The air in the "Broken Compass" bar was thick with the scent of stale ale and cheap tobacco. It was a place for men who wanted to be forgotten, but for the man sitting in the corner booth, it was a place of waiting. He stared into his amber glass, the condensation dripping like sweat down the sides.
"Hmm," he murmured, his voice low and gravelly. "I wonder how my brother is doing. He promised we'd have a drink together."
He reached for his jacket, preparing to stand, but the atmosphere of the room shifted. A sudden, impossible breeze swept through the windowless bar—a calm, celestial wind that smelled of ozone and ozone and clean linen. For a fleeting second, a shimmering white light coalesced in the seat across from him. There sat Kaizen Flux, looking exactly as he always did—relaxed, with that lazy, knowing smirk.
The light flickered once and vanished.
The glass in the man's hand shattered, not from his strength, but from the sudden trembling of his fingers. He didn't need a messenger. He didn't need a news report. The probability of his brother visiting him in spirit meant only one thing.
"Damn it," the man whispered, hot tears finally spilling over and hitting the wooden table. "You just had to go, didn't you? You always had to be the hero, Kaizen."
Back in the crater of the Coliseum, the world was returning to its natural state. The Void Shell had vanished, the black dome dissolving into the afternoon sky like smoke. The 1,000x gravity had lifted, but the weight of the silence that followed was even heavier.
Magals stood over the body of the 3rd Division Captain. The violet blood was still sluggishly leaking from the crack in his Core, and his regeneration was struggling. The "Fate Control" strike had left wounds that refused to knit back together instantly. He breathed heavily, looking down at the corpse that had refused to let go of him even after the heart had stopped.
"Well," Magals rasped, prying Kaizen's cold, iron-like fingers off his arm. "It's been fun. But I must take my leave."
He reached down and unpinned the 3rd Division Captain's Badge from Kaizen's tattered uniform. It was a trophy—a piece of silver-steel stained with the blood of the man who had dared to touch a god. Without another word, Magals vanished into a air , leaving the arena behind.
The moment he was gone, the barrier broke completely.
"KAIZEN!" Zainab Virel was the first to land. ; she hit the dirt hard and scrambled toward him. Medics and Captains descended like a swarm of hornets.
"Get the stabilization units! NOW!" Reid Gideon roared, but the medics who knelt over Kaizen simply looked up and shook their heads. There was no soul left to stabilize.
Elias stood a few feet away, his body shaking. The dark, unstable light that had been building inside him began to cool, leaving him feeling empty and hollow. He looked at his hands—hands that were supposed to be strong enough to save everyone.
"Damn you... damn it... DAMMMMMMMN!" Elias screamed at the sky, his voice tearing his throat. He fell to his knees, punching the pulverized stone until his knuckles bled. "It's my fault. I wasn't strong enough. I watched him die... I just watched..."
The medics moved quickly to the other Xenocides. Renji, Nyx, and the others were loaded onto high-speed stretchers, their bodies broken but their hearts still beating. The 10th Division was alive, but as they were carried away, they all looked toward the center of the ring, where Zainab sat in the dust, cradling Kaizen's head and whispering the promise he would never keep.
At Orlox Palace, the mood was disturbingly celebratory. Valkhyre walked through the grand obsidian halls, his footsteps echoing with a casual, rhythmic tap. He entered the War Room, where General Xylo and Vaxas were hunched over a massive, enchanted chessboard.
"Hello," Valkhyre said, leaning against the doorframe. "The 3rd Division Captain, Kaizen Flux, has fallen. He was quite tough—forced a Commander to gamble—but he's gone now."
Xylo smiled, a sharp, toothy grin. He reached out and picked up a silver knight piece from the board, snapping it in half between two fingers.
"One by one," Vaxas chuckled. "The pillars of humanity are crumbling. Yes it's going according to plan."
Valkhyre didn't smile. He just checked the time. "Well, I have to go now. There are... other things I need to attend to." He turned and vanished into the shadows before they could ask him to stay.
An hour later, in a hidden Zethrian sanctuary deep beneath the border, Magals emerged from the shadows.He stumbled slightly, his hand clutching his chest. Waiting for him was Anglz, the 5th Commander—a female Zethrian with a cruel beauty and a penchant for sadism.
As Magals walked in, he saw Valkhyre already there, seated comfortably in a chair carved from bone, watching the "entertainment."
"Sir Valkhyre, it's a surprise seeing you here," Magals noted, sitting heavily on a bench to begin his deep regeneration.
Whip! Whip! Whip!
The sound echoed through the room. Anglz was holding a whip made of energy, lashing two human men who couldn't strip properly.
"You humans are really disgusting, aren't you?" Anglz sneered. With a flick of her wrist, her hands. Slash. One of the men's heads fell to the floor before he could even scream. She reached out, caught a piece of the remains, and bit into it before spitting it out with a look of pure loathing. "Disgusting. Tastes like fear and weakness."
"Ahhh! Please! Spare me, please!!!" the other man screamed, his body shaking so hard he could barely stand.
"Too late," Anglz whispered, finishing him with a bored expression.
Magals didn't look at the carnage. He reached into his robes and dropped Kaizen's Captain Badge onto the stone table. It clattered with a cold, metallic ring.
"Looks like you had your fun," Anglz said, her eyes fixated on the badge. "I guess I better start getting ready. ....I can't wait to cast judgement on humanity"
Suddenly, the air in the hideout grew cold. The Zethrians stiffened. Someone had followed Magals' spatial trail. They turned toward the entrance to see a figure standing in the shadows.
It was Valerius.
His eyes were no longer human. They were burning with a terrifying, unquenchable rage. His skin was pale, He looked like a man who had already died and forgotten to fall down.
"I want power..." Valerius rasped, his voice sounding like two stones grinding together. "Power... POWER... POWER!"
Magals and Anglz both stood, their energy rising. They moved to kill the intruder who had dared to find their nest. But Valkhyre raised a hand, his eyes twinkling with interest.
"No," Valkhyre said, a small smile playing on his lips. "Child, come. If it's power you seek... it's power you'll get."
Valerius stepped into the light, a traitor to his race, seeking the strength to burn the world that had taken everything from him.