The warehouse groaned under the weight of silence, every figure frozen in place as dust slowly drifted through the air. The jagged hole in the wall still crackled with the echo of the explosion, and through it, the broad-shouldered man from the Red Serpent Brotherhood stepped fully into view.
His boots crushed broken concrete as if it were soft sand. His coat, stitched with a massive crimson serpent twining down the back, fluttered lightly in the wind spilling in behind him. His presence alone seemed to suffocate the space—like the air thickened around him, refusing to flow.
Sora shifted his stance, one arm instinctively stretching slightly back to keep Ren behind him. The normally emotionless boy's jaw tightened, and his right hand drifted to the compact shock weapon holstered at his waist.
Behind him, the Council operatives positioned themselves shoulder-to-shoulder, raising their batons and rifles with silent precision.
Yui and Kaito flanked Ren, breathing hard, bodies battered from the earlier struggle. But their eyes were sharp—ready to throw themselves into the fray despite the hopeless odds.
The Red Serpent man cracked his knuckles, the sound like snapping bones.
"Sora Kishimoto…" he growled, voice echoing in the hollow building.
"Hound of the Twelfth Seat. The Council sent a child for retrieval?"
Sora didn't flinch. "Stand down. The Heir is under Council protection."
The man snorted, a deep, gravelly rumble. "Protection? Do you hear yourself? The Council doesn't protect. The Council controls." His eyes slid to Ren, and suddenly his entire demeanor shifted—his posture, his breath, even the temperature of the room felt altered.
"You. Boy. Come with us. Now."
Ren didn't speak. His throat was too dry to form words.
The man continued, stepping forward deliberately, eyes gleaming like a predator that had finally found its prey.
"We've waited seventeen years for the Seal to awaken. That Dragon carving in your pocket—" he lifted his chin slightly— "belongs to our clan. You, by right, belong to our clan."
Ren instinctively placed a hand over the Wooden Dragon. It was hot. Almost burning. Like it recognised the man—and hated him.
Sora moved instantly to block the Triad enforcer's path.
"You won't take him."
The man smiled, though there was no warmth in it. "Then I'll remove you first."
He surged forward quicker than something his size should ever be able to move.
What happened next wasn't a fight.
It was an explosion of chaos.
The First Clash
Sora met the charge head-on, sliding his foot back, twisting, and deflecting a massive punch with a force-redirecting manoeuvre that sent a shockwave through the floor. The man barely budged—only grinned wider.
"Good reflexes, boy."
An instant later, the Triad enforcer swung again, this time with enough power to cave the concrete where Sora's head had been a second prior. The Hound flipped backward, using a broken pillar as leverage to launch himself over the man's shoulder, landing lightly.
Operatives swarmed from the sides like trained wolves. Two attempted to restrain the brute's massive arms—futile. He shrugged once, and one operative flew across the room, embedding into a stack of crates.
The second was grabbed by the throat and hurled directly at Sora.
Sora caught him midair, twisting to reduce impact, and set him down gently before stepping forward again, eyes sharpening.
Meanwhile, Kaito grabbed Ren's arm. "We need to get out while they're distracted!"
Yui shook her head sharply. "No—we'll be caught instantly. Watch."
She pointed.
Because Ren wasn't the only target.
More figures were climbing through the destroyed wall—Red Serpent operatives, wearing masks shaped like snarling serpents, spreading out silently.
A three-way war was about to erupt.
The Wooden Dragon Stirs
The Wooden Dragon thumped against Ren's chest like a second heartbeat. Hotter. Faster. Almost frantic.
Ren gasped as a pulse shot up his arm—a flicker of red light shimmering beneath his skin, then vanishing.
Yui saw it. "Ren… you're reacting to something. The artifact is responding. Hard."
"I—I don't know what it's doing!" Ren hissed.
"It's choosing," Kaito muttered. "That's what Sora said, right? The Seal accepted you."
Another pulse—hotter.
"Ren," Yui whispered urgently, "you might be able to use it."
