Chapter 151

Chapter 151: 

The dust settled.

The world was silent.

The explosion had erased everything.

Nothing remained not the castle.

Not even the Hydra.

Everything was gone

Everything as in

The once-grand throne room of the decoy castle was nothing but a crater, a void well not a actual void but a crater where the castles existence had once stood. The walls, the pillars, the Hydra—gone.

Only the faint hum of wind remained, swirling around the shattered landscape. And in the center of it all, untouched by the devastation, stood Meiyo's Sky Hawk Barrier.

Everyone inside was safe.

But Kouki was not.

Meiyo stood frozen, her breath caught in her throat. Her heart pounded against her ribs, a relentless drumbeat of terror.

"Please."

Her Sky Hawk barrier flickered, the golden winds finally dying down. Dust and smoke curled away, revealing the aftermath.

"Please god let him be alive."

She looked around.

"Oh god no."

And saw...

There was nothing left.

Nothing

Except him.

She wanted to sigh but all she saw him but he was not him he was...

A single, lifeless figure.

Kouki's body fell.

From the sky.

From where he once burned like a falling star.

From where he had chosen to die.

Time slowed.

Not literally but for her

The instant his body dropped, Meiyo moved.

She didn't think. She didn't plan. She ran.

And so did Akari.

Kouki hit the ground.

He didn't move.

He didn't breathe.

Meiyo reached him first, skidding to her knees. She grabbed his shoulders, her fingers shaking.

"Kouki—!"

Nothing.

She shook him.

"KOUKI! WAKE UP!"

"DON'T YOU DARE SO THIS TO ME!"

Akari was sobbing. She collapsed beside him, her hands gripping his chest, his face—searching for anything.

His Red with golden ring eyes…

They were closed.

"Kouki—no, no, no, no—" Akari's voice broke. "This isn't—You're not—!"

Kaito, Rika, Duck, and Hakashi caught up, all of them stopping in their tracks as they saw the lifeless body before them.

Silence.

No one spoke.

No one could.

Kaito's knees buckled.

Duck covered his mouth, his fingers trembling.

Hakashi clenched his fists, unable to look.

Rika's smirk was gone. Her lips pressed together. Her expression unreadable.

But it was Akari who screamed.

The moment Kouki's lack of life became real to her, something inside Akari snapped.

She needed him.

Her Omni Energy surged.

She wanted him

But it wasn't normal.

She will have him

It twisted. Warped. Expanded.

She won't let this world take him.

A raw, primal force erupted from her body, swirling around her in brilliant, paradoxical waves. Time broke. Reality cracked.

She didn't think.

She didn't plan.

She wanted him back.

And the universe responded.

Omni Energy did not follow rules.

Life and death?

They were mere play things for people with Omni Energy

Yes even those who never trained to utilise it instead convert it into inferior branch sources

And Akari?

She was breaking all them rules.

She didn't care.

Light surged from her hands, searing through the fabric of existence. The energy poured into Kouki's chest, his limbs, his heart.

The world held its breath.

And then—

A cough.

A ragged, shallow cough.

Kouki gasped.

Akari choked on a sob.

Meiyo's eyes widened in shock.

He was alive.

Barely.

His body twitched, his fingers curling weakly. His breathing was faint, fragile—like a candle in the wind.

But he was alive.

Akari collapsed onto him, shaking, her forehead pressed against his. "You idiot—you absolute idiot—don't you ever do that again!"

Meiyo let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Relief crashed through her.

But then

Rika had a realisation and she voiced it.

Rika spoke and the dread returned.

"…He's still dying."

Everyone froze.

"I can heal him. y clans abilities were made for this." Akari said anxiously.

Rika's voice was calm, but her eyes were sharp. "Akari you used up all your Omni Energy. She can't heal him again. You only pulled him back from the edge, but he's still going to die."

Akari's breath hitched.

Her fingers clenched around Kouki's barely warm hands.

"No. No, no, no, no—" She shook her head violently, refusing to hear it. "I just—I just brought him back! I—"

Meiyo's brain wasn't working.

She always had a plan. She always had a way out.

But this?

This was her brother.

And she was failing him.

Her mind raced. Think. Think. THINK.

Nothing.

Her genius, her perfect mind—useless.

She was too preoccupied.

Worrying about her brother.

She gritted her teeth, gripping the sides of her head.

"I can't—I can't lose him—"

Then, a voice.

Akari the dumbest of them all spoke.

"…The Shadow Realm."

Meiyo's head snapped toward Rika wanting to know if that can save her brother.

Rika's violet eyes glowed faintly. "There's no concept of time there. If we send him in, he won't die—not unless we take him out."

A pause.

Then—

"…Please."

It was the first time Rika sounded desperate.

Meiyo hesitated.

Could she trust her?

Could she risk it?

She looked down at Kouki.

His barely breathing form.

Her decision was made.

"Do it."

Rika moved fast.

A deep, black void opened beneath them, shadows swirling around Kouki's body.

The others watched, tense, silent.

Akari clutched him until the very last moment.

"…I'll bring you back," she whispered. 

The shadows swallowed him whole.

Then—

He was gone.

The portal snapped shut.

A crushing silence filled the air.

Meiyo exhaled.

Akari collapsed but let out a "Thank you" to Rika before doing so.

Everyone stood there, stunned, lost, unsure what to do next.

Because for the first time, they weren't sure if they had won—

Or if they had just lost Kouki forever.

Darkness.

Silence.

Then—

A breath.

Kouki's eyes snapped open.

His vision was hazy. His limbs were numb. His body?

Still broken.

Still dying.

But he wasn't alone.

Because someone else was there.

A figure, standing just before him.

Golden eyes.

A familiar smirk.

A voice, smooth and cruel.

"Finally awake, huh?"

Kouki's breath caught.

He knew that voice.

Hikari.

Flashback end

"So thats what happened." The new Kouki the merged warrior formerly know also Kouki and Hikari said