Meanwhile, in the Western region, the sky bled just as red.
Countless battles raged across the plains. Steel. Ki. Screams. But one fight stood apart.
Inside a reality-isolated domain, the air was too still. No wind. No sound except breathing.
Lian stood at the center. Arms raised high. Not touching anything, but force poured from her palms like invisible chains.
Below her, Ryou writhed on the ground. Helpless. Body shaking.
"Stop! Lian, stop!" he screamed, voice raw. "Please! I can't— I can't breathe!"
The pressure didn't let up. It pressed him into the stone. Bones creaked. His vision blurred.
A few meters away, Lei watched. She hadn't moved. Sword at her side. Face unreadable.
Lian's eyes were closed. Calm. As if she was holding up the sky itself. "You should have been crushed by now," she said softly. "Is this not rescue? To break you before the world does?"
Ryou clawed at the ground, fingernails breaking. "That's not— what are you even talking about—"
The domain pulsed. Walls of white light surrounded them, cutting them off from the war outside. No one could get in. No one could get out.
Lei finally took a step forward. Her boots made no sound. "Lian."
Lian didn't look down. "He's almost there. One more moment and his mind will snap clean. Then I can come for you."
Lei's hand tightened on her sword. "Why are you doing this, Lian?"
Lian opened her eyes. "I'm just following orders."
Ryou screamed again as the force increased.
The domain shook.
"I'm just following orders," she repeated. Her voice was soft, like she was explaining rain.
Ryou choked out a laugh. Blood on his teeth. "Orders? From who? Did Xaphan get in your head again?"
CRACK.
Another rib. Ryou screamed and arched off the ground, body jerking against the invisible weight.
Lei moved. One step, then another. Her sword stayed in the sheath, but the air around her sharpened.
"Then disobey," Lei said. "You've done it before. Is this how you kill off your only friends?"
Lian finally lowered her head. Her eyes met Lei's. Calm. Empty.
"Friends," Lian echoed. "I don't understand..."
Lei's chest tightened. "Are you saying you never thought of us as friends?"
The domain pulsed. VOOM!!
Dust lifted from the ground and hung there, frozen midair.
Ryou's fingers dragged across stone, leaving red trails. "Lei... help... I can't breathe..."
Lian's brow furrowed. Just a fraction. "He's resisting. But I can't seem to end his suffering. I don't understand what's going on."
"Lian?" Lei asked, voice lower now.
Lian didn't answer. The force spiked.
KRAAAK!
Ryou screamed until his voice broke. The stone beneath him shattered.
Lei's sword slid half an inch from the sheath. SHING!!
"Last chance, Lian. Let him go."
Lian tilted her head. For the first time, something human crossed her face. Something like grief.
"Help me, Zirkyu," she whispered.
Lei stepped between them. Her back to Ryou, her eyes locked on Lian. And her heart skipped at the look on her face. Hollow, and afraid.
"Lian," Lei said. "What did they do to you?"
The domain shuddered. Hairline fractures raced across the white walls.
Lei's mind snagged on one word.
Zirkyu.
'The enemy. Why would Lian call for him?'
Lei dropped her sword. CLANG!! It hit the stone and she was moving before the sound faded. Both hands shot out and gripped Lian's shoulders hard.
"Lian! Do you remember who we are?" she yelled.
The pressure vanished.
Everything went still. The invisible chains holding Ryou snapped. Dust settled. For one heartbeat, the domain was silent.
Lian blinked, dazed. Then her eyes focused. Cold.
"You... you're Lei Hanzo and Ryou Sukuna," she said flatly. "My targets. I was ordered to stop you."
Lei recoiled like she'd been struck. Her grip loosened.
'Wait. I can't assume anything yet, she thought. This isn't her.'
"Do you remember Iron Fist Academy?" Lei pressed. "Our time there? Where you came from? Do you remember any of it?"
Lian's face crumpled. Tears welled and spilled over her lashes. She looked lost. Terrified.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she choked out. "Please... stay back."
Then she shoved Lei away. Both palms flared.
The same force that crushed Ryou slammed into Lei. Air went out of her lungs. Her limbs locked mid-motion, suspended in the stale grip of Lian's jutsu.
"My mind hurts," Lian sobbed, voice breaking. "I don't know what you're doing to me. I need assistance."
And with a final pulse, both Lei and Ryou were pinned.
Ryou rolled onto his side, gasping.
"Lei. Are you okay?"
No answer.
He pushed himself up and looked over. Lei was on her knees, head bowed. No movement. No reaction.
"Lei? It looks like she lost her memory or something. So what's the plan—"
Still nothing.
"Lei... Lei?"
That's when he saw it.
Faint black veins were crawling up Lei's neck. Energy leaked from her in thin, jagged threads. Her jaw clenched. A quiet sound escaped her throat. Pain.
"What's wrong?" Ryou yelled, scrambling to her. "Lian! You've gotta snap out of it. Something is wrong with Lei!"
Lian stood a few feet away. Shaking. Eyes wide and lost. Her hands trembled at her sides.
"I... I didn't—"
Her palms flickered.
SHATTER!
The white walls of the domain exploded outward. All three of them were thrown back into the real world.
The red sky hit them first. Ash in the air. Distant screams. The battlefield stretched out around them, still burning.
Ryou hit the ground hard and rolled. He was free.
Lian was already running. No words. No look back. Just a blur disappearing into the smoke.
Ryou started after her, then stopped.
Lei hadn't moved.
He dropped to her side instead, hands hovering over her neck where the black veins pulsed. "Damn it, Forget the plan. Everything's just been going wrong."
