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  *Chapter 30: The Banquet of Freedom**

  #### **Part I: Taida's Invitation**

  Taida calmly descended from a rooftop, landing in front of a tent where an abandoned table remained. Yuzuki, Zeke, and Amok watched in silence, unable to comprehend the situation. Without a word, Taida grabbed the table and a chair, dragging them to the center of the street. He then sat down with a disturbing composure and gestured as if inviting Yuzuki and Zeke to sit.

  Zeke was irritated. Taida's coldness, his disrespect, his mockery—it all pushed him to the edge. He advanced in a fury, but Yuzuki held him by the shoulder, his gaze fixed on Taida's eyes. Amok then stood beside Yuzuki, watching everything closely. Bael, Taida's Kugutsu, remained silent beside its master. Malphas, meanwhile, ascended to the heavens and merged with the clouds, casting a dense fog and a suffocating darkness over the city. Visibility dropped; approaching the table became almost impossible.

  With disarming ease, Taida took a flask tied to his waist and placed it on the table. He gathered some discarded cups from the tent and filled them, sliding them toward Zeke and Yuzuki. Zeke couldn't understand what was happening. Something felt wrong. His eyes fixed on Taida's neck, where a dark mark slowly emerged, pulsing with a somber energy. He looked at Yuzuki, and without exchanging a word, they both understood: Taida was corrupted—completely affected by the Slavic Seal.

  Yuzuki broke the silence. "Why did you submit to this kind of power?"

  Taida did not answer. He simply drank from his cup, let out a dry laugh, and then spoke. "Why are you afraid of me? I am free. I am evil because I choose to be! I kill for pleasure because I can choose. I am kind like a good samaritan... because, again, I can choose. My dream? To touch the Golden Tree. To love it, feel it, care for it... and then destroy it. Choices... I am free!"

  Then he opened his arms, staring directly at the distant Golden Tree. "Pangea is covered by the Golden Tree... But who can even touch it? Something that protects us... but cannot receive our love. I... we..."

  His voice fell silent for a moment. And then came the final phrase: "The Leper King seeks everything he lacks. And I give this world everything that was taken from me."

  Upon hearing this, Yuzuki immediately turned to Zeke, his eyes wide. "Run," Yuzuki said.

  #### **Part II: The Destruction**

  A kilometer away, a dog was drinking from a puddle. Its large eyes and floppy ears were reflected on the calm surface. Suddenly, the heat hit it, and it was slowly disintegrated, watching its own image evaporate in the water. A massive explosion erupted in a one-kilometer radius. Houses were obliterated, animals incinerated, birds fell from the sky, and children hidden in their homes were burned alive with no chance to escape. A mushroom cloud of heat and smoke rose over Neversand, visible from every corner of the city. The city was consumed by the fire of hell.

  #### **Part III: Reactions Across the City**

  Nina, in the underground tunnels, felt the air pressure change. She heard the rumble of collapses. She knew what it meant: the houses had fallen, and those who refused to flee were now dead. She cried in despair, realizing that the power of Taida and the Leper King had reached even the underground shelters.

  Akari, upon seeing the mushroom cloud of fire in the sky, fell to her knees in total shock. Gotier screamed the names of Yuzuki and Zeke in despair, his body trembling with fear and confusion. Dare was stunned. His distant gaze murmured, "This is not what we came for. Kugutsu Island should not be like this. We only wanted Yuzuki... and now we are witnessing the death of innocent people."

  In an abandoned bar, Minamino laughed uncontrollably, drinking beer from a dirty glass, alone, as if he already knew this was the end of Neversand. The Skull mercenaries screamed in ecstasy. They laughed, sang for blood, and celebrated victory—like demons on a stage of horror.

  #### **Part IV: Despair in the Skies**

  Soken flew mounted on Kaien, his eyes wide, his chest heaving. Tears streamed down his face as the sight of the city being swallowed by the explosion burned into his retinas. "Yuzuki is dead, Kaien!! My God... the master is dead!"

  Kaien kept his face serious, his eyes fixed on the horizon—observing the remnants of Neversand and the movements of Skull.

  — *Yuzuki and Zeke will take care of this, Soken. Our focus now is to eliminate Skull, understood?*

  Soken was shocked by the coldness in his companion's voice. It was... inhuman. But it only took a few seconds for him to feel it. Through the bond they shared, he felt Kaien's deep emotions: fear, panic, worry. Kaien was terrified, but he stood firm, following Yuzuki's orders to the end.

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  #### **Part V: The Return of Amok**

  The explosion had devoured everything. A wave of fire pushed the city's debris; houses flew like dry leaves. The impact had been precise. Terrifying. Calculated. And then—from within the wall of flames—Amok emerged. His body was protected by a vibrant green energy. The black cloak enveloped Zeke, unconscious and slightly burned, carried in the Kugutsu's arms.

  Amok advanced with determination, cutting through the smoke. His eyes rose to the sky—and there, he saw it. A red light descended directly from above to the spot where Taida's table had been. It was not an ordinary fire.

  — *Malphas...* — Amok murmured. Now he understood. The fog, the darkness... it had all been orchestrated by Taida to hide the attack.

  Leaping between destroyed houses, Amok carried Zeke in retreat. But the young man suddenly woke up, screaming, struggling to break free. "LET ME GO!! I have to go back!! Yuzuki might still be there!"

  Amok ignored him, continuing firmly on his path of evacuation. "Yuzuki... He might be dead!!" Zeke shouted, despair in his voice.

  Amok finally replied, looking at the horizon:

  — *If I am here... then he is alive. Do not underestimate Yuzuki.*

  Zeke fell silent for a moment. Then he looked back at Amok. "Where are we going?"

