The world fell silent.
Not the silence of peace—but the suffocating stillness that comes before a scream.
Kanji hovered in the fractured sky, sword trembling in his hand. Before him loomed the colossal demon silhouette, forged from red-black flame and ancient hatred. Its horns curled like broken galaxies, its body a living storm of wrath.
And its face…
Kanji's breath hitched.
It was his father.
Not as he remembered him—not the quiet strength, not the protective warmth—but the true demon form sealed within his bloodline. Eyes burned with a fury older than time. Chains of cursed runes wrapped around its massive arms, snapping and tightening as it moved.
The Prime Monarch's laughter rolled across the ruins.
"Do you feel it?" he sneered.
"That pull in your chest?
That fear in your bones?"
Kanji's hands shook.
"That demon is your origin.
Your inheritance.
Your inevitable end."
The demon roared.
The sound shattered floating landmasses and sent shockwaves through the heavens. A wave of hellfire surged toward Kanji.
Kanji barely raised his blade in time.
BOOM!
He was hurled backward, crashing through a mountain that exploded into stardust. His aura flickered violently as he struggled to steady himself.
"Fight it!" Rin screamed from below.
"That thing isn't him!"
Kanji coughed, blood streaking his lips.
"But it is," he whispered.
"It's what he was afraid of becoming… and what lives inside me."
The demon moved again—faster now. It grabbed Kanji mid-air and slammed him into the ground hard enough to fracture the planet's crust. Lava erupted around them.
The Prime Monarch descended slowly, savoring the moment.
"You see?" he said softly.
"You cannot defeat what you are."
Kanji lay in the crater, vision swimming.
Then—
A voice spoke.
Not from the outside.
From within.
Kanji…
His heart jolted.
The demon froze.
The voice was calm. Familiar. Gentle.
Stand up.
Kanji forced himself to his knees.
"Father…?" he whispered.
The demon's blazing eyes flickered.
The red-black flames wavered.
I am not this rage, the voice said.
This is only the shell of my sins.
The Prime Monarch snarled.
"Lies! That creature is his truth!"
Kanji clenched his fists.
"No," he said, voice trembling but firm.
"You're showing me his fear… not his heart."
The demon roared again, but this time… its chains cracked.
Images flooded Kanji's mind—
A demon king laying down his sword.
A child cradled in massive claws.
A vow whispered beneath dying stars.
I chose you, the voice said.
Not to destroy… but to protect.
Kanji stood.
His aura stabilized—no longer wild, no longer tearing him apart. Gold and crimson fused into a calm, radiant glow.
"I won't reject my demon blood," Kanji said.
"But I won't be ruled by it either."
He stepped forward, lowering his sword.
The demon hesitated.
Kanji placed a glowing hand against its chest.
"I accept you… Father.
Not as a weapon.
But as my strength."
The demon screamed—not in rage, but in release.
The chains shattered.
The red-black flames collapsed inward, compressing into a blazing core of power that flowed directly into Kanji's chest.
The sky erupted in light.
Kanji screamed as new power flooded him—raw, ancient, but controlled.
The Prime Monarch stumbled backward.
"No… no—this wasn't meant to happen!"
Kanji lifted his head.
His eyes now glowed gold… with a burning crimson core.
Behind him, star-forged wings flared wider than before—etched with demonic runes glowing softly rather than violently.
"I am not broken by my darkness," Kanji said, voice echoing like a king's decree.
"I am completed by it."
He raised his sword.
The blade transformed—blackened edge, molten gold core, constellations spinning along its length.
The Prime Monarch snarled.
"Then come, Starborn…
Show me your completed self!"
Kanji stepped forward.
The final battle was no longer about power.
It was about who deserved to exists.