The sky screamed.
The black rift widened — a festering wound above the sacred temple.
Crimson lightning forked from the breach, each bolt thrumming with a terrifying, ancient power.
Below it, Haruto and Airi stood firm.
Their bodies shimmered — fragments of their true selves now awakened, their light defying the abyss.
---
Scene: Crumbling Temple Grounds
(The ground trembles violently. Dust and broken stones rain around them.)
The Time God stares upward, his figure battered, but his eyes burning with resolve.
[Time God] (gritting his teeth)
"So... it begins. The Dark God is breaking the Veil."
Beside him, the Time Maiden clutches her staff tighter, her gaze locked on the sky.
[Time Maiden] (whispering)
"The moment the seal fully breaks... the world will drown in chaos."
---
(Forward, Haruto steps out — watch blazing on his wrist.
Airi follows, her ring pulsing to the rhythm of her heart.)
[Haruto] (shouting into the storm)
"We won't let that happen!"
[Airi] (voice ringing with defiance)
"Not while we still stand!"
---
Suddenly—
The rift pulses.
A figure — Kazuki — plummets from the blackness.
His body is twisted, black veins of corruption threading through him. His eyes are wide, wild with terror.
[Kazuki] (screaming)
"N-No! I was promised more time!"
(He crashes to the ground, gasping.)
Behind him — a shadowy silhouette steps from the rift.
Not fully formed, yet its mere presence suffocates the air.
The Dark God — monstrous and formless — towers above the temple.
[Dark Voice] (echoing, like cracking ice)
"So... these are the Light God's fragments."
The Time God stumbles, clutching his side, but forces himself upright.
[Time God] (shouting to Haruto and Airi)
"He hasn't fully manifested yet! Strike now — or all will be lost!"
---
(Haruto meets Airi's gaze.
Without a word, they step forward together.
The divine light surrounding them swells, brightens — reflecting off the stormy sky.)
[Airi] (tears trembling in her eyes)
"I won't run anymore."
"Not from my fate... not from who I was."
[Haruto] (voice low, certain)
"Even if my memories are broken..."
"My heart remembers you."
(The Watch and Ring surge with radiant energy — streams of gold and silver intertwining.)
A burst of light splits the heavens.
---
[Dark God] (growling, voice shaking the world)
"You dare defy me?!"
(Kazuki scrambles backwards, terror-stricken.)
[Kazuki] (pleading)
"I never wanted this! I—I was just following orders!"
(The Dark God lashes out — a colossal shadow claw swings toward Haruto and Airi.)
Time halts.
But they move — their light untouchable, threading through the frozen moment.
[Haruto] (activating the watch, voice commanding)
"Time... obey me!"
[Airi] (channeling divine light through the ring)
"Light... shield us!"
(Their combined attack —
a beam of suspended time and pure divinity —
erupts from their joined hands, tearing across the sky.)
It slams into the Dark God's incomplete form.
[Dark God] (howling, voice fracturing the clouds)
"THIS ISN'T OVER!"
(The rift shrinks violently, ripping the Dark God back.)
But —
a single drop of pure darkness falls from the sky, sinking deep into the wounded earth.
(Kazuki's final scream echoes as he vanishes into the light.)
Silence.
The earth stills.
The storm ceases.
---
(Haruto drops to his knees, exhausted.
Airi rushes to his side, heart pounding.)
[Airi] (panicked)
"Haruto — are you okay?!"
(He lifts his gaze — tired, but smiling.)
[Haruto] (softly)
"I don't know what we are yet..."
"But I know I want to protect you."
(He gently takes her hand in his.)
[Haruto] (whispering)
"I meant it... when I said I love you."
(Airi stares at him — stunned — tears brimming in her eyes.)
Then —
she smiles, radiant.
[Airi] (voice trembling)
"I... I think I've loved you for lifetimes."
(They lean closer —
heartbeats syncing —
almost touching —)
---
[Time God] (chuckling weakly, interrupting)
"You've only won the first war."
"The real battle... is just beginning."
---
Final Scene:
The camera pans upward.
Far above the earth, invisible to mortal eyes —
cracks spider through the fabric of space, faint, fragile, and ready to shatter.
The world holds its breath.
---
Volume 2: Fragments of Light — END