Chapter 3 - The Fractured Soul and the Crimson Symphony​

The cold wind, slicing through the heart of Japan's rugged mountains, suddenly came to a haunting standstill. The surrounding mist seemed to congeal, growing as heavy as stone. Inside an abandoned cottage, whose dilapidated walls stood as silent witnesses to time, the air pressure had escalated so intensely that the wood and stone structure felt as if it might collapse like a house of cards at any moment.​Inside, Khankoza turned his blood-red eyes, widening them unnaturally. His pupils were no longer human; they flared with a primal and diabolical ferocity. With every breath he took, a toxic vapor escaped his lips. Moko, however, remained indifferent. His hair fluttered in the gusty wind that swept over his azure robes, but that strangely calm and mysterious smile remained fixed on his lips. Moko's composure only served to fuel Khankoza's rage further.​Khankoza suddenly let out a guttural roar—"Kamana Power: Splash!"​In an instant, an invisible, monstrous force descended upon Moko from above. It was as if a giant hand from the void was slamming down to crush him into the earth. The intensity of the blow was so great that the floor began to fracture. Before Moko could even process it, Khankoza screamed again—"Splash!" Under a barrage of invisible punches and the sheer force of the wind, Moko found himself completely cornered. There wasn't an inch of room to move. With every strike, a sharp vibration echoed through Moko's bones.​Just as Khankoza raised his hand for the third and most lethal blow, Moko unsheathed his sword. As the blade left the scabbard, a subtle yet piercing metallic ring resonated throughout the room.​Moko's azure-hued sword hummed a strange, rhythmic melody in the air. A flash! In a single heartbeat, he delivered a perfect stroke through that invisible wall with his blade. Instantly, the invisible net of energy was severed in two. Under the sheer violence of that impact, the entire cottage groaned and crumbled into ruins. Dust and shards of wood swirled in every direction. As the dust cleared slightly, it became evident they were not in an ordinary house. They were in an abandoned hut deep within the forest, where Khankoza had been kept captive in total secrecy for ages.​Moko hovered in the dust-laden air, panting slightly. Though his body was somewhat fatigued from this initial clash, his eyes remained sharp. However, looking at Khankoza, he was genuinely astonished. Being a Kimon, Khankoza showed no trace of exhaustion. He seemed an inexhaustible reservoir of energy. His Invisible Kamana power was now awakened at full strength. Controlling all the invisible and ethereal forces of the world that remain hidden from the human eye, Khankoza sought to obliterate Moko.​With a distorted smile of contempt, Khankoza said, "Let's make the game more interesting, shall we, Moko? Enough with the hide-and-seek!"Moko wiped the crimson dust from his sword and replied calmly, "Fine. Let the real battle begin."​Like streaks of lightning, the two rushed toward each other. The dry leaves on the ground were pulverized under their feet. Exactly when they were face-to-face, Khankoza displayed the peak of his intellect. He knew he couldn't defeat Moko with raw power alone. Thus, he created an unthinkable vibration of Kuhutsu energy in his vocal cords—this was his secret move, Sonic Resonance. Khankoza let out a piercing, lethal scream that vibrated the very atoms of the air at approximately 120 million Hz.​In a split second, Moko's eardrums ruptured, and blood began to spray out. A wave of horrific pain washed through his brain. Moko's vision blurred, and the green world around him began to sway into darkness. In this moment of weakness, Khankoza delivered a massive kick to Moko's ribs with the speed of the wind. Moko was hurled like a cannonball, crashing through hundreds of trees deep into the forest.​In that final moment of the fall, as Moko's consciousness began to fade, he formed a complex hand sign with his fingers—"Kaisuda!" The dust and mist in the air, at Moko's command, instantly coalesced into the form of a gargantuan elephant. Moko landed on the soft belly of that mystical creature, ensuring his fall didn't strike the hard stone of the earth directly. Because of this maneuver, he narrowly escaped certain death.​Lying on the mystical elephant's back, Moko wiped the blood from his ear. He thought to himself, "How is this possible? A simple VL Grade Kimon is overwhelming a Flare like me? I possess the power to clash with the likes of Giotano! Could it be that this Kimon is not what he seems? There must be a grand scheme at play here."​Without wasting time, Khankoza flew through the sky to deliver the finishing blow. Moko stood up straight and uttered in a slow, profoundly grave voice—"Stop!"​Moko's voice spread in every direction like a supernatural incantation riding the waves of the wind. Moko had deliberately spoken the word slowly. This special ability of his, known as Damata, was uttered in such a way that it would only be effective within a specific radius of this forest. Instantly, the entire forest sank into a tomb-like silence.​Broken branches of trees remained frozen mid-air. Flying dust particles stood still upon the wind, as if time itself had been frozen in place. Moko's secret Damata—the power to control time—transformed the entire environment into a lifeless still image. Khankoza also remained suspended in the void, his fist aimed forward.​Moko walked slowly toward Khankoza. He began to observe the Kimon's body meticulously. Suddenly, his gaze fell just below Khankoza's neck. There, beneath the skin, a grade mark glowed in brilliant ink—DX Grade. A bolt of shock struck Moko's mind. It finally became clear why this Kimon was so powerful.​Sometime ago, when Khankoza was captured, Giotano had secretly murdered him. Then, he had transferred the soul of an extremely powerful DX Grade Kimon into this dead vessel. This was nothing more than a living puppet. Moko cursed himself inwardly; this simple truth should have been obvious much earlier.​Moko then retracted his time-stopping ability and quickly stepped aside. As time resumed, Khankoza lost his momentum and crashed violently onto the earth.