If you want to change this world, there is only one way...

  A silhouette of Kagetane Hiruko fshed through Haruki’s mind.

  Even though he had killed Kagetane, it had been a csh of goals, not ideologies. In fact, Haruki didn't entirely disagree with the masked man’s methods anymore. The only tool powerful enough to reshape a broken world was absolute force. Any order built on anything else was just a castle in the sand.

  The same applied to the Cursed Children. Only absolute power could force the world to change its attitude toward them.

  Previously, Haruki had pced his trust in the Seitenshi, believing she could fix things through policy. But now, he realized that to cut through this twisted reality, he had to rely solely on the bde in his hand.

  After the broadcast inciting hatred against Cursed Children aired, Haruki immediately left his apartment and headed for the Sacred Residence.

  Meeting with the Seitenshi only confirmed the scale of the disaster. The "New Gastrea Law" she had been championing—meant to grant basic human rights to Cursed Children—was dead in the water. In its pce was the "Census Deprivation Act."

  This new w was far more draconian than anything before it. It officially categorized Cursed Children as "Gastrea carriers in human form," mandating their total segregation and stripping them of their citizenship.

  The moment it was enacted, every Cursed Child in the Outer Districts—and even the registered Initiators—would lose their legal identity. They would be lower than stray dogs. No matter what atrocities the public committed against them, the w would offer them no protection.

  "I never thought it would come to this..." the Seitenshi whispered, the dark circles under her eyes showing her ck of sleep. "Everything was going so well. Why did this have to happen right when Aldebaran is at our gates?"

  "Because someone pnned it that way," Haruki said, his voice dropping to a dangerous chill.

  There was only one man with enough political weight to halt the Seitenshi's decree, manipute the media, and ignite a national scandal simultaneously: Kikunojo Tendo.

  The timing was surgical. By doing this now, while the city was paralyzed by the fear of Aldebaran, Tendo ensured that the government was too busy with defense to stop him. He knew Haruki and the other Promoters would be preoccupied with the coming war. He was using the apocalypse to secure his legacy of hatred.

  The fact that Tendo was willing to destabilize the city's internal security and demoralize the Initiators—the only ones who could save Tokyo—just to satisfy his bigotry was more than Haruki could tolerate.

  Letting Kikunojo Tendo live another hour felt like an insult to his own intelligence. Haruki’s only thought was that the old man needed to die. Immediately.

  "Wait, Haruki-san!"

  The Seitenshi saw the cold, murderous fire in his eyes. She grabbed his arm, her voice pleading. "The crisis with Aldebaran is imminent! Counselor Tendo’s administrative connections are vital for the defense effort! If he dies now, Tokyo will colpse into civil war! We won't stand a chance against the Gastrea!"

  Haruki looked at her. His gaze was so detached, so icy, that she instinctively let go of his sleeve.

  "So that’s your answer, Seitenshi?" Haruki asked. "We just let him strip these children of their humanity while we bleed to protect him? We go out there and die for a city that hates us, just so he can see his pn to fruition? You’re asking me to be his pdog."

  "It’s... for Tokyo. It’s the only choice we have," she whispered, her resolve crumbling.

  Haruki let out a short, sharp ugh. "I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I never cared about 'saving Tokyo.' I’ve been looking for an excuse to burn this twisted city down for weeks. Tendo just gave me one."

  "Haruki-san... you..."

  The Seitenshi stared at him, realizing for the first time that she had never truly known the man behind the mask. He wasn't a hero. He wasn't a guardian of justice. He was a swordsman whose only loyalty was to his own will.

  When their goals aligned, he was her strongest shield. But now, their paths had diverged.

  Haruki turned and walked out of the Sacred Residence without another word. The Seitenshi stood in the silence for a long time, her expression shifting between grief and desperation. Finally, she picked up her terminal.

  "Mobilize all avaible Civil Security units," she commanded, her voice trembling. "Issue a warrant for the arrest of Haruki Aizawa. And... send a warning to Counselor Tendo. Tell him to stay inside. Tell him to double his guard. Now!"

  Haruki walked down the street. The atmosphere was poisonous. Protestors clogged the intersections, shouting slurs and carrying signs depicting red-eyed monsters. The "Outer Districts," once ignored, were now being raided by gangs of thugs looking to "cleanse" the city before the war.

