"A memory is only a wound if you keep touching the scar. Ryo forces the touch." — Kabe Hiroki
The journey started not with a dramatic flight, but with a cautious, silent crawl. Tina-sensei and Evalia remained at the safe-site, working desperately to shore up the remaining Anchor networks against the Shard's disruptive residue. Kabe and Ken were alone, driving an unmarked utility vehicle through the ruins of the outer districts.
The Second Pillar Shard was secured in a heavy, lead-lined containment unit in the vehicle's rear. Even muffled, its presence was a sickening pressure against their minds. Ken, riding shotgun, continuously monitored the Prism-Amplifier on his arm, which now tracked the Shard's chaotic output.
"It's not just broadcasting trauma, Kabe," Ken murmured, watching the spectral readout flicker violently. "It's pulling on the residual Mugenkyou energy in the city. The closer we get to the old Kurogane site, the stronger it gets. It's like a magnet for everything Ryo created."
Kabe's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "That's what Ryo wanted. He let us have it because he knew we'd try to move it, and moving it means we broadcast our location to the things he can control."
They had traveled for six hours, traversing abandoned industrial zones and avoiding the main roads, where Kurogane surveillance still maintained a nominal presence. As dusk bled into a bruised purple night, Kabe pulled the truck into the skeletal remains of a multi-story parking garage.
"We rest here for three hours. Ken, set up a minimal perimeter—just enough to catch anything physical. Nothing too fancy; Ryo knows all our academy tricks," Kabe instructed, pulling his Anchor blade from its sheath.
Ken nodded, grabbing a handful of small, inert Anchor pebbles—simple energy sensors—from a kit bag. He moved with practiced ease, placing the pebbles in the shadows and activating them with a burst of focused will. They pulsed a faint, stable amber light.
As Ken returned to the vehicle, he noticed Kabe staring intensely at his reflection in the truck's dark window.
"Still seeing the illusion?" Ken asked softly.
Kabe shook his head. "Worse. I'm realizing how much Ryo taught us. That stance I used in the Archive, the way I countered the illusion? I learned it from him. Every lesson he gave us wasn't just training; it was reconnaissance."
A low, scraping sound from the level above interrupted their conversation. It wasn't the familiar, slithering sound of a basic Hybrid—it was heavy, deliberate, and dragging something metallic.
"That's not a creature," Kabe whispered, extinguishing the Prism's light source. "That's a person. A Rank."
The heavy footsteps paused directly overhead, followed by a sound like dry, cracked knuckles rubbing together. A voice, brittle and mocking, drifted down through the ventilation shaft.
"The Fallen Trails Siblings carry such volatile baggage now. Ryo-sama was right. You lead with your heart, not your head."
A blast of kinetic energy tore through the ceiling, pulverizing the concrete slab ten feet in front of their truck. Dust and debris rained down. This Rank wasn't hiding; it was announcing its lethal intent.
Kabe immediately grabbed the containment unit holding the Shard. "We move! He's trying to pin us down. Ken, get to the roof and give me a distraction!"
Ken didn't argue. He scrambled out of the truck and used his water-element focus to launch himself silently up the stairwell.
Kabe, meanwhile, wrestled with the heavy Shard unit, adrenaline coursing through his veins. The containment wasn't built for a prolonged fight. He needed to get the unit out of the kill zone and expose their opponent, who was using the vertical cover of the garage like a predator.
As Ken reached the seventh floor, he saw their assailant: a tall, lean figure clad in lightweight, specialized Kurogane combat armor, its plating scorched and warped. This was a Second Generation Rank, far faster and more disciplined than the initial Ranks they faced before.
"Ken Hiroki. The little brother who wears his trauma on his sleeve," the Rank sneered, its voice synthesized and harsh. It raised its hand, and the concrete columns around them began to subtly warp—an attack based on distorting physical perception.
Ken reacted instantly, unleashing a wave of conceptual defense energy from his Prism-Amplifier. The wave didn't destroy the illusion; it simply stabilized Ken's own senses, grounding him in the truth of the concrete.
"Kabe told me your type relies on fear, Rank," Ken shouted, drawing out the confrontation. "You're just a cheap copy of Ryo's method."
"Ryo-sama perfected the blueprint. We simply execute," the Rank retorted, lunging forward with impossible speed, its armored fist aimed at Ken's head.
Ken ducked and rolled, realizing the Rank was using pure physical force enhanced by minor reality warps to increase velocity. He was outmatched in direct combat.
Meanwhile, Kabe had managed to haul the Shard unit to the edge of the roof, away from the collapsing section. He could hear the metallic clash of Ken's defensive gear against the Rank's armor. Ken was holding on, but barely.
Kabe knew he had only one option left. He slid the containment unit open, exposing the jagged, throbbing Second Pillar Shard. The raw emotional energy hit him like an ocean wave—the agonizing, collective despair of everyone who had ever lost something to the Dreamscape.
Kabe winced, pushing the wave of pain back with sheer discipline. He pointed his Anchor blade at the Shard, not to strike it, but to funnel its chaos.
"I may be Ryo's student, but I learned how to improvise," Kabe muttered.
He released a focused pulse of energy from his own Anchor blade, not towards the Rank, but into the Shard. The combination of Kabe's Anchor energy and the Shard's raw, traumatic power created a devastating, localized effect: a Conceptual Overload.
The energy didn't explode; it created a dome of instantaneous, overwhelming memory around the Shard—a miniature, contained Mugenkyou rift.
The Second Generation Rank on the seventh floor, mid-strike, suddenly staggered. Its movement seized up as its mind was flooded with every painful, repressed memory it held. The armored figure dropped to its knees, emitting a high-pitched, electronic screech. The synthetic voice was replaced by a raw, human sound of pure mental anguish.
Ken took advantage of the moment, quickly binding the Rank with a set of prepared suppression cuffs, specifically designed to neutralize Ranks exposed to Mugenkyou shock.
Kabe quickly sealed the Shard unit. The psychic pressure dropped instantly, leaving him breathless and reeling from the brief, agonizing psychic link he'd forged with the Shard.
Ken rushed back down, finding Kabe leaning heavily on the truck. "Kabe, what was that? You almost destroyed the Shard!"
"I didn't destroy it. I let it sing," Kabe gasped, rubbing his temples. "Ryo used memories against us. I used the Pillar Shard to use theirs against them. It won't work twice. We need to move. Now."
They loaded the dazed, screaming Rank into the truck next to the heavy Shard unit. The victory felt hollow; they had won the skirmish using the very weapon Ryo had handed them, demonstrating that Kabe was willing to wield the chaotic power of the Pillars. The question remained: at what cost to his own soul?