"Among all paths, the Path of Kara is the sharpest: a trail of pitfalls, peaks, and suffering.
No one is certain to see its end… and that is why those who reach it become extraordinary."
(Flashback – The Scene in the Burning Lair)
1. He sees the training hall again, Shiro's power, the arrival of the elite Blood Burns.
2. He sees his former friend, the other thug from the alley, emerging from the shadow gate, transformed into Blood Burn Number 5.
3. He hears Shiro's icy voice once more: "See it as a warning. A testament to the fact that you are all, without exception, replaceable pawns."
The Kageyami growled, a hoarse sound that was more like a sob of rage than a monster's cry. He brought one of his massive claws to his own throat, as if searching for the scar of a wound that no longer existed.
Goro: (his voice a rumble of grinding stones)
— "I have no memory of how I'm still alive. I remember he tore my head off... then darkness. And I saw him, in that darkness. The monster he truly is, giving me this Black Elemental Kara: Rock! It was awful and unbearably painful."
Another Superior Kageyami, sleeker and covered in bone blades, approached him.
Superior Kageyami 2:
— Enough daydreaming, Goro. I sense strong presences of Celestial Kara in the area. We'd better split up. I'm tired of killing these humans and low-rank Astroforges. I need real fighters.
Goro slowly turned his monstrous head toward his comrade, his eyes shining with a new light. A light of hatred directed no longer at the Zeniths, but at his own creator. He needed to vent. To destroy something. Anything.
It was at that moment he sensed a fluctuation of energy not far away. A solitary, but powerful presence. A Zenith.
Without a word, he melted into the nearest brick wall, his stone figure disappearing like a drop of water in the ocean. He was going to find his own distraction.
Transition – Diana's Alley
Silence fell again. Diana remained in position, her ice bow slowly dissolving. She had eliminated seven Blood Burns in a matter of minutes.
She let out a breath, the tension finally subsiding.
And it was at that precise moment that a hand emerged from the brick wall right beside her.
It was not a hand of flesh. It seemed to be made of the stone of the wall itself, but it moved. Before Diana could react, the stone hand closed around her throat, lifting her off the ground and slamming her violently against the wall.
Her breath was cut off. Her Kara, disrupted by the shock and lack of air, wavered. She tried to struggle, but the grip was of inhuman strength, as if the entire city held her captive.
Slowly, the rest of the assailant's body began to emerge from the wall. It wasn't a man coming out of the stone; it was the stone itself taking human form. A massive figure, made of bricks and mortar, took shape, its contours blending perfectly with the wall Diana was pinned to. Only two eyes, shining with the red glow of pure hatred, were clearly visible.
The voice that rose was not human. It was a low rumble, the sound of rocks grinding together.
Goro:
— I see you had your fun here, little one. Unlike you... I live in hell.
The stone hand tightened. The pressure on Diana's throat became unbearable. She felt something break, and a trickle of blood escaped her lips.
In a final effort, she managed to raise her hand and place it on the stone arm holding her.
Diana: (a strangled whisper)
— Elemental Kara... Frosting Touch...
A wave of intense cold spread from her palm. Ice began to creep up Goro's arm, covering it in a thick layer of white frost. The stone cracked under the effect of the freeze.
But the effort was too great. The lack of air cut off her Kara flow. The ice stopped halfway up the forearm, unable to advance further.
The stone creature didn't even seem to notice.
Diana's vision blurred. Panic and despair overwhelmed her. All her techniques, all her power, were useless against this monster. She was dying. Alone.
A thought, a call from the heart, escaped her mind:
"Help me... Danky... Raizen... help..."
Suddenly, a whistle tore through the air.
SHINK!
A shuriken, black as night, struck Goro's arm with surgical precision, right at the junction between the frozen and intact parts. The impact, combined with the brittleness of the ice, shattered the stone forearm into a thousand pieces.
The grip loosened.
Diana fell heavily to the ground, coughing and gasping for air in great gulps, her hand clutching her bruised throat.
Goro let out a roar of fury, not of pain, but of frustration. He turned his massive head toward the roof from where the attack had come.
