The mission was clear, but the ethics were messy.
Makima had identified Reze, the Soviet sleeper agent and Bomb Devil, as the "Ignition Source."
To bridge the gap between worlds, Okarun's engine needed the thruster of a nuclear-grade thermal expansion—something only Reze's heart could provide.
"Okarun-kun,"
Makima said, smoothing her skirt as they walked through a rainy park toward a small cafe.
"The girl is a weapon, much like I was. She is cold, efficient, and filled with explosive potential. If you 'Control' her and absorb the spark of her explosions, the Golden Path will finally have its propellant."
"I don't like this,"
Okarun muttered, his Phase-Step Mirror flickering nervously.
"We're basically hunting someone just to use them as a battery."
"It's either her spark or we stay here forever, Okarun,"
Momo added, her hand resting on her hip, her pink aura fighting the damp chill of the rain.
"Just... try to be quick about it."
Reze was sitting at a window seat, looking like an innocent schoolgirl.
But as Okarun walked in, she didn't smile.
She saw the rings in his eyes—the mark of the Control Devil—and the violet hum of the Phase Devil radiating from his skin.
"You're the one the USSR is observing,"
Reze whispered, her hand moving to the pin in her neck.
"The boy who ate Devils."
"I didn't eat them,"
Okarun said, sitting across from her.
"I... it's complicated. I don't want to fight you. I just need a spark. If you help us, I can use my 'Control' to sever your ties to the Soviet Union. I can make you free."
Reze laughed, a bitter, hollow sound.
"Free? There is no such thing for weapons like us. We only change owners."
Reze pulled the pin.
BOOM.
The cafe disintegrated. Okarun instantly manifested three Mirror Afterimages.
One grabbed Momo and phased her through the back wall.
Two others stayed in the center of the blast, "inhaling" the kinetic shockwave to protect the surrounding civilians.
The Prime Okarun lunged through the fire, his hands glowing with the violet-gold light of Phase-Control.
Reze transformed, her head becoming a sleek, black bomb.
She rained down explosions, but Okarun was no longer just fast—he was occupying the "space between the booms."
"Okarun-kun, now!"
Makima shouted from the street, watching with a "loving" intensity.
"Absorb the thermal core! Reach into her heart!"
Okarun reached through a massive explosion, his arm turning translucent as he phased through the heat.
He grabbed the Bomb Devil's neck.
But instead of crushing it, he used the Control Power he took from Makima to look into her soul.
He saw the training camps, the brainwashing, the loneliness.
"I won't just take your spark,"
Okarun roared, his voice echoing with the authority of the King of Curses and the Control Devil combined.
"I ORDER YOU... TO BE INDEPENDENT!"
At that command, the "Control" energy surged through Reze.
It didn't make her his slave; it acted like a spiritual blade, slicing through the invisible leashes the Soviet Union held over her.
As a side effect of the severance, a massive discharge of Thermal Energy erupted. Okarun's Phase-engine caught the spark.
"THE PATH IS OPEN!"
Momo screamed, pointing at the ceiling.
The Golden Path on the ceiling didn't just glow; it turned into a roaring tunnel of white-hot light.
The "Thruster" was there. The "Fuel" from the Gun Devil fragments and the "Spark" from Reze had combined.
The park was a charred crater.
Reze lay in the center, human again, breathing heavily.
For the first time in her life, she felt... light. The "weight" in her head was gone.
"You... you really did it,"
She gasped, looking up at Okarun.
Okarun stood over her, his body steaming, his violet hair glowing white.
He looked at the tunnel of light, then at Momo, then at Makima—who was looking at him with a frighteningly proud expression.
"We have everything,"
Okarun said, his voice trembling.
"We can go home right now. But the tunnel... it's only big enough for three."
Momo grabbed his hand.
"We have to go, Okarun."
Makima stepped forward, her eyes locked on Okarun.
"I am coming with you. A partner belongs by her Master's side, regardless of the dimension."
As for her original goal… It wasn't important anymore…
She has Okarun now.
4/10