Below the caverns, Sora looked at the sword with awe.

“You were calling out to me, huh?” the sharpness of the sword, the golden colour above and the light that radiating from it was a spectacle to the eye. But more so was the Meto that leaking out of it. Sora could feel an immense pressure in his arm, as if the sword was sucking his Meto in.

“Huh a wild one, aren’t ya? No worries. After a few swings, I'm sure you will know who the master is.” he pulled the sword in his scabbard.

“Hey!” Miku shouted from the back. She had finally caught up.

“Oh, so you made it here? What took you so-”

Before he could finish, Miku punched him in the gut. It was a clean hit. One Sora would not forget soon.

“What was that for?!” he said, bending down checking if his stomach was intact.

“Next time Don’t leave me dumbass!” she shouted.

“Wha… you’re the one who was getting mad at me for not giving ‘directions’ properly?”

“That doesn’t mean you should leave a girl alone!” she pouted.

“Fine. " He retorted. “But look found you your damn hearthstones or whatever”

Miku was too mad at Sora to notice the abundance of hearthstones lying around.

“Oh, yeah!” She began pulling them out from the ground like a kid in a candy store.

“But this doesn’t make up for leaving me. You got it, loser!”

“Oh, shut up” Sora turned towards the top, looking at the light that was now clearly pricing downwards.

“I think we can get up that way.” He said, giving a light poke from where the light was piercing. Just a touch was all it took for the rocks to fall down as the hole opened up.

“Don’t cave us in, fucker!” Miku shouted while simultaneously picking up the hearthstones.

“So there is land up there. Close than where how we came down, but how now do we get up?”

Miku had finished collecting her desired amount of hearthstones. She pushed Sora aside and stood right below the hole.

“Observe, idiot.”

She gently tapped on the bracelet in her hand. Her backpack instant pulled out two jet launchers that were ready to take off.

“Hold on to me,” she said.

Sora gripped her tightly.

“Not that hard, dumbass!”

“Like I have a choice! I”

The jets took off as they flew inside the hole and instantly came out from the well inside the village.

“I can’t control my direction. Let go!” she shouted, to which Sora did not listen. They crashed down beside one building. Luckily, the fire and the burned houses made the soil all mushy, which kept them uninjured. Sora shook his head, trying to get the dust off. He noticed his surroundings were covered by a dense fog. Silent as a limbo with nothing but corpses and burned buildings around, even the cries he heard had disappeared.

“What the hell happened here?” he wondered.

“Look what you did to my baby!” Miku shouted from the back. Suddenly, they could hear footsteps coming from the front. A shadow was inside the smoke. Sora pulled his sword, not being able to sense any meto. But it was none other than Ken. Ken slowly walked towards them with a body in hand covered by his shirt.

“Ken…” Miku whispered.

Ken didn’t pay any attention to them.

“What happened here?” Sora asked. But he didn’t reply. He walked past them.

“Hey answer me-” Miku gripped Sora’s shoulder, signaling him to calm down.

“Did you look into his eyes…”

“Huh?”

Ken’s eyes were dried. All emotions were lost. His veins looked as if they were about to pop out. His heartbeat was pulsing rapidly. Akane and Ryu had reached the village. The fire was out, but the people were still struggling. Ryu, using his speed, dashed across the place, grabbing any civilian he could.

“This way!” Akane shouted. A small corner on the outskirts of the village that was safe.

“What happened here?” Akane murmured to herself. Ryu suddenly noticed an unconscious body on the ground. It was none other than Halo. He quickly grabbed him and dashed towards the safe spot. Akane did her utmost to calm everyone down. Ryu pulled back behind her with Halo in his hand. Liam noticed Halo and sprinted out from the crowd

“Uncle!!”

Halo’s eyes slowly opened upon hearing his nephew's voice.

“Liam…”

“I’m here, uncle.” Liam gripped Halo’s hand tightly. Halo placed his other hand across Liam’s soft cheeks, caressing it gently. Just seeing it reminded him of what had just happened. Tears rolled up in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “I’m sorry I couldn't protect her…”

Liam’s face went into shock at hearing that.

“What?” Akane gasped. Akane noticed Ken coming from away.

