Inside a sealed chamber within the forbidden grounds.
At the center of the chamber, that ancient mirror radiating an ethereal glow—the Yata Mirror—floated silently in place. Maki Kagura stood guard beside it.
"I need to go in again." Cloud cut straight to the point.
"Are you certain?" Maki Kagura's tone carried a hint of worry. "The one inside is no pushover. His will is strong enough to corrode anything."
"I know what I'm doing."
Without another word, Cloud reached out and gently touched the mirror's surface.
After a sensation of the world spinning, he once again arrived in that familiar spiritual space filled with storms and thunder.
At the edge of the space, the man bound by countless chains, wearing a priest's garb—"Tempest of Breath" Goenitz—slowly opened his emotionless eyes.
"Cloud, you've come again." Goenitz's voice remained as flat as ever, as if nothing in this world could stir the slightest ripple in him.
Cloud stood amidst the storm, his robes fluttering, yet his gaze remained calm as still water. "I've come... to show you something."
The moment his words fell, an indescribable power—enough to make the entire spiritual space tremble—erupted from within Cloud's body!
It was no longer mere fire, lightning, or spiritual force.
It was a chaotic, all-encompassing Ultimate Power that transcended everything!
Golden brilliance, radiant as a newborn sun, bloomed from Cloud's form!
In this moment, he was like a deity walking among mortals!
A crack appeared on Goenitz's eternally frozen expression.
A flash of disbelief passed through those eyes that had always looked upon all living things with indifference.
"This... this is... Ultimate Power?!" He murmured, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremor. "No... that's not right! It's more... pure and perfect than any Ultimate Power I've ever seen!"
"So?" Cloud stood bathed in golden light, his voice not loud but filled with absolute confidence. "Do I now have the qualifications to speak with you as an equal?"
Goenitz fell silent.
He looked at the Cloud before him as if seeing a monster.
He could feel that the power within Cloud, though still relatively weak, had a "quality" that far exceeded his understanding.
It was a power that... transcended even the "Divine Tribe"!
After a long while, Goenitz let out a slow sigh. That sigh seemed to disperse a thousand years of solitude from this space.
"I understand." He spoke slowly. "Perhaps... you truly are the so-called Divine Son."
"In that case, as promised, I acknowledge your identity."
Sensing Goenitz's submission, Cloud activated the System Plunder.
A stream of pure essence—containing the very origin of wind itself, the "Blood of the Divine Tribe"—transformed into a cyan streak of light, flying out from Goenitz's body and instantly merging into Cloud!
All of Goenitz's classic techniques and secrets flooded into Cloud's mind like a tide!
Cloud felt as if he had formed a connection with every current of air between heaven and earth. He could easily summon sky-tearing tornadoes or create all-destroying vacuums with a snap of his fingers.
The power of wind—he had completely mastered it.
[Ding! Congratulations Host, you have obtained Goenitz the Tempest of Breath's complete Divine Tribe Blood!]
[Chaos Divine Bloodline Progress +10%! Current total: 60%!]
Cloud felt the power surging within him once more and nodded with satisfaction.
"Thank you." He said to Goenitz. "But I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for now. I can't release you yet."
...
KOF 97 Semifinals, Match One.
Japan Team VS Hell Band.
This matchup had been imbued with special significance from the very start.
The Kusanagi clan versus the Orochi tribe—a fated confrontation!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the semifinals!" The commentator's voice was hoarse but still burning with passion.
"This is the battle of the century! On one side, our Flame Prince, the inheritor of the Immortal Crimson Flame—Kyo Kusanagi! On the other, the Hell Band who have awakened divine power! The gears of destiny have begun to turn!"
On the arena.
Kyo Kusanagi's expression was more serious than ever before.
After his "Super Saiyan-style" training in the magma hot springs beneath Mount Fuji, his strength had been completely reborn.
That "Power of Destiny" from deep within his bloodline was blazing fiercely inside him!
And his first opponent was none other than the one who had crushed Andy and Joe with overwhelming force in the previous match—Awakened Chris!
The boy still wore that innocent expression, but the aura radiating from him was the suffocating pressure of a god.
"Descendant of the Kusanagi clan." Chris smiled, his voice ethereal and androgynous. "Can your flames burn away your own destiny?"
"Hmph, enough talk." Kyo flicked his bangs in his habitual gesture, crimson flames rising in his palm. "All I know is that anyone who stands in my way has only one fate—"
He pointed his flames at Chris, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"—To be burned to ashes!"
The battle was on the verge of erupting!
"Mirror-Slaying Flames!"
Chris struck first!
The purple wave of fire was even more violent and pure than his previous battle against Andy! It was no longer merely flames, but a power of "erasure" at the level of fundamental rules!
This kind of power, Cloud had named—"Dark Power"!
It was the higher-dimensional realm that those with Divine Tribe blood could touch after breaking through 100% Ultimate Power!
"Bring it on!"
Kyo advanced instead of retreating, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit!
"Watch this! This is... the Kusanagi Fist!"
"Style 182!"
He brought his hands together, and with an incredibly powerful grappling technique, he actually charged straight into that purple wave of flames and grabbed Chris's main body!
"BOOM—!"
The collision of Crimson Flame and Azure Flame produced an earth-shattering explosion!
The entire arena shook violently!
The two separated upon contact, each retreating dozens of meters.
...
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