Scene: The Absorption
Marine's body lay silent on the ground, the pendant dimmed beside her, its last spark fading into smoke.
Black Kai stood over her.
Something in his expression shifted.
Not sorrow.
Not hesitation.
But hunger.
The Aether energy inside her — the core Sophie had sealed away — was still alive, glowing faintly in her chest.
Kai (low, cold):
"You are light.
And I am the end of light."
He reached down, his hand glowing red, and placed it over her chest.
The ground around them shattered.
The sky turned black.
As the divine Aether left her body and flowed into him, his flames turned white-hot, then pitch black, wrapping his body in Rayogar-enhanced Aether — something that had never existed before.
He absorbed everything.
Marine's light.
Sophie's final protection.
Even the tether holding him to memory.
Gone.
---
Scene: Ascension of the Void Flame Titan
Kai's body lifted into the air.
The rocks below melted.
His veins glowed like flowing magma — but not red.
Dark violet and crimson.
A spiral of corrupted light spun around him as the Aether Cores he had absorbed pulsed one last time.
And at the center of it all, the last Core — Marine's — merged with his own.
> He was no longer just a warrior.
Not even a god.
He had become a Force.
The Void Flame Titan.
Kai (speaking to no one):
"Hokori…
You took everything from me.
You will be the first to fall."
He vanished in a roar of fire.
---
Scene: The Death of Hokori
Hokori's throne room — located deep within the world-core of Mal'dron — cracked open as Kai descended like a meteor of flame.
The guards disintegrated in seconds.
Hokori rose from his obsidian throne, arms already glowing with twisted Aether.
He laughed as Kai approached.
Hokori:
"So you've finally remembered what it means to burn."
Kai (emotionless):
"I've remembered…
how to end."
The battle lasted only minutes.
Hokori threw galaxies of corrupted Aether, summoned storms of rage and time distortion — but Kai's new form devoured it all.
He didn't fight like a man.
He fought like the final chapter.
In one devastating move, Kai split the throne world in two, searing through Hokori's core with a spiral blade of black fire.
Hokori died screaming.
His soul was burned out of existence.
---
Scene: A New Purpose
Standing above the broken world, Kai looked to the stars.
He saw other planets.
Other cities.
Other civilizations.
And he felt nothing.
Kai (coldly):
"This universe…
betrayed itself."
He remembered everything now.
Not just Sophie.
Not just Marine.
But how the universe watched and did nothing when they were taken from him.
And so, with no enemies left… he set a new goal.
Kai (declaring):
"I will burn every world that stood silent.
And when the last star dies... I will rest."
He created a spiral flame above his hand — the first beacon of Universal Erasure.
One by one, the destruction would begin.
---
Elsewhere: Kazuya Awakens
In a broken realm between time, Kazuya stood on cracked glass, breathing heavily.
He had felt it — across dimensions.
Marine's death.
Her light… fading.
His knees buckled.
Kazuya (gritting teeth):
"No… no, she can't be gone. Not like this…"
Then he saw a flash — a memory shard.
Marine, smiling at him.
Training.
Laughing.
Saying, "I'll come back stronger. For all of you."
And in that moment, Kazuya stood.
Kazuya (eyes burning):
"I'll bring her back.
Even if it means breaking the laws of death."
---
Scene: Marine's Core — Not Fully Gone
Back on Vel'Raeth… something stirred.
In the place where Marine died, the pendant that had faded…
Flickered once.
The dust lifted in the wind.
A soft voice echoed.
> "Aether cannot die.
Not if the universe still remembers her."