In the Supreme council, the weight of the world crashed down on Jun Shizukami.
As the Supreme Chancellor, he was already buried under overwhelming responsibilities. But just before Hayato and Takashi had left, he had experienced a fleeting moment of pure joy the news of new lives blooming within their family.
But the moment he heard the news from the West Land; mountains of tragedy collapsed upon him.
In an instant, his entire life felt meaningless. The world lost all its color. He became more devastated and deeply saddened than he had ever been in his entire life.
His beloved older brother. His precious nephew. Gone.
He couldn't believe the words of the people. His heart violently rejected the lies Kazuki was spreading. But the reality of their absence was undeniable.
When Ema heard the news, her mind shattered. She couldn't process it. She instantly fainted, collapsing to the cold stone floor.
When she finally regained consciousness, the agonizing memories flooded her mind. She remembered her baby boy. She remembered her husband.
Tears streamed down her face as she recalled her very first meeting with Hayato on a blood-soaked battlefield when they were only sixteen.
She remembered the day he took his first terrifying steps toward becoming the "War Demon." She remembered the horrific, brutal battles they had fought against each other.
Even back then, beneath the clash of their blades, a strange, undeniable love had bloomed in their hearts. But they were bound by their clans' hatred; their ongoing war was a massive obstacle.
They had fought for years, until the wise decision of their elders finally brought them together. They had been together ever since.
But now... he was gone. Ema's life turned completely colorless.
But then, she felt it. A faint flutter in her womb. The life growing inside her reminded her that she couldn't give up. A spark of hope ignited in the overwhelming darkness.
Outside, the uproar continued. The masses were forcefully pushing to completely erase the Shizukami Clan's authority in the West Land.
They chanted Kazuki's name. Supported by the unseen hands of Shinsei, General Kazuki was officially crowned as the Supreme Leader.
Hearing this, Jun immediately left his pregnant wife, Maya, under Kazumi's protection in the East Land. He urged Kazumi to go to the West Land and extract his sister, Ema, before it was too late.
Jun knew the political landscape better than anyone. As the Supreme Chancellor, his position was the center of the four lands. He had the power to influence the world.
But against this fabricated outrage and the hidden machinations of Shinsei, he felt utterly helpless. He knew he couldn't do anything to change the situation without sparking a global war.
That very day, unable to bear the suffocating reality, Jun Shizukami resigned from his position forever.
He vanished. He disappeared so completely it was as if he had never existed in the first place. He didn't even attend his brother's mourning. He shared his crushing grief for his nephew with no one.
In an instant, the balance of the four lands broke.
Two brothers from centuries-old, overwhelmingly powerful clan were wiped from the board. Their existence was erased. The brothers upon whom the entire global power system relied were gone.
The West Land, which had always been the absolute center of leadership, and the Shiritsu Supreme Council, which was the core of the new world order, had both been maintained by these two brothers.
The balance of power was completely shattered. The world had irrevocably changed.
The news of Hayato's death and Jun's disappearance created a terrifying fear: The Shizukami Clan was on the verge of complete extinction.
Without wasting a single second, Kazumi Kaimetsuza rushed toward the West Land.
Upon arriving, he witnessed the terrible, hostile conditions firsthand. Moving silently through the shadows, he safely extracted his sister Ema and returned to his own territory in the East Land.
Back in the West, General Kazuki sat on the throne. To him, becoming the Supreme Leader felt like an impossible dream come true.
He didn't even fully understand how it had happened so easily. But he remained blissfully ignorant of the terrifying truth: He was nothing more than a puppet being used by the Shinsei Organization.
Shinsei continued their dark work in the shadows. Their two greatest obstacles Hayato and Jun had been completely removed. Jun's whereabouts were unknown even to his own family; he had vanished like a ghost.
Unease spread rapidly among the remaining leaders. The West Land had its new leader, but the most critical question remained: Who would be the new Supreme Chancellor of the Shiritsu Supreme Council?
Everyone knew that wherever the new Chancellor came from, the ultimate balance of power would shift to that land.
They also knew the terrifying reality of the current situation. The next target of the conspiracy would undoubtedly be the second greatest power: The Kaimetsuza Clan.
