The dust of battle is still rising, dim light dances among the debris... and amidst the rubble, a faint light appears in the distance.
The taxi comes to a sudden stop at the edge of the dirt road, the doors open hastily...
Miku (eagerly):
"R-Ryuichi!!!"
Natsumi stares at the screen connected to the mana bio-waves, screaming:
Natsumi:
"He's there! But his signals are unstable!"
They run towards him...
Ryuichi stands up with difficulty, his body bleeding mana like crumbling dust, his steps faltering, he tries to raise his hand:
Ryuichi (in a weak voice):
"I... you..."
He suddenly collapses in Natsumi's arms.
---
Here, heavy footsteps pierce the stillness... Nakamura slowly gets up. His body is full of bruises, but his eyes... are on fire.
He turns toward his followers, who begin to retreat in fear.
Nakamura (in demonic rage):
"Fools...! Is this what you call loyalty?"
He kicks one of them so hard, it smashes into the wall. The other one screams, but the kick knocks him down. One tries to rationalize his failure, but Nakamura's blow silences him before he can speak.
Then he turns to them...
A grim look. His breath is like anger incarnate.
In the distance, Miku and Natsumi are cradling the unconscious Ryuichi.
Nakamura steps forward, slowly, steadily, each step like a drumbeat of death.
---
Miku (in a trembling voice):
"He's coming..."
Natsume:
"No... I won't let him!"
She reaches out her hand in front of her, and a mana vortex forms, spinning at a terrifying spiral speed.
Natsumi (in a firm voice):
"Dimension Split: Abyss Gate!"
The dimension suddenly splits in front of Nakamura, a portal as dark as a black hole trying to swallow him up, but Nakamura... suddenly disappears, appearing out of it in an instant, effortlessly.
Nakamura (sarcastically cold):
"Do you think I would fall into a hole like that?"
---
He steps forward again, but this time, Natsumi opens her fist, mana swords forming around her, her hand trembling but looking at him with the eyes of a fighter...
Natsumi (with silent anger):
"Stay away from him... or I'll show you the wrath of the one who holds the Dimensional Legacy!"
Nakamura smiles that crazy smile, and prepares himself.
And so, the fiery clash begins... between Nakamura, the monstrous raptor, and Natsume, the dimensional heiress...
---
The air is saturated with mana... every molecule vibrates with tension.
Natsumi leans on her knee, holding a barely breathing Ryuichi, while Miko approaches, panting.
Miku (in a whisper):
"We'll bring him back... we just need time..."
But Natsumi doesn't respond... her eyes are fixed on Nakamura, who approaches with a confident stride, his gaze piercing like knives.
Natsumi (in a hushed voice):
"Take him away."
Miku (trembling):
"You're not thinking of-no, don't do it, don't leave him here!"
Natsumi:
"Trust me."
Before Miku can finish her objection, suddenly, a huge vacuum vortex opens up beneath her, stretching out like the hand of fate. No time to scream or protest, the void swallows her and Ryuichi in an instant, closing as if nothing had happened.
Silence reigns, before a loud laugh echoes through the room...
Nakamura (in a sarcastic voice):
"Huh, what a desperate move. Did you send them to avoid defeat? Or to save the unworthy?"
Natsumi rises slowly, drops of sweat running down her forehead, her body swaying but straightening, and in her hand, a blade of dark purple light, glowing with dimensional fury.
Natsumi (eerily calm):
"No one touches the one I love without paying the price..."
Nakamura moves, dust flies around him, he waves his hand and then fires a violent mana charge that splits the ground and shatters the trees behind Natsumi.
She dodges it smoothly, then opens a small portal behind him and sends a mana arrow aimed at his neck, Nakamura responds by raising an eyebrow sarcastically, then grabs the arrow and breaks it.
Nakamura:
"Really? Gates and arrows? Nothing but childish tricks?"
He lunges at her like an arrow, his fist on fire, but Natsumi twists her body and opens a dimensional dimension right in front of him... the moment he enters, the dimension turns into a deadly gravitational pressure field.
Nakamura freezes inside for one second, just long enough for Natsumi to slice through the sky with her blade of light and hit him with an arc!
He's thrown back, but his body isn't hurt too much... he smiles.
Nakamura (in a calm voice):
"Whatever, I'll have a little fun..."
He rises above the ground, his eyes glowing with dark energy.
Nakamura:
"Devouring Pulse: Chaotic Bloom"
A vortex of dark auras emerges from his body, disintegrating into swift spines that chase Natsumi across dimensions, forcing her to jump, split, and twist, each time narrowly escaping.
