There was no sound in the underground cell of Hunter Central. The only light slipping through the gaps in the iron bars came from the dim emergency lamps in the corridor. That pale, bluish light drew thin lines across the concrete floor. The walls were clad in a special alloy that absorbed even the traces of skills. In a space barely two tatami mats wide, Ren sat with his knees drawn up to his chest. The restraints fitted around both wrists felt faintly heavy. The Association's highest-classified equipment, designed to seal Absolute Obedience. The alloy embedded inside physically blocked any activation of the skill. His shadow gave no response at all. The darkness at his feet, which should normally have been subtly stirring, lay still as death. Ren stared at that shadow. (*Won't move.*) He lifted his right hand. The black, tattoo-like patterns that should have surfaced from his fingertips to the back of his hand had now completely vanished. His skin was pale, drained of blood. The shadow that was the symbol of his power had fallen utterly silent. That said everything about his current situation. A guard's footsteps passed by in the corridor. A steady rhythm. Three steps, pause, three steps. Only that regular sound marked the silence of the underground. Ren did not sleep. He hadn't touched his food since the night before. The hard bread and water left on the tray beneath the iron bars sat there, growing cold and dry. What kept repeating in his mind was Saya's face in the moment just before they were separated in the corridor. The tears welling in her blue eyes. Her trembling lips. Her outstretched hand. The blood flowing from her shoulder, staining her Association uniform red. (*Saya.*) Something deep in his chest creaked, painfully. Where was she now? Had her wounds been treated? How an inspector detained for a rule violation would be handled—imaginings he didn't want to dwell on kept flashing through his mind. Ren leaned his back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. The dim gray concrete spread out above him, pressing down. --- —The morning of the second day. Several sets of footsteps echoed in the corridor. Not just the guard. The sound of multiple people's shoes disrupted the regular rhythm. A clang of iron. The door of the neighboring cell opened, and there was the sense of someone being led out. Ren did not move. The footsteps drew closer. The guard, and one other—a hunter being escorted. The man's gait was somehow awkward; he dragged his left leg. Injured, perhaps. The moment the man passed in front of Ren's cell, he stopped. "[whispers]...Kazama Ren, is it." It was a hoarse voice. Ren slowly turned his face. Beyond the iron bars stood a thin man. His face was carved with many old scars, and around his neck hung the silver identification tag that marked an A-rank hunter. No mark of Kagerou—he was from another guild. Urged lightly onward by the guard, the man nevertheless continued speaking for just a moment. "[whispers]I hear Kagerou's vice-master has changed. Some S-rank called Takuto. Word is, all the A-ranks who used to follow you switched sides too." Ren's expression did not change. But his hands, folded on his knees—restraints and all—slowly clenched tight. "[whispers]Sorry. That's all I can tell you." Dragging his leg again, the man was led away down the corridor. One of the guards glanced into Ren's cell but left without a word. The footsteps faded into the distance. Silence returned. Ren looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Takuto had seized control of the guild. The fragility of bonds built on nothing but strength, without deep connection to anyone for half a year—it was all condensed into this single fact. (*A-rank, B-rank... all of them.*) He should have been used to solitude. Being alone on the top floor of Kagerou Tower, no one coming near the lounge on the forty-fourth floor—he had known all of it. Everyone kept their distance simply because he was S-rank. He had thought that was fine. But. This weight he felt now was a different kind of loneliness from before. (*That night...*) Because he had come to know the softness in Saya's voice when she first called his name. --- —Afternoon. Beyond the iron bars, a man stood. A young clerk from the Association. Probably barely twenty. A meticulously neat uniform, a terminal and a thick stack of documents in his hands. His complexion was poor, and he wouldn't meet Ren's eyes. "[serious]Kazama Ren. Pursuant to Association Regulation Article 17, I am here to deliver notification of the hearing concerning you." A voice desperately trying to hide its trembling. The fact that he was attempting to read it out matter-of-factly, in accordance with regulations, only made it more painful to witness. The clerk operated his terminal, scrolling through the documents. "[serious]Three days from now, in the Grand Hall of Hunter Central, a public hearing will be held for Inspector Saya." Ren's eyes opened, just slightly. "[serious]The charges are—combat intervention during escort surveillance, maximum violation of duty regulations, and suspicion of a personal relationship with the subject of surveillance. The petitioner is Vice-Master Takuto of Guild Kagerou." The clerk raised his face. For an instant, their eyes met, as if he were gauging Ren's expression. "[serious]That is all. The notification is complete." The man left with hurried steps. Ren did not move until his retreating figure vanished into the darkness of the corridor. —And then. *CLANG!!