---
The world beyond the sealed door had collapsed into memory and silence. Through Ren's wind barrier and Haru's forceful path-clearing, the group emerged into a fractured spiritual corridor—floating between realms, still shaking from the aftershock of what had just occurred.
Yuki stirred.
His fingers twitched.
Then his eyes opened slowly.
Aiko gasped, tears flooding anew. "Yuki!"
He blinked, confused, then groaned. His body ached, but it was… intact. He sat up, barely managing, and that's when he saw him.
The boy with silver hair and glowing, ancient eyes. No more than twelve. Standing there barefoot, with a knowing smile that didn't belong on a child's face.
Yuki stared at him. Something stirred inside him again—something deeper than instinct.
"…Hey," he said slowly. "You… you're the Eidolon?"
The boy tilted his head, thoughtful. "I was. Maybe I still am. Maybe I'm more now."
Yuki frowned. "Do you have a name?"
The boy hesitated. As if no one had ever asked him that before.
"…I've had many names," he said. "But none of them were truly mine."
Yuki stared into his eyes.
"…Then I'll give you one."
The boy blinked. "…You would do that?"
Yuki nodded. "You're… part of me now, right? We'll figure it out together."
The boy tilted his head again, then smiled softly.
"…Then what will you call me?"
Yuki thought for a long moment, then said:
"Kairo."
> "It means forgiveness," he said. "And beginning."
The boy—Kairo—blinked. Then his expression softened.
> "Then… Kairo I am."
Aiko and Himari watched the moment quietly, unsure whether to feel relieved or even more unnerved.
Ren turned away.
Haru clenched his fists tighter.
> ("Nogitsune… please hold on.")
---
[Velar's Realm – Unknown Time]
Nogitsune coughed blood into the void.
His blade—manifested from his own spiritual will—was cracked. His breathing sharp and shallow.
Before him, Velar hovered inches above the shattered terrain, unscathed. Shifting like an ancient storm. Neither divine nor demonic. Just… wrong.
Nogitsune gritted his teeth.
> ("I've fought gods, monsters, even Yuki… but this… this is something else.")
Velar raised his hand. Space rippled.
And then—in an instant—Nogitsune was gone.
No time to react.
Just pain.
It felt like the universe collapsed on his spine.
He hit the ground hard enough to shatter it.
> "Is this the guardian of the fox?" Velar whispered. "You are slower than I imagined. But your thoughts scream loud. You fear your brother's power."
Nogitsune spat blood, crawling to his knees.
"…Damn right I do," he whispered, smirking through blood. "Because I understand it."
> "Then you understand why I must tear it from him."
"Over my dead body."
> "So be it."
The world twisted again.
---
[Meanwhile – The Spirit Edge]
Yuki sat beside Kairo, the boy quietly tracing patterns in the air with his fingertip. He wasn't glowing or floating now. Just sitting. Like a kid.
"You're awfully quiet," Yuki muttered, looking up at the shattered sky. "I thought you'd be louder."
Kairo smiled faintly. "Loudness comes after healing."
"…You okay in there?"
"I am still… settling," he said. "You hold me inside your soul like a sealed flame. But I'm not angry. Just… curious."
Yuki narrowed his eyes. "Curious about what?"
"You. This body. This world. And… her."
Kairo pointed at Aiko, who was sleeping lightly not far from them.
Yuki turned red.
"Don't point!"
Ren, leaning against a rock nearby, chuckled. "Hey, kid. Better teach your inner apocalypse child some boundaries."
Haru added dryly, "You realize you've basically adopted a walking anomaly, right?"
Yuki groaned.
Himari stirred. "Don't be mean," she mumbled. "Kairo's… kinda cute."
Kairo blinked. "…What's 'cute'?"
Yuki fell flat. "I'm too tired for this."
But despite the jokes, something cold lingered behind them. Something missing.
Aiko's voice broke the quiet:
"Where's… Nogitsune?"
The group fell silent.
Yuki's fists clenched.
"…He stayed behind," he whispered. "He's buying us time."
---
[Velar's Realm – Cracking Silence]
Nogitsune coughed again, this time black smoke rising from his mouth.
He was burning from the inside.
> ("Every strike I throw, he's already behind me. Every illusion I cast… he ignores it.")
Velar hovered, his eyes blank—yet filled with the knowledge of countless lost worlds.
> "Your defiance tastes old. Like a song once loved, now forgotten."
Nogitsune's aura flared.
And for the first time—he laughed.
> "You ever hear of a trickster's last move?"
Velar tilted his head.
Then—the world blinked.
In that sliver of time, Nogitsune moved—not through space, but memory. Using every ounce of mythic energy, he pulled a technique forbidden to even the tengu elders:
Kage Reversal.
He became the memory of his future self, stepping through the version of him that already lost—and erased it.
He struck Velar with everything.
The scream that followed wasn't pain.
It was acknowledgment.
---
[Spirit Edge – Moments Earlier]
Kairo stirred suddenly.
Yuki blinked, turning to him.
The boy's voice came faint and brittle:
"…He's breaking rules. The elder fox… he's not fighting fair."
Yuki stood.
"Kairo. What do you feel?"
Kairo looked up, eyes glowing faintly.
> "He's not trying to win. He's trying to stall… to seal Velar away."
Yuki froze.
Ren's brow furrowed. "Sealing him…? You mean he plans to trap that monster?"
Haru clenched his fists. "But that would mean—"
Aiko sat up, realization dawning in her eyes.
> "He doesn't plan to come back…"
Himari stepped forward slowly.
"No," Yuki whispered. "I won't let that happen."
Kairo tilted his head, curiously.
"…Will you go to him?"
Yuki looked down at Kairo.
"I'm his brother. What do you think?"
---
"If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to leave a power stone or a comment—it really helps this grow!"