Five Years Ago 10th September 2020 — France, Europe 12:30 P.M.
A colossal explosion ripped through the sky near the Dark Knights' office.
The blast swallowed the surrounding buildings in a wave of heat and destruction, leaving behind a scar that would remain etched into the city's memory for years to come.
That day marked the first SS+ -rated Devil attack of the century.
Eighty percent of the city was destroyed.
The government called it a nuclear disaster.
But the numbers told a different story.
More than 4,200 Dark Knights were killed, around 9,000 were injured, and 12,000 civilians lost their lives.
Fear spread across the country.
Then came the name everyone associated with the tragedy.
Akira Kenji.
He took responsibility for the attack and declared himself the eternal enemy of the Dark Knights.
Yet, five years later, Akira remained free.
Only the absolute highest-ranking members of the organization knew the real reason why he had never been arrested.
Present Day At the Warehouse
The abandoned warehouse was silent.
Dust drifted through the beams of pale light filtering in through the broken windows. The air smelled of rust, old concrete, and something faintly metallic.
Then a cold, determined voice shattered the silence.
"It's been fifteen years, Grandmaster Shinkai."
Akira Kenji stood several meters away, his posture relaxed despite the tension hanging heavily between them.
"Have you become stronger?"
His eyes narrowed.
"This time, I will deal with you personally, Sam."
Sam Shinkai stared back at him without answering.
"Don't dare interfere with his family matters, Sam," Akira warned.
Sam's expression hardened.
So, he's here too?
"No," Akira replied calmly, as if he'd heard the thought itself. "But he sent me to bring them home."
He reached for a nearby glass and lifted it.
The ruby-red wine caught the dim light as he took a slow sip.
"They are already safe at home," Sam said. "No one is going to hunt them again."
"How can you ensure their safety when you were here?"
Akira's voice carried a faint edge of amusement.
He placed the glass down.
He was baiting him.
Sam ignored the provocation. Instead, he raised a hand toward the earpiece concealed beneath his fingers.
"What's happening there, Fujimoto?"
A voice crackled through the communication device.
"Everything is fine. Twelve Dark Knights were on duty near the building. I'm personally guarding the flat. No one can enter before me."
Fujimoto—the Sixth Division Captain.
Sam exhaled quietly.
"Let's get this over with quickly. She'll be angry again if I don't come back home on time."
He raised his hand.
His fingers snapped together.
Blue particles erupted around him.
"Atomic Rain!"
A torrent of luminous blue energy surged forward, tearing through the warehouse. The rear wall exploded into fragments, concrete and twisted metal scattering across the floor.
Dust billowed through the air.
When it cleared, Akira was still standing.
"Still standing, huh?" Sam muttered, a hint of surprise entering his voice.
Akira dusted off his shoulder.
"Come on. This is nothing."
Sam's eyes narrowed.
His fingers moved again.
"Hell Paradox."
Thin, nearly invisible threads materialized throughout the air.
They crisscrossed the warehouse, surrounding Akira from every direction.
For a moment, the threads seemed harmless.
Then Akira whispered,
"Ice Age."
A blast of supercooled air swept outward.
The Hell Paradox threads froze instantly.
Their momentum died.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
One after another, the frozen threads dropped to the ground, striking the concrete with dull metallic clatters.
"Is that all you've got?" Akira laughed.
His smile widened.
"At this level, you won't even last two minutes against Rudra."
Sam didn't answer.
He simply closed his fist and pulled his arm back.
Akira looked upward.
His expression barely changed.
Then—
A violent explosion erupted directly above him.
An LPG container, apparently prepared as an explosive trap by Sam, detonated in a burst of fire.
Sam immediately surrounded himself with a dense cocoon of slime, shielding his body from the blast.
Flames rolled across the ceiling.
Smoke filled the warehouse.
"Oh, man!"
Akira emerged from the flames, looking down at his scorched coat.
"You burned down my coat!"
His voice was filled with theatrical outrage.
"Do you even know how expensive this is?"
He tore the damaged coat from his shoulders and tossed it aside.
Sam didn't hesitate.
He launched another spell.
But the old warehouse had already reached its limit.
The walls groaned.
Cracks raced across the concrete.
Then the structure began to collapse.
Both men immediately leaped away as chunks of the ceiling crashed down between them.
From a distant position, someone watched the destruction unfolding.
Kirito.
His eyes widened as he stared toward the warehouse.
"What is happening there?"
Back inside the battlefield, Akira raised his hand.
"Ice Spears."
Several massive spears of ice shot toward Sam.
Sam rapidly transformed his slime into a cluster of small arrows.
"Atom Conversion, Sodium!"
The arrows instantly transformed.
The moment they collided with Akira's ice, violent explosions erupted across the battlefield.
The blasts forced Akira backward.
Sam used the smoke and debris as cover.
Just doing this won't let you get near me.
He disappeared into the haze.
A second later, Sam emerged directly in front of Akira.
He drove his fist forward.
Akira blocked.
Sam followed with another strike.
Then another.
A rapid combination of punches and kicks gave Akira no room to breathe.
For the first time, the calm expression on Akira's face disappeared.
He twisted his body and countered with a powerful uppercut kick.
Sam raised his arms just in time.
The impact still sent him flying sideways.
He crashed into a nearby truck, the metal frame buckling beneath the force.
Sam dropped to one knee.
Akira slowly walked forward.
"Now, now."
He smiled.
"Let's finish this."
Sam lifted his head.
A strange, awkward smile appeared on his face.
"Well..."
He slowly stood.
"Looks like it's time."
His expression changed.
"Now the real fight begins."
Sam opened his eyes.
They glowed an intense electric blue.
Thin lines of energy radiated from his pupils, illuminating the darkness around him.
