The Beginning of Hell
Silence filled the hall.
No...
The world itself had stopped.
Thousands of eyes were fixed upon the fractured sky above the Imperial Capital.
One gate.
Then a second.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
Until darkness swallowed the entire horizon.
And Kaizen...
Still stood before the throne.
Calm.
As though everything unfolding around him was nothing more than the natural order of things.
The Emperor slowly raised his head.
And for the first time since ascending the throne...
He felt something he had not experienced in a very long time.
Fear.
"W-What..."
But his words died in his throat.
Because the black hand that had emerged from the first gate...
Did not belong to a monster.
It belonged to a human.
Or rather...
To something that had once been human.
A tall man stepped through the portal, cloaked in black.
His eyes...
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Were crimson.
Then came the second.
Then the third.
Then the tenth.
Within moments, thousands of figures descended upon the walls of the Imperial Capital.
One of the kings whispered,
"Are they... Yami?"
"No."
The answer came from Tsukiro.
Every eye turned toward him.
For the first time in years...
There was no trace of his usual composure.
"If they were merely Yami..."
His expression darkened.
"This would be far easier."
One of the Imperial Guards stepped forward.
"Protect the Emperor!"
In an instant, countless spears and swords were drawn.
Yet Kaizen did not so much as glance at them.
His eyes remained fixed on a single person.
Thalen.
"Tell me..."
"Are you truly going to remain seated?"
A smile spread across Kaizen's face.
"Or are you incapable of raising your hand against your own disciple?"
Thalen did not answer.
But behind him, Yuna could feel her hands trembling.
That face...
Jinsu's face.
And every time she saw it, she remembered the boy who had disappeared months ago.
But she could no longer see Jinsu within him.
There was only...
Kaizen.
Meanwhile, Levi stared at the sky, his eyes wide.
"This is impossible..."
Akuro glanced at him.
"Are you afraid?"
Levi didn't take his eyes off the heavens.
"No."
His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"But I'm beginning to understand why they lost."
As for Kenji...
His body trembled.
Not from fear.
From rage.
That feeling had returned.
That suffocating sense of helplessness.
The same feeling he experienced when Kaizen's hand pierced through his chest.
"Damn it..."
He lowered his head.
"I've become stronger..."
"Haven't I?"
But deep down...
He already knew the answer.
He hadn't.
The Emperor rose once more.
"Soldiers!"
His voice thundered throughout the hall.
"Kill this intruder!"
The Twelve Imperial Guards moved simultaneously.
But before they could reach him...
Kaizen raised a single finger.
And they stopped.
...
No.
They hadn't stopped of their own will.
They simply could no longer move.
Their eyes widened in terror.
"W-What's happening?!"
"My body won't move!"
Kaizen smiled.
"I forgot."
"You don't know who I am."
He walked toward one of them.
Then gently placed his hand atop the man's head.
"I..."
His fingers tightened ever so slightly.
"Am..."
And before the eyes of the entire world—
The guard's head exploded.
"...Kaizen."
Silence.
The guard's lifeless body collapsed onto the floor.
And for the first time...
Thalen rose from his seat.
Kaizen's smile faded.
"Finally."
His crimson eyes met Thalen's.
"I was beginning to wonder how much longer you intended to sit there."
Thalen stared back in silence before speaking.
"Are you finished with your performance?"
Kaizen laughed.
"No."
He pointed toward the sky.
"It's only just begun."
At that moment...
The entire capital shook.
"Monsters inside the city!"
"They've breached the eastern wall!"
"We need reinforcements!"
The throne hall descended into chaos.
And at last...
The Emperor understood.
Kaizen had not come to threaten him.
Nor had he come to humiliate him.
He had come...
To declare war.
Tsukiro stepped forward.
"Kaizen."
"Hm?"
"If it is war you seek..."
Tsukiro slowly opened his eyes completely.
"Then war is what you'll have."
Silence.
Then...
Kaizen smiled.
"At last."
"I've waited a very long time to hear those words."
He raised his hand toward the heavens.
"From this day onward..."
The black gates trembled.
"There will be no Empire."
His gaze shifted toward the Emperor.
"No thrones."
Then toward Tsukiro.
"No peace."
And finally...
Toward Thalen.
"And no salvation."
Silence fell over the world.
Before Kaizen spoke his final words.
"From this day onward..."
"The world shall be divided in two."
"Those who stand with me..."
"And those who die."
At that exact moment...
The first section of the Imperial Capital's walls collapsed.
And the war began.