After Kyuuto told the rest of Aotori about Karito, they finally settled on a plan to search and rescue Kanata, as it has been a few days and Ishimaru has not appeared again. Kyuuto saw Ishigaki at the front porch of his house, seemingly overthinking while looking at the distance, "Are you Ishigaki right now?" he asked.

Ishigaki nodded, then sighed while looking away. He then said, "The fight with Karito yesterday made me realize something... people aren't as glorious as they seem. And whenever we try to trust someone, there's a chance for them to just use us for their own benefit," he then lamented their experience with both Kentarou and Kazuki, "sometimes I... just want to burst and explode, but when I heard about the enemies' reasons to fight, I wanna cry instead,"

Kyuuto sensed anguish in his friend's tone. The Akayama spirit inside him is starting to heat up, triggered by intense emotion. Kyuuto then reminded Ishigaki that they must focus on their mission to save Kanata, then everything will be alright again.

Ishigaki then turned his face toward Kyuuto, "I'm curious... which Ookami will I protect in the future? Will it be you, or Rin? Or any other Ookami that I haven't met?" he recalled what Karito explained to him before, "if my whole life is dedicated to protecting an Ookami, what about my family? Are they just not important? What about other people that are not descendants of the Ookami heritage? I'm so confused. What about Kanata? If she is actually also an Akayama, then her whole life should be dedicated to an Ookami as well,"

Ishigaki then looked at his palms while shivering and his eyes were starting to tear up, "Is my whole existence... just to serve you?" his mind was swirling nearly out of control. But then Ishigaki took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

Kyuuto was also perplexed and unsure as to how he should respond to his partners' existential crisis, but then Ishigaki continued, "But I won't give up. My father died protecting you and your mother. Fate brought me here, and no matter how hard I try to escape, I will always be pulled towards you. I'm not gonna trash on my father's legacy, and that's why I'm gonna protect you too," he remarked with optimism, leaving Kyuuto stunned, not knowing what to expect in the future.

----

Suddenly, the earth rumbled and quaked. A tall obelisk materialized from the ground, towering at about 50 meters. This pillar was made out of concrete and metal, and a lot of random metal parts from the surrounding area. Aotori knew immediately who conjured that ominous thing. But on the top of the obelisk, Kyuuto could see Kanata, unconscious and bound by steel poles that were bent in such a way that encased her body.

As soon as he saw her, Kyuuto leapt forward while shouting her name. His feelings have grown ever since their last interaction. Following right behind him was Ishigaki, then the rest of the team.

When they arrived near Kanata, the earth rumbled again, and the buildings around them morphed to surround them in a circle-like shape, preventing the team from escaping to any direction except upwards. The wall that circles around them was made from scrap metals in various sizes, it includes rusty vehicles and building parts. The team then looked up towards Kanata, and there arrived Karito.

"Karito!! What do you want with all of this?!" Kyuuto directly confronted him, concerned with one of his teammates.

Karito then crouched, facing Aotori below him. He smiled then answered, "I want more power... so I can revive my clan, and Volkus is the way to do it," he continued to focus his sight on Kyuuto, "and in order to do that, I have to make sure he got out of you,"

"What do you know about Volkus that we don't?!" Kyuuto asked him one more time. Then from Karito's right side, came a swarm of bats, they grouped together and formed a figure of a man. Shortly after, the figure formed a face and clothing, it was Ishimaru.

Aotori did not have the time to process what just happened. While Ishimaru then pulled out his sword, and showed that there's some kind of liquid running down its blade, "Oh, you're all here," he said quietly, "I thought the wall would be fast enough to just trap Kyuuto inside," Ishimaru turned his head towards Karito, and he just expressed annoyance.

Kyuuto saw Ishimaru's entrance, then finally confronted him, "Ishimaru--- no... Anrui..." Kyuuto's blood started to boil, remembering his discussion with Kurouzu.

Ishimaru laughed while covering his face, then he replied, "It seems like you already know who I really am. I don't need this face anymore then," Anrui then transformed himself into an old man just like Yuukai and Raizen, but with longer and chaotic white-reddish hair, "nice to meet you, Kyuuto... and Kurouzu as well," he smiled at him, "long time no see in this form,"

"What are you...?" Rin asked him too.

"Maybe it's time to explain everything, ancient man," Karito sneered at him.