Natsumi (speaking to herself):
"Speed... so fast... each cell in it behaves as if it's independent!"
Then she screams:
Natsumi:
"Abyssal Step!"
She vanishes from her place and appears above him, firing a series of blades in succession from multi-directional portals!
Blows rain down on Nakamura like a storm, but he extends his arms... and each blow is sucked out of his body armor.
Nakamura (sarcastically):
"Girl... you're just a toy with fake fangs."
Then, out of nowhere, Nakamura disappears... appearing right behind Natsumi.
Nakamura:
"Let me show you... what real terror feels like."
He hits her hard, and she's propelled through several broken gates, falling, coughing up blood... but smiling!
Natsumi (softly):
"You're trapped..."
The portals around him suddenly activate, discharging all their charge into a single point: Nakamura's heart.
The violet-white flash splits the darkness, the echo from the explosion shakes the air, and Nakamura's body falls hard to the ground, half of his body submerged in the scattered debris.
Natsumi stands up with difficulty, panting, her hand still burning with residual energy, her eyes fixed on the smoke rising from where he fell.
Natsumi (under her breath):
"It's over..."
Suddenly... a shrill scream, like a brutal snarl, cuts across the horizon.
Rubble flies around his body, and the smoke is sucked in instead of dissipating.
Nakamura reappears... but not like before.
His eyes are blazing black, and a dense, dark aura wraps around him, almost devouring the light around him, his skin covered in dark, pulsing mana cracks.
Nakamura (in a distorted, deep voice):
"You... hurt me... insect..."
In the blink of an eye, he appears in front of Natsume, his first punch shattering the defensive barrier around her, the second sending her flying dozens of meters.
Before she falls, he appears behind her, grabs her head and slams it into the ground with force, the ground cracking beneath her.
Nakamura:
"Did you think I would fall like that?"
He yanks her off the ground and punches her again in the stomach, a bitter cry of pain rising from her mouth, before throwing her into the air.
As she falls, he kicks her hard in the back, she hits the wall of an abandoned building and collapses, barely breathing.
Blood stains her face, and her clothes are partially torn from the beating.
Nakamura (approaching slowly):
"That's the difference between us... I was born of darkness, and you... your vain dreams can't save you from the truth."
He raises his hand, a dense black energy gathers in his palm, almost swallowing the air itself...
Nakamura (with a devilish smile):
"Goodbye... you failed dimensional toy."
But suddenly, in a low... whispery... whispered voice... Natsumi's whispers break the silence:
Natsumi (in a trembling but deep voice):
"You who created from borders and freed paths from limitations...
O scion of emptiness and child of infinity...
Open to me the door of nothingness, and open to me the path of eternal stillness."
The air freezes.
Overlapping purple circles are drawn below Natsume, as if written in time itself.
The sky cracks, a portal to nothingness appears - a massive door with no color, no matter, just a living rupture in reality itself.
Behind it... an unrecognizable being crawls out - its shadow changes every moment, its eyes never stop moving, its body pulsates in absolute silence. It's not alive... it's nothingness incarnate.
The Being (in a multi-layered voice):
"Who summoned me...?"
Nakamura stops, his eyes twitching for a moment, feeling for the first time... not annoyed, but threatened.
Natsumi (standing up despite the pain):
"You are not the only one who possesses the incomprehensible... This being... existed before the laws of mana themselves were born. His name is Kai Nihon... the messenger of nothingness."
The being extends its arm toward Nakamura, and everything around it begins to erode, the stones, the light, even the echoes of sounds.
Nakamura (biting his lip):
"You dare... use this...?"
Nakamura screams, his aura explodes again, he tries to attack the creature, but the attack penetrates the nothingness and hits nothing.
The creature opens its primary eye... and makes a sound akin to a cosmic decision.
Kai Nihon advances, making no sound, but creating ripples that erase everything it touches, extending its arm toward Nakamura, nothingness seeping into its body like a disease.
Nakamura (with rising anger):
"Damn it... I will not fall to dimensional parasites!"
His veins explode with dark energy, his eyes burn with the color of blood and fire, and his voice comes out deeper than usual, transformed into something like a nightmare come to life.
"The Great Curse: Black Moon Explosion - Kokugan Bakuretsu"
Dark purple-black energy balls surround his body, oscillating rapidly, then suddenly shrinking to a single point in the palm of his hand. The point absorbs light, and gravity itself seems distorted around it.
