Kai stitched himself up alone, hands trembling but steady, the last of the flames on his body flickering out. His ribs ached. Vision swam. But he endured. He had to.
Once the bleeding slowed, he stepped out of the crumbling structure and into the dusky wilderness, his breath misting in the cool evening air.
His mind churned. The past clawed its way forward—visions of a previous life, a firestorm that tore reality apart. The Great Cataclysm.
But more than that—he remembered a red book.
"…Captain Shin had it," Kai muttered aloud, eyes narrowing. "That damn book… it holds the secrets to Adolla. To the Cataclysm itself."
His body straightened, the haze of pain replaced by singular purpose.
"I need to get it. And keep it far from the White-Clads and the Fire Force."
Just then, a thunderous explosion echoed across the landscape. In the distance—bright red plumes rose over a nearby city.
Kai's right eye twitched.
A crimson buzz flared in his vision.
Adolla Vision.
The world tilted, blurred—and then stabilized with unsettling clarity. A battlefield. Screams. Fire.
And Shin… was there.
"Shit."
Without hesitation, Kai bent his knees, igniting the flame marks along his legs. A burst of combustion launched him skyward, rocketing toward the city like a living comet.
The city had already become a warzone.
White-Clads clashed with Fire Force squads across burning intersections. Buildings crumbled from the impact of clashing pyrokinetics.
"Push them back!" a Fire Force officer shouted, rallying behind their matchboxes as flames burst from their weapons and boots.
But the White-Clads pressed harder. Coordinated combos, destructive bursts, strategic manipulation of heat—it was overwhelming.
An hour dragged into hellfire.Opposing War and New Companionship
And then she arrived.
Raina—Assistant Leader of the White-Clads. A poised, unnerving presence in a modified nurse's uniform of red-trimmed white, flowing like silk despite the carnage around her.
She looked up. Smiled.
"The Evangelist has sent someone... I see~"
Her voice was soft, amused.
And then the sky cracked.
Kai slammed into the battlefield like a meteor, his landing erupting in a shockwave that scattered both sides. Matchboxes flipped. Fire soldiers flew backward.
The smoke cleared.
"Take that, you fire assholes…" Kai growled, panting. "Shin! I know you're here!"
From the wreckage, Shin emerged with a casual whistle.
"Well, well, well... I'd say I'm impressed by how—"
"Shut the hell up. The red book. Hand it over."
Shin arched a brow. "That's no way to talk to your elders."
Kai didn't wait. He surged forward, fists blazing, fire trailing in wild spirals behind him.
Shin, quick as ever, casually passed something—the book—to a nearby Fire Force soldier behind his back… then met Kai head-on.
Their arms locked mid-strike, fire crackling violently between them.
"Give me the damn book, Shin!" Kai snarled, pushing with all he had.
"You know too much about that book," Shin said quietly. "About Adolla. Infernals. The Evangelist. You're not just some wandering relic, are you?"
Kai broke the clash with a grunt, landing a sharp one-two punch and spinning into a dropkick. It hit—but Shin absorbed it, retaliating with a brutal rush. He grabbed Kai mid-air, spun, and hurled him across the battlefield like a ragdoll.
Kai hit the ground hard, sliding across broken pavement.
"Ugh… f-fuck… I don't have the energy for this…"
Fire Force began their retreat, disappearing into the city shadows. The White-Clads had won this turf war.
Later, Kai limped through an abandoned underground railway. His breath came in shallow gasps. The adrenaline had faded. His body felt heavier than iron.
But peace didn't last.
A White-Clad emerged from the dark—Ray, a mid-ranked operative.
"So," Ray called out, stepping into view, "why'd you help us back there? You're not one of us."
Kai ignored him.
Ray frowned. "Hey! I asked you a question—"
Kai kept walking.
That was enough to start a fight.
Ray flared his flames and jumped to high ground. He extended his hand, conjuring a massive orb of flickering red-black fire.
Final Judgment.
A dense, pulsing orb of destructive flame began to form overhead—ready to crash down like an executioner's blade.
But it never landed.
A flash of movement.
A blinding line of plasma tore through the orb mid-formation, splitting it in half.
The explosion fizzled out.
A figure landed beside Kai without a sound.
Brown skin. Dreadlocks. A long blindfold wrapped around both eyes. His hand gripped a glowing blade of pure plasma—thin, elegant, deadly.
Kai turned.
"Who the hell are you?"
The stranger gave a small smile.
"Kisuke. Kaname."
He faced forward.
"And all you need to know... is that I feel what you feel."
Kai froze. His breath hitched.
Adolla.
He saw it. Even through the blindfold—he saw it in Kisuke's presence.
The connection.
Their visions weren't isolated.
And neither of them were alone anymore.