The world didn't feel real anymore.
Flames tore through space, folding reality in on itself as Crona carried Naoki through a burning corridor between places that shouldn't exist.
Naoki couldn't speak.
Couldn't think.
The only thing echoing in his head
She's not coming back.
The fire collapsed.
They landed.
Hard.
Naoki stumbled forward, catching himself against the ground as the world snapped back into place around him.
Stone walls.
Dim light.
A hidden refuge.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
"…Brina…"
The name slipped out before he could stop it.
Crona didn't answer.
Naoki turned.
She stood a few steps behind him, her flames low barely flickering.
That alone felt wrong.
"…what happened?"
His voice was unsteady.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Just… searching.
Crona said nothing at first.
She walked past him slowly, her steps heavier than he had ever seen.
For the first time
she looked old.
"…he broke the seal."
Naoki swallowed.
"…and?"
A pause.
Then
"I was too late."
The words were quiet.
But they hit harder than anything else.
Naoki's hands clenched.
"…no."
Crona didn't look at him.
"Brina held him off."
His chest tightened.
"She told me to take you and leave."
"…so you ran?"
"You left her to die alone against that monster"
"You told me that we never leave each other and that we'll always be there for…
"Enough! We made the call together this was always the plan to ensure you survived was always the right call"
"You lied to me, abandoned your sister and she died"
The moment the words left his mouth
he knew.
But it was too late.
Silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Sharp.
Crona stopped walking.
For a second
Naoki thought she might get angry.
Burn him.
Shut him down.
Instead
"…yes."
No defense.
No justification.
Just truth.
Naoki's breath shook.
"…she died… and you just left her there?"
Crona's shoulders tensed.
But she still didn't turn around.
"She made her choice."
"That wasn't her choice!" Naoki snapped. "That was yours too!"
Fire flared.
The room trembled as heat surged outward but it didn't explode.
It held.
Barely.
"You think I don't know that?" Crona said, her voice low.
Dangerously low.
Naoki froze.
That wasn't anger.
That was something deeper.
"I felt it," she continued. "The moment it happened."
Her voice cracked
just slightly.
And that was enough.
"I knew… the second her power disappeared."
Silence.
Naoki's anger faltered.
"…then why"
"Because if I stayed"
She turned.
And for the first time
Naoki saw it.
Not a god.
Not a warrior.
A sister.
"If I stayed," Crona said, "we would both be dead."
The words settled into the room.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
"And then…" her gaze sharpened, locking onto him, "so would you."
Naoki couldn't respond.
Because he understood.
He hated it
but he understood.
His fists tightened at his sides.
"…so what now?"
No hesitation this time.
"We move."
Crona stepped closer.
Her presence steadied not as overwhelming as before, but focused.
Controlled.
"We don't fight him."
Naoki's jaw clenched.
"…then what?"
"We survive."
The word landed hard.
Final.
"He's stronger than before," Crona continued. "Not just in power in control. The Bru we sealed… is not the one that returned."
Naoki's stomach dropped.
"…then how do we beat him?"
Crona didn't answer immediately.
And that
that scared him more than anything.
Finally:
"We don't."
Silence.
Naoki stared at her.
"…what?"
"We don't beat him," she repeated. "Not now."
The truth sat between them.
Cold.
Unavoidable.
"You're not ready," she said. "And I'm not enough."
That hurt.
More than the training.
More than the failure.
Because it was real.
Naoki looked down at his hands.
Shaking.
"…then what was all this for?"
Four years.
Pain.
Training.
Pushing himself past limits
for what?
"To keep you alive," Crona said.
Naoki looked up.
Her gaze didn't waver.
"And to make sure that when the time comes…"
A pause.
Not dramatic.
Not forced.
Just honest.
"…you don't die like she did."
That hit.
Different.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
Something heavier.
Responsibility.
Naoki exhaled slowly, forcing his breathing to steady.
"…then I'll get stronger."
Crona watched him carefully.
"I don't care how long it takes."
His grip tightened.
"I don't care how far behind I am."
His voice steadied.
"But I'm not running forever."
Silence.
Crona studied him
not as a teacher.
Not as a god.
As something else.
Something measuring.
Then
a small shift.
Not a smile.
But close.
"Good," she said.
"Because he won't give you that choice."
"He'll hunt is down until we're in his grasp"
"You must destroy doubt in your mind because you will be the one to defeat him when the time comes"
The air shifted again.
Subtle.
But there.
Naoki felt it immediately.
That pressure.
Distant
but real.
His body tensed.
"…he's moving."
Crona nodded.
"Yes."
Her flames began to rise again.
Stronger now.
Sharper.
"Then we move faster."
Naoki picked up his blade.
This time it didn't feel like training.
It felt like the only thing he had.
"…where are we going?"
Crona turned toward the exit.
Her voice steady.
Certain.
"To survive long enough…"
A pause.
Then
"To prepare you to kill him."
Naoki followed.
The fear was still there.
The doubt.
The weight.
But underneath it
something else had started to form.
Not confidence.
Not yet.
But direction.
And in a world where a god had just fallen
that was enough to keep moving.