Kaizen didn't wake up for three days.
The doctors called it spiritual exhaustion.
The Corps called it overexposure.
The Commander called it… classified.
Yoji sat beside the hospital bed, silent as always.
Mira hadn't left once.
She held his hand gently.
But her eyes weren't calm anymore.
They were searching.
For answers.
In a secure underground chamber—
Far below the Corps headquarters—
A secret meeting was taking place.
Not Corps members.
Government officials.
Project Eclipse members.
A large screen displayed footage from the battle.
The moment.
The kneeling Upper Rank.
The words:
"My King."
Silence filled the room.
One older official leaned forward.
"…It's confirmed."
Another whispered,
"The Vessel is stabilizing faster than predicted."
A third man spoke quietly.
"Then Phase Two begins."
Back in the hospital—
Kaizen's fingers twitched.
Inside his mind—
He stood once again in the endless darkness.
The Shinigami King stood before him.
"No more hiding," the King said calmly.
Kaizen clenched his fists.
"You used my parents."
"They understood the cost."
"They were sacrificed."
"They offered you."
The words hit harder than any blade.
Kaizen charged forward—
But the King didn't move.
"You hate me," the King said softly.
"Yet without me… you would have died that night."
Kaizen froze.
The darkness around them rippled.
"You were dying," the King continued.
"Your father chose."
Images flashed—
Fire spreading.
A collapsing ceiling.
Kaizen trapped.
His father carving a symbol into the ground.
Blood dripping.
A ritual.
"You were never meant to survive," the King said.
"You were meant to become."
Kaizen screamed—
And woke up.
He sat up violently.
Breathing hard.
Mira gasped in relief.
"Kaizen!"
Yoji stood instantly.
"You're back."
Kaizen looked at them.
Then at his hands.
They were steady.
Too steady.
"I saw it," he whispered.
"Your parents?" Mira asked gently.
Kaizen nodded slowly.
"They didn't die protecting me."
Silence.
"They died choosing me."
Later that night—
The Commander entered the room alone.
He dismissed Yoji and Mira for a moment.
When the door closed—
His tone changed.
Cold.
Professional.
"You're aware now, aren't you?"
Kaizen didn't answer.
The Commander placed a file on the table.
Project Eclipse.
Top secret.
"You were never random," the Commander said quietly.
"You were engineered."
Kaizen's jaw tightened.
"What do you want from me?"
The Commander's eyes didn't blink.
"We want you to control it."
"And if I can't?"
A pause.
The Commander's voice dropped.
"Then we'll eliminate you."
Outside the room—
Yoji stood against the wall.
He had heard enough.
His eyes darkened.
If they tried to touch Kaizen—
They'd have to go through him.
Far away—
The Shinigami King watched silently.
The humans were finally afraid.
And fear…
Was the first step toward chaos.
The hospital lights flickered once.
Just once.
But Kaizen felt it.
The King was closer now.
Not louder.
Closer.
The Commander stood at the foot of the bed, arms behind his back.
"Project Eclipse was designed to create a bridge," he said calmly.
"A controllable connection between our world and theirs."
Kaizen's eyes hardened.
"And I'm the bridge."
"You're the anchor."
The word felt worse.
Not hero.
Not weapon.
Anchor.
Something that keeps a door open.
"Your father believed if a human vessel carried the King's core, we could negotiate balance," the Commander continued.
"But balance requires control."
"And if I lose control?" Kaizen asked quietly.
The Commander didn't hesitate.
"We activate Protocol Severance."
Kaizen already knew what that meant.
Death.
Outside—
Yoji stood in the hallway, fists clenched.
Mira looked up at him.
"They're scared of him," she whispered.
Yoji nodded once.
"They should be."
"But we're not," she said.
Yoji looked toward the hospital door.
"No."
He wasn't scared of Kaizen.
He was scared of what they might force him to become.
Midnight.
Kaizen stood alone in the training chamber.
Everyone else had left.
He needed answers.
He closed his eyes.
Focused.
The mark under his skin began to glow faintly.
Black energy rose around him like smoke.
"Show yourself," he whispered.
The air shifted.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The King appeared behind him.
"You call… and I answer."
Kaizen didn't turn.
"Why didn't you kill me when I was a child?"
"Because you were incomplete."
"And now?"
The King's presence intensified.
"Now you are beginning to understand."
Kaizen clenched his fists.
"You want the barrier broken."
"Yes."
"You want this world destroyed."
The King paused.
"No."
That answer made Kaizen turn.
The King's glowing eyes were steady.
"I want balance restored."
Images flashed around them—
Humans extracting Shinigami energy.
Weapons powered by stolen souls.
Artificial portals.
Experiments.
Screams.
"You call us monsters," the King said calmly.
"Yet your kind pierced the veil first."
Kaizen's breathing slowed.
The truth wasn't simple.
It never was.
"You are not my puppet," the King continued.
"You are my equal. When you accept that… we will become whole."
"I will never accept you."
The King stepped closer.
"You already are."
Suddenly—
An explosion shook the entire headquarters.
Kaizen snapped back to reality.
Red alarms blared again.
Not from outside.
From inside.
"Containment breach!" someone shouted through the speakers.
Energy readings spiked below ground level.
The deepest sector.
Project Eclipse vault.
Yoji burst into the chamber.
"Kaizen!"
The floor cracked.
A wave of black energy erupted upward.
Something was breaking free.
Not from the sky.
From beneath them.
The Commander's voice echoed over comms:
"All units to Sub-Level Zero!"
Kaizen felt it instantly.
This energy…
It wasn't a Shinigami from outside.
It was one they had captured.
And experimented on.
Sub-Level Zero
Steel doors were torn apart like paper.
Scientists lay unconscious.
In the center of the chamber—
A chained Upper Rank Shinigami stood free.
Its body covered in sealing marks.
Its eyes furious.
"You dare imprison us…"
It raised its hand—
And crushed a soldier without touching him.
Yoji jumped forward immediately.
Their clash sent shockwaves through the chamber.
But this Upper Rank was enraged.
Unstable.
More violent than the others.
Kaizen stepped forward.
The mark burned again.
The Upper Rank froze mid-attack.
Its eyes widened.
"You…"
It dropped to one knee instantly.
Not by choice.
By instinct.
The room went silent.
Everyone stared.
The Upper Rank trembled.
"My King."
The Commander's face drained of color.
Soldiers slowly stepped back from Kaizen.
Fear spread faster than fire.
Kaizen's voice came out deeper.
Colder.
"Release your rage."
The chains around the Shinigami shattered completely.
Yoji looked at him sharply.
"Kaizen… stop."
For a split second—
Kaizen's eyes flickered white again.
The King's presence flooding outward.
The Upper Rank stood obediently.
Awaiting command.
Kaizen's mind split in two.
One side screaming to destroy everything.
The other holding onto one image—
Mira's smile.
The ring in her hand.
"I'll wait."
He clenched his fists.
"No."
The white faded.
The pressure collapsed.
The Upper Rank roared in confusion—
And Yoji used that moment.
One precise strike.
Straight through its core.
The Shinigami shattered.
Silence.
Smoke.
Broken steel.
Everyone stared at Kaizen.
Not as a teammate.
Not as a weapon.
But as something else.
The Commander finally spoke.
"…Prepare Protocol Severance."
Yoji stepped in front of Kaizen instantly.
"You touch him," Yoji said quietly,
"and I won't miss."
For the first time
The Corps was divided.
And the real war…
Had just begun.