The battle raged on. Reimu was finally showing his true level, unleashing a raw and mastered power that crushed everything in its path. However, Solara's experienced intervention was maintaining a certain balance — fragile, precarious, but real. Nozomi, for his part, was on the ground. One knee down, arms trembling, completely out of breath. His breathing was ragged and irregular, his lungs burning with every inhale as if the air itself had turned hostile. Blurred vision, a crushing fatigue spreading through every muscle, every bone — his entire body was crying out for mercy. It wasn't a lack of aetherium, but his body was refusing to respond to his will. Something deeper than technique, something purely physical, had abandoned him. His flesh was simply no longer capable of sustaining a fight of this scale over time.
Suddenly, as they were staring each other down, a low rumble rose from the bowels of the earth. In a second, the ground began to shake — first slightly, almost imperceptibly, then with a growing violence that spread through all of Paris. The multiple clashes, the increasingly powerful detonations that had been hammering the surface for hours, seemed to have caused distortions in the tectonic plates, releasing an accumulation of seismic waves that were now spreading like an invisible but devastating tide.
The seismic wave was so violent that all of Paris shook as one. Buildings already weakened by the fighting crumbled to pieces in a deafening roar. Dozens of fissures opened in the ground, tearing through asphalt and stone like thin paper. It was impossible to stay standing — the earth itself seemed to want to reject those upon it, transmitting its convulsions into the legs, arms, and chests of everyone present.
Solara and Reimu, during the earthquake, didn't let themselves be distracted for a single second. Their gazes remained locked on each other — two opposing forces in tense equilibrium, neither giving an inch. For them, this tremor was just one more detail to ignore. Nozomi had collapsed to his knees, both hands firmly pressed to the ground, holding on as best he could to avoid being tipped over by the shockwaves. He grunted with the effort, teeth clenched, focused solely on not falling.
Nozomi was already struggling to stay upright, and this earthquake was only making things worse. He was exhausted, drained, eaten away from within by a fatigue that went beyond simple physical pain.
But as chaos engulfed him from all sides, something happened. In the space of a fraction of a second, Nozomi's senses suddenly awoke. He felt the presence of people he knew perfectly well. Presences engraved so deeply within him that he would have recognized them with his eyes closed, in the middle of any storm. Yet finding them here, in a place like this, was utterly unthinkable. Despite the trembling earth and his blurring vision, his eyes went wide. His breath cut short. His heart raced so hard he felt its beats in his temples. His limbs began to tremble for a reason entirely different from exhaustion. He lifted his head against everything and turned it toward the distance.
And he saw them. The silhouette of his father running with all his strength through the chaos, and behind him, his mother and the parents of his brothers and sisters trying to keep up. They were there — real, in the devastated streets of Paris.
Even if the vision lasted only a brief instant, he recorded it with absolute clarity. He saw his father run with all his strength toward an enemy paralyzed and immobilized by exhaustion — a man who was about to be crushed by a building on the verge of collapse. Without hesitating for a single second, his father leapt to push him out of the path of the debris. The building collapsed. Massive rubble crashed down at the exact spot where his father had been, sending up an immense cloud of smoke and dust that swallowed the entire scene.
Nozomi refused to believe what he had just seen. He clung to the idea that it was an illusion, a mirage born of fatigue and pain. His mind desperately searched for a rational explanation — that he had seen wrong, that exhaustion had played tricks on him, that his imagination was tormenting him. But the conviction that something terrible had just happened settled inside him like a cold stone at the bottom of his chest. He could no longer get back up. His legs refused to carry him. Paralyzed by fear and worry for his parents, he remained there on his knees, his gaze lost toward the spot where the cloud of debris continued to slowly dissipate. And yet, he had to keep fighting. He had no choice.
Solara cut through his thoughts with a shout. "Nozomi! He's preparing a new attack — be ready to retaliate!" But she went no further. She stopped dead when she saw Nozomi's face — empty, ashen, eyes wide open and fixed on some invisible point, as if the world around him had ceased to exist. He wasn't listening. He was no longer there.