“Oh, no…” she whispered. Ryu noticed hearing her words. Ken walked outside the village. Liam noticed Ken. He dashed toward Ken.

“No… No!!!” he shouted as he closed in on Ken. He stopped as he ambled close to the villagers.

“There He is!”

“He is the reason we are in this!”

“You killer!”

All the people were acting up. Whatever calming down Akane was trying to give them had all disappeared. Ken gently put down Lola’s body close to Halo. Halo couldn't even speak properly. He could only lean on the body and cry. Tears that wouldn't stop falling.

“Why?! Why did my sister have to die!!” Liam shouted.

“If only… you guys helped sooner… No… if only you guys never showed up!”

Emotions were boiled inside that little boy and it bursted out.

“Why wasn’t I…” a memory flashed before the boy's eyes. It was his sister who pushed him back as the wolves grabbed her instead of him.

“Why wasn't I the one who died?” He couldn't hold it in. A voice that was cracked, weakened and afraid. Laim gritted his teeth and shouted at Ken,

“Monster!”

Those words were all too familiar to Ken. Ken said nothing back to them. There was no time for convincing. He stood up, looking back at the towering laboratory far away.

“Ken…” Ryu said, cogitating about saying something to him before he did something irrational. But there was nothing left to say. Rather, it was too late for anything. Ken, with a single pull, ripped his shirt off. The Emerald inside his chest was glowing ever so brightly. His veins and muscles were a spectacle to see.

“Let's go,” he uttered. The only words that came out of his mouth. All the crewmember's were there.

“I’m gonna regret this.” Ryu sighed. But it was a direct order, one they knew their captain wasn't going back on. All of them began strolling towards the Laboratory. The villagers looked at them with awe.

“What are they about to do now?” one said out of fear.

“What they were supposed to do…” Halo said, gripping the soil.

“To save this village!” He shouted loudly.

Ken and the rest ambled towards Kuro’s lair. 100’s of wolves swarmed around them, ready to take them on.

“Looks like it's show time,” Sora said, ready to pull his newly found sword out. But Ken didn't let him. He pulled his hand at front signaling he will deal with them.

“Huh? You’re gonna take all 100 on yourself?”

Back in Kuro’s lair, a wolf bursted out of the elevator. It was a scout.

“Sir, 5 individuals are approaching the laboratory”

Kalo let out a smirk. “They are here.” All of them felt cautious hearing those words.

“Its only 5 damn rookies. We have over 100 men stationed outside! There is no way they can get past them!”

Vigle said with a stern expression, trying to reassure Kuro and the others. Vik was already afraid. As he was a swordsman, so he could sense a sword's power easily. Not soon after, another wolf came out of the elevator.

“Sir! The front vanguard has all been wiped out.”

All of their eyes widened hearing that. 100s of knocked out soldiers were on the floor as Ken wiped them out with a huge barrage of attacks. He ambled forward as if nothing happened.

“Damn, he really is a monster.” Sora thought to himself.

Kuro was gritting his teeth. Not only was his plan failing, but he knew the consequences of this fight here. Getting the sword was his top priority.

“Whats the matter” Kalo asked Kuro

“Aren’t you gonna finish your lemonade?” he said in a taunting voice.

Suddenly, the elevator began coming up from below.

“It can’t be. They are already here?” Gorger said.

The elevator opened up as a wolf walked out. It was a relief, but that changed instantly as the wolf fell unconscious on the ground with Ken and the others behind. Ken stood in front of Kuro. Kuro had quite the intimidating aura. But that aura meant nothing to Ken.

“Which one of you is Kuro?” he uttered.

“You think you guys can walk in here, interfering with government business?” Kuro tried to act tough.

“I said, which one of you is Kuro?!”

Ken’s intimidating voice made Kuro obey it without realizing.

“It's me. What about it?” he grunted towards Ken as he gritted his teeth and pulled out his sharp claws.

In a split second, Ken disappeared as the window behind Kuro had shattered. Ken had grabbed Kuro by the head and slammed him against the window, breaking it as they fell downward towards the mining train tracks. The fight between Ken and Kuro’s gang had begun.