But targeting them would not be easy. Kazumi Kaimetsuza was not a merciful man.
After witnessing the tragedy that had befallen his sister and brother-in-law, it wouldn't take even a second for him to revert to the bloodthirsty beast he once was.
The leaders lived in constant fear of his wrath. But Kazumi maintained absolute restraint. He forced himself to adapt to the changing world, prioritizing the safety of his family above his rage.
Inside the Kaimetsuza estate, three new lives were slowly growing in the wombs of Ema, Maya, and Tsugumi.
As time passed, a new figure finally emerged to take the position of Supreme Chancellor. He was someone that all the Supreme Leaders of the various lands trusted completely.
Aside from the four Supreme Leaders, no one else in the world knew his true identity. With his appointment, the boiling tensions in the world finally began to cool down.
Meanwhile, deep within the abyss of the Grand Forest of Monsters, Takashi wandered aimlessly.
He considered himself so cursed and unlucky that even the terrifying monsters stayed far away from him, refusing to even come close.
He had not seen his own reflection in all this time. He had absolutely no idea that his appearance had drastically changed.
To stay alive, he relied entirely on the glowing fruits of the forest. It was his only food. To quench his thirst, he constantly walked alongside the raging river.
But this forest spanned thousands of kilometers. It was a domain that could easily swallow even the most powerful Shin Warriors without a trace.
Yet, Takashi fortified his young courage. He constantly repeated his father's final words in his mind. He never forgot his goal. He desperately wanted to return to his mother.
Time passed relentlessly.
Nearly a full year slipped by. Takashi had lost track of the days; he didn't even know how long he had been trapped in this green hell. Slowly, the isolated boy was beginning to forget how to speak.
On the other side of the world, in the East Land, the new lives had finally been born.
Takashi had become a big brother, though he had no idea.
Tragedy, however, struck the estate once more. Maya lost her life while giving birth to her daughter. With Jun gone, the responsibility of raising Maya's orphaned daughter fell completely onto Ema's shoulders.
Ema also gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
A few days later, Tsugumi Kaimetsuza gave birth to a son as well. The Kaimetsuza Clan had finally received its official heir.
But amidst the arrival of these new lives, a six-year-old girl remained trapped in the past.
Over a year had passed, but Aira never stopped looking at the horizon, waiting for Takashi's return.
She was always sad. So deeply, devastatingly sad, as if her entire world had been plundered and destroyed.
Kazumi tried constantly to reason with her. Tsugumi offered her endless comfort. And Aira would often sit with her aunt and mother-in-law, Ema, and they would cry together.
Ema knew the truth of what Hayato had planned, but even that knowledge offered little comfort in the face of their disappearance.
Despite a whole year passing, Aira never accepted defeat. She refused to give up.
She still proudly introduced herself as Aira Shizukami, maintaining a strict, unyielding attitude toward anyone who dared disrespect the name.
Finally, Kazumi sat his daughter down and spoke to her with absolute seriousness.
He told her she needed to start living her life again. She needed to make herself unbelievably strong for when Takashi finally returned.
She had to become a shield for her new baby brother and her infant cousins, who now completely depended on her. She needed to protect her husband when he came back.
He urged her to master the new Shiritsu arts, to build a safe and prosperous life for her family, so that when Takashi returned, he would come back to a world of peace.
Aira listened, and she understood.
The six-year-old girl was no longer a child. The harsh realities and tragedies she had witnessed had completely transformed her.
She dropped her childish grief and officially rejoined the academy. Her eyes were set on a massive, almost impossible goal: She was going to join the Shiritsu Dominion University.
The path was incredibly long, but not impossible.
She had decided that she would become the new Supreme Chancellor. In her mind, it was the only power in the world capable of controlling the chaos and guaranteeing the absolute safety of her family.
But it was a daunting dream. If it were truly that easy to control the world, her uncle Jun would never have disappeared.
Jun remained entirely absent from the world, completely unaware of his newborn daughter's existence. No one had heard a single whisper of him for over a year.
More than a year had passed, and the world kept moving, waiting for the ghost of the abyss to finally return.