[Scene opens – Deeper into the Northern Wastes, dusk falling]
The sky bled violet.
Jin Kuroya walked through the ruins with fire crackling faintly along his steps.
Every breath he took felt heavier.
Every heartbeat dragged Raikou's voice closer through the ash-drenched air.
But he didn't waver.
Ahead, half-shrouded by swirling soul fog, stood a twisted stone gate—a relic of the Kuragami's old kingdom.
Renzai whispered inside his mind:
"This is it. Beyond this gate, the path bends. You either carve your own fate… or drown in his."
Jin tightened his grip on Tenrou.
"Then let's keep carving."
---
[Scene shift – Beyond the Gate]
A massive plaza stretched out—a forgotten battlefield littered with the rusted remnants of spirit armor and broken blades.
At its center stood a man draped in heavy black robes stitched with thorn patterns, his face hidden behind a broken oni mask.
The General of Thorns.
Raikou's right hand.
He carried no sword.
Only a thorned chain coiled around his arms, humming with soul decay.
---
[The General speaks]
"Jin Kuroya."
His voice was cold, ancient. Heavy.
"Your brother sends his regards. And his regrets… that you will not see the dawn."
The chain slithered around his body, leaking cursed mist that ate holes into the ground.
Jin raised Tenrou.
"Tell him I'll return the favor personally."
The General's chain snapped forward—aimed straight for Jin's heart.
---
[Fight Begins – Jin vs. The General of Thorns]
The chain lashed out faster than any sword.
Jin barely dodged—flame barrier deflecting the tip by inches.
The General moved like a specter, each swing of the chain erasing spirit energy from the air itself. It didn't just hit flesh—it tore at the soul.
Jin grinned.
"Good. You're not just another puppet."
He flash-stepped, Tenrou slashing outward in an arc of soulflame.
But the chain caught the blade, binding it midair.
The General pulled—and Jin was yanked forward, crashing into the stone with a brutal crunch.
---
[Mid-fight dialogue]
"You are a flame, yes," the General said, dragging Jin across the ground, "but all flames… burn out."
Blood dripped from Jin's mouth.
He laughed anyway.
"Funny thing about wildfires," he said, standing up slowly, soul energy igniting around him like a sunstorm.
"The harder you try to control them… the bigger they get."
---
[Jin's Power-Up – Infernal Pulse]
He released the restraints on his soul.
The cracked ground ignited.
The entire plaza trembled under the pressure.
Tenrou roared, its blade shifting slightly—glowing with flickering sigils around the core.
Jin moved—faster than before, blurred by sheer soul speed.
He zipped through the chain, flame carving spirals in the air, forcing the General onto the defensive for the first time.
---
[New Move – Soulburn Style: Infernal Pulse Strike]
Jin leapt high, spun midair, and slashed downward—releasing a pulse of raw flame that detonated the entire ground around the General.
BOOM.
Smoke and ash swallowed everything.
---
[Aftermath – Final Clash Setup]
Jin landed, breathing hard, blood dripping from his arm.
The smoke cleared.
The General of Thorns still stood—cracked, bleeding—but smiling behind his broken mask.
"Good," he said.
He uncoiled the full length of the thorned chain—revealing dozens of souls trapped within its links, screaming silently.
"Then let's both burn."
He charged.
Jin gripped Tenrou tighter, flames swirling violently around him.
No retreat.
No regrets.
Only fire.
---
[Final scene – Two forces collide]
The soul chain and the flamebrand sword struck—
Reality cracked.
And somewhere far above, Raikou watched from a drifting spirit mirror, smiling faintly.
"Good," he said.
"Let him burn everything down first. It'll make breaking him that much sweeter."