His voice was low now. Urgent.
"Lei. Stay with me."
Ryou pulled Lei's collar back.
Bite marks. Two of them, raw at the base of her neck. Thin threads of dark energy leaked from the wounds like smoke.
"Who did this to you?" he whispered.
Then it hit him.
Months ago. Xaphan. The fight that put her in the hospital for three weeks. The doctors said it was "ki exhaustion." They were wrong.
His stomach dropped. "It's him. It's still him."
He looked up, scanning the battlefield for anyone. Medics. Allies. Anyone.
Nothing. Just fire, ash, and bodies.
And then he saw them.
Three figures moving through the smoke. Same posture. Same smirk. Xaphan clones. Heading straight for them.
"Uh. Nice timing..." Ryou muttered.
His mind raced. If he engaged the clones, he'd have to leave Lei. And she was still shaking, those veins crawling higher up her neck with every breath.
If he stayed, the clones would be on them in seconds.
Lei let out another soft sound of pain. Her hand twitched toward his, but didn't find it.
Ryou planted himself in front of her, Ki flaring to life around his fists. It burned, unstable, but it was all he had.
"Okay," he said, to himself more than her. "Okay. We don't move. I don't leave you."
The clones stopped ten meters away. The one in front tilted its head.
"She looks sick, Sukuna. Want us to put her out of her misery?"
Ryou didn't answer. He just shifted his weight and put himself between them and Lei.
"Touch her," he said quietly, "and see what happens."
The clones charged.
Ryou didn't move. And Lei was behind him, breathing in shallow, broken gasps.
"Ryou!!"
He turned.
"Fuse?" A grin broke through the tension on his face. "Oh, I'm glad to see you."
Fuse skidded to a stop beside him, blade already drawn. "Yeah. But there's still more of them than us."
Before Ryou could answer, another voice cut through the smoke.
"You mind if we joined too?"
"Kaguya?" Ryou blinked. "And the rest of your squad?"
Saburo cracked his knuckles. Asami alongside him.
"We have names, idiot," Saburo said.
Then they both stepped in line with Ryou. Shoulder to shoulder.
The Xaphan clones slowed, suddenly outnumbered.
Ryou kept his eyes forward, but his voice was low. "Listen. Quick version. We lost Lian. And Lei—" He glanced back. "She got hit with whatever Xaphan left in her months ago. Bite marks on her neck. It's like a poison , I'm not really sure of anything right now."
Kaguya's eyes flicked to Lei, then hardened. "We'll handle the clones. You stay with her."
Saburo was already moving. "Try not to die before the backup gets here, okay?"
The first clone lunged.
Ryou didn't follow. He dropped back down to one knee beside Lei instead, hand hovering over her neck.
"I got you," he murmured. "Just hold on. Help's here now."
Fuse glances at them a little longer worried then left to join the fight.
The fight didn't last.
Three minutes. Maybe four. The clones dropped one by one, and then everything went quiet except the ringing in their ears.
That's when everyone one on the battlefield all looked up.
Veyruun hung in the sky. Massive. Silent.
Above him, the sky began to crack.
Hairline fractures of light split the red clouds. Then wider. Then wider. Red light poured through the breaks like blood from a wound. The air itself was screaming, a high, thin sound that made teeth ache.
Below, Xaphan raised both hands. Not to strike. Not to fight.
To end it.
Fuse froze mid-step. "Are... are the Grandmasters beaten?"
One of the fallen clones on the ground twitched and smiled, blood on its teeth. "Finally."
Ryou didn't answer. He was already staring up, jaw tight.
"Damn it," he muttered. "Does anything go right today?"
The ground trembled. Dust lifted and hung, weightless.
Kaguya pulled Asami and Saburo closer. Fuse moved to shield Ryou and Lei without thinking.
They braced themselves.
And what came next was something no one could phantom. Not even Veyruun.
His attention snapped away from the battlefield. Up to his own body. His giant, physical form hanging in the sky.
Then—
BOOM!!
A blast of ki detonated across the entire ground. Not a beam. Not a strike. Raw, uncontrolled energy ripped outward in every direction.
Warriors were sent flying. Allies and enemies both. Bodies cartwheeled through the air, slammed into rubble, into stone, into each other.
Ryou threw himself over Lei a second too late. The shockwave hit like a wall. It tore the breath from his lungs and drove them both skidding across the cracked earth.
Fuse barely caught Kaguya. Saburo hit the ground rolling. Asami screamed and vanished into the dust.
When the noise faded, the battlefield was empty.
Just craters. Just silence.
And above them, Veyruun was clutching his chest, eyes wide with something that looked a lot like fear.
He hadn't done that.
Veryruun's body vanished.
No flash. No sound. Just gone.
In his place, a massive crater opened in the ground. Steam rose from the edges. Dust still hung in the air.
Veyruun's eyes narrowed. "What? Impossible. What could have—"
He stopped.
At the bottom of the hole stood three figures.
Meili.
She was in front, shoulders squared, blood on her sleeve but her chin lifted. Defiant. Her eyes were locked straight on Veyruun in the sky.
To her right, Kai. Battered. One arm hanging wrong. Breathing hard, but standing.
And at Meili's feet, Hibiki. Still. Unconscious.
The wind through the crater was the only thing moving.
Ryou pushed himself up on one elbow, coughing. "Meili?"
Meili didn't look at him. Not yet.
Her gaze never left Veyruun.
"You want to end the world?" she said, voice carrying up through the dust. "You'll have to go through me first."
Veyruun stared down at her. For the first time, he didn't answer right away.