Hot. Left arm burning. Right hand fingers—three of them—bent wrong. Stone basement groaning. Collapsing. Reina's hand gripped Taiga's hand. Flames wavered. Red. Violent. Devouring the air around them. Uncontrolled. At this rate, the entire basement disappears. Taiga burns with it. He knew. But thought wouldn't stop. Ace's name was sold. Dial knows. How far did it spread. Who bought it. The more he moved— "[serious]Taiga" The voice reached him. Through the smoke, Reina's eyes looked straight at Taiga. No tears. No trembling. Just looking. The hand holding his should be burning. Flames leaking out. She didn't let go. "[gentle]Protect the people here. Right now." That was all. Taiga closed his eyes. Not Ace. Not Dial. Right now, this moment—Reina is here. Zarl is making walls in the hallway. Milena is calculating ceiling collapse. Three people. Here. Protect them. He tied that feeling alone to the root of the flames. Not fear of loss. Not anger. Just the desire to protect. That alone. The flames—changed. For one moment. The red faded. Blue tinted through. Kagerou's flames showed a different color for the first time. That was enough. The flames subsided. Not completely. His body still hot. Left arm scars throbbing. But the rampage stopped. Taiga stood on shaking legs. Reina's hand released. Instead, she moved to his left side. Supporting. Silent. Taiga didn't look at that hand. But he felt the warmth. —— The four of them stepped outside. Stone pavement at the back entrance. One breath. Night air filled their lungs. Distant wave sounds. Milena moved first. "[serious]Now's the time." She looked at all four. Golden eyes read the situation without emotion. "The basement collapse confused the elite. Grizelda's reorganizing personnel right now. We don't have ten minutes. But—the mansion interior is most exposed now." "What are you saying." "Secret document vault. Next to the underground armory. When I managed information, I memorized everything. Location. Contents." Milena paused slightly. "Human trafficking records. Navy collusion. Illegal weapons buyers. All there. Obviously—if we don't move now, we never reach it." Zarl crossed his arms. The scar on his right cheek caught torchlight. "[serious]Can you move." Words aimed at Taiga. "I'll move." "Don't lie. Three fingers broken." "I said I'll move." Zarl watched Taiga for a while. Then snorted. "[serious]Fine. I'll go front. Smash the remaining guild members. Reina secures the exit. Taiga and Milena hit the vault." Reina nodded. She touched the compass pendant with her fingertip, then lowered her hand. "[serious]Understood." The four moved. No hesitation. No need to reissue orders. Four people who'd collided while gathering. For the first time, they moved without doubt. Same direction. —— Zarl stepped into the hallway. Two guild members faced him instantly. Boom. He grabbed one's shoulder. Slammed him into the wall. The other drew his sword—too late. Front kick to the gut. Collapse. Fall. Zarl didn't stop. "[serious]Next corner. Go." Taiga and Milena ran. Milena led. No hesitation. Corridor turned. Two doors passed. Narrow passage with stone walls. Door at the end. Locked. "[cold]Break it." Taiga shoulder-charged the door. Hinges groaned. Again. Metal snapped. Door fell inward. Dim room. Shelves covered the walls. Documents. Ledgers. Envelopes. Arranged perfectly. Milena moved straight to the back of the shelves. Fingers ran across documents quickly. Pulled. Checked. Pulled again. No wasted motion. The movement of someone who'd been here. "[cold]This. This too. This one's useless. —This." She spoke like thinking aloud. Documents gathered under her arm. Taiga scanned the room. Exit confirmed. Ceiling confirmed. Then—something caught his eye in the wall's depth. He stopped. Through the shelf gap, something was carved into the stone wall. Fine. Complex. A flame-like pattern. Exactly the same as what he'd seen in the Cophia Island cave. That uninhabited island. Deep in the cave where he'd washed ashore. Ancient characters he couldn't decode. The same pattern—here. In Barossa Company's secret vault wall. Why. What connection exists. What does the company know. Or—are they using it without knowing. A bad feeling spread through his chest. Unanswered questions piled up. But no time now. Taiga burned it into memory. The shape. The position. So he wouldn't forget. "[serious]Taiga. Look at this." Milena opened a ledger page. He approached. Numbers lined up. Multiple transaction records. Large amounts. And the requester column—only cipher names. "D-7." "α-3." "Master's Key." Meaning unreadable. But the amounts and frequency told the story. Continuous transactions. Not once or twice. "Payment records to Dial. Look at the amounts. This scale. Multiple transactions." "Requester's unreadable." "Cipher names only. Can't decode now. But physical evidence—Dial exists. Continuous transactions with Barossa Company. That's confirmed." Taiga took the ledger. Exists. He knew. But holding proof and knowing are different. This paper's weight was real. In Taiga's hand. Identity still unknown. But definitely here. "[serious]Let's go." —— They exited the hallway. A white figure stood before them. Grizelda Barossa. Alone. White coat stained with soot. White hair disheveled. Crawled up from the basement—visible. But those eyes—still cold. A 58-year-old ex-pirate's eyes watched Taiga and Milena. "[cold]Impressive. Moving with three broken bones." Emotionless voice. "[sarcastic]Knowing the future but can't handle one enemy in front of you. Pathetic, isn't it?" Anger came. From deep in his chest. All at once. Flames wavered. Left arm heated. Rampage starting— Reina's voice echoed back. Protect the people here. Right now. Taiga gripped the flames. Held them in his fist. Don't flow into rampage. Turn anger into strength. Tied it again to the desire to protect. "[serious]Zarl!" Answer came from the corridor corner. Footsteps. Heavy. Fast. Zarl ran. Grizelda's eyes reflexively shifted—toward Zarl. That moment. Taiga stepped in. Grizelda's front. Right fist wrapped in Kagerou—broken fingers screaming, still gripping—extended straight. Grizelda raised her arm to defend. Zarl's monstrous strength crashed in from the side. Bang. Grizelda's body flowed sideways. Stance collapsed. Hand on wall. For the first time, her feet wavered. Not enough to finish. Taiga knew. But—she cracked. The wall one person couldn't break. Two movements meshing. For the first time, it cracked. Grizelda pushed off the wall. Her eyes changed slightly. Cold depths mixed with something else. "[serious]Go!" He sent Taiga and Milena ahead. Zarl covered the rear. Before Grizelda's next move, they cleared the hallway. Reina waited at the exit corner. She pointed to the outer wall. "[serious]This way!" Four people burst into the night. —— Porto Neira's fog thickened again. They ran through back alleys. Footsteps struck stone. Wave sounds distant. Closer. Port direction reached. No one spoke. After confirming pursuit faded, the four entered an abandoned warehouse's shadow. Caught their breath. Taiga looked at the ledger under his arm. Dial's records. Cipher names only. Identity unknown. And—the same pattern as Cophia Island's cave. Barossa Company knows something. Or they're caught in it unknowingly. Still unclear which. Milena leaned against the wall, checking the document stack. Turning pages methodically. Purple two-tone hair fell across her face. Left hand brushed it back. Zarl stood with crossed arms, watching the entrance. Checking for pursuit. Right cheek scar glowed in night's dim light. Reina stood beside Taiga. Said nothing. Just there. Taiga closed the ledger. Right hand's broken fingers couldn't make a fist. Still pressed the cover. ——Answers not found. Who is Dial. What's the goal. How far does he reach. What does the pattern connecting Cophia Island and Barossa Company mean. But tonight, one thing was certain. Four people moved the same direction for the first time. That alone was what Taiga gained tonight. Grizelda still stands. This island's settlement isn't finished.