swaying in the wind, and turned toward Draken. His right eye gleamed a pale, glowing blue like the calm before a storm.
Draken smiled, stepping forward.
"Come then, Six Eyes. Show me what you've got."
Kate's breath caught as Yamato raised his hand slightly, his aura flaring violently. The air around them bent, rippling like water under immense pressure.
The fight for the island, and the truth was about to begin.
Yamato stood silently, his mind flashing back to his days at the Academy of the Gifted, the place that trained future Koruzan members.
His voice was low, but filled with weight as he muttered,
"When I was in school… I hated nothing more than being left alone, ignored by classmates just because I had no skill.
But what I hated the most was being bullied… being looked down on simply because I was weak, while everyone else felt strong.
That..." his fists clenched tightly, "... that makes me sick to my stomach."
He raised his head, his sharp eyes locked on Draken.
"Koruzan… they taught us you were heroes, protectors of the people. But now I see it. The Shaman was right, you're not heroes at all. You're the real enemies. And above all…"
his tone deepened, "…I hate when the strong oppress the weak."
Tears welled in his eyes as he slowly bowed his head.
"I went out into this world as the Six Eyes just to have fun, to test my strength. But now…"
his voice broke slightly, "…I finally understand. These people.... " he looked at the suffering slaves behind Draken, ".... they need me."
Kate couldn't hold it in anymore; her tears streamed freely as she cried out, "Yamato!"
Draken only smirked, brushing the dust from his shoulder.
"Think whatever you like, boy. As long as you can defeat me, I'm fine with it."
But before he could blink, Kate's eyes widened, Yamato was gone.
In the next heartbeat, he was already behind Draken.
They hit the ground like a mountain falling.
Yamato wrapped his arms around Draken from behind and drove him into the earth.
The impact opened a great fissure that ran out beneath the courtyard; dust and pebbles rained down. For a stunned moment the slaves stared, breathless and trembling.
"He's a monster," someone whispered.
Kate's hand flew to her mouth.
In all her years on the island she had never seen Draken knocked down.
His laugh rose from the dirt like a living thing as he pushed himself up, wiping blood and dust from his face.
"Not bad, boy," he said, voice amused.
"But you're lacking something."
Yamato stepped back, confusion and fury warring in his eyes. The strike had piled the old man into the ground, yet there was no lasting harm. Draken rose as if he'd merely tripped.
"I sensed your senkai earlier," Draken continued, leveling a look at him. "So why don't you use it?"
"Senkai?" Yamato echoed, a frown forming as he tried to understand.
"Senkai is the difference between a weakling like you and someone truly strong," Draken said, as casual as if he were lecturing a child. Then, loud and sharp, he roared, "Titan Vein!"
Muscles bulged along his arms and neck as if iron had been poured beneath the skin. He grew visibly larger; veins like cords stood out across his torso. He moved like a living boulder.
"DODGE!" Kate screamed.
Yamato snapped aside, barely escaping a shockwave that shattered a patch of earth and threw up a wall of rubble.
The attack gouged out a wide swathe of the courtyard... proof enough of the gap between them.
He had to change tactics. Hand-to-hand would not win this.
Yamato opened his tech box with a calm motion; a sword shimmered into his hand.
Even to Kate's unpracticed eyes it looked wrong, not the simple steel of common blades, but a strange instrument of dark and light, unlike any weapon she'd ever seen.
He lunged, aiming for Draken's neck, a clean strike that should have found purchase. The blade met flesh and armor and did nothing.
Not a scratch.
The sword slid off as if through water.
"How.... ?" Yamato muttered, staggered.
The memory of his earlier fight, when Sen Bo Ra's husband shrugged off his blow pressed against his mind. The same blankness, the same impossible resistance.
Draken dusted himself off and smiled, pleased. "Here I was hoping for a decent fight. Disappointing, boy." He kicked into Yamato's chest. Yamato spat blood, eyes wild.
He remembered the North Korea battle and the inexplicable invincibility he'd seen once before. What am I missing? he thought as the world blurred.
Draken hoisted him up and with a single brutal punch sent Yamato crashing through the ground, leaving a cavernous hole where he landed. The roar of impact faded into silence. Yamato didn't move.
Draken moved in to finish him, but before he could, Kate ran forward, throwing herself between them and begging him not to kill the boy. Her voice tore at the morning air.
At that moment five figures materialized... the Super Tag Force. Fate stumbled with them, half-dead, his breaths ragged.
One of the operators barked, "Lock them up, boss."
Draken's smile returned. "Perfect," he said. "Three days from now, send them to headquarters for execution."
They hauled Shingo, Yamato, and Fate roughly to their feet, dragging them toward a waiting transport.
Inside Draken's compound they were thrown into cells of chromium stone ( light cuff) material walls that deadened power and made the gifted weak. The doors slammed with a final, cruel echo.
Kate pressed her palms to the cold timber at the back of the building and let herself collapse. She wept openly, voice breaking. "I told you… didn't I? There's no escape here."
Her words turned into a sob. "Now another innocent person will die because of me. I'm… I'm helpless."
Outside, the courtyard settled into an uneasy quiet. Inside the chromium cell, Yamato lay still, bruised and unconscious, but the glow of something unseen threaded beneath his lashes — a promise, not yet spent. I