The city burned like an open wound, and its screams bled into the heavens. Lanterns that once floated gently above the canals became falling pyres, their flames crashing into rooftops and scattering sparks like dying stars. The moon was swallowed by smoke, and where there had once been songs of festival drums and laughter, now there was only the roar of a dragon.
Kaito stood at the heart of it — the palace steps — his sword glowing as if it had been forged anew in the fires of vengeance. The aura of Yù Lóng, the last dragon, wrapped around him like a mantle of flame, shaping his silhouette into something inhuman, divine, and terrifying. Each step he took cracked the marble beneath his boots.
Above, Yù Lóng unfurled her wings, blotting out the sky. Her scales shimmered with light like molten rivers, and her fire fell in sheets that turned soldiers into shadows and banners into ash.
Takeshi fought at Kaito's side, his sword a streak of steel against the chaos. He moved with the desperation of a man who had nothing left but loyalty. Blood covered his arms and face, and yet his tears fell freely, streaking his skin as he cut down enemy after enemy. He did not cheer. He did not rage. He only wept.
Mei Lin stumbled forward, her robes scorched, her voice raw. "Kaito, stop!" she cried, her voice nearly swallowed by the inferno. "You've done enough! Adrian would not—"
But her plea was drowned out by Yù Lóng's roar, a sound that made the earth quake and hearts shatter. The dragon's fire poured into the avenues, swallowing soldiers and civilians alike.
Kaito's own voice rose with hers, each syllable splitting the night like thunder. "Justice!" His cry rang over the city, his sword raised high. "For Adrian! For the grave they dug with their lies! For the silence they demanded of his memory!"
And yet, as the flames spread beyond soldiers to homes, beyond guards to children clutching their mothers, Kaito's vision faltered. Through the fire, he saw small faces twisted in fear. Women dragging their loved ones from the rubble. Old men collapsing in smoke.
For an instant, the world grew silent to him, and in that silence, Adrian's ghost appeared.
He was not armored, not burning, not broken. He stood as he had always been — gentle-eyed, journal in hand, ink staining his fingers. He looked not angry, but sorrowful.
"Brother…" Adrian's voice was a soft echo amid the screams. "Is this your vengeance? Is this what you swore to me?"
Kaito froze. The sword grew heavier in his hand. The weight of what he had unleashed pressed upon his chest like chains. His knees trembled beneath the burden of fire and guilt.
But still, fury wrapped around his heart like iron. He raised his blade again, not because he could not see the truth, but because the storm inside him would not let him stop.
The city drowned in fire, and Kaito let it burn.