Morning came like nothing had happened.
News channels called it a "gas explosion."
Buildings damaged.
Casualties unknown.
Government statements calm.
Lies.
Kaizen stood in front of the mirror, staring at the faint outline of the mark beneath his skin.
It looked normal again.
Too normal.
His father's words echoed in his head:
You were not a survivor.
He clenched his jaw and buttoned his shirt.
A knock came from the door.
Three short taps.
Yoji.
"You alive?" Yoji's voice came casually from outside.
"For now."
The door opened without waiting for permission.
Yoji tossed him a black wristband.
"Corps meeting. Emergency assembly. Upper ranks detected near the east sector."
Kaizen caught it.
"So it wasn't random."
Yoji's expression darkened slightly.
"No. It wasn't."
Soul Defense Corps Headquarters
The underground base buzzed with tension.
Fighters moved quickly. Medics treating injured members. Screens displaying distorted black energy readings.
On the main platform stood the Corps Commander — tall, composed, eyes sharp.
"Last night's breach confirms our worst assumption," the Commander announced.
"The Veil between realms is weakening."
Murmurs spread across the room.
"Lower ranks are no longer scouting randomly. They are searching."
Kaizen felt it again.
That word.
Searching.
"For what?" someone asked.
The Commander's gaze slowly shifted toward Kaizen.
"…For something specific."
Yoji noticed it too.
He stepped slightly closer to Kaizen.
Protective.
Suddenly—
The base doors opened again.
Soft footsteps.
Not hurried.
Not afraid.
Mira walked in.
Simple clothes. Calm face. But her eyes immediately found Kaizen.
Relief.
Then worry.
"You're okay," she said quietly.
Kaizen gave a small smile. "I told you I would be."
She walked closer.
Up close, he noticed her hands trembling slightly.
"You felt it too, didn't you?" she asked.
Mira wasn't a frontline fighter.
But she could sense spiritual disturbances better than most.
She placed her hand lightly over his chest.
Right where the mark was.
For a second—
It warmed.
But not painfully.
Calmly.
Yoji watched silently.
He looked away first.
Later that day —
Training sector.
Metal platforms suspended in a massive open chamber.
Yoji stood across from Kaizen.
Both holding Soul-Sever blades.
"Focus," Yoji said calmly.
Kaizen rushed first.
Their blades clashed mid-air.
Dark energy sparked.
The impact shook the platform.
Kaizen pushed harder.
But something inside him felt unstable.
His movements slightly off.
Yoji noticed instantly.
"You're distracted."
Kaizen gritted his teeth.
"You ever feel like your life isn't yours?"
Yoji didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
He knocked Kaizen's blade away with a swift strike and pinned him down.
"Everyone feels that sometimes."
Kaizen stared up at him.
"But if something's controlling you…"
For a second—
Yoji's eyes sharpened.
"…Then fight it."
He pulled him up.
"You're stronger than whatever you're scared of."
Kaizen wanted to believe that.
He really did.
That night—
Mira stood on a small hill outside the city.
Kaizen sat beside her.
No uniforms.
No weapons.
Just silence.
"Do you ever think about leaving?" she asked softly.
"Leaving what?"
"All of this."
He looked at her.
"You'd leave with me?"
She smiled faintly.
"If you asked."
The wind moved gently through the grass.
For a moment…
The world felt normal.
Kaizen reached into his pocket.
Pulled out something small.
A simple silver ring.
Mira's eyes widened slightly.
"I'm not proposing," he said quickly, awkwardly.
She laughed softly.
"I know."
He placed it in her palm.
"Just… keep it."
"For what?"
He looked at the horizon.
"For the day I can finally be free."
She didn't understand what he meant.
But she closed her fingers around it.
"I'll wait," she whispered.
Far above them—
The sky flickered.
Unseen.
A thin black crack forming once again.
And within the darkness—
Multiple glowing eyes opened.
Watching.
The crack in the sky did not close this time.
It widened.
Slowly.
Silently.
Like a wound being forced open.