A figure stood there, silhouetted against the moon.
Before Goro could react, the figure made a swift gesture. Three more shurikens flew through the night.
Goro raised his remaining arm, creating a stone shield to parry the projectiles, which shattered into sparks on impact.
When he lowered his arm, the roof was empty.
The figure had vanished.
Silence fell on the alley again, broken only by Diana's ragged coughs and Goro's low growl.
Diana struggled to her feet, one hand on her bruised throat. Her gaze shifted from the empty roof to her opponent. Whoever her savior was, they were gone. She was alone again.
Goro, however, had entered a cold rage. His destroyed arm wasn't regenerating, but his fury was intact. The outside intervention had humiliated him.
Goro:
— I'm going to crush you. Slowly.
He wasn't playing anymore. He raised his good arm and slammed it on the ground. The entire alley seemed to come to life. The walls warped, waves of cobblestones rose, and dozens of stone hands shot out from every surface, trying to grab her.
Diana, despite her pain, reacted with lightning speed. She slid on a thin layer of ice she created under her feet, narrowly dodging a first grab, then another. A pillar of bricks erupted in front of her; she created an Ice Barrier that exploded on impact, the shards cutting her cheek.
She was overwhelmed. Every dodge brought her closer to exhaustion. She couldn't fight the entire alley.
"I can't win from a distance... I have to get close. My only hope is to freeze him completely and shatter him."
She changed tactics. While continuing to evade the relentless assaults of the alley, she began to launch ice projectiles—fast and precise *Frost Arrows*—not to injure Goro, but to create frozen footholds on the walls, allowing her to leap and change direction unpredictably.
Goro, seeing her strategy, began to laugh. A hoarse laugh, full of anger and pain.
Goro:
— You struggle well, little Zenith! But you don't understand!
He punched a wall, and a volley of bricks was launched at Diana. She parried most of them with an ice shield, but one of them struck her violently in the shoulder, tearing a cry of pain from her.
Goro: (yelling, his voice echoing through the alley)
— You know, I was always the more important one of us two! So why... WHY DID HE CHOOSE HIM INSTEAD OF ME?!
He hammered the ground, each blow sending shockwaves of stone toward Diana, who was struggling more and more to avoid them.
Diana: (dodging a stone hand that grazed her face)
— "What is he talking about? He's completely insane... But... he's distracted. This is my chance!"
Taking advantage of an opening, she propelled herself from a wall, sliding at a dizzying speed toward Goro. Her hand glowed with an intense green light, ready to strike.
Diana:
— Elemental Kara: Frost Zone!
She was inches away from him, her icy palm ready to touch the monster's stone chest.
But just before impact, Goro, in a breath of rage, spat out a sentence that froze time.
Goro:
— I could have easily been the new Number 5 and replaced that Johan Traken!
The name.
That name.
For a split second, Diana's mind froze. The memory of Johan's laugh in her nightmare, the hatred, the fear... it all came rushing back in a paralyzing wave. Her attack hesitated.
A split second. That was all Goro needed.
A sadistic smile formed on his stone face.
Goro:
— It's not nice to stop in the middle of a fight.
He didn't hit her with his fist. He used his power in a new way.
Goro:
— Black Kara: Stone Cluster!
The debris of bricks and cobblestones that littered the ground flew up and agglomerated around his fist, forming a huge and brutal rocky mass.
The blow was thrown.
Diana, still in shock, only had time to cross her arms in front of her in a desperate reflex.
The impact was cataclysmic.
She was literally blasted backward, her body crashing through the alley wall in an explosion of bricks and dust before smashing into a building.
Silence fell. And Diana was bleeding.
Goro took a few steps, the mass of stone around his fist slowly disintegrating. He looked at the gaping hole in the wall, a smile of pure madness on his face, his Black Kara aura pulsing erratically.
Goro:
— I'm going to kill you. And I'll prove to that bastard Shiro that I'm far more competent than that idiot.
He advanced slowly toward the hole in the wall, savoring his victory, ready to finish off his prey.
END OF CHAPTER 34