At the top of an old, abandoned tower, right on the edge of a dimly lit city district, the night wind blew, bringing dust and silence. The city lights brushed against a cracked wall covered in moss. There stood a masked man. His long coat fluttered gently, blending into the darkness.
The masked man stared down at the ruins far below, where two lights had carried Shido and Tohka away from the already unsafe terrain.
The masked man was Kaito. But none of them noticed, for Kaito had transformed his hair black using his omnicore energy.
He remained motionless for a long time.
Then, slowly, he closed his eyes.
The moments of the fight replayed in his mind, not with emotion, but with the absolute clarity of a true warrior.
Tohka's steps. Her sword movements. Her spiritual waves. Her breathing patterns as she tried to counter his attacks.
And then, her own body's responses. Her movements. The efficiency of her blows. The speed of her Soru. The stability of his body as he withstood a massive attack without using any magical defenses.
Everything felt... light.
"Even without using thirty percent of my total body capacity... I can suppress a high-level Spirit to the point of being unable to stand. I haven't even used Yamato yet," he muttered softly.
The sound of the wind answered silently.
He opened his eyes again, staring at his hands, now outstretched in front of him.
They were both calm. Unshaken. Not even a small wound. Yet, he had just destroyed a spiritual barrier known to be impenetrable by ordinary weapons.
"This system... is extraordinary," he thought.
Initially, his strength was the result of long training. His body was forged from blood and time. But now, with the system embedded in his soul, he wasn't just strong.
He was perfect.
Kaito clenched his fists, feeling the circulation of subtle energy flowing from within him, harmonizing with every cell of his body.
"I no longer fight to win... I simply control how quickly my enemies fall."
There was a moment of silence, then a faint smile appeared behind his mask.
"And that... is just the beginning."
He turned, looking out at the city, at a world that hadn't yet fully realized his presence.
"If I can take down a Spirit that powerful with just my bare hands..."
The eyes behind his mask gleamed a little sharper.
"...I wonder... who can survive when I really mean it."
Then he stepped away from the edge of the tower, blending into the shadows creeping into the night.
...
AST Central Operations Headquarters – Intelligence and Analysis Room
The footage of the battle at Raizen School continued to play in slow motion, each frame reanalyzed. Dozens of eyes stared at the large screen in the center of the room. They stared with the same realization: something beyond their comprehension had appeared.
One of the operators pointed at the screen.
"This movement... we sped it up fivefold, and it's still nearly impossible to detect. It moves like mist, but strikes like heavy metal."
"And he's not using his weapon," repeated the same analyst. "That katana at his waist... it hasn't moved a muscle from its sheath."
The lieutenant stood, arms crossed.
"He's dressed in dark clothes. Fights like a shadow. Black hair. Dark weapon. Undetectable as a Spirit. Not ours."
One of the female officers whispered, "Like... an invisible blade."
The lieutenant was silent for a moment, before finally speaking in a heavy voice.
"If we can't identify him, then we need a name to refer to him. And something more appropriate than 'unknown masked man.'"
The lead analyst stared at the screen.
"He's dressed in dark clothes. Fights like a shadow. Black hair. Carrying a black sword, but not drawing it. And his fighting style... very precise, like an invisible blade."
The female officer on the right side of the room nodded slightly, then whispered, "Like a shadow with a sharp, unsheathed blade."
The lieutenant stared intently at the screen.
"...Noir Blade."
And from the corner of the room, the lieutenant's voice rang out steadily.
"Noir Blade. That's his nickname."
Several operators exchanged glances. Among them stood one figure who hadn't spoken since arriving: the female sergeant.
Origami Tobiichi.
She leaned against the back wall of the room, her helmet removed, her silver hair flowing neatly over her shoulders. Her gaze was as level as ever. But those eyes... stared unblinkingly at the screen.
The only time she turned around was when the name "Noir Blade" was mentioned.