Across the room, Natsumi begins her second chant:
Natsumi (her voice becomes distant, as if coming from ancient times):
"In the name of the one who was banished from the circle of time...
In the name of the one who walked on the forgotten edges of dimensions...
Open the Great Gate: Release the Cosmic Storm - Ōkami no Kaze"
Another portal, wider than the first, begins to form, black winds pouring out of it with tremendous force, wrapping around Natsume and pushing everything away.
The conflict is about to explode!
But at the decisive moment...
Space suddenly splits open, and two technologies appear simultaneously-the first is a glowing blue mana cage that surrounds Nakamura, and the second is a spherical dimensional shield that wraps around Natsume, separating them from each other.
From the shattered space, two figures emerge...
1. The first wears a cloak embroidered with digital symbols, his eyes are glowing, and in his hand is a book that floats untouched - Sigma, the guardian of digital balance.
2. The second with a face covered in a silver mask, his hands shining as if they were woven from the fabric of reality itself - Zethar, the exile from the higher dimensional complex.
Sigma (in a calm but penetrating voice):
"Enough. If this battle continues, you will tear the threads of the cosmic fabric itself."
Zethar:
"You are not alone in this world... and this power you summon is far greater than you."
They both activate opposite seals: One to freeze the nothingness, the other to trap the explosive black energy.
Time stands still for a moment... the contrast between the stillness of the surrounding space and the screaming of the disrupted energies sends a deep shudder through the space.
Nakamura (with astonishment and muffled anger):
"What the... the hell... who are you? Who dared to stop Kokugan Bakuretsu's strike?"
Natsumi (backing away slightly, sweating, her eyes fixed on the two mysterious men):
"You... who the hell are you?"
The first one, holding the floating digital book, takes slow steps, breaking the silence.
Sigma:
"I'm Sigma... the head of the Digital Balance Branch of the Elite Police."
The second raises his hand, and the sky darkens to a dull gray for a moment.
Zethar:
"And his colleague... Zethar, supervisor of the enforcement of the laws of higher dimensions."
They are silent for a moment, then speak together in a unified voice, as if the universe itself is chanting behind them:
"We are from the Elite Police - Squad Z-ØX, specializing in monitoring chaotic breaches in the time and dimensional fields."
Sigma (advancing further):
"What happened here is beyond the pale... Dimensional inheritance, the energy of nothingness, the black moon... all of this requires immediate intervention."
Zethar (with eyes shining from behind the mask):
"Nakamura... Natsume... you are accused of violating the laws of the seven universes."
Sigma slowly advances toward Natsume, reaching out his hand to activate the Space Seal of Arrest. But Natsume doesn't run away... she looks at him steadily.
Sigma (in a firm tone):
"Natsume, under Article IX of the Charter of the Universes, you are under arrest for the unauthorized and chaotic use of the Dimensional Legacy."
Natsume (looking at him calmly):
"... Wait."
Sigma pauses, raising his gray eyebrow, his eyes lighting up with a bright blue light as he asks:
"Why?"
She doesn't answer him with words... she raises her hand and opens a portal to the Void, the edges of which glow with a dark purple energy, revealing a miko holding an unconscious Ryuichi.
Miko slowly emerges from behind the portal, her hair flying under the influence of the portal's energy, with a tired but resolute expression.
Natsumi (looking at Sigma):
"Mom and I came... to save this boy. That's all."
At that moment, Sigma's eyes slowly widen. His features freeze as if time has stopped for a moment
Sigma (in a stunned whisper):
"Mei... Miko?"
Miku comes a little closer, looking at him with a look mixed with sadness and surprise.
Miku (in a low voice):
"It's been a long time... Sigma."
Sigma (involuntarily takes one step back):
"How... how can you be here... and who is this girl...?"
Natsumi (with a faint smile):
"I'm Natsumi... her daughter."
There's a heavy moment of silence, the sound of distant winds echoing in the background. The aura of the fist extinguishes from Sigma's hand.
Sigma (in a trembling voice):
"Miko... it was said that you disappeared in the Fifth Time Field... I thought you... died."
Miku (in a sad tone):
"Everyone thought so, but I was fighting... for her, for the balance of this world."
Sigma looks at Natsume, then at Miku, then at Ryuichi, as if many threads are beginning to connect in his mind.
Sigma still looks at them hesitantly, then turns his gaze to Ryuichi, who is lying in Miku's arms. He raises his eyes to Natsume and asks in a more cautious voice:
Sigma:
"Do you have any proof that everything you said... isn't just an attempt to mislead the elite police?"
