Chapter 156: Storm Against the White Phantom

The sound of distant combat cracked through the air like thunder splitting the earth.

Inside the dimly lit recovery room, Yumi Aoyama's eyes snapped toward the window. The rain had turned violent, lightning forking in waves across the eastern skies — and underneath it, distant booms shook the entire structure of Raiden Edge.

She glanced back at Riku, who lay still, his skin pale but no longer drenched in sweat. The AI's latest whisper echoed in his mind, unheard by anyone but him:

[Internal AI Diagnostics: 98% complete. Essence system stabilizing. Neural matrix functional. Consciousness state: Dormant Recovery.]

Yumi clenched her fists, her hand resting briefly on the necklace Riku had given her — the matching Hayashi crest glowing faintly against her skin."I won't let anything happen to you while you rest…"

She stood, brushed her bangs aside, and left the room.

Outside in the eastern training field, Kavros Isen stood like a phantom in the storm — white cloak undisturbed despite the wind, masked face tilting in amusement as Takumi, Renji, Reina, and several elite warriors of Raiden Edge launched wave after wave of coordinated attacks.

Takumi sliced in with Essence-charged dual blades, his movements a blur as he targeted pressure points — only for his swords to be deflected by a ripple of force surrounding Kavros's body.

"His aura's like armor…" Takumi muttered, landing beside Renji.

Renji launched three explosive traps infused with rare essence tags. "Then we overload it!"The orbs struck — but Kavros simply raised a finger, and a translucent wall of essence caught the blast midair.

Reina stood back, summoning waves of melodic energy from her music orb, her song bolstering her allies' reflexes and healing minor wounds as they moved.

"His essence signature is... unstable!" she called out. "Like it's... incomplete?"

Suddenly — a voice pierced the rain.

"Wind Serpent Step!"

Yumi Aoyama dashed into the battlefield, her blade already drawn. With a blur of speed, she appeared behind Kavros, slicing across the white cloak. A faint scratch appeared — nothing more.

Kavros turned slowly. "The vice president... and the closest one to Riku Hayashi," he mused aloud.

Yumi narrowed her eyes. "I'm not letting you get to him."

She didn't wait for a reply — her next technique, "Razor Wind Bloom", sent dozens of slicing gusts toward him from every direction. Combined with Takumi's dual-strike pattern and Renji's trap coordination, the trio pushed Kavros onto the defensive.

Kavros dodged with fluid precision, deflecting attacks with slow movements that wasted no energy. Still, he was surrounded. Takumi's footwork was locking him into tighter spaces. Reina's support auras were intensifying. Yumi's blade caught a real strike this time — a cut across his shoulder.

Kavros paused. A drop of blood hit the ground.

The warriors held formation, breathing hard, tense.

"Well, well..." he said softly. "It's been a long time since I bled."

He rolled his neck and looked skyward. The clouds responded, turning an unnatural shade of gray as red lightning flickered behind his masked form.

"Perhaps I forgot to mention…"He raised his hand.

WHOOOOOOM!

A pressure wave exploded outward, knocking several fighters off their feet and disrupting Reina's rhythm completely."I've been fighting with... only thirty percent of my strength."

Everyone froze.

Yumi's heart dropped. "W-What...?"

Kavros slowly lowered his hand, his aura now boiling visibly around him in pulses of red and white.

"Let this be a lesson. I'm not one of your little ranked criminals. I am a harbinger. And I didn't come here for a skirmish…"He pointed toward the guild compound."I came to see if Riku Hayashi is really the key to the storm that's coming."

Thunder split the sky above.Kavros stepped forward — his full power now beginning to surface.

Yumi stood firm, her blade glowing bright. Behind her, Takumi readied his stance. Renji reloaded his essence traps. Reina stood up, music orb pulsing once more.

"Then we'll hold you off until he wakes," Yumi said. "Even if we fall — he will rise."

Kavros tilted his head, intrigued.

The real battle was just beginning.