In the forgotten suburbs of Greyline City lived **Bungo**, a poor boy with fire in his feet and music in his soul. While others saw only hardship, he saw a stage—every rooftop, every dusty alley, every broken streetlight. His best friend, **Kairo**, a prodigy drummer who could make tin cans sound like temple drums, was always by his side.

Together, they gathered other street kids and formed a small performance crew called **"BeatRoots."** With Bungo's electrifying dance and Kairo's heartbeat-drumming, the group amazed crowds and earned enough to survive—and dream.

But their last performance became their last breath.
One night, while practicing under a collapsing bridge, the vibrations of Kairo's drums triggered a hidden structural crack. The bridge collapsed in a roar of metal and dust, swallowing the entire crew.

They died… but their rhythm did not end.

Bungo and Kairo awaken as **orphans** in a strange, magical realm named **Ardenia**, a world where music is a sacred weapon called **Aural Arts**. In this world, melodies shape spells, dances invoke spirits, and rhythm alters reality.

Despite starting anew, destiny pulls them back together. Their bond—stronger than death—reunites them as children in the same orphanage. Together, they grow, train, and rediscover their street-born talent in a world ruled by aristocratic musicians known as **Aural Nobles**.


At age sixteen, just when their dream of joining the prestigious **Conservatory of Arcs** becomes real, Kairo is found dead—murdered in cold blood. No signs of struggle. No injuries. Just a single black feather placed on his chest.

The killer?

**Soren Blackfall**, a rising star of the Aural Nobles…
and Kairo's secret older brother.

His motive?
Kairo was born from a forbidden union between their noble father and a commoner mother. His existence threatened Soren's claim to the noble title. Unable to allow a "street-born stain" to rise, Soren murdered his own brother.

But he underestimated Bungo.

Bungo breaks.
He cries until his voice fails.
He dances until his legs bleed.
And then it happens.

As his tears hit the ground, the sound of Kairo's drumming echoes—not from the world, but from **inside his soul**.

A forgotten Aural Art awakens:

### **✨ *"Soulbeat Resonance"***

*A rare, forbidden ability that amplifies Bungo's physical and magical power every time he imagines the rhythm of a lost bond.*

When Bungo dances to Kairo's remembered drum rhythm, his strength multiplies, his speed becomes supernatural, and his movements gain destructive harmony. Every step becomes a strike. Every spin becomes a storm. Every heartbeat becomes a weapon.

Fueled by grief, loyalty, and the echo of a friend's rhythm, Bungo sets out on a path of vengeance and truth.

He vows to expose the corruption of the Aural Nobles, uncover the mystery behind Soren's dark power, and protect the world Kairo would have wanted to save.

Because some rhythms never die.
They only change worlds.

*When the world hunts you, learn why it fears you.*


Not the shrill cries of danger—but the deep, harmonic toll reserved for **anomalies**.


Aru's name echoed through Ardenia's rhythm network like a fracture spreading through crystal.


**CONDUCTOR-CLASS DISTORTION CONFIRMED.**


**SUBJECT: ARU — STATUS: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.**


Aru ran across rooftops, each step measured to Kairo's remembered beat.


He didn't need to look back to know they were coming.


Noble hunters activating forbidden harmonics.


Every leap reminded him of the one rhythm missing.


Eidolon emerged from the darkness, fully formed now—solid, sharp, no longer glitching.


"You'll burn yourself out if you keep this pace," Eidolon said calmly.


"I didn't save you from the tower," he said, "just to watch you die screaming."


"A Conductor bound to another. We were meant to be weapons."


The Aural Crown watching from thrones of sound.


"They killed my partner," Eidolon continued.


"Then erased me when I refused to break."


"A failed experiment," Eidolon finished.


"Listen carefully, Aru. Soulbeat Resonance isn't infinite power."


"Because every time you draw on Kairo's rhythm, you're tearing open the bond again."


"You don't borrow power," Eidolon said quietly.


"If you let rage lead every step," Eidolon continued,


From the heavens above Ardenia, a colossal sigil rotated slowly, casting judgment across the city.


A voice descended—layered, ancient, merciless:


"You can't fight the Crown yet," he warned.


Chapter 32 - Chapter31