"I don't even know what it does!"
"Then figure it out before we all die!"
Ren clutched the dragon, squeezing tighter. It felt like holding a live coal.
He could feel heat crawling into his chest…
into his veins…
up the base of his skull…
Something ancient was waking up.
Something older than the Council.
Older than the Red Serpents.
Something that knew him.
Or—
something that wanted something from him.
Ren staggered as another pulse hit—this one exploding outward like a shockwave.
Dust lifted from the floor.
Metal creaked.
Everyone turned.
Sora's head whipped toward Ren, eyes widening.
"Ren—STOP!"
The Triad enforcer froze mid-swing, staring at Ren like he'd seen a ghost.
Kaito backed away from him. "Holy—Ren, your eyes—!"
"They're glowing," Yui whispered. "Deep red."
The room shook again as the Wooden Dragon unleashed one more pulse—this one powerful enough to rattle the rafters.
Ren felt his breath catch.
For an instant—just one—he saw something behind his eyelids:
A colossal shadow.
Wings.
Ancient eyes burning like molten metal.
A roar that sounded like a thousand storms.
Then—
he snapped back.
The power vanished.
Ren collapsed to one knee, coughing hard, chest burning.
Yui rushed to hold him up. "Ren! Hey—stay with me!"
Sora looked torn for the first time—caught between capturing Ren and protecting him.
The Triad enforcer recovered first, grinning like a wolf.
"So the Seal woke after all. Excellent."
He raised one arm.
"FORM UP! TAKE THE HEIR!"
Dozens of Red Serpent operatives surged forward.
At the same time—
Sora barked, "Council Unit 12—DEFEND THE HEIR!"
The warehouse erupted into full, brutal war.
Ren's Decision
Gunfire exploded.
Batons cracked.
Bodies slammed into walls.
Screams and shouts filled the room.
Yui dragged Ren behind a pile of crates while Kaito covered them, swinging a loose plank to fend off a masked Triad attacker.
"Ren!" Yui grabbed his face with both hands. "Listen to me. That power—you didn't lose control. It responded to you. You have a say here."
Ren shook, vision fuzzy. "I-I don't know what to do—"
"Then CHOOSE," she insisted, voice trembling but steady. "Who do you trust? Who do you want to live with? Who do you want to protect?"
The war raged on behind them.
Sora fighting like a machine—precise, lethal.
Red Serpent warriors overwhelming the warehouse like a tide.
Ren stared at his shaking hands.
"Sora wants to drag me back," he whispered.
"The Serpents want to claim me…"
His fists clenched.
"No one here sees me."
Yui's grip tightened. "I see you."
Those words snapped the world into focus.
Ren inhaled sharply.
He stood—legs weak, chest burning, but unshakably determined.
He lifted the Wooden Dragon.
It glowed faintly in his palm, waiting.
"Alright…" Ren breathed.
"Let's try this again."
He pressed the dragon to his chest.
This time—he didn't fight the heat.
He welcomed it.
The Awakening Begins
Light erupted around him in a burst of swirling red patterns—ancient, sharp symbols forming circles in the air like spiralling constellations.
The Triad enforcer stopped mid-charge.
Sora stepped back in shock.
Yui shielded her eyes.
Kaito yelled, "Ren, DUDE—WHAT ARE YOU DOING—?!"
Ren didn't know.
But he knew one thing:
He wasn't going to be hunted anymore.
The glow intensified.
The floor cracked beneath his feet.
A sound—not in the air but in his mind—echoed like a distant roar.
And the symbols began sinking into his skin.
One by one.
Burning.
Binding.
Awakening.
Sora whispered, horrified:
"He's unlocking the First Gate…"
The Triad enforcer grinned in savage triumph:
"YES. SHOW US THE DRAGON, HEIR."
Ren screamed—
red light erupted upward like a pillar of fire—
and the entire warehouse shook itself apart.
The power of the Wooden Dragon had finally awakened.
And the war for Ren's fate had only just begun.