"What the hell are you all waiting for?! Get him off me!"
Ranzan's furious roar tore through the alleyway. He clutched his face, twisted with shock and rage.
His men finally snapped out of their daze. They surged forward like a swarm, grabbing shattered bottles and swinging them at Kazuya.
"Die, you lunatic—!"
CRASH!
The sound of glass shattering echoed like gunfire. Shards flew everywhere, catching the dim light like falling stars.
He went down hard—
Like a puppet with its strings cut.
Darkness followed.
Heavy. Thick. Absolute.
His senses faded, one by one.
No sound. No light. No pain.
Only the faint memory of being tossed into a trash heap, like discarded waste.
And then—
He stood.
From the depths of that void, something awakened.
A violent, raging power surged through him.
He was alive—no, more than alive.
He was wrath.
"…Heh."
A dry laugh slipped from his lips like a blade slicing silence.
His fist flew.
Crack. Blood. Bone.
Then another, and another—until the alley was filled with groans and broken bodies.
He moved like a beast. Faster than thought.
He couldn't even hear them scream.
Ranzan's eyes widened in horror.
"You… what are you…?!"
But before the question could end—
The world shattered.
Like a mirror struck by a hammer, reality crumbled into a white, endless void.
Nothing remained.
Nothing mattered.
"This is nothing but a dying illusion, Kazuya Sato."
The voice echoed in his ears—soft, ancient, final.
"Who… Who are you? Where am I?!"
He ran, but the white stretched on forever. Until—
He saw her.
A girl.
She sat calmly.
Long violet hair. Skirt fluttering. Eyes like still water—
No emotion. No humanity.
"…Am I… dead?"
"Yes." Her voice was quiet, absolute.
"You hit your head on the edge of the bin. You died quietly. No one noticed."
His hands trembled. Then, he cried.
Tears slipped through his fingers—hot, bitter, useless.
"I couldn't save her… not even a stray cat… I'm so damn pathetic…"
"And those bastards… they're still alive… laughing… like nothing happened…"
He broke.
She said nothing.
Just watched.
Until—she spoke again.
"Kazuya Sato."
Her voice—holy, distant, resonant—like a bell tolling in the void.
"I can offer you… a chance for revenge."
His eyes widened. A flicker of something new lit inside him.
"…What…?"
"Not resurrection. You'll return as a dead man."
She rose. Her hair danced in the white breeze. Blue light shimmered around her.
"You'll be stronger than ever. But colder. Angrier. Lost."
"When your revenge ends, so will your soul. No salvation. No return."
"This time… you won't be the Kazuya who gets stepped on."
A weapon appeared in the air, glowing softly, like it had been waiting for him.
He stared at it.
Heart pounding.
Fists clenched.
"…Thank you."
"I'll drag every last one of them into hell."
She smiled—for the first time. Distant, but warm.
"Are you ready?"
He closed his eyes. Inhaled.
Then opened them again.
No hesitation now.
"—Yeah."
"Let's begin."