The battlefield had finally fallen silent. All that remained of the Flame Shikibans were charred husks scattered like burnt paper across the scorched terrain. The crimson inferno that once devoured the sky had reduced itself to a simmer, flickering softly in the windless stillness.
And then it began.
One by one, the bodies began to crumble—flesh flaking, bones turning brittle, their last embers flickering dark.
Ash. Black as void.
The first Shikiban's remains pulsed once—then disintegrated completely, its energy swirling in a twisting column of black flame that moved not with the wind, but toward the living.
Daigo felt his blade stir.
KIBA twitched in his grip—then trembled like a creature hungry for blood. The sigils engraved along its spine lit up with a dull white-blue glow as the black flames drifted toward it, vanishing into the blade like smoke being swallowed whole.
He stepped back.
Another corpse dissolved.
Another stream absorbed.
And then all of them—dozens of dead Shikibans—spiraled into him at once, their death essence screaming as it was consumed by the weapon tethered to Crystel's heart.
Daigo grimaced, dropping to one knee as raw ether surged through his veins. His vision glitched for a second—saw teeth, fur, blood, and a sky of wolves.
Yeaga flinched. "Uh… is his sword eating?"
"It's upgrading," Ishigo muttered, stepping beside him. "And the system's about to log it."
A high-pitched tone rang through the air, like metal scraping against crystal. Then—
VRRRRRMMMMMM...
A holographic screen materialized midair, scanning Daigo and his blade, crystalline glyphs forming a swirling interface of data, shifting like sacred code.
[INTERFACE LOG: KAGESHIKI DATABASE ENTRY — ID: (0)₉]
ACCESS LEVEL: CLASSIFIED
VISUAL FEED: ACTIVE_01 :: [CRYSTEL_9]
─────────────────────────────────────────────
▸ KAGESHIKI NAME: DAIGO YAMAMOTO
▸ BIOLOGICAL AGE: 20 SOLAR CYCLES
▸ DESIGNATION CODE: KAGESHIKI NO. (0)₉
▸ ABILITY CODE: CRYSTEL GREY WOLF
════════ ABILITY CLASSIFICATION ════════
⫸ TYPE: SYMBIOTIC ETHER BEAST MANIFESTATION
⫸ ENTITY: CORE-BONDED — "CRYTEL"
⫸ TIER: TYPE-W(Ø)
════════ PRIMARY EFFECTS ════════
☐ ENTITY FORM: ALPHA-TIER CRYSTALLIZED BIO-ETHER WOLF
☐ AI TYPE: INDEPENDENT COMBAT INTELLECT
☐ NEURAL BOND: TRAUMA-LOCK RESONANCE (DEEP-LINK SYNC)
☐ HOST INTERFACE: EMPATHIC + TACTILE PULSE
⇨ COMBAT MODULES:
▸ SUB-IMPULSE SYNC ATTACKS
▸ REAL-TIME HOST SHIELDING
▸ BERSERK SURGE (HOWL INDEX OVERRIDE)
▸ KIBA SYNCHRONIZATION (BLADE–SPIRIT THREADING)
════════ ESSENCE ABSORPTION PROTOCOL ════════
☐ SOURCE: SHIKIBAN SPIRITUAL RESIDUE
☐ REFINEMENT: SIGIL-THREAD CONVERSION
⇨ OUTCOMES:
▸ CUTTING FORCE: ↑↑
▸ RAGE FOCUS: STABILIZED
▸ FEEDBACK CYCLE: ACCELERATED
════════ ACTIVATION COMMAND ════════
"Crytel… hunt."
— SYNC TIME: 0.6s
— EMPATHIC LINK RATIO: 64% (STABLE)
⚠ SYSTEM STABILITY NOTICE
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
> WARNING: EXTENDED USAGE RISKS
▸ SUMMON FRAGMENTATION
▸ MEMORY PHANTOM REBOUND
▸ GHOST-LINK DISRUPTION
▸ HOST–ENTITY IDENTITY BLEED
⇨ MAX ACTIVE TIME: 3 MIN 12 SEC
⇨ COOLDOWN PERIOD: 9 MIN 30 SEC
⇨ RISK CLASS: [SOUL-FRACTURE / CLASS-B]
════════ SECONDARY MODULES ════════
> HOWL INDEX SURGE
– TRIGGER: ADRENAL CORTEX PEAK
– MODIFIER: +280% SPEED / 11.2 SEC
– SIDE EFFECT: MEMORY BLEED
> SOUL VEIL PHASEWALK
– STATUS: LOCKED
– MERGE PROBABILITY: 32%
– FUNCTION: FORMAL CONVERGENCE (USER+ENTITY)
– TRIGGER MECHANISM: UNKNOWN
════════ HISTORICAL RECORD ════════
[CRYTEL ORIGIN ARCHIVE]
→ SITE: HOWLING GROVE RITUAL — YEAR 952 A.S.
→ BEASTLINE: YAMATO / "BLOODBORNE FANG LINEAGE"
→ STATUS: RITUAL BANNED POST-TEMPORAL SEVERANCE INCIDENT
→ NOTES: FULL KAGESHIKI DETACHMENT LOST — CLASSIFIED
→ ENTITY STATUS: SURVIVOR-REMNANT (CRYTEL)
✶ SCROLL 21-X, FRAGMENT:
"That which bears memory in tooth and blood.
That which remembers you more than you remember yourself."
════════ STATUS UPDATE ════════
> SUMMON SYNC RATIO: 64% — STABLE
> KIBA CORE STATUS: REINFORCED (MULTI-FLAME ABSORPTION)
> EVOLUTION PATHWAY: PHASE HOWL_03 — ALPHA ECLIPSE (INCOMPLETE)
> EMOTIONAL STABILITY: FLAGGED — VOLATILE
════════ RECOMMENDATION ════════
☐ DEPLOY: PSYCHOSPIRITUAL STABILIZATION PROTOCOL
☐ MONITOR: OBLIVION-CLASS SYNC SPIKE POTENTIAL
☐ OVERRIDE TIER: AUTHORIZATION — PENDING
[END OF ENTRY / KAGESHIKI MONITORING RESUMED…]
VRRMMMM...The interface shimmered and blinked out with a faint pulse.
Daigo let out a deep breath as the light faded. The wolf at his side—Crytel—watched him without blinking, head tilted slightly as if trying to read the storm behind his eyes.
Yeaga leaned in close, lips curled into a half-grin. "Alpha Eclipse, huh?"
Ishigo cracked his knuckles. "Sounds like boss-fight mode."
Daigo didn't respond at first. He lowered KIBA to his side and stared at the edge of the blade—its sigils now brighter, burning faint white-blue, like the last glow before frostbite.
"I'm not there yet," he said softly.
Crystel gave a low rumble, brushing up against him again.
"But maybe next time… I will be."