She continued in a softer but urgent voice. "Nozomi, what's wrong? What's happening to you?"
Nozomi, gripped by fear, didn't hear Solara's words. Nothing was truly reaching him. His mind was entirely consumed by thoughts and scenarios — each more terrifying than the last — scrolling past without him being able to stop them.
Reimu, watching the scene from his position, let out a brief, contemptuous laugh. He called out in a voice that carried clearly through the surrounding chaos. "What's the matter, elemental master? That's not how you're going to manage to defeat me. Has no one ever taught you that in a confrontation, you should never take your eyes off your opponent?"
Faced with Reimu's words, Solara grew angry. She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles went white and fixed Reimu with a black stare, laden with a controlled fury. Then she turned back to Nozomi and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. That calm, warm contact — so different from the violence surrounding them — succeeded where words had failed. Nozomi blinked and lifted his head. Solara spoke to him in a gentle, measured voice. "Nozomi, I don't know what just happened. But clearly, something is holding your heart right now. Listen — sometimes, it is more important to listen to your heart than to stay in place. At the risk of regretting it far later."
Nozomi looked up at her. Solara's face was serene and calming, despite the visible worry in her gaze. She continued. "You've already given far more than anyone could have expected of you. I'll take care of Reimu while you go do what you have to do. Don't worry about me."
Nozomi seemed to hesitate. Part of him refused to leave Solara alone against Reimu. But faced with her sincere words, faced with that gaze that trusted him unconditionally, he made his decision. He rose painfully, slowly, every movement costing him considerable effort. He looked first at Reimu — who showed not the slightest emotion, impassive as a stone statue. Then he lowered his head and let out a barely audible "thank you" before leaving, letting Solara deal with Reimu in his place.
Reimu, watching Nozomi walk away, addressed Solara in a cold and perfectly calm voice. "You let him go. Do you truly believe you are capable of neutralizing me alone? With time, you seem to have gained in confidence. You are far from the image I once had of you, Solara Yuutaka."
Solara answered Reimu's provocations without the slightest hesitation, without the slightest trace of worry in her voice. She rose from the ground, straight and assured. "You shouldn't underestimate me if you don't want to regret it. I am no longer the weak and vulnerable little girl I once was."
As she took a few steps forward, golden markings appeared on her arm — symbols resembling ancient runes, complex and luminous, which spread rapidly up to her face. Her blonde hair began to blaze with a thousand fires before suddenly lengthening, stretching down to her lower back in undulating locks that floated in the warm air as if caught in an invisible breath. Her eyes took on a blazing golden hue, so intense they seemed to contain their own source of light. The markings covering her entire body pulsed softly, like a heartbeat — signs of an ancient power awakened.
She spoke in a steady and solemn voice. "I can finally use my full power. I promised Nozomi — I will defeat you without the slightest doubt."
Reimu, faced with Solara's new form, immediately felt the radically different power and presence she now radiated. He analyzed the situation in silence, then concluded in a grave voice. "I see. You have mastered the Core, just as Nova once did. In that domain, I must admit — seeing you now, you rival Nova. Like master, like student."
Solara decided to deploy her full power and her full arsenal of techniques to bring Reimu down. A great battle was taking shape between the two adversaries — a battle whose outcome was impossible to predict.
Nozomi crossed Paris at full speed, darting like a shadow through the devastated alleyways. Nothing disturbed him — not the clashes unfolding on every side, not the apocalyptic state of the city around him, not the hundreds of heroes still fighting on the battlefield. A single thought inhabited him, a single priority guided him: find his parents and make sure they were still alive. That absolute urgency was so powerful it short-circuited everything else.
