The st echoes of Ren’s fshback fade as reality snaps back into focus. Before the encroaching darkness can swallow him, a blur cuts through the air.
A foot sms into the swirling void—a damn kick—shattering the csh of light and dark. The bck and gray-blue hues vanish instantly.
Ren barely has time to register what happened before a voice calls out:
“Oi, you looked like you needed some help there!”
Ren’s eyes widen as he spots Watari, still mid-air from his kick, nding between him and Ryuko.
For the first time since the reveal, Ren blinks—his mind clears. He may have just had a lot dropped on him but he understood, now was not the time for dwelling.
Then, in a fsh step, Ren disappears and reappears behind Ryuko with a devastating punch.
CRACK.
Ryuko is sent flying across the sky, disappearing into the distance. The battlefield is still for a moment.
Ren exhales, rubbing his temples. “Everything you do is a damn surprise, kid.”
Watari gives a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, it just looked like you were in trouble.”
Ren scoffs. “No, I was. Thanks, kid.”
The brief reprieve gives Watari a chance to speak. “So, uh… I heard you didn’t fully release my core thingie yet?” He grins. “I’d like to be able to do that take-form thing too, you know?”
Ren sighs, pressing his fingers between his brows. “I didn’t want to sign you up for a job you never agreed to.”
Watari tilts his head. “Huh?”
Ren’s voice is low and heavy.
“I activated the core for my own selfish reasons. I dragged you into this… And now, I realize I didn’t even know what ‘this’ fully contained.”
His gaze darkens. “A kid shouldn’t be in this dangerous business. I don’t want you to be in it.”
Watari’s expression softens, but there’s no hesitation in his reply. “You didn’t make this choice for me. Everything that’s happened since we met—I did on my own volition.”
Ren’s breath hitches slightly. Watari clenches his fist.
“Back at my orphanage, I was the healthiest, so the younger kids always saw me as the strongest. Everything I am today is because I tried to match their image of what strength is.”
His eyes burn with conviction.
“But in truth? They’re the real strong ones. They smile, they ugh, they keep holding on—they have real hope.”
He steps forward.
“I just want to have even half of the strength they have. And I think sticking with you is how I get there. I sense real strength from you, in more ways than one. I trust you, old man.”
Ren stares at him, emotions flickering across his face—pride, regret, something deeper. Then, he exhales slowly. “…Fine.”
He aims his hand at Watari.
This time his soul clear and calm.
“CORE ACTIVATE.”
A golden beam shoots from the sky.
Watari freezes in pce, his body paralyzed. The energy overtakes him, bathing him in overwhelming light.
But before the transformation can complete— “I WON’T GIVE YOU THE CHANCE!”
Ryuko’s voice shatters the moment.
A shadow explodes behind Ren as Ryuko reappears, his fist smming into Ren’s stomach. Ren stumbles back—but recovers instantly.
Ryuko twists his wrist, summoning Erebus again. From the void, two bck daggers take shape in his hands.
Ren snaps his own knives into pce. A knife-dagger battle erupts in mid-air.
Bdes csh faster than the eye can track. Sparks fly. Steel against steel.
A fsh of movement—Ryuko backflips mid-csh, barely dodging Ren’s bde. Mid-air, he throws a dagger straight at Ren. “Swallow him whole, void.”
A streak of darkness flies at Ren— twice as fast as before.
Ren barely dodges—but his knife takes the hit, getting swallowed by the void.
His breath steadies—but his eyes widen as he realizes— There’s another one. A second darkness streak closes in from behind.
Ren doesn’t see it. It’s too te—
BOOOOOM.
A shockwave of golden light erupts from the ground. Both fighters halt, their gazes snapping toward the burst.
Watari stands there. A golden-red aura surrounds him.
A bracelet glows on his wrist. Slowly, he raises his hand toward Ryuko.
Ryuko’s eyes widen, his confidence faltering. “This… can’t be.”
Watari’s voice is calm, steady. “Take form.”
— CUT TO BLACK.
