Night had settled over the mountain range like a heavy blanket. Cold winds dragged across the rocky ground, carrying the faint scent of pine and snow. Billionzaruto sat alone on a stone ledge overlooking the valley, his legs dangling over the edge, the world spread beneath him in a quiet, endless stretch of shadows and pale moonlight.
He hadn't spoken much since the encounter with the Shadow Tempest scout. Not because he didn't want to—because he didn't trust what might come out of his mouth if he let his thoughts loose.
The truth was eating at him.
The Kuroin Blaze wasn't gone. It wasn't even weakened. It was simply… waiting. Watching him from inside the darkness of his own body.
I'm still here.
The voice had whispered to him twice today.
Soft. Patient. Almost amused.
Billionzaruto exhaled slowly. Steam clouded from his breath, then vanished into the night.
Behind him, footsteps approached—light, careful, deliberate.
"Found you," Nayumi said softly.
She sat beside him without waiting for an invitation. The moon cast a silver glow across her hair, making her look almost unreal. But her presence was grounding—a ripple of calm in a storm he couldn't escape.
"You've been quiet," she added.
"Just thinking," he replied.
"About the Kuroin Blaze?"
"About everything."
Nayumi didn't push. She let the silence stretch, giving him room. That was something he had come to appreciate—she never forced his words out of him. She just stayed.
After a while, Billionzaruto spoke again.
"When that thing was trying to take over… I thought that was it. I thought I was done."
"But you fought back."
"Barely. If you and Raiken hadn't been there—"
"We were there," Nayumi said firmly, cutting him off. "And we're not going anywhere."
He turned to look at her. She wasn't smiling. Her expression was serious—steady. She meant every word.
For a moment, that eased him in ways he didn't expect.
A distant rumble echoed in the mountains. Not thunder—something else. Heavy. Deliberate.
Raiken appeared on the path below them, moving quickly. His cloak snapped in the wind, and lightning coiled subtly around his gloves.
"We have trouble," he called.
Billionzaruto and Nayumi rose instantly.
"What is it?" Nayumi asked.
Raiken's face was grim. "A message from an old friend. The Shadow Tempest is gathering at Ashthorn Plateau. They're preparing for a ritual—one that involves the Ebon Pyre."
Billionzaruto felt his pulse quicken. That name again.
"How long do we have?" he asked.
"Not long enough." Raiken glanced between the two of them. "The ritual will force the Kuroin Blaze into a physical form. If they succeed, it won't just whisper to you anymore. It will break free."
Billionzaruto swallowed hard. "And the world burns."
Raiken didn't deny it.
"What do we do?" Billionzaruto asked.
Raiken stepped closer, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We move before they're ready. And we destroy the Ebon Pyre."
Nayumi nodded. "And we do it together."
Billionzaruto turned back toward the valley. The wind whipped across his face, cold and bitter. The path ahead wasn't just dangerous—every step could trigger the monster inside him.
But running wasn't an option anymore.
He clenched his fists, flames sparking faintly around his knuckles.
"Then let's go," he said. "Before they wake the thing inside me."
Raiken gave a single approving nod.
Nayumi tightened the straps on her cloak.
And the three of them descended the mountain—toward a plateau where shadows gathered and ancient fire waited to be unleashed.
The night behind them felt colder.
The night ahead felt darker.
But for the first time, Billionzaruto didn't walk into it alone.