Final Form

The wind howled—ripping through the splintered husks of huts, threading through broken beams, hurling loose thatch into the air like a storm tearing through a forgotten graveyard. Flames clung to the ruins—flickering in a final, frantic dance—before the gale tore them free, devouring their light as the storm boiled across the sky.

Kazuki stood before the Wailer—one knee bent, the other foot skidding across fractured ground. Dust clung to his skin, blood dripped from his jaw. Ash and embers spun like fireflies, sparks dragged into spirals around him by the storm's breath.

Above them, the clouds churned.

BOOM.

The sky roared— A spear of white fury crashed from the heavens—cleaving the courtyard's edge, stone erupting into molten slag, air curling into flame.

The shockwave lifted Kazuki off his feet. He hit the ground hard, a grunt ripping from his throat.