  Amok, without hesitation:

  — *To where Akari is. You will lead her and Gotier against Skull. Raise a Dankai barrier with the others. Protect the city. The tunnels may collapse—and the remaining people may die.*

  Zeke simply nodded. He understood. But Amok turned to face him, locking eyes. Zeke's expression darkened. His eyes wide, teeth clenched, face bloodied, skin torn, and hands burned. Then Amok declared, with a coldness that froze time:

  — *If you don't take care of this in 30 minutes... Yuzuki will be dead.*

  Without a word, Zeke leaped from Amok's arms. His body was bleeding. Exposed flesh. Trembling hands. But he did not hesitate. "Come back soon, Amok. I'll handle this."

  Then he ran alone, leaping over the debris toward his destination—knowing there was no time to rest. Yuzuki's life... was in his hands.

  #### **Part VI: When the Sky Weeps**

  The sky was weeping. The rain fell like a blessing... and also like a funeral hymn. It touched the scorched earth, and the flames that consumed Neversand began to subside. The smoke that hid everything slowly dissipated, revealing the full extent of the devastation. Tents, houses, stables... Everything that had been built with love, care, and tradition... no longer existed.

  #### **Part VII: The Man Who Laughed Among the Ashes**

  Among the rubble and the mist of destruction, stood Taida. Half of his face was burned to the bone, exposing a grotesque jaw. His macabre laughter echoed, mingling with the sound of the rain. He had been hit by his own attack. A suicidal blow. His armor had partially withstood the impact, and Bael, his Kugutsu, had managed to absorb much of the explosion. But the face... that was the price. And for Taida, it was beautiful. He looked around: ashes in the air, dust of human lives and architectural memories. The rain ran down his mutilated face as if even the sky mourned his existence.

  #### **Part VIII: The Golden Presence**

  And then... he saw him. Yuzuki. Standing. Before him. Untouched. His body, his clothes—not a single scratch. A book floated in front of Yuzuki, wrapped in a golden glow so intense that Taida's eyes reflected the light, turning yellow like those of a wild animal bathed in divine illumination.

  Taida murmured, surprised, "So this is... the beauty of the Golden Tree, Yuzuki."

  #### **Part IX: The Book of Faust**

  Yuzuki took a step forward, a serene smile forming on his face. "This is the Book of Faust. Do not underestimate the clan that masters the arts of *Dankai*."

  His voice was firm, but not loud. It was the voice of someone who had seen hell... and had come out of it guided by conviction. Yuzuki's smile was enigmatic—a disturbing calm that contrasted with the surrounding devastation. The Book of Faust, with its dark cover and golden details, pulsed with a light that seemed to defy the very darkness that Taida embodied. It was not just an object; it was an extension of Yuzuki's will—a repository of centuries of anti-Kugutsu knowledge and power.

  Taida, his face burned and his laugh twisted, shivered. He knew that book. He knew the legend of Faust, the leader of the Alkali Clan whom he himself had betrayed and murdered. That book was the heart of Kugutsu knowledge, and seeing it in Yuzuki's hands—intact after the explosion that should have incinerated everything—was a direct blow to his arrogance.

  "*Dankai*..." Taida hissed, his voice hoarse, mingling with the rain. "Do you really believe a book can stop what I have become, Yuzuki? I am freedom, evolution! I sacrificed everything to achieve this power!"

  Yuzuki took another step, the book's golden light intensifying. "Freedom? You have become a slave to your own corruption, Taida. You desecrated the ritual, sacrificed innocent lives, and became an abomination. Kugutsu Island hunts you, the Leper King uses you—and you call that freedom?"

  Yuzuki's words struck Taida like physical blows. The truth, spoken with the cold calm of a judge, was more painful than any wound. Taida's laughter ceased, replaced by a bestial snarl. Malphas and Bael, his Kugutsu, emerged from the shadows, their twisted and threatening forms ready to attack.

  #### **Part X: The Awakening of the Inner Monster**

  "You don't understand, Yuzuki!" Taida shouted, his rage further distorting his mutilated face. "I did what had to be done! My parents... Tomo... they were all sacrifices so that I could be free! And now you—the heir of a clan that hid in the shadows—come to preach morality to me?"

  The air around Taida began to vibrate with a black and red energy—the same corrosive energy of the Kanjis that corrupted the environment. Malphas, a mass of shadows and tentacles, attacked first, trying to swallow Yuzuki in its darkness. Bael, wielding its dripping scythe, prepared to tear reality and deliver a fatal blow.

  But Yuzuki did not move. His eyes, behind the silver band, shone with a cold intensity. The Book of Faust spun in the air, and the golden light expanded, forming a protective barrier around him. It was the *Dankai*: Seal of Divine Protection—a technique that not only protected, but purified. When Malphas collided with the barrier, the shadow recoiled and contorted, as if burning under a sacred light. The Kanji energy that had corrupted the earth and air around Taida was absorbed and neutralized by the golden aura. Yuzuki, ever the strategist, had anticipated the attack and prepared a countermeasure.

  "You speak of sacrifice, Taida?" Yuzuki's voice echoed, now darker, almost like a whisper coming from multiple directions at once. "I too know sacrifice. But mine was not for a selfish freedom—it was to protect those you and your masters seek to destroy."

  Suddenly, Amok materialized beside Yuzuki. Not a projection—a real, physical, dense, and terrifying presence. Amok's cloak of black feathers seemed to swallow what little light remained in the devastated landscape. His bright green eyes—identical to Yuzuki's—burned with a controlled fury. The green spectral sword in his hand pulsed with dark energy. Amok, Yuzuki's inner Kugutsu, was there—in his most evolved form—ready for battle.

  The duo was complete. The real storm had only just begun.