Beneath a deep gray sky floated an island that was not part of reality. This was the Interdimensional Detention Zone, a place cut off from all known coordinates by layers of folded space. One of the highest secrets of the Saint Yuu Foundation: Deep Enhancement Experimental Prison NOIR.
Click- A metal door slowly opened, and a figure bound in black shackles was dragged into the chamber.
Kokushin Jin, once the captain of the Sword Division three years ago, was now the first subject of the Foundation's repatriation project. Designation: NO.001 "The Returned".
He stood silently in the center of the training room, his expression blank, his eyes as still and deep as a stagnant abyss.
"Commence phase one of the enhancement program."
With the command, liquid black serum poured from the surrounding needles into his body. It was the forbidden drug known as V-A Serum, an adrenaline modifier that forced latent powers to awaken under extreme stress.
Agony shot through his nerves, as if his soul and body were being torn apart and reconstructed. Hallucinations surged - The sword of Kyōichi Tendō.
The illusions of Yoruomi Sō.
The turmoil of the Higashigumo Academy...
He said nothing. Just lowered his head as black runes began to creep across his skin.
And then - he smiled.
"This level of pain... still not enough."
In the next moment, tenfold gravity was activated. A twisted realm of consciousness unfolded, a simulated attempt at soul fragmentation and forced remolding - all to forge a new form of his blade.
-Within Kokushin Jin, the broken blade of his past began to reforge amidst illusion and torment, glowing with purple-black flames.
Meanwhile - Higashigumo Academy - Infirmary Yoruomi Sō stood at the window, wrapped in his jacket, gazing at the distant sky. In his hand, he held an invitation from the Saint Yuu Foundation.
"Enter the afterlife. Awaken the truth you've forgotten."
"They're trying to lure me in," he murmured.
Soft footsteps came from behind.
Standing in the doorway was Saya Hōdō, her eyes conflicted.
"Are you really considering leaving?"
"I just want to know-what's in this room that I've forgotten."
Saya walked over and stopped beside him.
"If you are going... is it easier not to take me with you?" she asked with a soft smile, though her eyes shimmered with tears.
Yoruomi said nothing. He took her hand gently - but gave no answer.
Elsewhere - Saint Yuu Foundation Underground Two researchers spoke in the control room:
"Subject One is stable. Mental resistance is at 70%. Not long now..."
"Subject Two is also close to awakening."
"Pyrokinesis?"
"No... worse. A power that burns rules itself."
On the screen, a figure slumbered in an inferno. Slowly, he opened his eyes - and space itself began to distort from the heat of his breath.
Saya Hōdō: The Future I Cannot Speak Of The infirmary was quiet, filled with the haze of afternoon weariness.
Saya sat by the bed, quietly watching Yoruomi's silhouette by the window, the sunlight tracing the outline of his face with a fragile glow.
He was leaving again.
But this time, not to fight the ace of another club. Not for the honor of the Magic Division.
This time he was going to a place whose very name brought fear - "The Otherworld".
She whispered the words and gently stroked the bandages on her palm - remnants of the recent battle with the "Iron Fist of the Otherworld".
She had no great talent like Yoruomi.
No icy brilliance like Hakuran.
Not even the tactical mind of Midō Karuma.
She just... kept trying to catch up. Again and again.
But - he got further.
Her gaze landed on the replica of the invitation, stamped with a crimson seal:
"Official Invitation: Yoruomi Sō - Enter the 2nd Generation Otherworld as a Trial Subject."
She knew - it wasn't an invitation. It was a threat.
"Saya."
His voice broke her thoughts.
She looked up. He turned - his eyes silent as the night.
If I... go a way you don't want me to go, what will you do?"
She stepped closer. Close enough to feel his breath.
"I will always be behind you. Even if it's a path with no return."
A single tear slipped down. She didn't cry - her eyes were too wet.
"Just..."
"Don't keep hiding how much it hurts - to be alone."
He gently wiped away her tear without saying anything.
But in that moment, she understood - he had made his choice.
And so had she.
Wherever you go, I'll follow.
Even if it leads to the abyss.
Hakuran: Truth Beyond Illusion The training room was silent.
White light reflected off metal panels, sterile and cold. Hakuran stood in front of a mirror, taking off his glasses to polish the lenses - a ritual to cleanse his mind.
Footage of his fight against the "Iron Fist" played on the screen.
He had endured with triple illusions and precise strikes - but in the end, he had lost.
"A hybrid of strength and psychic-like abilities... A new era has begun," he murmured.
Not just an enemy- A revelation.
The "evolved" from the other world were no longer bound by the rules of the Academy.
Could someone like him, a magician who lived on feints and mind tricks, keep up?
He closed his eyes and saw Yoruomi's back.
The boy who had become the president of the student council. The one everyone followed.
"But you're on the verge of breaking."
"If you fall... what do we do?"
Hakuran opened his eyes - sharp and clear.
He had made his choice.
"I will be the second Yoruomi."
Not to replace.
To stand beside.
For the Magic Division to survive, he had to develop.
He would not only create illusions.
He would manipulate reality.
Sliding his glasses back on, he straightened his posture.
Machines activated. Light scanned his neural patterns.
His psychic profile began to rebuild.
Hakuran: Phase One - "Reality Interference" tests initiated.
There was no turning back.
He would hold the other half of heaven.
Midō Karuma: The Imperfect Shield He once believed he could protect everyone.
Until this battle.
Until they all lay bleeding at the gates of the Dragonfang Arena.
Midō Karuma sat on the edge of the training ground, fists clenched. Bandages still fresh.
Yet he trained. Again and again.
He had been the leader of the Magic Division.
The "Shield".
The first to follow Yoruomi.
But this time, he failed.
"If I had been stronger... maybe Yoruomi wouldn't have been hurt."
His voice was hoarse. Barely a whisper.
Illusion is fiction.
Fist is real.
He was supposed to be the "real" half of the Magic Division.
But now, even "real" couldn't stop the Evolved.
"Yoruomi is leading us into the future. But we must become the fists that can punch through that future."
He stood up, his eyes blazing.
No longer a "Guardian Boxer"- he would become a Breaker.
Fist of the soul. Fist that breaks dimensions.
Kyōichi Tendō: Sword of Faith and Fracture The dojo was quiet.
Under the moonlight, Kyōichi Tendō stood alone on the platform.
Behind him, his Heartblade rested silently.
He inhaled. His fingers brushed the hilt - a ripple of mental energy pulsed outward, filling the air.
"Kokushin Jin... you have returned."
He kept his eyes closed.
But he could see the black shadow approaching.
They had once been the Twin Blades of the Sword Division.
Light and Dark. Order and chaos.
But three years ago, Jin had been "chosen" and sent away.
Kyōichi carried everything since - leadership, duty, faith.
Now Jin was back.
But no longer human - a shattered will encased in flesh.
"I must end this with my own hands... for the past me."
He opened his eyes.
No sadness. No anger.
Only sword intent as deep as the void.
"If my sword cannot protect the future - then it means nothing."
His training never stopped.
His faith would never break.
Kokushin Jin: Why I returned in darkness - there was no light.
Suspended in a gravity-lock suppression field, he floated.
"So this is Phase One..." he rasped.
His mind was blurred.
The boundary between reality and the otherworld had collapsed long ago.
He saw illusions-old allies. Former enemies.
And the back of Kyōichi Tendō.
"Do you still cling to the sword, Kyōichi? I have long outgrown humanity."
He remembered being "chosen"...