"Power taken from a nightmare can only serve a darker dream." — Ken Hiroki
The utility vehicle smelled of ozone, burnt rubber, and the metallic tang of fear. Ken drove, his knuckles white against the steering wheel, his eyes constantly flicking to the rearview mirror. In the cargo area, the lead-lined containment unit holding the Second Pillar Shard pulsed with a soft, disturbing light, casting flickering shadows on their prisoner.
The Second Generation Rank was curled tightly against the back wall, bound by the suppression cuffs that were slowly neutralizing the Mugenkyou energy coursing through its armor. But the Conceptual Overload Kabe had unleashed in Chapter 8 had done more lasting damage. The Rank wasn't unconscious; it was trapped in a loop of its own agonizing memories, whimpering sounds escaping the warped metal of its helmet.
Kabe sat facing the prisoner, his Anchor blade across his lap. He looked weary, but his gaze was sharp and relentless.
"We can't keep him like this, Kabe," Ken finally said, his voice quiet but firm. "The psychic feedback from the Shard is tearing him apart. It's inhumane."
"Inhumane is letting Ryo Takamura continue to rewrite reality, Ken," Kabe retorted, not turning around. "This thing is an echo of Ryo's method. If we are going to understand the blueprint, we need to know what Ryo promised them."
Kabe reached forward and touched the containment unit. The Shard's light intensified slightly, and the prisoner let out a strangled cry. Ken flinched, feeling the wave of psychic pain wash over him, amplified by his sensitive conceptual focus.
"Stop, Kabe! You're using the Shard like Ryo used his whistle!"
Kabe pulled his hand back, his face tight. "I am using a tool, Ken. We are on the run with a ticking bomb. If we don't get answers, Ryo wins. Now, help me. Interrogation."
Ken sighed, accepting the necessity but hating the means. He activated his Prism-Amplifier and focused a narrow beam of conceptual energy, not as a weapon, but as a stabilizing anchor pointed at the Rank's helmet. The whimpering stopped, replaced by shallow, ragged breathing.
"We know you're one of Ryo's architects," Kabe addressed the prisoner, his voice low. "We know Ryo is collecting the Pillars to open the Final Gate. Tell us what the Pillars are meant to build, or I will let the Shard finish its work."
The Rank twitched. After a long silence, a raw, un-synthesized voice rasped from beneath the helmet. "Order… he promised… no more scars."
"What kind of order?" Ken pressed gently, hoping to draw out information without inflicting more pain. "Order for the Dreamscape, or for this world?"
The Rank weakly lifted a cuffed hand, pointing a trembling finger toward the containment unit. "The Shard… it is the Pillar of Grief. The foundation of the Rewrite must be built on the collective pain of those who survived the First Scarring. Ryo-sama says that only a perfected sorrow can create a perfect Anchor."
Kabe leaned in, recognizing the terminology from their forbidden history lessons. "The Pillar of Grief. He knows the emotional component of each Pillar. What is the next one? Where is the Pillar of Hope?"
The Rank's head suddenly snapped up, and a horrific, distorted laugh escaped its throat—a sound of triumph mixed with madness. The Anchor pebble Ken had placed fifty meters back exploded silently.
"Hope is the strongest distortion," the Rank croaked, forcing out the words. "It's already secured. It was never in the Trails. It was always in the Archive."
Kabe and Ken exchanged horrified glances. The Shinganatsu Memory Archive they had just escaped was not just the location of the Pillar of Grief. It had contained both. Ryo had allowed them to take the chaotic Pillar of Grief to ensure they fled and broadcast their position, while he secured the vital, unifying Pillar of Hope.
"Where is Ryo now?" Kabe demanded, his voice shaking with sudden, brutal clarity.
"Moving the Pillar of Hope… to the place where all secrets are kept," the Rank choked out, its voice fading again. "The place… the Tower of Silence."
The name struck a deeper chord. The Tower of Silence was not part of the standard Kurogane infrastructure; it was a mythical location from the earliest reports of the Rift, rumored to be a nexus where the Dreamscape and reality had first touched.
Kabe didn't wait. He looked at Ken. "Drive, Ken. Fast. If Ryo uses the Pillar of Hope to stabilize his Rewrite, the Pillars we collect later won't matter. He'll lock us out of the Mugenkyou entirely."
Ken slammed his foot on the accelerator, tearing the vehicle out of the garage and onto the ruined highway. The captured Rank slumped back, its purpose fulfilled.
As they sped through the desolate, pre-dawn landscape, Ken glanced back at the Rank, then at the Shard. He felt the cold realization settle over him: Ryo hadn't just outsmarted them; he had subtly forced Kabe to compromise his own moral position, turning the Pillar of Grief into a personal weapon.
"Kabe," Ken started, his voice barely audible over the rush of wind. "Ryo didn't just teach you skills. He taught you his philosophy. Are you sure you're still fighting for the Trails, or for the chance to use his power better than he does?"
Kabe stared straight ahead into the darkness, his expression unreadable. "If I have to break the dream to save the world, then I will become the nightmare. Drive, Ken. We're losing."