Inside the Corps headquarters, alarms exploded to life.
Red lights flooded the walls.
Energy readings spiked violently across every screen.
"Multiple signatures detected!" an operator shouted.
"Not Lower ranks!"
The Commander's face hardened.
"How many?"
A pause.
"…Three."
Silence fell.
Three Upper Rank Shinigami.
That wasn't a scout mission.
That was a declaration.
The sky above the east sector shattered like glass.
From the darkness, three massive figures descended.
Each different.
Each monstrous.
One tall and skeletal, limbs unnaturally long.
One armored in black bone plating.
And one—
Smaller.
But surrounded by a dense aura of crushing pressure.
Civilians below collapsed just from its presence.
"Deployment team move now!" the Commander ordered.
Yoji grabbed his blade instantly.
Kaizen moved beside him.
But Mira stepped forward suddenly.
"Wait."
They both turned.
Her eyes were distant.
Listening.
"They're not attacking randomly," she whispered.
"They're circling."
Yoji frowned. "Circling what?"
Mira slowly turned her gaze toward Kaizen.
The mark under his skin pulsed faintly.
East Sector Rooftops
The Corps fighters engaged immediately.
Dark energy collided with shadow.
Explosions of Soul Arts cracked the night.
One Upper Rank tore through two fighters effortlessly.
Another shattered a barrier seal with one swing.
They were stronger than expected.
Yoji landed on a rooftop directly in front of the skeletal one.
It tilted its head.
"You are not the Vessel," it said calmly.
Yoji didn't react.
He dashed forward.
Their clash shook the entire building.
Steel against hardened shadow.
Yoji moved faster than before.
Sharper.
Precise.
The Upper Rank adapted quickly.
But Yoji was calm.
Always calm.
"Wrong target," he muttered.
And with one clean, calculated strike—
He severed the creature's core.
The skeletal Shinigami froze.
Cracked.
And dissolved.
Below him, Corps fighters stared.
An Upper Rank… eliminated.
Solo.
Yoji exhaled slowly.
"One down."
Meanwhile—
Kaizen stood frozen on another rooftop.
The smallest Upper Rank hovered in front of him.
It didn't attack.
It smiled.
"Found you."
The world went quiet.
The other battles faded into distant noise.
The Shinigami's voice was smooth.
"The King awaits."
Kaizen's mark burned violently.
Black veins spread across his neck.
His vision darkened at the edges.
Inside his mind—
The Shinigami King's voice echoed.
"Do not resist."
Kaizen dropped to one knee.
The Upper Rank raised its hand—
But before it could strike—
A blast of dark energy slammed into it.
Mira.
She stood behind Kaizen, hands trembling, aura glowing faint violet.
"I won't let you take him," she whispered.
The Upper Rank looked almost amused.
"You cannot stop fate."
It moved faster than she could react.
Kaizen's eyes widened—
And suddenly—
Something inside him snapped.
The black veins exploded across his body.
His eyes flickered—
White.
For one terrifying second—
The pressure in the air doubled.
The Upper Rank froze.
Recognizing something ancient.
Kaizen stood slowly.
But his posture was different.
His voice was not his own.
"You dare approach my Vessel."
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Mira stepped back in shock.
"Kaizen…?"
The Upper Rank immediately knelt.
"…My King."
Yoji arrived just in time to see it.
And for the first time—
Yoji looked afraid.
Kaizen turned his head slowly toward Mira.
His expression blank.
Cold.
Ancient.
Then—
He blinked.
The white faded.
The veins retreated.
He collapsed forward.
Yoji caught him.
The Upper Rank vanished instantly.
Retreat.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Two Upper Ranks dead.
One retreated.
But the real shock wasn't the victory.
It was what they had just witnessed.
Mira stared at Kaizen's unconscious form.
Her hands shaking.
"…That wasn't him."
Yoji held Kaizen tightly.
And for the first time—
He realized something terrifying.
They weren't fighting the Shinigami.
They were protecting the King.
Far away—
In the dark realm—
The Shinigami King smiled.
"Soon."