  Haruki’s anger was a simmering ke of va. He was heading for the Tendo Estate when a faint sound caught his ear.

  It was singing.

  He followed the melody to a pedestrian bridge and saw a young girl sitting on a ragged mat. She was filthy, her clothes matted with grease and dirt. She held a small bowl for alms, singing to the passing crowd with a voice that was hauntingly beautiful.

  A sign beside her read: I am a Cursed Child from the Outer Districts. My sister is starving. Please, have mercy.

  Haruki stopped in front of her. He ignored the smell and the dirt, crouching down to her level. "Do you need food and money?"

  "Yes, kind sir," the girl said, stopping her song. She offered a small, hopeful smile, but her eyes were milky and unfocused.

  "The Seitenshi sent food to the Outer Districts recently," Haruki noted. "What happened to the rations?"

  "They stopped coming a few days ago," she whispered. "Men came and took the boxes away. They said monsters don't need to eat. My sister and I... we didn't want to steal, so I came here."

  "And your eyes? A Cursed Child’s body should have healed any injury."

  The girl’s smile faltered. She reached up and touched the scarred skin around her eyelids. "I... I blinded myself. I poured hot lead into them."

  "Why?" Haruki’s voice was barely a whisper.

  "Because my mother hated my red eyes. She said they were the mark of the devil. The news says we bring bad luck. I thought... if I couldn't see the world, and the world couldn't see my eyes, maybe someone would love me."

  "..."

  Haruki was silent. The tragedy of the girl—a child who had mutited herself just to be tolerated by a world that wanted her dead—was the final nail in the coffin. The va in his chest finally overflowed.

  "Kikunojo Tendo," Haruki muttered, standing up. "I’m coming for you.

  Before leaving, Haruki emptied his wallet into the girl’s bowl and tucked several rge bills into her sleeve. He told her to hide the money and stay put. He then called Kayo and told her to bring the girl to their apartment immediately and for her and Tina to prepare to evacuate to the Outer Districts if things went south.

  With his affairs in order, he headed for the Tendo Estate.

  Unlike the Seitenshi, Kikunojo Tendo didn't live in the high-tech core of the First District. He resided in a massive, traditional Japanese estate on the outskirts of the Twenty-Seventh District. It was a fortress of wood and stone, complete with high walls and a private dojo.

  Thanks to the Seitenshi’s warning, the estate was crawling with guards. Hundreds of police officers and dozens of Promoters had been pulled from the front lines to protect the Advisor.

  The atmosphere was one of stifling tension. The Promoters knew who was coming. They knew the "Sword Ghost."

  "Are we really going to fight him?" Rentaro Satomi asked, standing among a group of Promoters. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

  "Rex, Satomi," a man named Tamaki Katagiri said. Tamaki was Rank 1850, an elite in his own right, standing with his Initiator, Yuzuki. "Aizawa is a monster, I’ll give you that. but he’s still just one man. He’s facing an entire military battalion and the top fifty Promoters in Tokyo. Even Rank 1 could not break this line."

  "I don't care if we can beat him," Rentaro argued. "I’m asking if we should. Have you seen the new w Tendo passed? It’s evil. We’re standing here as bodyguards for a man who wants to strip our partners of their humanity!"

  Tamaki went silent. He looked at his own Initiator, Yuzuki, then back at the estate. "Our job is to complete the contract, Satomi. We protect our own partners, and we let the politicians handle the rest. We can't save everyone."

  "That’s a coward’s answer," Rentaro muttered.

  The two didn't have time to continue the debate. The sun was setting, casting long, bloody shadows across the estate’s courtyard.

  The guards were confident. They had sniper nests on the roof, heavy machine gun empcements at the gate, and some of the strongest Promoters in Japan forming a human wall. They believed the estate was impenetrable. A solo assassin would have to be invisible to get through—and Haruki Aizawa was anything but invisible.

  They waited for hours. Some began to think he wasn't coming, that even the "Sword Ghost" wasn't suicidal enough to charge a literal army.

  Then, the front gate exploded.

  It didn't just break; it was pulverized into splinters by a massive wave of crimson energy.

  Haruki Aizawa walked through the smoke. He wasn't wearing a mask anymore. His eyes were glowing with a terrifying, demonic violet light, and he was dragging a massive, bck Varanium greatsword behind him.

  The Darkin Bde had arrived.

  ***********************************************

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