​Moko approached him slowly and asked in a steady voice, "What is your real name? I know who you are."Khankoza stood up on trembling legs, black blood dripping from his mouth. With a sneer of contempt, he said, "Why continue this drama, Moko, after knowing everything? Did you not see the mark on my neck?"Moko then spoke in a thunderous voice, "I know very well that you are not the ordinary Khankoza. You are my own younger brother... Hamaguchi."​At this moment of peak tension, the scene shifted thousands of miles away in an instant.​In a tidy, ordinary house in the city, the soft afternoon sun was playing across the rooms. Suddenly, Sima let out an ear-splitting scream from the kitchen, "Mom! Mom! Look, that naughty mouse is back in the kitchen again!"Sima's mother shouted back from the bedroom, towel in hand, "What! That mouse is back? Just wait, today it's either him or me! I won't find peace until I kill it!"​Sima's mother chased the mouse with a shoe in her hand. Sima, turning blue with fear, jumped onto the dining table and stood there trembling. Her mother repeatedly tried to strike the corners of the floor with the shoe, but the nimble mouse slipped through her grasp and escaped through the window. Just then, the telephone in the living room rang out shrilly.​Sima's mother panted, wiping sweat from her forehead. She said, "Sima, the mouse is gone. Now go see which nuisance is calling at this hour."Sima got down from the table, but her heart was still pounding. She picked up the receiver with trembling hands. "Hello? Who is this?"​From the other end, it wasn't the grave voice of an adult, but the voice of a teenager exactly Sima's age. But in that voice, there was a strange coldness.The unknown teenager said, "Hello, is this the residence of Mr. Simamjo?""Yes, this is the Tamamto residence, and I am his daughter, Simamjo Sima. Who are you?"The teenager spoke in a raspier, heavier tone, "I am a notorious thief from this area. I am coming for a massive raid on your house tonight. Keep all your valuables and bags ready. There is no way to escape!"​It felt as if the sky had collapsed on Sima's head. Her legs went numb. "What! A robber? In our ordinary house?" She couldn't speak further out of fear. The receiver fell from her hand with a thud. She ran screaming toward her mother. "Mom! Mom! We have to pack our bags and flee right now! Robbers are coming to our house!"​Meanwhile, the telephone receiver hung there, swaying. From the other end, the mysterious teenager kept saying, "Hey Sima? Did you get scared? What's wrong? Hello? Is anyone there?" But in his voice, a cruel mockery played instead of fear.​In that horrific silence of the forest, Hamaguchi burst into laughter at Moko's words. The sound of that laughter sent several owls perched on tree branches flying away in fear.Hamaguchi said with contempt, "Bravo, Moko. I see the rust hasn't settled on your intellect. But how did you recognize me? I am now imprisoned within the shell of another body."Moko smiled a melancholy smile. He said softly, "You can change the shell of the body, Hamaguchi, but can one ever fail to recognize the language in their own brother's eyes?"​"Who is your brother?" Hamaguchi suddenly roared in fury, the veins in his neck bulging. "I am nobody's brother! That Hamaguchi died long ago on the day you left me alone. I am now an invincible Kimon. I am here to finish you forever. Come, Moko, let's see how long your Kuhutsu power lasts against our Kamana energy!"​Moko placed a finger on his lips in a gesture. "Shh... don't shout so loud, brother. Don't you know who is standing before you? Today, I haven't come as your brother, but as your Grim Reaper."​Hamaguchi, losing all sense of reason, lunged to deliver a devastating kick toward Moko. But Moko, with incredible agility, caught Hamaguchi's leg mid-air. One of Moko's hands was still casually tucked into his pocket. With just one hand, he began to spin Hamaguchi in the air like a top. After several rotations, he hurled him violently into the dark depths of the forest.​Hamaguchi let out a sky-rending scream as he was hurled with the speed of the wind, "I won't let you go, Moko! Mark my words!"​But before Hamaguchi could hit the ground, Moko shifted his position with supernatural speed and stood exactly in front of him, as if he knew beforehand where Hamaguchi would land. Moko looked on with a face full of sorrow and said very calmly, "Hello Hamaguchi, it's good to see you again."​Hamaguchi's eyes had now turned a deep green, with flames of fire erupting from them. His inner DX Grade Kimon entity was now in full control. He quickly formed a sacred hand sign and uttered a spell—"Trapped!"​In an instant, all around Moko—right, left, above, below, and even front and back—invisible and impenetrable walls were erected. This was the ultimate stage of Hamaguchi's Kamana power. Hamaguchi laughed viciously, "You should have surrendered without all this trouble, brother. Now, within this death trap, you will be crushed by pressure every second. Every bone in your body will be pulverized!"​Moko took his sword in hand and smiled slightly. "It isn't that easy to defeat me, Hamaguchi. You've probably forgotten who I am."Moko simply swung his sword once in a circle around him. At that subtle and intense pull of the blade, the invisible walls shattered into thousands of pieces like glass. A flash of light swept through the entire forest.​Moko then planted his sword into the ground and stood calmly. He held his right thumb up in front of his nose. His eyes suddenly glowed a brilliant pink. He uttered in a grave and booming voice—"Himata Kuhutsu!"​In an instant, the entire mountain and forest began to tremble as if by an earthquake. A mysterious energy began to emerge from the earth. It was as if a sacred light from the heavens crashed directly upon Moko. In the void around him, numerous geometric cubes suddenly began to form. The color of these cubes was a strangely beautiful pink and deep yellow.​Those cubes glittered like diamonds. The grand magical light emanating from each cube made the dark forest momentarily brighter than a full moon. Those cubes were vessels of cosmic energy. They began to hurtle toward Hamaguchi at Moko's command.​The wind was then engrossed in the song of a cataclysmic war. When Moko's exquisite and terrifying cubes of light surrounded Hamaguchi, it was clear—the real chapter of this long-awaited battle has only just begun