Before Natsume can respond, Miku steps in with quiet steps, her voice ringing out with faint confidence:
Miko:
"The evidence... in his eyes."
Sigma (surprised):
"What do you mean?"
Miku (pointing to Ryuichi):
"The glasses he's wearing. They're not ordinary. They contain a complete visual memory record. Everything that happened... every detail... is memorized inside."
Sigma turns his gaze to the glasses, narrows his eyes, then slowly steps forward and gingerly takes them from Ryuichi's face.
Sigma (in a low voice):
"Advanced technology... this is not Earth technology... nor dimensional heritage..."
He looks at Miku sharply, as if his skepticism is growing:
Sigma:
"Who has the ability to program an optical memory at a level that even the elite police can't hack?"
Miko responds with sharp eyes and a mysterious voice:
Miko:
"You knew him... you trusted him more than you trusted yourself."
There's silence, and then Sigma's eyes slowly widen as the name begins to take shape in his mind...
Sigma (in a whisper):
"No... no way... do you mean... her?"
Miku nods her head in the affirmative without saying the name, leaving Sigma free to believe or be confused.
At this moment, a blue light begins to emit from the lenses of the glasses in Sigma's hands, indicating that data has been automatically triggered...
The lenses of the goggles begin to broadcast the recording of the battle as a holographic display. Sigma watches every moment, every move. From the first dodge, to Nakamura's crushing blow, to Ryuichi's stunning final bounce.
Sigma's eyes follow the action with increasing speed, as a mixture of shock, admiration, and suspicion builds within him.
Sigma (in a whisper):
"That's impossible... no ordinary individual could dodge an attack at such speeds... unless..."
His eyes suddenly freeze on a pivotal scene: The moment when Ryuichi copies Nakamura's move with astonishing fluidity, then mirrors it back to him.
Sigma (in shock):
"He copied it... not only did he dodge, he executed it with deadly precision... as if... reading his mind."
Sigma slowly walks over to Ryuichi's unconscious body, kneels in front of him, and one of his eyes activates with a pulse of blue-violet light.
He whispers a rare technique:
Sigma:
"Eternoscan... show me his true essence."
Waves of light begin to propagate from his eye towards Ryuichi's body, tracing the mana paths within him like a transparent energy map. But what immediately appears shocks him to the core:
Sigma (stunned):
"Impossible... the mana center... completely shattered... as if the energy core inside had been blown up... so fragile that it can't even release a simple spark!"
Sigma quickly gets to his feet, looking back at the sleeping body and then at Miku and Natsume.
Sigma (in a trembling voice):
"How? How does he fight like this? This strength... this speed... this speed... this tenacity... and he's like a corpse burning from the inside?"
Miko remains silent, but her eyes say it all. Natsumi tilts her head slightly and whispers:
Natsumi:
"Because what's moving inside him... isn't mana."
Sigma (in amazement):
"So... what is it?"
Natsumi purses her lips, and the answer hangs in the air, heavy... and deep.
Sigma slowly turns toward Zethar, who has been standing steadily behind him, one hand on the sheath of his black level mission-specific spectral weapon.
Sigma (in a cold, formal voice):
"Zethar. Priority adjustment. Nakamura rating: A1 Rebel - direct threat to the balance of power. Execution: Article 9 of the Elite Protocol."
Zethar (bows slightly):
"Confirmation. Article 9: Immediate arrest using maximum force when needed. Target: Nakamura."
Zethar moves at a measured pace, his energy emitting stable ripples, his eyes never leaving his target.
---
*At this moment, Nakamura begins to slowly walk away from the remnants of the battle. Traces of anger and hatred still burn in his aura. Suddenly, he feels something approaching at an invisible speed. He turns slightly.
Nakamura (with sarcasm tainted with anger):
"And what's this now? Are the elite police starting to hunt cats?"
Zethar appears in front of him, without any preamble, opening a new chapter in the confrontation, holding his weapon and activating the trapping spatial folding technique.
Zethar (in a low, blade-like voice):
"Nakamura... By order of Commander Sigma, you are under arrest. Any resistance will be met with overwhelming force."
Nakamura (laughing maniacally as he opens his hands):
"Come on then, elite... But don't be sorry when you find out I'm more than just a name on the wanted list."
---
The mental camera slowly pulls back as the black aura begins to rise from Nakamura's body again, meeting Zethar's disciplined energy, a moment of silence preceding a new explosion...