The ground still steamed from the aftermath of their humiliating loss. Kai's ribs ached with every breath, and Kisuke had blood dried against the edges of his mouth, a phantom echo of Raina's burning palm strike still flaring in his chest. The two walked side by side, shoulders slouched, but eyes lit with fire.
The visions hadn't stopped.
If anything, they were getting worse.
"What does it all mean...?" Kai muttered, half to himself. His right eye, hidden behind a tattered eyepatch, pulsed faintly. The other—deep blue with a star-shaped pupil—gleamed with quiet intensity as he glanced at Kisuke. "We gotta find out why we're seeing this Adolla shit. These visions, man... they feel like memories I never lived."
Kisuke stood still for a moment, the city's cold wind ruffling the blindfold wrapped tight around his dreadlocked head. "A library," he said. "That'd be the easiest place to start. If there's anything left of the world's history after the Cataclysm, it's bound to be there."
Kai sighed. He was torn. The fire in his chest told him to start shaking people down, tearing up ground until someone answered. But logic, for once, slowed his steps. "We could just ask folks, yeah? See what people remember. I mean, to us that whole Great Cataclysm... it was yesterday. To everyone else, it's a bedtime story. A myth."
Kisuke turned his head toward him. "Kai, seriously? You think anyone out there knows what Adolla is? The world got reset, man. You and me—we're relics. Ain't nobody out there gonna tell us anything useful."
Kai scratched the back of his head. "Then what? We just hit up the Fire Force? Dress like new recruits and sneak in?"
Without hesitation, Kisuke smacked him lightly across the back of the head.
"Are you a dumbass, dog? That's not gonna work. Fire Force has registration, security, tracking systems. Two dudes walking in off the street ain't slipping under their radar."
Kai rubbed the spot and glared. "Don't start hitting me like I'm your best bud or whatever, asshole."
Kisuke grinned. "Then stop talking like a moron."
Despite the bickering, they agreed—the library was the better bet. At least for now.
The city's Central Library stood in eerie silence. Half-rebuilt since the Cataclysm, it bore signs of age and damage, but still stood proud with walls lined in ash-gray stone and beams scorched by time.
A soft chime rang as they entered. The front desk was manned by an elderly woman with silver hair wrapped into a neat bun, her presence like the last page of a fading storybook.
"How may I help you?" Her voice was old, but gentle, like someone who had weathered storms with a smile.
Kai stepped forward. "Yeah, uh... we're looking for info. On, you know... the world. Its history. Big events. Disasters. That sort of thing."
She nodded without suspicion and gestured with a frail hand. "Down the second aisle to your right. The shelves there might have what you're looking for."
They moved fast. Time was burning.
But after hours of searching, flipping through half-legible texts and fragmented records, it was clear—the world had been rewritten. Nothing in the books mentioned Adolla. Nothing about the Cataclysm. Nothing that explained the hellfire visions dancing behind their eyes.
Kai slammed a dusty book closed. "This is bullshit. There's only one damn book that had anything—the red one. And Shin's got it."
Kisuke, arms crossed, leaned against the wall. "You're saying we go back. To the Fire Force base. After getting rocked like rag dolls?"
Kai nodded, deadly serious. "Exactly that."
"You're either idiotic or the dumbest person I've ever met," Kisuke said flatly.
Kai grinned wide. "You forgot brave."
"I didn't. I left it out on purpose."
By nightfall, they stood outside the Fire Force compound.
Steam hissed around the cooling pipes of the base, and the evening glow of the city lights cast long shadows across the pavement. The heavy scent of burning fuel lingered in the air.
Kai stood tall, the city flame reflecting in his single exposed eye. Kisuke's blindfold fluttered slightly in the wind, but his hand gripped the hilt of his plasma sword, ready for anything.
No disguises. No plan. No subtlety.
Just the two of them—standing side by side.
"I know they've got what we need," Kai muttered. "If we want the truth about Adolla… about what's coming next… we need that book."
Kisuke didn't answer. He just stepped forward with him.
Two men—burned, broken, and relentless—preparing to knock on the gates of hell a second time.
And this time, they weren't planning on losing.