Kenny was still on the ground, his arms shaking, his breathing shallow. His body wouldn't respond, like every muscle had been drained dry. Beside him, Tenma stared at the scene with wide eyes, caught somewhere between pain and confusion.
What the hell just happened…?
His mind was racing despite the shock. With Mizaru, his vision had been amplified, sharpened to the point where he could catch every movement, every twitch… even the slightest change in someone's pupils.
He'd seen it.
Ikku had rushed straight at Darius with one clear intention: to attack him. And then… at the last second, something changed. His pupils dilated, unnaturally, like something foreign had passed through his gaze. A heartbeat later, they snapped back to normal.
And right after that…
Ikku turned on him.
Darius… this has to be his doing.
But Tenma hadn't even had time to brace himself. The hit was too brutal, too fast. A raw impact with no warning—like the world itself had crashed into him.
Ikku, meanwhile, was walking forward with a terrifying calm.
No hesitation. No doubt.
He moved toward Darius like a soldier who'd just completed his mission, steady, confident… almost satisfied.
When he got close enough, he raised his hand, palm open, in a gesture that looked almost friendly.
Completely absurd on a battlefield.
Like he was going for a fist bump.
— Nice one, Tenma! Ikku said in a strange voice, speaking to Darius. You're seriously incredible.
Tenma felt his blood turn to ice.
What…?!
His lips trembled, but no sound came out.
Shit… I get it now.
That wasn't Ikku talking.
Or at the very least… it wasn't Ikku in control.
But before Ikku could do anything else, Darius moved.
Just one motion.
A clean, direct strike, no wasted movement.
His fist slammed into Ikku's stomach with inhuman force.
The air was knocked straight out of the boy's lungs. His body folded, his face twisted in pain, and he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
A heavy silence followed.
The truth hit harder than Darius' punch: the whole team had been taken out.
Effortlessly.
Without a fight.
Darius looked down at them, cold, sharp, almost disappointed.
— Good… he muttered. I need to catch the other girl before she reaches Ryu.
He took a step forward to leave.
But Tenma, in one last desperate surge, forced his body to move. His fingers latched onto Darius' leg, weak… but real. Desperate.
— I… won't… let you… hurt Nina…
Darius stopped. Slowly, he turned his head toward him.
There was no anger in his eyes. No surprise.
Only calm curiosity.
— That's a pretty noble spirit for someone so small, Darius said. Tell me, kid… how about joining me?
Tenma clenched his teeth, his face pressed against the ground.
— Join you…? I'd rather die than follow a Calamity.
Darius let out a faint smile.
— I see. I understand why you hate me.
Tenma felt rage rise through the pain like fire in his chest.
— They call you the War Criminal. You've made thousands of people suffer. I hate people like you!
My country was at war for two years… Fenrir and I lost our parents because of that damn war… and you think I'm gonna join someone like you?!
Darius watched him for a long moment. Then he asked, almost casually:
— What country are you from?
— Flaris.
— Flaris, huh… Is your country still at war?
Tenma blinked, thrown off.
— Not anymore… I heard the war ended a few months ago. Thanks to outside help, Flaris managed to win and finally put an end to it.
Darius tilted his head slightly.
— Interesting. And what do you think that "outside help" was?
— What are you talking about…?
Darius answered without hesitation.
— I was hired by Flaris. The war ended because I stepped in.
Tenma's heart froze.
— You're saying… you saved my country…?
Darius exhaled, almost amused by the word.
— Saved? From your point of view, maybe. But for the other side, I'm nothing but an executioner.
A war criminal to some… a savior to others.
His voice sharpened.
— But the outcome is always the same. War brings suffering to both sides.
He leaned in slightly, his tone turning colder.
— That's why I'm going to change all of it.
Tenma swallowed hard.
— Change… all of it?
— Exactly. My goal is to put an end to these endless wars… and erase the inequalities that keep feeding them.
I'm the one who knows better than anyone what a plague war truly is.
He paused.
— But soon… it'll all be over.
Join me, kid. You're talented. Together, we could do something great.
Tenma felt sick.
— Yeah right… You say that, but you're attacking my home right now!
Darius sighed, almost patient.
— You've got it wrong. I agreed to come here for one reason, and one reason only. I don't care about this war.
What I'm looking for is here. And with it… my dream of peace is within reach.
Tenma's eyes widened.
— You're after the Jewel too?!
Darius let out a small laugh.
— The Jewel…? Let's say yes… and no.
— What does that even mean?!
Darius straightened, his gaze sliding toward Ikku's unconscious body like someone staring at a weapon left unattended.
— I am looking for a Jewel… but not that one. That's not why I came.
Still… if I understood correctly, this boy is Némuri Ikku. Which means he has a Jewel.
Tenma felt fear crawl through his spine.
— That makes him extremely dangerous.
Sorento may not know it, but to claim a Jewel's power, the owner has to willingly hand it over.
So taking it by force is pointless.
A pause.
Then Darius added, ice-cold:
— But… it's different if the owner dies.
Tenma felt his soul drop.
Darius drew his sword.
The blade gleamed, cold, flawless, lethal.
He pointed it straight at Ikku.
— What are you doing?! Tenma screamed. Stop!
But before the steel could fall…
Something happened.
Something impossible.
Right before their eyes, the blade cracked like glass.
Then it disintegrated, turning into dust, into fragments of energy as if the very material itself refused to exist in front of that presence.
Darius took a half-step back, startled for the first time.
Kenny, still unable to stand, felt a massive shadow rise in front of him. A tall silhouette. Steady. Overwhelming.
He slowly lifted his head.
And froze.
His lips parted, but no words came out.
— I… I must be dreaming… he whispered, shaken to the core.
Tenma murmured, like his brain refused to accept what he was seeing:
— Him…? Here…?
Even Darius who had seen horrors and miracles alike fell silent for a second.
Then he spoke, almost amused… but with a new caution in his eyes.
— I really didn't see this coming…
He stared at the silhouette, eyes narrowed.
— The smallest piece of information about you is worth millions… and yet you show up in the last place anyone would expect on Earth.
A smile formed on his face.
— Jack… the Smoke.