At four in the morning, an unprecedented black mist shrouded the academy.
The spiritual pressure throughout the area, from the North Building to the playground, suddenly surged as if stirred by an invisible force. The air became so thick that it seemed as if it could be cut open.
Kazama Rei stood in the center of the playground, his gaze fixed on the space above the auditorium, which was sealed by ancient runes.
Suddenly, a visible crack tore through the air like a jagged saw, releasing a torrent of black spiritual energy.
Students on the playground, members of the Night Club, and ordinary spiritual beings were all forced back by this force.
The spiritual pressure tore at everyone's will like the claws of a monstrous beast, and chaos erupted instantly.
The Sinful Mark had fully awakened—and not only Rei could see it.
Those who had been sealed away, those who had been erased, and even the past records in the Black Ledger all transformed into blurry phantoms that appeared like ghosts on the playground.
A deep, cold voice, carrying an irresistible pressure, echoed in Rei's ears—not Mio's, not Hai's, but another version of himself:
"The next act is judgment."
Rei's pupils contracted slightly, and the black and red "Eyes of Judgment" flickered faintly.
This time, he felt that he wasn't just caught up in the center of the event.
He was the core trigger of it all.
The surrounding spirits began to thrash wildly, intertwining crimson light with black, featherlike phantoms.
Students screamed, talismans burned, and barriers shattered. Everyone struggled to survive this surge of spiritual pressure.
Rei gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.
He heard his own heartbeat synchronize with the whisper from the crack:
"Are you ready, Eye Opener?"
The sound of the wind, the smell of blood, the spiritual pressure, and the mark of sin reminded him that the end of the second act had arrived.