The world felt heavier now.
Kai and Kisuke moved through the shadowed ruins of the industrial outskirts, far from the smoldering wreckage of the Fire Force base they had just annihilated. Their steps were uneven, drained — not from fear or regret, but from the sheer force of the power they had unleashed. Smoke still clung to their clothes. Soot smeared the white-clad uniforms they wore like scars earned in a war no one had prepared them for.
Kai slumped against a half-collapsed metal pole, catching his breath, sweat mixing with ash on his skin. "That was too much… way too much," he huffed, barely able to keep his voice steady. "You saw what I did back there, though? I was using those guards like basketballs. Straight slam-dunking them."
Kisuke, barely faring better, gave a short laugh through his ragged breaths. "Yeah… you were wild. But don't forget me — I didn't expect to pull off a full whirlwind slash either. And those plasma cuts? Shit, I was raining 'em down like confetti."
They stumbled onward, bruised and burnt-out, until they reached a building tucked behind overgrowth and concrete debris — a long, white, semi-luxurious complex left untouched since the last Cataclysm. It looked abandoned, but clean in the eerie way that said someone might still be watching. Perfect enough for a temporary hideout.
They kicked open the doors and walked inside.
No alarms. No movement. Just silence.
Once settled, the two of them dropped onto an old velvet couch, pulling out the object that had made the entire raid worthwhile — the red book. It pulsed faintly in the light, as if inked in something alive. This wasn't just information. This was forbidden knowledge.
Kisuke cracked it open, eyes scanning the ancient lettering.
"Hey, Kai. There's a section here about something called handsigns... and another… something called the 'Press of Death.'"
His voice dropped, laced with caution and awe.
Kai raised a brow, already on edge. "Man, that name is a little... over the top, don't you think?"
Kisuke ignored the sarcasm. "It says… you only unlock it when you're on the edge of death. Like—" he paused, letting the words sink in, "—actually feel yourself dying, but don't. That's the only way."
Kai stared at the wall, his eyes distant. His left eye — deep blue, the star-shaped pupil glowing faintly — flickered as if the very concept stirred something dormant inside him.
He looked at Kisuke, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Then I say we rest up and fight each other until one of us feels it."
Kisuke blinked. "Wait, are you… actually being smart right now?"
Kai smirked, shrugging. "It happens once a year."
By the next day, the space around them was scorched and cracked, the ground itself torn from repeated blows. They had been clashing for hours, fists against blade, flame against plasma.
Punches flew with animalistic fury. Plasma slashes tore through steel beams. The building groaned with every shockwave. Both of them were blistered, coughing from smoke and exhaustion.
"Bro…" Kai panted, nearly collapsing against a wall. "This shit is taking forever. I thought this would be, like, instant."
Kisuke leaned on his sword, sweat dripping from his jaw. "There you go being an idiot again. It's not just about swinging until it happens. We have to feel it. Keep going…"
They both pressed forward, slower now, each move full of pain but sharpened by focus.
And then — the forest exploded.
In a blink, Captain Shin descended from the trees like a silent flame. Kisuke didn't even see him move.
But Kai did — just in time to feel a searing grip around his throat.
"Been watching you two for a while…" Shin muttered, his voice dangerously low. "Had to wait until you burned yourselves out."
He didn't waste a second. Flame surged around him, gathering in his fist as he raised it high, preparing a down-slam that would end Kai in a single, merciless strike.
There was no time.
No escape.
No hope—
And then—
Silence.
Everything turned blue.
A burst of flame detonated outward from Kai's body — not red, not orange — but deep, celestial blue, twisting like the arms of a dying star. The sheer force of it hurled Shin backwards, flames hissing off his skin.
In the center of it, Kai stood — barely conscious — but something had changed. His expression was blank. His body moved not from instinct, but from something else entirely.
The Press of Death.
In that moment, time felt fractured. Kai vanished from view, only to reappear in front of Shin, fists already flying.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
Thirty-five seconds of pure chaos.
Elbows. Kicks. Flaming jabs that cracked the air.
Kai moved like a phantom, punching faster than the human eye could follow, the star-pupil in his eye spinning wildly as if marking time in reverse.
And then, silence.
Kai stood trembling, steam rising from his body. His lips parted, breath shallow.
"No more… time…"
He collapsed.
The blue flames disappeared.
Shin, bloodied and dazed, slowly stood. Burn marks covered his body. One eye swollen shut. Breathing like he had just wrestled a god.
"How…?" he rasped. "How the hell did he get that strong?"
But before he could even process it, the shadows behind him moved.
A presence stepped into view. Massive. Terrifying.
A voice — deep, resonant, ancient — curled through the air like molten chains.
"My… my… my… what do we have here?"
Shin turned, body frozen in dread.
Red Howl, the Cinder King of the Infernals, emerged like a nightmare incarnate.
Ten feet tall, carved like obsidian, glowing with cracks of molten heat beneath his armored skin. Horns like razors arched upward. Floating spiked thorns circled his shoulders like a crown. His tail, thick and axed at the end, flickered with hellfire.
He grinned wide.
"So much power…"
His eyes locked onto Kai's unconscious form.
"…SO MANY CHOICES!"
Then he laughed.
A deep, guttural, demonic roar that shook the air.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
And the world trembled in his presence.