Kael woke to silence.
No cursed screams.
No shifting worlds.
No system alarms tearing through his skull.
Just morning light.
Soft, pale gold filtered through unfamiliar curtains, dust motes drifting lazily in the air. For a moment, he simply lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting reality settle over him like cold dew.
Law of Ueki.
Not Jujutsu.
Not Tokyo.
A different ring. A different battlefield.
He exhaled slowly and pushed himself up.
Outside, the world was calm — too calm. Birds chirped. Wind brushed gently past low rooftops. The ordinary peace of a normal morning felt almost alien to someone who'd spent lifetimes swimming in blood and distortion.
"I need context…" he muttered.
Information was power.
Timeline was survival.
Kael stepped onto the street and let his feet carry him forward. Bought simple bread from a corner stall, the warmth still clinging to the paper, and chewed in silence as he walked.
Then — as if fate itself had placed the pieces perfectly —
Green hair.
Bright, unmistakable.
Kosuke Ueki.
Walking casually beside a blue-haired girl with sharp eyes and a composed posture.
Aoi.
They weren't in school uniform. No urgency. No tension. Just the quiet morning
Kael slowed his pace, distance measured, careful not to draw attention. His eyes sharpened, mind already aligning memory with reality.
He followed ueki until
That scene happen
The pink dark hair
It was hanon
The scene where the grandma tryin to find a pendant
And hanon appear to help her
and try to destroy the pendadnt
until ueki come to stop him
but after carefull watching
that is not hanon
it was a woman
with same feature like the uniform
the color of the hair
the mark on the face even
but kael certainly that is not hanon
the one like rexa
the one from MDA?
This world must be already full of them
And they must be targeted the blank talent
"The one that can give you any talent you want…"
Kael's steps slowed.
Those words crawled into his spine like frost.
So that's the rumor now…
The forbidden promise.
He kept his distance, silent as breath, trailing behind Ueki and Aoi as they moved through the quiet street. Everything unfolded exactly like memory — too perfectly. And that only made the unease worse.
Then they spotted it.
A trembling puppy.
A figure looming over it.
Hanon.
Or rather — something wearing Hanon's skin.
Kael's eyes sharpened.
The man lifted the dog, expression twisted, arm drawing back—
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
Ueki's voice cut through the air like thunder.
The fake Hanon paused slowly, turning with a lazy, amused tilt of the head.
"Hmmm?"
Ueki stepped forward, fists clenching. "Stop it!"
The creature's smile widened.
Then Ueki's gaze darkened.
"What do you mean you took over Robert's body?" he demanded. "What are you saying?"
A chilling chuckle escaped the fake Hanon.
"Robert had doubts," it said casually. "He hesitated to destroy humanity. So we decided he was no longer fit for our objective."
Its eyes gleamed with sick satisfaction.
"So I devoured him. And took his place."
Aoi stiffened. Ueki's jaw tightened.
Kael, however, wasn't looking at the puppy.
He was staring at the thing beneath the mask.
How does it know the script?
How does it know when to move… what to say?
No one in this world should be this aware.
His system pulsed.
[ Scanning… ]
…
Name: Vyrastra
Bloodline: Lilith — The First Empress
Rank: E-Class
Current World: Law of Ueki [World-8239C]
Resonance: Second Core Awakening
…
Kael's gaze hardened.
Ueki had already snapped.
"TRASH TO TREE — Sacred Treasure No.3: Ranma!"
Wood exploded upward as the massive blade roared through the air, aiming straight for Vyrastra's neck.
But she moved.
Not hurried.
Not panicked.
Just a whisper of motion — and the blade passed so close it shaved a strand of false Hanon's hair.
A perfect dodge.
Just like the anime.
Except this time… she smiled.
And inhaled.
[Breath Technique: Underworld]
The temperature dropped.
Frost crawled across the ground, creeping over stone like veins of death. Vyrastra exhaled — and freezing mist coiled into a sharp, spiraling lance of ice.
It launched.
Straight for Ueki's chest.
Too fast.
Too lethal.
Kael moved.
His body reacted before thought.
[Skin to Bone : Sacred Treasure No.2: Hood]
White bone surged from his forearm, reshaping into a gauntlet that gleamed with pale, divine silver. He slammed his arm forward just as the ice spear struck.
CRACK!
The impact echoed like thunder. Shards of frost burst outward, scattering across the street in glittering fragments.
Ueki's eyes widened behind him.
Vyrastra lowered her arm slowly, gaze sliding toward Kael with amused recognition.
"So that's the rat…"
Her lips curved faintly.
She knew.
She had felt him.
This wasn't a random distortion.
She had targeted Ueki because Kael was here.
"Bye-bye, everyone~" she sing-songed.
A black, writhing portal bloomed beneath her feet — a wound in reality itself, identical to the hell gates from the original flow.
Darkness swallowed her form.
And she vanished.
Silence fell.
Cold mist evaporated.
Ueki's eyes met Kael's.
A long, unreadable stare.
Confusion. Caution. Curiosity.
And the unspoken question:
Who are you?
The timeline had been preserved.
But the danger had evolved.
And now…
Kael was no longer just a shadow moving between timelines.
No longer a silent observer steering fate from the edges.
He had stepped onto the board.
A visible piece.
A chosen risk.
…
"So… you're Kael?" Ueki asked, studying him carefully.
"Yeah." Kael gave a small nod.
Ai stood a little behind Ueki, arms crossed, her sharp eyes never leaving him — like a guard dog watching a suspicious stranger wander too close to something precious.
After the chaos finally settled, they found themselves seated at a small supermarket corner, the hum of refrigerators filling the silence. Cold milk bottles sweated in their hands as morning light filtered through the glass doors.
Kael spoke calmly.
"I'm a hunter," he said. "I track creatures like that thing earlier. And its real name isn't Hanon."
Ueki blinked. Ai's posture stiffened.
"It's Hanon Vyrastra," Kael continued. "Calling it Hanon feels… wrong. Like calling a mask by a person's name."
"…Why are you after it?" Ueki asked.
A brief shadow crossed Kael's eyes.
"Because it killed my sponsor," he said simply. "The one who gave me power. The one who protected me."
Silence stretched.
Even Ai's suspicion wavered for a moment.
Then Kael leaned forward slightly.
"The second round will be team-based. Five members each."
Ai's eyes sharpened. "How do you know that?"
Kael exhaled softly. "I have a strange ability. I dream of future events. And tomorrow, a messenger will confirm everything I just said."
He didn't smile.
He didn't joke.
Only certainty.
"And when that happens," he added, eyes lifting to meet Ueki's, burning with quiet determination, "I want to be part of your team. I want to defeat Vyrastra with you."
Ueki didn't answer immediately.
He just watched Kael.
Studying him. Measuring him. Feeling the weight behind his words.
Then — slowly — he nodded.
"…Alright," Ueki said. "Welcome to the team."
Kael released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
A faint smile touched his lips.
Nice.
The first move was complete.