The world had never been quieter. The battlefield, once roaring with the chaos of war, now sat in stunned silence.
Kaizen stood still, his blood-soaked clothes clinging to his skin, his breath heavy with exhaustion, pain... and disbelief.
General Krovar—slayer of cities, nightmare of civilizations, the very embodiment of Bist savagery—was kneeling before him.
"Why?" Kaizen's voice cracked, barely a whisper.
"You are our King," Krovar rumbled, voice deep like thunder rolling across a graveyard. "The last blood of the Flameborne. Born not just to destroy, but to lead."
Behind him, Squad Umbra stared in horror. Sora gripped her blades tighter, eyes flicking from Kaizen to the kneeling monster. Kain looked ready to hurl. Even Ayaka froze, heart pounding, eyes wide.
"No… I'm human!" Kaizen barked, but somewhere deep in his heart… something stirred.
A memory. A fire. A voice.
"My child, you are born of war, sculpted by fire. You are what they fear—and what they need."
The words echoed in his skull.
Suddenly, a pulse of Veinborn energy burst from his chest—uncontrolled, wild. The ground beneath him cracked. Flames shot into the air. Krovar bowed his head even lower.
"The others will come, Kaizen-sama," Krovar said. "When they sense your awakening. Not to fight… but to serve."
Kaizen stumbled back.
Ayaka rushed forward, grabbing his arm. "Kaizen! You're still you. Look at me!"
He looked into her eyes, searching—desperately—for something to ground him. But the moment was shattered by the sound of marching.
From the trees… more Bists.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
All lowering their heads to him.
The Umbra squad screamed in confusion.
"We need to get him out of here!" Sora yelled. "This is a damn nightmare!"
"Or a damn coronation," muttered Captain Jubei, his usual arrogance gone, face pale.
Kaizen stepped forward.
"I'm not your King," he growled.
But the Bists only knelt deeper.
Suddenly, a new figure appeared from the Bist crowd. Slender, armored in obsidian veins, a female Bist with fiery hair and glowing eyes. She looked… human.
"Sire," she said. "They lied to you. The humans. Your memories... they were locked."
Kaizen trembled. "What do you mean?"
She raised her hand, touching his forehead.
A surge of images blasted through him—
—A lab. —Screams. —Flames. —A scientist injecting him. —Ayaka crying as a child. —A pact. —His blood… split in two.
He fell to his knees, gasping, overwhelmed.
"You were created, Kaizen Ryouma," she whispered. "Not just to fight the Bists… but to lead them to evolution."
To cleanse the world.
The Bists around him began to chant his name.
"KAIZEN. KAIZEN. KAIZEN!"
"NO!!" Kaizen screamed, veins glowing crimson. "I WON'T BE YOUR MONSTER!"
The female Bist tilted her head. "You already are. But you can choose what kind."
Suddenly, a sharp sound split the air. A gunshot.
Blood splattered. The female Bist collapsed, a hole in her head.
Captain Jubei lowered his smoking rifle. "I've had enough of this madness."
The other Bists howled in fury—but Krovar raised his arm. They froze.
Kaizen stood, torn between rage and control, his hands trembling.
Ayaka whispered, "What are you going to do…?"
Kaizen looked toward the horizon. "I don't know who I am anymore."
He turned to Squad Umbra. "But I know one thing."
"What?" Kain asked.
"I'm not done fighting."