The wind screamed in Kaito's ears as he plummeted through the midnight sky, his arms wrapped tightly around Aira. Below them, the Southern Sector was a grid of fire and phosphorus, but Kaito's eyes were locked on a single point: the man standing at the base of the North Tower.
"Shadow Shaping: The Raven's Wing!" Kaito roared.
From his back, jagged shards of solid darkness erupted, forming two massive, tattered wings of void-energy. They weren't meant for flight, but they caught the air enough to turn their deadly fall into a controlled glide. They slammed into the stone courtyard, creating a crater that sent dust and holy sparks flying in every direction.
Kaito stood up, coughing, his body aching from the impact. He shielded Aira behind him as the dust cleared. Surrounding them was a circle of five hundred Paladins, their silver shields glowing with a rhythmic, pulsating light. But they didn't attack. They parted like a sea, allowing the figure in the center to step forward.
The man wore the Royal Armor of the Oakhaven Dynasty, but the golden lion on his chest was cracked. His face, once the symbol of hope for a whole kingdom, was now a pale mask of grey skin and protruding black veins. His eyes weren't violet like Kaito's; they were a hollow, milky white, burning with a faint, artificial golden flame.
"Father...?" Kaito's voice trembled. The Shadow Blade in his hand flickered, almost dying out. "How... how are you standing?"
The King didn't speak. He didn't even blink. He raised a rusted claymore—the legendary Sun-Slayer—and pointed it at Kaito's throat.
"He cannot hear you, Prince," Valerius's voice boomed from the top of the tower, where he watched like a dark god. "Your father died the day the Void took your mother. What stands before you is a masterpiece of Inquisition engineering. A 'Holy Revenant.' A king's body, powered by the very light that destroyed his throne."
"You monster!" Aira screamed, her hands glowing with a frantic, unstable violet light. "Let him rest!"
"Rest is for the weak," Valerius laughed. "Kill them, Your Majesty. Show your son the true power of the Sun."
Without a word, the Puppet King moved. He didn't run; he blurred. The speed was inhuman. Kaito barely had time to raise his Shadow Blade before the Sun-Slayer slammed into it. The impact felt like a mountain falling on him. Kaito was driven into the ground, his knees cracking against the stone.
"Father, stop! It's me! Kaito!"
The King didn't hesitate. He swung again, a vertical strike that cleaved the stone floor in half. Kaito rolled to the side, breathing hard. He realized with a sickening horror that his father's body was being moved by invisible golden threads of mana, controlled by the Paladins surrounding them.
"They're using him like a tool," Kaito hissed to Aira. "The Paladins... their shields are the anchors! If we don't break the circle, he'll never stop."
"I'll handle the shields," Aira said, her face hardening. Despite the mana-suppressors having weakened her, the sight of her father being desecrated triggered something deep within her. She slammed her palms onto the ground. "Void Pulse: Shattered Mirror!"
A wave of violet energy rippled outward. It didn't hurt the soldiers, but it hit their glowing shields, causing the golden threads to vibrate and snap.
The Puppet King stumbled. For a split second, the milky whiteness in his eyes cleared, and a flash of deep, agonizing violet returned. He looked at Kaito, his lips moving without sound.
...Run...
"I'm not leaving you again!" Kaito cried out. He leaped forward, not to strike, but to embrace. He wrapped his arms around the armored figure, allowing the black streaks on his own body to flow into his father's armor. "I'll take the light out of you! I'll give you peace!"
The "Holy Phosphorus" inside the King's body began to fight back. It seared Kaito's skin, burning his chest and face. The pain was astronomical—like drinking liquid fire. But Kaito didn't let go. He channeled every ounce of the Void he had learned from Silas, from the Grave-Walkers, and from the Sanctum.
"CONSUME!" Kaito roared.
The courtyard was blinded by a dual explosion of gold and violet. The Paladins were blown back by the sheer force of the magical vacuum. Kaito felt the golden threads snapping one by one. He felt his father's heart—cold and still—give one final, phantom thump against his chest.
As the light faded, the King slumped into Kaito's arms. The armor was empty now, the holy fire extinguished. The grey skin was turning to dust, crumbling away in the wind.
"Thank... you... my son," a faint whisper echoed in Kaito's mind.
Kaito knelt in the dirt, holding nothing but a pile of rusted metal and ash. He didn't cry. The time for tears had passed years ago. He felt a cold, sharp clarity settling into his soul. He stood up, turning his back on the ashes of his father, and looked up at Valerius.
The High Inquisitor wasn't laughing anymore. He looked down at the empty courtyard, his eyes narrowing. He had lost his greatest weapon.
"Aira," Kaito said, his voice sounding like grinding stone.
"I'm ready," she said, standing by his side, her hands crackling with pure, dark energy.
"The Azure Ghost is waiting at the docks. We leave Oakhaven tonight. But first..." Kaito pointed his Shadow Blade, which was now jagged and burning with a dark flame, at the North Tower. "We give them a reason to remember the name of the Void."
The Paladins began to close in again, but Kaito didn't hide. He stepped forward, the shadows of the entire city seeming to stretch toward him, bowing to their true master. The finale had begun, and Oakhaven would never see the sun rise the same way again.