"I am Gira! The man who will become the Tyrant King and conquer the world!"
Gira declared his ambition, thrusting the Ohger Calibur upward toward the vaulted ceiling as if challenging the heavens themselves.
BJ stared at him, unimpressed.
"Well. That was anticlimactic," he whispered.
"Be quiet," Sebastian hissed back.
In an instant, the palace shook. High above the city, the ancient stone began to crack as God Kuwagata stirred from its centuries-long slumber. As the Ohger Calibur erupted in a blinding golden light, the coin in my pocket surged with a violent energy.
It didn't just glow; it fought.
The throne room was suddenly caught in a crossfire of gold and green, the two energies fighting against each other until my vision fractured. The marble floor vanished. The sounds of Gira's shouting and the Shugod's awakening were swallowed by a heavy, suffocating silence.
I wasn't in Shugoddam anymore.
I was standing in the ruins of what looked like a command center, but the technology was alien and draped in shadows. The air tasted like ash. Beneath my boots lay a shattered red helmet, its visor cracked and lifeless.
I didn't feel fear. That was the terrifying part. I felt a cold, crushing sense of absolute power. Like the world was finally quiet because I had forced it to be.
"They are all just variables," a voice whispered in the back of my mind. It sounded like mine, but older. Crueler. "And you are the only constant."
And then, everything faded to nothing.
24 Hours Later...
I didn't wake up so much as I collided with consciousness, gasping for air as if I'd been underwater.
The first thing I felt was pain. It felt like someone had driven a rusted nail through my temple and was tapping on it with a rhythmic thud. My vision was a blur of sterile white and sharp, stinging yellow. I tried to shift my weight, but my body didn't respond. It felt like my limbs were made of lead and buried under six feet of concrete. A groan escaped my throat before I could stop it.
"I wouldn't try that," a voice said. It was smooth, dry, and entirely too loud for my current state. "You won't be able to move for some time, even if you wanted to."
I squinted. I wasn't in the industrial grit of Shugoddam anymore. The ceiling was a dome of intricate stained glass, and the air smelled of expensive roses and antiseptic. I was back in Ishabana.
Sebastian walked into my line of sight, checking a pocket watch. "Remarkable. Based on the neural load you took, you should have been out for a week. Your body seems to possess an accelerated recovery rate. It's not magic—just an incredibly efficient healing factor."
"The headache... doesn't feel efficient," I croaked. The image of the broken red helmet was still burned into my retinas.
"Your cells are repairing the damage at ten times the normal speed, BJ," Sebastian replied. "The pain is just your brain screaming for the fuel you burned. Your body is ravenous."
"Did... did we win?"
"The Bugnarak were repelled," Sebastian said, his expression darkening. "But the world has turned upside down. In the chaos, that orphan Gira stole the Ohger Calibur and vanished. King Racles has declared him a traitor. He is currently the most wanted man on Chikyu, and no one knows where he's hiding."
The door glided open, and Himeno Ran stepped in. Her vibrant yellow dress caught the sunlight, making her look like a second sun. She didn't look at my face; she looked at the holographic medical vitals.
"Waking up already?" she noted, her tone clinical but impressed. "Your biology is as stubborn as your attitude. Most people would still be a vegetable after a discharge like that."
She leaned over me, her cold, gloved fingers pressing firmly against my forehead. The chill felt like heaven against the heat of my headache.
"I saved you because your power is unique," she continued, her voice radiating an absolute, quiet authority. "And I do not permit unique things to break. You are now a resident of Ishabana, which means you belong to me. My borders, my rules."
She stepped away from the bed, her eyes shifting toward the massive stained-glass window overlooking her kingdom.
"Racles is currently busy chasing ghosts across his own borders," she said, waving a hand dismissively. "The alliance is a bore, and he is far too obsessed with his 'traitor' to realize what he left behind in the rubble of his throne room. But I didn't save your life just to watch you wither away in a bed. I saved you because a power that can challenge a Shugod is far too interesting to let go to waste."
"I... I can't even stand up, Himeno," I muttered.
She looked down at me, her expression a mix of pity and pride. "It's Queen Himeno to you. The world is looking for a boy with a sword, BJ. They have no idea I have a boy who can crash a battlefield without even a Shugod's soul. Rest for now. When you can walk, you will show me exactly what you are capable of. "Till then, Sebastian, ensure he's fed. That healing factor is going to make him ravenous."