The battlefield burned.
Ash and embers drifted like snowflakes from a blood-red sky, staining the air with the scent of scorched stone and molten iron. The ground was cracked, blistered from the relentless fire techniques unleashed moments ago.
Three Shikibans stood before them—twisted smiles stretched across their soot-covered faces. They were Level-4 threats, and they knew it. Flames danced along their skin like obedient pets, wrapping them in an aura of dominance.
"If we stop now," Ishigo muttered, breath ragged, "they'll bury us alive."
Daigo stood beside him, body tense like a drawn bow. Yeaga, ever calm, was oddly silent, his eyes tracking every motion.
Ishigo gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around the hilt of his katana. The air around him wavered. Heat rippled. Sparks licked at his fingers.
"Blue Flame Requiem."His voice rang like a blade striking steel.
The flames burst forth from his hands, rushing over the katana like liquid light, casting a holy blue glow. The once-pale steel became a beacon, humming with silent rage.
One of the male Shikibans stepped forward, cracking his knuckles, amused.
"Oh? Blue Flame Technique? That's cute," he sneered. "But our fire is fear itself."
He gestured lazily with one hand, and an inferno roared to life around him.
Ishigo said nothing. He vanished from view.
He lunged—feet slamming against the stone ground, katana slicing through the heat. The Shikiban's flame met him midway.
"Flame Technique: Blazebind Mirage."
A burning wave spiraled forward.
Ishigo raised his sword, blue flames pulsing. He clashed against the wave with a grunt. Blue clashed with crimson—cold fire against hellfire. The impact split the earth, sending a tremor through the field.
The blue flames won, pushing back the crimson.
"Kill them, Ishigo!"Daigo shouted, eyes burning.
Ishigo growled and surged forward again, his blade glowing brighter.
But the Shikiban smirked. "Flame Technique: Crimson Howl Funeral!"
A wall of fire erupted.
Ishigo brought his katana down, but—
CLANG!
His blade struck something solid—flame turned solid. The blue edge stuck inside the molten core. Before Ishigo could pull back—
WHAM!
The Shikiban kicked him, sending him flying across the battlefield.
Ishigo smashed into a stone wall. Cracks spread behind him as the air exploded from his lungs. Pain shot through his spine. He gasped, eyes wide, blood dripping from his lip.
The Shikiban was already rushing him—hand engulfed in flame, fist cocked back.
CRACK!
His punch shattered the wall.
But Ishigo had moved, barely. He rolled aside, snatching up his katana. His limbs trembled.
"Listen, boy," the Shikiban said with a sneer. "We're older, stronger. We are Flame Masters."
Ishigo coughed, wiping blood from his mouth. "I unlocked my powers at Level 3… I'm not a master…"
He raised his blade anyway. His knees shook.
"But I will be."
The Shikiban laughed. "How dare you challenge me, you lowly—"
A voice cut through the chaos.
"How dare you touch my brother."
The battlefield froze.
The Shikiban turned, confused.
Daigo stood still, eyes glowing with fury.
The Shikiban squinted. "The hell are you talking about? You sound like his girlfriend."
Daigo smirked. "I'm straight. But he's my brother. My best friend. My everything."
The Shikiban let out a barking laugh.
Yeaga jogged over and smacked Daigo's back, grinning. "Woah, bro. That was kinda emotional."
But he paused, mid-step.
Heat. Intense heat.
Yeaga stepped back. "The hell…?"
Daigo's body was trembling. His fists clenched. Tears threatened to fall—but they were burned away.
"I always try to protect the people I love," he whispered. "Ishigo… Reika… Yeaga… You're my family. I already failed once…"
His eyes glazed.
FLASHBACK.
A village in flames.
Children screaming. The sky black with smoke.
A younger Daigo grabbed a boy's hand.
"Hayashi, come on! We have to hide!"
The boy ran, but—
SHING.
A blade pierced Hayashi's chest.
"B-Broth…"
He collapsed before finishing his words. Dead.
Daigo screamed.
NOW.
His tears boiled before they fell. His fury—unleashed.
BOOM.
Grey energy erupted from his back, swirling into a spiraling vortex of emotion and memory.
Yeaga gasped. "W-What is that…?"
Ishigo looked up, eyes wide. "A spirit form…"
Behind Daigo, the silhouette of a giant wolf—crystalized in grey light—hovered, howling into the sky.
The Shikibans stared in shock.
"That's… that's Crystel Grey…!" one whispered.
Before he could speak again—Daigo vanished.
Then—
CRACK.
He reappeared beside the Shikiban.
His yellow eyes glowing like suns. His speed… inhuman.
"Wha—?"
The Shikiban didn't finish the sentence.
His body exploded—slashed into fragments mid-air by Daigo's katana, now pulsing with the grey flame of Crystel.
A breathless silence followed.
Only the sound of burning buildings remained.
Daigo turned, sweat dripping down his brow, eyes still fierce.
"The game's not over," he whispered.
"Let's make it crazier."