The warm ughter and pyful scolding from the campfire slowly fade as the scene transitions into a dark, deserted hallway.

  In the dim light, a lone shadow dog lingers at the far end—a silent harbinger of what’s to come.

  Dawn breaks the next day, and the Old Man, Ren, is already up by the makeshift fire, preparing breakfast from fresh wild game he must’ve hunted the night before.

  As the aroma of sizzling scrap meat drifts through the morning air, the girl wakes first.

  “Ooh, that smells good—can I have some?” she calls out, but when she sees the coarse, raw fare, she wrinkles her nose. “This isn’t real food—it’s just wild game!”

  Barely a moment ter, the teen, Watari, stirs awake. “Food… where?” he mumbles sleepily.

  In response, the girl pyfully bonks his head. “Are you just a man who only thinks about food? How primal!” she teases, her tone light even as she ughs at his groggy protest.

  Inside the building’s dim hallway, footsteps echo. Ren, who’d been stirring a pot, freezes mid-motion and turns to face the sound.

  Then, rhythmic cpping ripples through the corridor. Yumi’s eyes narrow slightly, something about the rhythm—it’s not just arrogance, it’s deliberate. That cp… I’ve heard that before.” She shakes it off, but

  there’s a creeping unease in her gut.

  Emerging from the shadows stands a figure—the same mysterious presence hinted at in earlier panels.

  Ren’s steely gaze meets the newcomer’s as he decres, “I knew you’d be the first to find us, Ryuko.”

  Ryuko, with a wry smile, replies, “Well, of course. I was trained by the greatest senpai himself. The only one of your students to ever become a a Hoju with you. Naturally, I’m the one who’d find you.”

  He scans the room, his eyes lingering on Yumi and Watari before Ren cuts him off with a warning gnce:

  “Don’t you dare…”

  But before he can finish, two shadow dogs burst from the darkness, lunging at Watari and Yumi from behind.

  In a fsh, Yumi draws her knife, sshing at the creatures with practiced ease. She pivots swiftly, intercepting an attack aimed at Watari—her bde fshing in the low light.

  Watari’s eyes widen in arm. “Whoa—who is this guy? He didn’t even say hi!” he blurts out.

  “Obviously, he’s an enemy,” Yumi retorts coolly. Then, adopting a challenging stance, she teases, “Oh, you don’t even know how to use your powers, do you?”

  Watari, a bit flustered yet defiant, shrugs, “It’s cool—I’ll learn on the fly.”

  Ren shakes his head. “That’s not how it works, kid.”

  Without warning, Ryuko’s voice echoes down the corridor as he summons 10 more shadow dogs.

  “Ren senpai, we need to have a talk outside,” he calls.

  Ren grins and replies, “I was thinking the same thing. Yumi take care of the kid.”

  In a heartbeat, Ren teleports up to him, and in a fsh of light, both vanish—leaving behind only Yumi and Watari, and the echo of approaching danger.

  High in the darkening sky, Ryuko’s icy voice cuts through the silence.

  “In this organization, what happens when missions go incomplete?” he demands, his eyes locked on Ren.

  Ren meets his gaze with weary defiance. “Sometimes I wonder which organization you truly belong to, Ryuko.”

  A slight chuckle escapes Ryuko, his smile turning wicked. “Ohhh you knew? Then perhaps today is the day I finally rid myself of you, Ren.”

  He raises the bracelet on his hand, phasing it forward as he decres,

  “Take form, Erebus!”

  In an instant, a crushing darkness engulfs Ren, swallowing him for a moment.

  “Young kids never learn, do they? Always with the ‘take form’ this, ‘take form’ that,” Ren mutters as he struggles to regain control.

  Slowly, he unleashes his aura—a cold, gray-blue glow that flickers against the encroaching void.

  For a heartbeat, the darkness appears to recede, only to surge back with relentless force.

  Ryuko ughs low and cruel. “Oh, you thought I was weak? I bet you didn’t even know I learned to enhance my darkness by quite a bit .”

  His tone drips with disdain as he continues, “So, which one activated the core? The kid? He’ll be the first to go.”

  Ren snaps, “The kid had nothing to do with this—leave him out!”

  Ryuko’s tone turns mocking. “Senpai, senpai, you really think I’m stupid? I remember seeing her bracelet earlier—she thinks she’s hiding it but I saw that ankle.

  That means the kid’s the one that hasn’t released his core yet. Activating him and having to watch him die before you release him. What a sad day for my senpai.”

  A fsh of fear crosses Ren’s face before the scene abruptly cuts to the underground hideout.

  Deep below, in a dim, subterranean corridor, the battle rages. Yumi and Watari are locked in combat with a relentless tide of shadow beasts.

  Yumi’s bde arcs gracefully as she slices through foe after foe, her movements a blend of precision and controlled fury, while Watari deftly evades the attacks, covering her fnk as best he can.

  “I can’t keep this up—I won’t have the stamina for this endless horde!” Yumi excims, frustration mingling with determination.

  Watari, dodging a sudden lunge, mutters, “I’m sorry—I wish I could do more.”

  “You just focusing on keeping yourself unhurt!” She says with a heave.

  After a brief pause, Watari calls out, “Hey, Mi chan—how do I do that take-form thing you did earlier? If I knew, keeping myself unhurt would be a much easier task.”

  Yumi shakes her head. “Ren hasn’t released your core yet—the geezer let that guy rile him up before he could complete it.”

  Watari clenches his fist, his expression hardening as he steels himself. Even though it sucks that he can’t access his powers right now, he knows he must rely on his own strength to keep Yumi safe.

  “I can’t let her do all the work . I’ve got to step up,” he thinks.

  With renewed determination born from that resolve, Watari charges in—throwing a punch at a shadow beast that vanishes only to reappear moments ter.

  After a few more relentless swings, Watari sees the beasts regenerating. He begins to think that maybe he’s not strong enough after all.

  Finally, Yumi’s patience snaps. “Enough!” she decres. Swiftly, she removes the bracelet from her ankle and straps it onto her wrist.

  Extending her hand with authority, she commands, “Take form, Kiyohime!”

  In a burst of energy, the cube on her bracelet releases a dragon-like aura engulfs her as she unleashes her first move with her twin sais —Arcane Breath.

  The fiery bst incinerates several shadow creatures, yet as soon as the fmes subside, more emerge from the darkness. “Dang, this feels useless,” Yumi mutters, frustration fshing in her eyes.

  “I’ll keep them busy. Watari, you need to go get Ren to fully release your core NOW.”

  Watari pauses to take in the situation. With that, Watari nods determinedly and dashes off, leaving Yumi to contend with the ever-advancing horde.

  As she faces back toward the horde, she takes a deep breath. “Now that he’s gone I can finally go all out without worrying about my surroundings.”

  A wicked smile begins to take over her face. “Since I didn’t get to use this earlier, I’ve been dying to try it again.” She crosses her arms with the twin sais. “Cw of the Wyvern”.