The wind stilled.
The whole city seemed to hold its breath as two Kazukis faced each other atop the capital's outer wall—one bright-eyed and baffled, the other cloaked in a ripple of unstable magic that bent the light around him.
Even the birds stopped mid-flight.
Aurelis stood beside the real Kazuki, sword drawn, her hand gently on his shoulder. "Are we… sure that's not just a particularly intense magical reflection?"
Kazuki squinted at his copy. "Nope. That dude's got murder in his eyebrows. I never furrow like that."
Smile wobbled nervously behind them. "His mana signature is inverse-spiraled. It's you, but backward. Like if you got isekai'd in reverse."
"Isekai'd in reverse? What, did he get yanked out of this world into Earth and then come back angry because we didn't have decent ramen?" Kazuki joked—except the humor rang hollow under the tension in the air.
The doppelgänger smiled. It was slow, razor-thin, and… sad.
"You're lucky," he said.
Kazuki's eyes narrowed.
"You got the companions. The luck. The heart. I got the consequences."
With a flick of his hand, mana surged from his body—pure chaos mana, dark and jagged. It lashed out, ripping tiles from the wall and curling reality into origami shapes that unfolded into biting winds.
Aurelis leapt in front, sword flashing in a golden arc. "Go!" she shouted to Kazuki. "We'll hold the line. You figure out what this thing is!"
But the doppelgänger had already moved—blinking across space like a ghost, reappearing behind Kazuki with a blade of condensed sorrow in hand.
Kazuki barely ducked.
Their weapons clashed.
And everything froze.
⸻
Inside the Rift Between Worlds
Kazuki blinked. He was standing… nowhere. Everything was white. Floating.
He turned—and there he was. The other him. Not angry now. Just… tired.
"Where is this?" Kazuki asked.
The other Kazuki—"Kage," perhaps—spoke softly. "The place between. This is where mirrored souls reflect. Only the core remains."
He turned, and Kazuki saw memories playing in flickers around him—scenes that weren't his. A jungle torn apart by war. A guild that never laughed. Companions lost, one by one.
"I made all the wrong choices," Kage whispered. "I ran from bonds. I trusted only strength. And in the end, I was the last thing left standing. Alone."
Kazuki swallowed.
"You're not me," he said, voice quiet but firm. "You're a possibility. Not the truth."
"Doesn't make me any less real," Kage replied.
Kazuki stepped forward, aura building. "Then let's finish this. Not because I hate you—but because I won't become you."
A pause.
Then Kage nodded.
And the real fight began.
⸻
Back in the Capital – Reality Restored
The two Kazukis reappeared in a blur of motion. Magic danced around them—bursting stars, exploding runes, slashes that bent gravity. One strike carved a hole in a tower; another turned an entire street into a garden of mirror-flowers.
"Someone please tell me which one is ours!" a knight screamed.
"I don't know!" another shouted. "They both yelled 'BANANA TIME' at the same moment!"
"Why is that a spell name!?"
On a rooftop, Fenrir, Raika, Mikiri, and Smile watched in silence.
"He's fighting himself," Mikiri said quietly.
Raika screeched.
Fenrir nodded solemnly. "He must win the battle within, or all is lost."
Smile added: "He also needs to dodge left, because that next attack is—"
BOOM.
Kazuki hit the wall, then bounced up like a spring. "Okay! That one hurt!"
Kage stepped forward, drawing a sphere of condensed void.
"This world is flawed," he growled. "And it needs to be reset."
Kazuki stood tall, hands clenched.
"I'll reset it, all right. Starting with you."
⸻
The Final Strike
Kage rushed in, blade sweeping.
Kazuki countered, channeling every bond, every laugh, every ridiculous moment with his companions into a single, overwhelming surge of mana—a new spell formed on instinct.
He called it:
"Heartlink: Seventh Echo!"
Seven glowing echoes of his companions surrounded him. Smile's shimmer. Raika's storm. Fenrir's howl. Mikiri's flame. Aurelis' light. Even the unseen, future bond waiting in the jungle… pulsed faintly.
He struck.
And so did Kage.
For a moment, the world fractured.
Silence.
Then—
Kage staggered. "I see… now…"
And with a final, peaceful breath, he dissolved into golden motes.
⸻
Kazuki dropped to one knee.
Aurelis rushed over, catching him. "Kazuki!"
He grinned. "So. Turns out I'm my own worst enemy."
Smile bounced beside them. "And you still won! Kazuki is the number one number one!"
Fenrir let out a proud bark. Mikiri nodded quietly.
From the sky, the rift crackled—
And began to close.
Peace, however temporary, had returned.
But the jungle still pulsed. The prophecy was still in motion.
And something… older… was stirring.