I remember

Silence.

No one could hear the wind anymore.

Even the sounds of the village had disappeared.

Then—

BOOM.

The ground shook.

Everyone held their breath.

BOOM.

A second pulse.

But it wasn't a heartbeat.

It was something else.

Something that made the air itself tremble.

Ivo slowly raised his head.

"What is this...?"

No one answered.

Black cracks appeared across the ground at the center of the village.

They spread dozens of meters in every direction.

Then a dense aura began to emerge from them.

It wasn't completely black.

It was closer to darkness itself.

The Yami hiding throughout the village began to emerge.

One.

Then two.

Then dozens.

Then hundreds.

One of the squad members stared at them.

"The Yami..."

But something was wrong.

They didn't attack.

They didn't move toward the people.

Instead...

they began to bow.

Saki's eyes widened.

"Impossible."

A figure appeared in the center of the aura.

He walked slowly.

One step.

Then another.

There was no change in his appearance.

His clothes hadn't changed.

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His eyes hadn't changed.

And his hair hadn't changed.

Gray hair.

It was Genso.

But something about him was no longer the same.

He stopped before them.

Raised his head.

And looked at them.

He didn't say a word.

Yet...

everyone felt as if they were standing before someone who should never have appeared before them.

One of the squad members unconsciously stepped backward.

"This power..."

His voice trembled.

"It's..."

He looked at the kneeling Yami.

Then at Genso.

And his weapon slipped from his hand.

"It's him."

Ivo turned toward him.

"What did you say?"

The man raised his eyes.

"The King of the Yami."

Everyone froze.

Saki said,

"No."

But his voice wasn't confident.

He was afraid.

One of the members said,

"The stories..."

"Stop."

"We've heard them since we were children."

"I said stop!"

"The King of the Yami..."

Everyone looked at Genso.

"Kaizen."

---

At that exact moment, one of the squad members moved.

He slammed his hand into the ground.

"Nobody can sense this!"

BOOOOM!

An enormous wave of energy erupted around the village.

A massive barrier rose into the sky.

Then sealed the entire village.

The man who created it trembled.

Veins appeared along his arm.

"This barrier..."

he said while gasping for breath.

"It won't last long."

Ivo looked at him.

"How long?"

"If this energy keeps flowing..."

He looked at Genso.

"...three minutes."

He paused.

"Maybe less."

Someone shouted,

"We need to get everyone out of the village!"

"No!"

Saki shouted.

Everyone looked at him.

He said,

"If this energy..."

Then he looked at the barrier.

"...gets out, everyone will know."

He didn't explain what he meant.

He didn't need to.

If the village learned that the King of the Yami had appeared among them...

there would be no village left.

---

As for Genso...

He simply stood there.

Looking at them.

He didn't understand why they were afraid.

Or perhaps...

he did.

Ivo took a step forward.

"Genso."

There was no response.

"Where is Kaizen?"

Genso fell silent.

Then raised his eyes toward him.

"Kaizen?"

Ivo nodded.

"Yes."

Genso looked around.

At the Yami.

At the members of the squad.

At the barrier.

Then he looked back at Ivo.

And said,

"He's gone."

Ivo froze.

"What?"

Genso replied,

"He's no longer here."

Someone shouted,

"Liar!"

But Saki grabbed him.

"Silence."

Genso didn't care.

He said,

"We are one now."

One of the squad members trembled.

"One...?"

Genso smiled faintly.

"But don't worry."

He raised his eyes.

"He won't control me."

---

They didn't understand.

They didn't know what he meant.

But they could see one thing:

Every Yami was bowing before Genso.

One of the members spoke with a trembling voice.

"It's Kaizen..."

Another replied,

"But he doesn't look like anything the stories described."

Saki said,

"The stories never told us what he looked like."

"But his power..."

"Yes."

Saki fell silent.

Then said,

"It's enough."

---

At that moment...

Genso looked at his hand.

He opened it.

Then closed it.

Something stirred inside his head.

Images.

Voices.

Places.

People.

Things he believed were memories.

But they weren't complete.

Then an image of Clara appeared.

He looked at it.

And suddenly...

he felt no pain.

No confusion.

Only...

remembering.

Everything.

He opened his eyes.

"I remember."

Ivo didn't understand.

"What?"

Genso raised his head.

"Everything."

Silence.

Then he said,

"I know who I am now."

Saki took a step backward.

There was something in Genso's voice.

Something that hadn't been there before.

He wasn't Kaizen.

But he wasn't the Genso they had known either.

Ivo said,

"Genso..."

Genso interrupted him.

"Don't worry."

Then he smiled.

"I'm Genso."

Ivo froze.

One of the members said,

"But Kaizen..."

Genso looked at him.

"There is no Kaizen now."

---

Everyone fell silent.

Then Genso said,

"He was here."

He placed a hand over his chest.

"But he's no longer here in the way you think."

He looked toward the sky.

"I finally understand."

Then lowered his head.

"Who I am."

---

The barrier shook.

Cracks began appearing across it.

The man who created it dropped to one knee.

"I can't hold it..."

Ivo shouted,

"Don't let it fall!"

But Genso looked at him.

"Let it."

Everyone turned toward him.

He said,

"There is no need."

"What?"

Genso raised his hand.

The aura stopped.

The Yami stopped.

Then...

the energy subsided.

The pressure suffocating the village disappeared.

The barrier stabilized.

The man who created it stared at his hands in disbelief.

"What... did he do?"

No one answered.

Genso...

simply took a calm breath.

Then said,

"I don't want anyone to know I was here."

---

Far away, on top of another rooftop...

Rio was watching.

He didn't move.

He didn't speak.

He simply stared at Genso.

Then slowly smiled.

"This..."

He laughed quietly.

"This wasn't Kaizen."

His smile disappeared for a moment.

"Then what did you do to yourself, Gens

o?"

He laughed again.

But this time...

it wasn't the laugh of someone who had found the answer.

It was the laugh of someone who had discovered that the question had become far bigger than he expected.

And in the center of the village...

Genso stood among the Yami.

His hair was still gray.

Just as it had always been.

But his eyes...

were no longer the eyes of the old Genso.

He remembered.

And for the first time since the beginning of his life...

he wasn't searching for himself anymore.

He had found himself.