Akira's eyes widened.
"What is that?"
He instinctively jumped backward.
Then his expression shifted from surprise to fascination.
"Maybe you aren't that bad after all."
Akira calmly loosened his tie and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Surely, you could have learned at least this much in these fifteen years."
His gaze remained fixed on Sam's glowing eyes.
"Those eyes..."
A faint smile appeared.
"The Eye of Creation."
He stepped forward.
"It seems it's going to take me a bit more time."
Sam's expression hardened.
"Hell Flame Explosion!"
The ground beneath them cracked apart.
Violent blue flames erupted from below, spreading across the warehouse floor.
Akira leaped into the air to escape the flames.
But Sam was already waiting for him.
He appeared beside Akira midair and drove his foot into him.
The impact sent Akira crashing back toward the ground.
Sam remained suspended above him.
Slime gathered around his arm.
It rapidly expanded, taking the shape of a massive sword.
Sam raised it high.
Then he drove it downward.
The blade pierced through Akira's chest.
Akira's body went still.
A cough escaped his throat.
Blood stained his lips.
"It's not over yet..."
Sam stared down at him.
For a moment, he believed it was over.
He had won.
Then a voice spoke from behind him.
"Or perhaps..."
Sam's eyes widened.
"...what you're seeing isn't real at all."
He turned.
Akira stood several meters away from the point of impact.
Uninjured.
Sam's grip tightened.
An illusion?
Akira raised his hand.
"Awakening."
The air temperature plummeted.
"Dry Ice—Death Paradox."
The world around them froze.
Within seconds, everything inside a fifty-meter radius had transformed into a frozen wasteland.
The ground became solid ice.
Vines formed from frozen matter erupted from beneath the surface and twisted through the air, racing toward Sam.
Sam summoned his sword and began cutting them apart.
But the vines kept coming.
One after another.
He couldn't close the distance.
These stupid vines...
Sam gritted his teeth.
If I don't finish him now—
A vicious vine suddenly slipped through his defence.
It tore into his left shoulder.
Pain shot through his body.
Sam staggered.
Akira watched him calmly.
"You should be grateful for possessing one of my three awakenings."
His voice remained almost conversational.
"Very few people in this world can wield more than one. An awakening is directly linked to one's soul. Most people don't even consider the possibility of possessing another."
He looked directly into Sam's glowing eyes.
"And yet, don't think I'm unaware of how many awakenings you can actually use."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"'Child of Prodigy'..."
He paused.
"Shinkai Yozakura, wielder of twelve awakenings."
Sam's breathing grew heavier.
"Not now."
Pain throbbed through his shoulder.
He raised his hand.
"Awakening."
The air around him began to distort.
"Hell's Gate!"
A massive shrine gate materialized behind Sam.
For an instant, everything went silent.
Then a blinding explosion tore through the frozen battlefield.
The force of the blast swallowed everything in its path.
Smoke and debris filled the area.
When it finally began to clear, Sam stood amid the destruction.
His eyes searched the battlefield.
Nothing.
Akira was gone.
Sam clenched his teeth.
"He left."
His fist tightened.
"Tch."
A Few Moments Later
A car moved through the night.
Akira's butler opened the door for him.
"Master, what about those two kids?"
Akira stepped inside.
"Tell Rudra that the two of them are in Dark Knight custody."
The butler nodded.
"The bounty hunters were caught. Besides, they aren't that big a threat to us right now."
Akira leaned back in his seat.
"For the moment, focus on that artificial devil body."
His gaze shifted toward the harbour.
"We lost one of those two Spirit Holders just to raise its rank."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Outside the window, the burning harbour reflected against the darkness of the night.
2:00 A.M.
Kirito's voice returned through Sam's earpiece.
"Sam, can you hear me?"
Sam reached up and touched the device.
"We have to leave soon. The police will be here."
Kirito sighed.
"I don't want to deal with all the paperwork. It's already two in the morning."
"Yep. Let's go."
Sam dismissed his sword.
"Branch can handle this."
He turned toward the parking lot and walked away from the ruined warehouse.
A Few Hours Earlier 11:10 P.M. — Sam's Apartment
The front door opened.
"We're home!"
Allya's cheerful voice echoed through the apartment.
"Welcome back."
Reno stepped out of the kitchen, wiping his hands.
Asuna looked toward him.
"What are you doing in the kitchen, Reno?"
"Just washing dishes."
"But today's is brother's turn," Allya pointed out as she placed the shopping bags on the couch.
"Yes, but he has to go on night patrol with Sam," Reno explained. "So he'll wash tomorrow's dishes."
He removed his apron and hung it aside.
Then he noticed something.
"Allya, you got a parcel with your name on it."
Allya glanced toward the package.
"Yes. I'll see it later."
Asuna turned toward Reno.
"Reno, what's the plan for the party?"
Her voice carried obvious excitement.
Allya immediately jumped onto the couch, landing with a soft bounce against the cushions.
"We can't do anything here until Brother gets back."
"Then?"
Asuna leaned closer, eager for an answer.
Reno smiled.
"Don't worry about him. He has inter-school matches that day, so he'll come home late at night."
"So until then, we can make all the preparations for the party?"
"Yep."
Allya grinned.
"Let's do it."
Reno folded his arms.
"First, go and do your H.W. Or Kirito will be mad at both of us."
Allya's smile vanished.
"Ugh... I have to do it now?"
"Yes. Before they come back."
Allya puffed out her cheeks and reluctantly headed toward her room.
"Why is Brother so strict about studies?" she muttered.
Reno watched her disappear down the hallway.
"He doesn't study much himself, but he forces his sister to study hard and do her best at everything."
Asuna smiled warmly.
"Yes. He cares a lot about his sister."