Aria, fighting alongside all the heroes, suddenly felt Nozomi's presence streak through the sky at full speed. She looked up and managed to spot him, passing above her and the battlefield like a comet. Nozomi's face was contorted with worry — an expression she had almost never seen on his features. It didn't leave her unmoved. She immediately signaled Harris and Shinrei with a sharp, precise gesture. Without a word, all three left their positions and followed Nozomi from a distance, having understood that something serious was happening.
After a few moments, Nozomi reached the spot where he had glimpsed his parents. From a distance, he immediately recognized his mother's silhouette — on her knees on the ground, her body wracked with sobs, her shoulders bowed under the weight of a despair he didn't yet understand. But before he had even had time to react, he saw, not far from her, an enemy approaching, arm raised, about to attack her.
Panic took hold of Nozomi entirely. He screamed with all his strength, his voice breaking halfway. "Mom!" He knew in the second that followed that he would never make it in time. The distance was too great. His legs too heavy. The enemy launched a bolt of lightning toward his mother. Time seemed to freeze. The entire world seemed to suspend itself in that impossible moment.
But just as the lightning bolt was about to reach his mother, a silhouette appeared from nowhere, stepping between them. Shion blocked the attack with his bare hand, absorbing the impact without retreating a single step. Then, in a fluid and lightning-fast movement, he propelled himself forward and unleashed a powerful spinning kick that sent the enemy flying, hurling him into a wall with a force that knocked him out on the spot.
Nozomi arrived, breathless, his legs giving way. An immense relief washed through him — his mother was safe and sound. He was still looking at the silhouette of this man with his back turned, and spoke in a trembling but sincere voice. "Thank you so much for protecting her. I don't know how to thank you as you deserve."
Shion didn't turn around. He kept his back to Nozomi, his voice heavy with a gravity that was both solemn and gentle. "Don't thank me. You care deeply for these people. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much time left. He gave his life courageously and with honor. Stay at his side during his final moments."
Shion left immediately, disappearing into the chaos of the city without turning around once. The exchange had been brief, almost silent — but the last words he had spoken kept resonating in Nozomi's mind, louder and louder, more and more unbearable. He slowly lowered his eyes toward his mother.
He was relieved at first to see her safe and sound — but that relief died in less than a second. His mother was on her knees, and at her feet lay his father's body, half-buried under rubble. Blood flowed heavily from across his entire body. His limbs were crushed beneath the weight of the rocks, broken at angles nature never intended. His face was pale, waxy, almost unrecognizable beneath the dust and blood. And yet, despite all of it, something still living flickered in the depths of his eyes.
Nozomi reacted instinctively. In one motion, he activated his mastery of earth and swept the rocks from his father's body. Then he ran to him, screaming with all his strength, his voice already broken by what he was seeing. "Father! Dad! Dad!"
His mother was weeping heartbreakingly, her body wracked with silent sobs. Nozomi knelt beside his father, hands covered in blood, and was seized by an uncontrollable trembling. The tears rose, burning, but something in his throat was blocking them. He didn't understand. He didn't want to understand. Several questions swirled in his head — why his parents were there, why his father was in this state, how any of this could have happened — but no answers came. Nothing came.
Nothing would come out of his mouth. His throat dry, the tears now flowing without him being able to stop them, he remained there, petrified. Suddenly, a hand settled on his — his father's hand, weak, trembling, but real. There was still a breath of life in him. Nozomi startled and cried out, his voice breaking entirely. "Father! Father, I'm sorry. If only I had…"
His father interrupted him with a gentle pressure on his hand. His voice was nothing more than a barely audible whisper, frayed by the effort, but every word carried an absolute clarity. "Don't apologize. You have nothing to reproach yourself for. In the end, I was of no help… but I'm glad to be able to see you one last time."
He coughed up blood. A painful spasm tore through his chest. But rather than surrendering to it, he drew on his very last reserves. He stretched out both arms and took hold at the same time of his wife's hand and Nozomi's, gripping them with every remaining strength he had. His voice grew even lower, even more fragile — but still present. "I have been very happy in my life. I am happy to have shared all these moments with you. I am happy to have had you as my son." He paused for just a moment, as if wanting to engrave those words in time. "Know that I am very proud of you, and of the man you have become."