She stepped forward slowly, her voice as flat as the shadow of a bayonet.
"What's the basis for that name?"
The lieutenant turned, slightly hesitant to answer. "Visual characteristics. Black hair. An unused sword. Precision movements without energy pressure. Visible, but untouchable."
Origami didn't answer. She returned her gaze to the screen—where the masked figure stood after knocking Tohka out. His back was straight, his coat fluttering, and his masked eyes glowing faintly through the smoke of the rubble.
Silence. No one objected.
"From now on," the Lieutenant continued, "the official code name for this entity is: Noir Blade."
"Note: there's no evidence he's a Spirit, but he's capable of taking down high-class Spirits. We don't know where he came from, or what his intentions are."
The communications officer made a quick note, then uploaded the entry into the AST defense system database.
Unknown Entity:
Code Name: NOIR BLADE
Status: Dangerous
Origin: Unknown
Purpose: Unknown
Threat Level: Undetermined (Minimum: S)
While the entire room was abuzz with threat reports and technical data, Origami had already begun to draw her own conclusions. She said nothing. But in her mind, there was only one decision:
"I'm going to find him."
"Noir Blade."
Then she turned to leave the analysis room, silently pulling up data from the small console on her wrist. Every frame of video. Every unreadable reading. Even fragments of background noise and recorded airwaves.
She didn't believe a simple explanation. Just giving a name wasn't enough. Just watching wasn't enough.
Origami Tobiichi would investigate for herself.
…..
Fraxinus – Ratatoskr Command Room
Several hours had passed since Shido and Tohka's emergency evacuation. But the atmosphere inside Fraxinus's control room hadn't completely calmed down. Operators were constantly reporting updates on medical status, monitoring system repairs, and reports of residual energy left at the scene.
Amidst all this, Reine stood with a data tablet in hand, her eyes glued to a lengthy text report she had just received through an unofficial intelligence channel.
Kotori sat in the captain's chair, one hand propping her chin. Her eyes were half-lidded, but her mind was sharp and calculating.
"Reine," he said quietly, without looking up. "What did you find?"
Reine didn't answer immediately. She scrolled through the report once more, then spoke in a flat, yet slightly tense tone.
"The AST just conducted an internal analysis of the incident at Raizen School. They've classified the masked man as an independent threat."
Kotori turned her head quickly. "They don't know who he is either?"
"That's right. No identification, no track record, no spirit aura. They even mentioned... no energy pressure at all."
Kotori narrowed her eyes.
"So we weren't the only ones blind."
Reine nodded.
"Then... they gave him a code name."
Kotori raised an eyebrow. "Code name?"
Reine looked directly at Kotori.
"'Noir Blade'."
For a moment, there was no sound in the room.
Kotori leaned back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. Her lips moved slowly, repeating the word in her mind.
"Noir Blade... Black Blade."
"That nickname came about because of his black hair, and because he carried an unused katana during the fight. The AST concluded that he could destroy a Spirit without drawing it from its sheath. A hint... that he could be even more deadly if he wanted to."
Kotori hissed softly, half in awe, half in worry.
"So they're afraid of something that hasn't been used yet."
Reine lowered her gaze to the tablet screen.
"I don't blame them. I'm not sure... the extent of that person's true strength, either."
Kotori rose from her chair and slowly walked to the large holographic screen, which was now displaying the last drone footage before Tohka's transfer. There, the masked man stood, his coat fluttering, his sword hanging still, and the light from behind his mask staring off into the unknown.
Kotori sighed.
"Whether he's an enemy... or just a bystander. But one thing is clear."
She turned to Reine.
"That name will spread. And if he appears again, all eyes of the AST, DEM, everyone will be on him."
Reine nodded slowly. But in her heart, there was another voice. A silent whisper that didn't come from the data, but from something far older, far deeper.
She herself… had seen such power.
But even among the Spirits, no one had moved so cleanly and so quickly.