The blast faded.
Smoke filled the room.
Silence followed.
Heavy… final…
Axel slowly lifted his head from the ground, coughing. His ears rang, his vision blurred.
"Leo…?" he called weakly.
"I'm here…" Leo replied from a few feet away, struggling to stand.
They were alive.
But barely.
The room—no… the entire floor—was destroyed. Walls torn apart. Lights flickering. Everything broken.
And in the center of it all—
He stood.
Kai's body.
But not Kai.
The glow in his eyes burned deeper than ever. No flicker. No hesitation. No humanity.
Just power.
Just the Underlord.
Axel stared at him, his chest tightening.
"…Kai?"
No answer.
No reaction.
Not even a glance.
Leo looked closely, analyzing, hoping—searching for something.
A movement.
A flicker.
Anything.
But there was nothing.
"…He's gone," Leo said quietly.
The words hit harder than anything before.
Axel shook his head. "No… no, that's not true… he's in there, he has to be!"
But even as he said it—
He knew.
The Underlord turned slowly.
His presence filled the room like a storm that had no end.
"…This body," he said calmly, "is now mine."
Axel's fists clenched.
"You're wrong," he said, his voice shaking but strong. "Kai wouldn't just disappear like that."
The Underlord looked at him.
Cold.
Unfeeling.
"…You misunderstand," he said.
Then—
He raised his hand slightly.
Axel froze.
Not from fear—
But from pressure.
Something invisible… crushing.
Leo grabbed Axel's arm. "We can't fight this… not now!"
The Underlord lowered his hand again.
"…You are insignificant," he said. "I have no interest in ending you… yet."
He turned away.
Walking through the destruction like it didn't matter.
Like nothing mattered.
Axel dropped to his knees.
"…Kai…" he whispered.
Memories flooded his mind.
The rooftop.
The fights.
The jokes.
The moments they almost died—together.
All gone.
Leo stood still, his face unreadable—but his eyes…
His eyes said everything.
"…We lost him," he said quietly.
Outside, sirens grew louder.
The world was closing in again.
But it didn't matter anymore.
Because the biggest fight—
The one that mattered most—
Was already lost.
The Underlord stepped out into the night.
Rain began to fall.
Slow.
Cold.
He looked up at the sky.
"…Freedom," he said softly.
No chains.
No limits.
No Kai.
And somewhere… deep in the silence—
There was nothing left.
No voice.
No resistance.
No light.
Kai was gone.
Forever.