His hands, which had held them so tightly just moments before, relaxed and fell gently to the ground. His breath stopped. The light in his eyes went out forever, like a flame carried away by the wind. He had drawn on his very last reserves to say what mattered most to him.
Nozomi was frozen. He was still holding his father's hand — that hand that no longer responded, that hand already growing cold beneath his fingers. He looked at his father's face, now still, with a heartbreaking peace. His mother, at his side, wept with her entire body, each sob a tear in the silence. She took Nozomi in her arms and held him with all her strength, as if trying to protect him still, as if she could hold the world at bay by herself alone.
Between sobs, she murmured to him. "Nozomi… all the parents came to help you. We didn't want to leave you to manage alone. That's when your father stepped in to save a man who was about to be crushed by debris." She dried her tears with the back of her hand and looked Nozomi in the eyes, with all the strength she had left. "Your father wanted so badly to help you that he couldn't bring himself to leave you alone. He cared so much for you."
Nozomi's gaze was still blank. He was listening silently to his mother's words without showing the slightest visible emotion. But inside, his thoughts were raging. "Father died because of me. If only I had been stronger. If only I had stopped Reimu sooner. If only I could fully use my elemental power… I could have saved everyone — the inhabitants, my father, Kael. And now, they might all die because of me. Because of my inability."
Consumed by his emotions and driven to the most absolute despair, something within him gave way. His desire for power, held back for so long, was finally granted. Throughout his entire body, he felt an immense and devouring energy take possession of each of his limbs, pass through him like an electric current impossible to contain. Before losing consciousness, he heard a voice speak to him inside his head — a voice both masculine and feminine, deep and gentle, ancient and familiar at once. It said: "I will take care of Reimu in your place."
Nozomi's eyes began to glow with an emerald green so intense and luminous that his pupils were no longer visible. His hair took on the same hue, coloring itself a vivid green that cut sharply against the grey of the ruined city. He rose, gently pulling himself free from his mother's arms without looking at her — without looking at anyone. His face showed no emotion whatsoever. Nozomi's consciousness seemed to have vanished, overcome by this power that had taken control of his body as if it had always been its true master.
Without casting the slightest glance at his mother, he took a step forward, then another, walking with a steady and inexorable pace in Reimu's direction. Each step resonated on the devastated ground like a drumbeat. The overflowing power that now inhabited Nozomi radiated from his entire body in waves visible to the naked eye — the aetherium so dense and abundant that it rippled around him like an aura, distorting the air a few centimeters from his skin.
Nozomi kept advancing without a word, radiating his aura with undiminished intensity. Behind him, the parents followed desperately, trying to reason with him. They understood that something grave was about to happen. They understood that Nozomi was not in his normal state, and that this was primarily due to his father's death. The parents felt guilty for his death as well — they who had agreed to come, and who had been unable to save him, or even stop him in time. That guilt weighed on each of them like a stone, silent and crushing, that no words could have lifted.
As for Nozomi's mother, she stayed on the ground beside her husband's body, refusing to leave him — as though leaving meant abandoning him for good. The tears continued to fall without her being able to hold them back, and her son's alarming state only worsened her distress. As she watched Nozomi grow distant from her, helpless, she murmured in a solemn and broken voice, barely louder than a breath. "Please… someone help my son."
But as he advanced, Aria suddenly appeared before him and immediately threw her arms around him, holding him with all her strength to keep him from taking another step. A few moments later, Harris and Shinrei arrived in turn and drew close to Nozomi, encircling him gently, trying to calm him and bring him back to himself. All of this unfolded before the eyes of Nozomi's mother and all the gathered parents — who watched the scene in silence, their faces contorted with worry and pain, not knowing whether the child they had watched grow up was still there, somewhere behind those emerald eyes that no longer recognized them.