Bob flies up into the air, rising high above the crowd until everyone in Paldea can see him. He projects his voice across the masses below, letting the silence build before he speaks.
"People of Paldea — Manal and Kival are the reason for this war." He pauses, letting the words sink in. Murmurs ripple through the crowd. "But I already know what you're thinking. Why should you believe someone who's been working alongside the culprit?"
He reaches into his coat and pulls out a small device. A holographic screen erupts into the sky, massive and impossible to ignore. "Because I have proof."
The video plays. The crowd watches in silence as Manal and Kival sit together, their voices cold and calculated, laying out their plan in full detail — how they would manipulate the war, how they would break the people of Paldea down one by one until there was nothing left to do but submit. Until every man, woman, and child in the nation was nothing more than a slave.
The silence that follows is deafening.
Zain stares up at the screen, then slowly turns to Bob with wide eyes. A grin creeps across his face. "Bob," he says, shaking his head. "You mechanical genius."
For a long moment, nobody moves. Then, like a dam finally breaking, the people of Paldea exhale. The belief they had held onto — the loyalty that had been built on lies — crumbles. They shift. They change sides. Not with fanfare, but with the quiet, heavy certainty of people who have just seen the truth and can no longer look away.
But the battle isn't over.
Ryo catches movement from the corner of his eye — a belt cutting through the air like a whip, aimed straight at him. He twists his body and lets it crack past him, the leather snapping inches from his face. He straightens up, cracking his neck.
Zain doesn't waste a second. "Everyone, follow me!" He spins toward Bob, his voice dropping just low enough for only him to hear. "Throw me the ship. Can I trust you to watch over Ali and Ryo?"
Bob looks at him for a beat, then nods. He reaches back and hurls the ship toward Zain in one smooth motion.
"Once you're on the water, say activate and it'll return to its original size," Bob calls after him. "Say push past if you need it three times bigger. Don't forget."
"Got it." Zain catches it without breaking stride. He turns back to the crowd, his voice booming. "Everyone — follow me! Now!"
He sprints to the water's edge and launches the ship into the waves. "Push past."
The ship groans and expands, the hull stretching wide as it settles into the water. Zain leaps aboard and plants his feet on the deck. He reaches deep, pulling up Stage 1 of his Raiki, and lets it flow out through his hands, coating the ship in a shimmering layer of energy that pulses like a heartbeat.
Scarlet watches from the dock, jaw slightly open. "You have to teach me that one," she mutters.
Back on the battlefield, Manal was relentless.
Belt after belt cracked through the air, each one aimed with surgical precision at Ryo. Ryo moved fluidly, reading each strike a half second before it arrived, ducking and weaving with the kind of ease that only came from surviving worse. But he wasn't going to dodge forever.
He straightened up and tilted his head. "Your Damik power is belts?" He let out a short, dry laugh. "Weird for a ninja, don't you think?"
Manal didn't respond.
Ryo's expression shifted, just slightly. "Here's a deal — give me the woman, and we all walk away clean. No more blood."
Manal tilted his head slowly, a smile creeping across his face like something rotten. "You mean my plaything?" He let another belt uncoil from his hand. "No. I don't think so."
Something ignited behind Ryo's eyes. "You bastard." He exploded forward.
Ten feet away, steel rang against steel.
Ali and Kival had locked blades in an instant, the clash so fast it seemed like neither of them had even decided to move. They held there, faces inches apart, the air between them thick with everything left unsaid.
Kival's voice came out low and strained. "Ali. How could you?"
Ali didn't flinch. "For as long as I can remember," he said quietly, "I've been waiting for someone to stand against this broken system. I thought it would never happen. That no one would ever be brave enough." He pushed back against the blade. "Then Ryo showed me I could be the one to do it."
Kival's eyes hardened. "Oh really." His grip tightened. "Then you already know — if you lose, you change nothing."
The air around Ali shifted. Pink Raiki bloomed from his body like a second skin, wild and alive, curling off him in waves.
"I don't intend to lose."
And just like that, the first — and final — battle between Kival and Ali began. As did the battle between Manal and Ryo. Two fights, side by side, each one carrying the weight of everything that had led to this moment.
It had only just begun.