* A roar of grinding metal echoed through the underground cell. Ren had seized the iron bars with both hands. The restraints struck the bars, scattering sparks. The chains stretched to their limit, the alloy at his wrists groaning. The bars, gripped until his fingertips turned white, trembled faintly. "[angry]...Takuto." A voice wrenched from his throat. Saya was being put to a public hearing. Condemned before the eyes of the public as a tainted inspector. Takuto wasn't satisfied with merely crushing Ren—he intended to socially annihilate Saya as well. The warmth of her body, trembling in his arms that night. The sound of her footsteps, charging onto the battlefield even as she was torn between regulations and emotion. (*That bastard—*) Rage broke through the layer of quiet despair and rose to the surface. The hands gripping the iron bars trembled faintly. --- —Late night. Ren lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. In his head, the Kagebito's words repeated. —*You are the same as us.* A low voice, as if wrenched from the depths of a throat. The moment he heard those words in the corridor, Absolute Obedience had resonated. The shadow army had slipped his control and run wild—. That was no coincidence. Immediately after, a fierce headache had torn through him. The shadow that the restraints should have been sealing stirred faintly at his feet for just an instant, synchronized with the waves of pain. "......ngh." Ren dropped to one knee. He closed his eyes. Within the pain, fragments of the day of the collapse slipped in. His six-year-old self, sitting alone in the rubble for three days. The smell of smoke. No one came. His mother, his father—they were already gone. On the morning of the fourth day—the fallen monolith had turned into black mist and been drawn into his shadow. (*Back then...*) The monolith hadn't died and vanished. It had entered into him. Ren hadn't called it. The monolith had come toward him. The headache intensified. He pressed his hands to the floor and clenched his teeth. —What if. What if Absolute Obedience wasn't a skill he had developed, but rather a connection between himself and something that had existed on the gate's side from the very beginning. What if, when the Kagebito said "the same," it wasn't metaphor but literal meaning. "[angry]...Gh." The shadow stirred again. A reaction as thin as a thread, but it was unmistakably there. Inside the restraints, the sealed power was resonating. But. Ren shook his head and steadied his breathing. Right now, more than his own mysteries—Saya took priority. --- —Before dawn. The quietest hour in the cell. Only the emergency lights, casting their unchanging pale blue glow. Ren sat on the floor, staring at his restrained hands held out before him. Embedded inside the restraints was the special alloy that sealed Absolute Obedience. Physical destruction from the outside was virtually impossible—so he had been informed. However. From the inside. If he released the skill itself beyond the suppression limit of the restraints, theoretically, they could be destroyed. The cost would not be a temporary worsening of memory confusion. The psychological damage could become permanent. Ren understood that. Even so, his answer was already decided. (*Saya...*) He could not simply sit here in silence, behind these iron bars, imagining the scene of her being condemned before the public. "[whispers]...No helping it." If it meant protecting that night when she called his name with a trembling voice, he didn't care if his memories broke a little. Ren closed both eyes. He focused his awareness inside the restraints. Deeper, deeper. Reaching out, as if toward the core of black power sleeping in the depths of his psyche. —*Come.* The shadow at his feet stirred clearly for the first time. A reaction as thin as a thread. But it was unmistakably there. Inside the restraints, the sealed power began to pulse. From his fingertips to the back of his hand, the vanished black tattoo-like patterns began to surface, faintly— At that moment. In the corridor, soft footsteps approached. Not the guard's. A lighter tread, yet one that carried a definite will, marking a steady rhythm as it headed straight for this cell. Ren opened his eyes.