The cathedral's infirmary smelled of incense and blood.
The silver-haired boy lay unconscious beneath dim lantern light. His body was frail, marked by burns and chains still etched into his skin like brands. Ancient runes glowed faintly across his chest—foreign, mechanical, demonic. None could read them. Not even Haru.
"He's not normal," Ren said, crossing his arms. "Not human. Not fully."
"But he bled," Daiki replied. "He was in pain. Like us."
"He was inside a god-damned monster, Daiki," Ren snapped. "Chained up inside that thing like some... fuel core."
Kaito stood silently. His blade rested beside him, sheathed, but his eyes were sharp.
"He said: Help me," Kaito murmured. "That wasn't manipulation. That was desperation."
They all turned as footsteps echoed into the room.
Bishop Verdan entered, accompanied by two new figures—stern, dressed in gold-lined Ministry robes. Behind them: armed guards.
"This boy," Verdan began, "is not to be trusted."
The taller of the robed men, a High Executor named Drael, stepped forward. "He's classified under Codex 44-E: Possession-Class Subject. Standard protocol demands immediate incineration."
"What?!" Haru stepped forward. "He's a kid!"
"A ticking weapon," Drael corrected. "Made by the Vatican's hidden sects. Their final project after failing to capture the Four at birth."
Daiki's fists clenched. "He's like us, isn't he?"
Kaito's voice was ice. "You knew about him."
Verdan's silence was damning.
"He was the prototype," Haru whispered. "The first attempt at binding elemental spirits into a living vessel. But something went wrong. They locked him inside a creature…"
"And buried him under our city," Ren finished bitterly.
Meanwhile, in the Demon Realms…
In the burning spires of Kyr Abaddon, a high demon knelt before the throne of the Abyss.
"My lord… the Bound One has fallen."
The demon king stirred. His face, a mask of molten bone and shifting shadows, turned toward the swirling pools of memory. In them, he saw the Four. And the Fifth.
"So… the child of chain and curse awakens."
A lesser demon hissed beside him. "Shall we strike while the Ministry crumbles?"
"No," the king said. "Not yet. Let them choke on their own secrets."
His clawed hand traced the surface of an ancient mirror. A map of Earth shimmered.
"We wait… until the Vatican reveals the Seventh Seal."
Back in the Ministry Cathedral…
The silver-haired boy woke.
His eyes opened slowly—one dull grey, the other glowing cyan like a dying star.
"I… I dreamed of fire," he whispered. "Of voices screaming in Latin. And chains. Always chains."
Kaito knelt beside him. "What's your name?"
The boy blinked. "I was called… Subject Icarus."
Silence.
Then Daiki knelt beside him. "Screw that name. You're not some number."
Ren folded his arms, still hesitant. "We bring him in, we'll have every Vatican assassin after us. Even our own Church wants him dead."
Kaito stood. "Then let them come."
Politics Unravel
Later that night, in the Ministry's War Hall, chaos brewed.
The Council of Priests argued, shouting across the marble chamber. Cries of betrayal, secrecy, and fear echoed under ancient archways.
"They hid the existence of Subject Icarus from us! From the protectors of the Four!" screamed a young priest.
"We were pawns," an older one admitted bitterly. "All this time, guarding the boys while the Vatican and our own higher ranks plotted new weapons."
"What of the demons?" another roared. "They grow stronger. Yet we fight among ourselves."
As voices rose, the marble floor beneath the altar cracked.
Everyone turned.
Kaito stood at the entrance. Behind him: Ren, Haru, Daiki, and Icarus—who clung weakly to Haru's arm.
"You fight over secrets while the world burns," Kaito said. "We're done hiding."
"The Four will act," Daiki added. "With or without your permission."
Gasps.
"But you are children—"
"We are soldiers," Ren growled. "You made us that."
Final Scene: A Demon's Warning
Far from the capital, in the mist-swallowed ruins of Vonaheim, a Vatican envoy arrived at a shrine of the old gods.
There, among broken angel statues, knelt a demon with skin like ink and eyes that flickered with galaxies.
"You've broken the first seal," the demon said without turning. "The boy is awake. The second seal will crack soon."
The Vatican agent nodded. "We are preparing the Archangel Project."
The demon smiled. "Do so. But know this—when the Seventh Seal breaks, even Heaven will bleed."