It was as if the wind had carried him away.
There was no sound. No trace.
Only the shadow of destruction he left behind. And the lingering fear in the minds of all who witnessed it.
A mysterious figure that came and went without a sound.
But this time… he hadn't just appeared.
He had issued a warning.
And everyone now realized—his presence was no longer just a mystery.
It was a threat…
Or a warning from something far beyond their reach.
Zadkiel's body had collapsed, motionless. The rabbit angel's head lay a few meters away, frozen in the slowly dissipating icy mist.
Yoshino sat in the middle of the cracked road, her tiny body trembling violently. Tears began to fall one by one, rolling down her already cold cheeks. She stared at Zadkiel's shattered body, her only friend, her protector… cut down in a single blow by the mysterious masked man who had now vanished.
"Z-Zadkiel… no… it can't be…"
She looked down, her shoulders beginning to shake.
"I… I can't… be without him…"
Her tiny hands gripped the hem of her own robe. Her emotions began to overflow—not just sadness, but fear, devastation, and the profound trauma of loss.
The wind around Yoshino began to change.
The air that had been calm now rippled with pressure.
Tohka, who was standing with Shido, immediately turned her head. "My aura… changed!"
Yoshino lowered her head even deeper, her sobs choked.
"Go… everyone go… don't come near me again!!"
Then, from the ground around her, ice began to rise.
Pointy blue crystal fragments burst out of the asphalt and formed walls. In an instant, a giant dome formed, enveloping a vast area with Yoshino at its center. From within the dome, an ice storm began to rage, swirling like a typhoon, freezing everything it touched.
The fierce wind swept through with shards of ice sharp as knives. The temperature plummeted. Cracks spread across the street, and windows in buildings shattered from the heat.
"Tohka, stand back!" Shido exclaimed, raising his arms to block the icy wind.
"You can't go in there!" Tohka shouted. "You'll freeze in an instant!"
But Shido didn't move.
He stared at the center of the ice storm, a spot where a little girl was crying in loneliness and fear. His determined eyes burned.
"I have to get in."
"Tohka! Protect me from the outside!"
"Shido! Don't be stupid!"
But before Tohka could stop him, Shido was already running toward the storm.
The moment his body touched the surface of the ice dome, his skin was immediately cut. Sharp icicles tore through his jacket. The cold wind cut to the bone. Blood flowed from his arms, from his cheeks, but he kept walking.
Step by step.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, pushing through the storm that could have stopped anyone's heartbeat.
Inside, Yoshino heard a voice.
"Yoshino…!"
He looked up. His eyes widened.
Shido stood before her, covered in wounds, his body trembling from the cold, but his smile remained warm.
"You… you came?" Yoshino said in a small voice.
Shido smiled, though blood was streaming from his temples. "Sorry, I'm late. But I'm here now."
Yoshino stared at him silently. The storm's winds slowly weakened. The ice wall began to crack in places.
Shido stepped closer, slowly. "Yoshino… you're not alone. Zadkiel… may be destroyed… but it's not the end. You can still smile. I want to see your smile."
Yoshino's tears flowed again, but this time… not from fear.
"Yoshinon…"
Shido bent down and reached out a hand. "Let me… help you."
In the next instant, a soft blue light enveloped them both.
The storm dissipated.
The ice dome crumbled like cracked and shattered glass. Ice crystals floated slowly into the air before dissolving into particles of light.
Tohka approached, staring at the scene with wide eyes.
Yoshino was now in Shido's arms, crying softly into his chest, but her face looked calmer. The Spirit aura around her began to fade.
Above, the Fraxinus glided silently closer.
Reine pressed a button on the communication panel.
"Kotori. Shido succeeded. Yoshino has been sealed. Prepare for emergency teleportation."
Kotori bit her lollipop. "Before the AST moves. Hurry."
"Coordinates locked. Preparing for transfer."
A blue-glowing teleportation circle appeared beneath their feet.
Tohka turned toward the sound of machinery overhead. "It's time."
Shido picked up Yoshino, who was half asleep from exhaustion. In his arms, the little girl murmured, "Thank you… Shido…"
"Tohka, let's go," Shido said.
And in an instant, a bright blue light enveloped the three of them
and they disappeared.
A few seconds later, the AST team arrived at the scene. They found only the remains of cracks, layers of melting ice, and… the remains of three destroyed buildings.
But there was no Yoshino. No Shido. No Tohka.
And of course, there was no trace of the mysterious masked man who had cut Zadkiel down earlier.
....
The Tengu sky that afternoon was still shrouded in gray clouds, but the storm had subsided. Hailstorms, cracked roads, and the rubble of buildings remained as testaments to the chaos that had just unfolded. At the center of the destruction, a giant dome of ice enveloped a distraught little girl, Yoshino.
All eyes were focused in that direction.
Including… a pair of eyes that no one had detected.
On the rooftop of a tall building, far enough from the center of the incident but perfectly within sight, stood a man in a long coat and a futuristic mask. But this time, no one could see him.
Not a single one.
Because for the past few minutes, his entire existence had been masked by the power of his reality-controlling skill, Omnicore. The sound of his footsteps, his aura, his pulse… not even his shadow could be seen in this world.
He was invisible. Unheard. Undetected.
But he remained.
Noir Blade, or more precisely, Arashi Kaito, was still observing. Silent. Watching from a distance, standing at the edge of the tower like a silent spirit.
Down below, he saw Shido break through into the dome of the ice storm. He stepped slowly, fighting the arctic wind and sharp shards of ice that cut his skin. A mere human, weak, fragile, but not retreating in the slightest.
Kaito snorted softly from behind his mask.
"…You really like to make things difficult for yourself, Shido."
The wind buffeted his masked face. The dark blue cloak he wore fluttered gently.
His gaze remained fixed on the center of the storm, on the little girl named Yoshino, struggling in her grief, and Shido, who slowly approached her… calming her… sealing her power.
Kaito didn't move, for he was looking directly at the scene using his observation haki.
Shido succeeded.
The ice storm collapsed. Snow crystals fluttered like flower petals.
Yoshino regained her composure.
And just before the teleportation activated and Fraxinus took the three of them from the scene—
Kaito whispered a single word.
"…Good."
He turned slowly, soundlessly. His steps were light on the concrete, leaving no footprints. Behind him, Tengu City began to come to life: sirens wailed in the distance, the AST began to move into the zone, and Fraxinus's shadow parted the clouds above.
But none of them realized…