Ichigō’s smirk returned as his arm shifted again, the bde retrag and repced by a heavy on barrel that began to glow ominously. The energy within it hummed with rising iy, and the ground trembled faintly beh their feet.

  But Kuro didn’t flinch. His muscles tensed, his stance fluid and ready. The battle wasn’t over yet, and Kuro had no iion of letting his oppo gain the upper hand.

  As Kuro steadied himself, his sharp eyes locked onto Ichigō. The tensioween them was electric, the charged air humming with the promise of a decisive blow. But just as Kuro prepared to finish the fight, Ichigō’s gaze shifted briefly toward Saibogu Sangō, who was still engaged in his relentless skirmish with Xero.

  Ichigō’s voice broke through the din, carrying a tone ency that was uncharacteristic of his earlier fidence. “We’ll o use the Sed-Geion Processor Circuit. Activate it now.”

  Kuro k was time to get serious. He reached out and touched the wooden sword he’d been holding back from using. That sword… it was incredibly powerful. If wielded correctly, it could rival a tailed beast all on its own.

  Sangō paused mid-swing, his crimson eyes flig toward Ichigō. For a brief moment, the hesitation in his body nguage hi the weight of the and. But before either cyb could act, a anding voice suddenly echoed through their internal systems, overriding everything.

  “Retreat. That’s an order.”

  The words were calm but absolute, carrying an authority that her Ichigō nor Sangō dared question. The cybs froze in unison, their ons l as if an invisible switch had been flipped.

  The abrupt ge in their behavior left Kuro and Reika momentarily stunned. Across the battlefield, Reika halted her relentless assault on the remaining wolves, her crimson spheres h idly around her as she watched the se unfold. Xero, mid-luopped short, his bde inches from Sangō’s chest.

  Ichigō straightened slowly, his posture no lressive. His ral expression gave nothing away, but there was a faint glint in his eyes—something that resembled respect, or perhaps aowledgment.

  “Well,” Ichigō said, his voice even, “we will meet again.” There was no mali his tone now, just a quiet certainty.

  Kuro stepped forward, his fists still crag faintly with residual electricity. His sharp gaze bore into Ichigō, searg for answers. “Why retreat now?” he demanded. “What are you after? Is that weird stoanium-X his field?”

  At the mention of Titanium-X, Ichigō’s smirk returned, faint but telling. His lips curled just enough to firm Kuro’s suspis without giving anything away ht. “Titanium-X,” he repeated, as though testing the words. “You’re more perceptive than I expected.”

  Kuro’s jaw tightened, but before he could press further, Ichigō’s meical body shimmered faintly. The cyb’s form flickered like a mirage as a cloaking meism activated, bending the light around him until he disappeared entirely.

  Sangō followed suit, his body rippling with the same distorted effect. But before his form vanished pletely, he turoward Xero, his deep voice carrying a hint of relut amusement. “ime, I won’t hold back.”

  And just like that, the two cybs were gohe only evidence of their presence was the scorched battlefield, littered with the remains of the Cerberus Children and the faint smell of ozone lingering in the air.

  Kuro stood in silence, his fists g and ung as he processed the abrupt retreat. Reika walked over, her crimson energy dissipating as she approached, her expression marked with equal parts curiosity and frustration.

  “What was that about?” Reika asked, her voice low. “And what’s Titanium-X?”

  Kuro exhaled slowly, his gaze still fixed on the space where Ichigō and Sangō had disappeared. “It’s something they’re after. Something dangerous.”

  Xero joihem, his bde resting on his shoulder, his grin gone for once. “Whatever it is,” he said, his tone unusually serious, “they’re not dohis was just round one.”

  The three of them stood together, the weight of the battle fading but the implications of the enter settling heavily in the air. Far above, the Forest of Death’s opy swayed in the wind, as if whisperis yet to be uncovered.

  Far away, in the dim glow of a high-teaer buried deep within an untraceable location, Xaker leaned ba his sleek, ergonomic chair. His sharp features were illuminated by the casg array of holographic ss surrounding him, each dispying a live feed captured by his advanced drones h over the Forest of Death.

  On the rgest s, the chaotic remnants of Kuro’s ret battle pyed out in sharp detail. Xaker’s eyes glinted with satisfa as he watched the scorched battlefield, the aftermath of a frontation he had orchestrated with precise i. A satisfied smirk tugged at his lips, a predatleam in his gaze.

  “Well done,” he murmured, his voice dripping with smugness and quiet triumph. He csped his hands together, fingers steepled as he leaned forward. “Kuro... or should I say, James Khan, the son of Farzana Khan.”

  The name lingered in the cold air of the aer, heavy with significe. Xaker’s words carried a weight that only he truly uood—a revetion that ected worlds and uhed long-buried secrets. His tone was a careful banusement and malice, each sylble a o to cut through the mystery surrounding the enigmatic partit of the in Exams.

  He had suspected for some time, but now there was no doubt. The young man who fought with such precision aermination, who wielded powers fn to this world, wasn’t just a random anomaly. He was someone from Xaker’s own world, someoied to a past Xaker had long sought to exploit.

  Xaker’s smirk widened as he reached for a trol panel on his desk. With a flick of his fingers, the feed shifted, dispying multiple monitors at once. Each s showed another partit in the Forest of Death, oblivious to the invisible eyes trag their every move. The chaos, the struggles, and the alliances—all unfoldily as he had anticipated.

  “Let’s see how long you keep running from your past, James,” Xaker mused, his voice ced with dark amusement. His hand hovered over a trol button, a faint hum of maery apanying the subtle shift in the room’s ambiance.

  On one s, Reika’s crimson energy lit up the battlefield as she obliterated another wave of cyberic wolves. On another, Xero’s fiery aura burned like a living fme as he stood amidst the ruins of his foes. A, Xaker’s gaze always returo the tral feed—Kuro, standing tall and defiae the odds.

  “You’ve grown strong,” Xaker tinued, speaking as though addressing Kuro directly. “Strohan I anticipated. But strength alone won’t save you.”

  He leaned back, the smirk fading into a ptive frown. His mind was a whirlwind of calcutions, schemes, and tingencies. Xaker was nothing if not meticulous, and every step of his pn was a carefully crafted masterpiece.

  “And wheime es,” he added, his voice dropping to a near whisper, “you’ll see there’s no escape. Not from me. You’ll be my est subject, James Khan. I want to see what a ade of flesh and blood is capable of.”

  The holographic ss tio flicker, their cold glow casting long shadows across the metallic walls of the aer. Xaker’s eyes remained fixed on the tral monitor, the smirk slowly returning to his face as the pieces of his grand design fell into pce. The game was far from over, and Xaker relished every moment of the chase.