Takami sat frozen, his breath shallow as he stared at his phone screen. The system notification had disappeared, but his mind refused to let it go. It was all a warning about the attack.
Nagari Fortress…?
The name rang in his head like an alarm, but no matter how much he searched online, he found nothing.
Not a myth. Not a conspiracy.
It didn't even exist.
Frustrated, he switched back to the livestream recording, rewinding frame by frame. The spirit had been burning itself alive, its body melting into blackened energy, until suddenly, a distortion formed behind it.
A gate.
And inside the flames…
A figure stood watching.
Takami's fingers twitched. It was blurry, but the sight was unmistakable. Someone had been there, controlling, observing.
And then, the explosion.
He clenched his fists.
"Now I literally feel like a pawn in someone else's game ?"
He needed to get stronger.
And fast.
The Battlefield Aftermath
The air was thick with smoke and residual heat as the dust settled. Kanzaki rolled his shoulders, yanking a molten piece of debris off his vest.
Ken dusted himself off, muttering. "What the hell was that thing…?"
Ayaka's grip on her daggers tightened. She had seen it too.
"We weren't fighting a normal Great Spirit." Her voice was cold. "It was undeniably something else's puppet,"
A junior hunter from the reinforcements rushed over, panting.
"Captain Ayaka! What happened here?! That explosion,"
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she turned to Kanzaki.
Kanzaki scoffed as one of his men handed him his sunglasses and coat.
"Tch. This job keeps getting worse." He put them on and walked away without another word.
Ken stared at the ground, his fingers twitching.
"It didn't even leave remains… whatever that thing was, erased it."
Ayaka's eyes narrowed.
Ken suddenly pulled out his phone and started a live video.
"YO! WHAT'S UP, SPIRIT SLAYERS?!" Ken grinned at the camera, wiping soot off his cheek. "Y'all saw that, right? We just cleaned up Shibuya like it was our damn backyard!"
The chat exploded.
{KenFanboy}: "KEN THE GOAT!!"
{SpiritualEclipse}: "DID YOU SEE THE FLAMES THO??"
{HexenHunter}: "Bro almost DIED, hahaha… but then exploded 😐."
{QueenofExorcists}: "You're too reckless, Ken. Come to France sometime, we'll show you how to compose😂."
{Miyu>.<}: "We love you Ken ❤️❤️"
{Ichiwa_2934}: "What kind of technology is this? I tried searching for spirits with my phone camera but It doesn't work."
{KenFanboy}: (replying to Ichiwa_2934) "IT'S CALLED A SPIRIT VICE, SPECIAL CAMERA FOR SPIRITS.
Ken turned the camera to the wreckage.
"Titan Fist just dipped, and our lovely Captain Ayaka—" He turned to where she was standing, but she was already walking off. "Uh… she sends her love to you all!"
Ayaka, without looking back said, "I didn't send anything."
Ken smirked.
"She totally did, guys. Don't let her lie to you."
The chat blew up with laughing emojis.
Ken grinned and switched the camera to himself. "Alright, let's break it down."
"For all you nerds out there, that wasn't normal spirit destruction. Someone ELSE was involved."
He rewound the footage live.
"See this?" He pointed to the distortion behind the flames. "Enhance that frame."
The chat spammed: "OMG!"
Ken smirked.
"Yeah. We weren't alone out here."
He zoomed in, but the figure inside the flames remained blurred, as if the energy itself refused to be recorded.
"Whoever you are," Ken muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing. "We're coming for you."
At the Japanese Spirit Slayer (JSS) Board HQ, the top guild leaders and officials gathered in a dimly lit war room. The footage from Ken's livestream played on a massive screen before them.
An older man at the head of the table, Chief Hado Nanase, the overall leader of the JSS Board, the world's 6th and Japan's 2nd Spirit keeper, rubbed his temple.
"The flames weren't just the usual fire we know. That was energy manipulation at an abnormal level." He exhaled. "This wasn't just a Great Spirit. This was an external force at work."
Another leader leaned forward.
"Are we saying they've finally decided to make a move?"
Sora Tenma, guild master of Azure Dawn, leaned forward also.
"First the Avatar issue… now they're sending Great Spirits?"
Kaito Mizuno, guild master of Phantom Order, finished his sentence.
"All in search of Chronix, which we don't even know if it's actually a human or spirit."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
One of the analysts spoke up, hesitant.
"There's… one more thing." He hesitated, then pushed another screen forward. "The flames left an energy signature."
The leaders tensed.
"It matches the distortion that appeared in Kyoto… 45 years ago."
The room fell completely silent.
Hado Nanase's voice dropped to a whisper.
"The Life Scale incident…"
Beyond the veil of the mortal world, in a place no human could reach, Nagari Fortress burned in silence.
At its center, seated atop a throne of blackened bone, a figure sat motionless. Crimson flames flickered around him, casting twisted shadows across his face. Cold. Focused. Pissed.
The 11th Seat of the Twelve.
Lang, The Eternal Flame.
From the side, another spirit, shrouded in fragmented energy, smirked.
"That was a poor performance." He chuckled. "But at least the first trial is complete."
Across the chamber, a third spirit watched the aftermath through an unseen force. His tone was far less amused.
"Let's just hope that devil doesn't interfere with this."
Lang remained silent.
The smirking one tilted his head, his grin widening.
"Relax. Father can handle her."
Lang's fingers dug into his throne's armrests. The flames around him flared.
A voice sliced through the air, carrying an eerie amusement.
"Calling me a devil? I don't remember doing anything bad… yet, or did I?"
The two spirits froze.
Before the one who had spoken could react, a black streak flashed through the air.
A single swipe of the woman's finger.
For a moment, everything was still.
Then
The spirit's head slid clean off his shoulders.
A sickening thud echoed through the chamber as it hit the ground, his body collapsing right after. His energy dissipated instantly.
The fortress itself seemed to shudder under the weight of her presence.
The woman stepped forward, her silver eyes glinting like blades.
"Greetings, Lang."
Lang remained seated, his crimson flames flickering, but his once unreasonable expression turned to a low smile.
The surviving spirit visibly tensed.
Lang, however, simply tilted his head, studying her.
His voice carried a hint of wariness.
"What do you want… Nyx?"
She smiled wickedly.
"Is that the way you greet visitors?"
Lang's flames roared to life, but Nyx merely stepped forward, completely unbothered.
The air itself seemed to twist and distort around her.
The surviving spirit murmured under his breath, uneasy.
"This isn't good…"
Lang's voice was dangerously calm.
"What do you know about Chronix?"
Nyx tilted her head, amusement flickering in her gaze.
"More than you do." she sighed, "But aren't you supposed to be asking if I'd tell you?"
Lang's flames flared violently.
"Teach your sons some manners okay," she grinned "Ohh and what actually brought me here?" Here silver eyes flared with nothing but darkness as her smile faded into seriousness "Do what you want, but don't even think of poking your nose in my business."
And with that she vanished into dark matter.