Every strike now was a symphony.
Flesh, bone, steel, essence—colliding in rhythm only the divine could comprehend.
Zeru darted forward again, essence flickering around him like dying stars. His remaining blade—half-broken—morphed into a curved weapon forged from raw harmonic energy.
"Eighth String: Final Pulse."
A spiraling wave of compressed frequency ripped toward Riku—fast enough to shred the air apart, bending gravity around it.
Riku stepped through it.
Not around. Not over.
Through.
The pulse splintered against his chest, shattering like brittle glass. From the other side, Riku emerged—unburned, unshaken, eyes locked onto Zeru's.
Zeru's expression shifted.
Understanding.
Acceptance.
But not surrender.
He met Riku in the center—essence blade raised, voice a whisper.
"Let's end it."
Riku nodded.
No abilities. No enhancements. Just the weight of his will behind one final blow.
They clashed.
A fist to a blade.
Time seemed to halt.
Then—
Snap.
The blade cracked.
Zeru's body trembled, a line of blood drawing itself across his chest like a seal breaking. He staggered backward, falling to one knee.
Riku stood over him, chest rising slowly.
No gloating. No judgment.
Just silence.
Zeru coughed once, the crimson staining his lips. "So… this is it."
Riku crouched down, meeting his eyes. "You could've run. Could've stalled."
"I didn't want to die kneeling in front of Akuma," Zeru whispered. "I wanted to fall in front of someone who earned it."
Riku's gaze didn't waver. "You weren't corrupted like the others. You fought for your own reason."
Zeru gave a weak smile. "Because I saw what they didn't. That the old ways… the High Code… it was broken. But I couldn't stop it. Only slow it down."
He coughed again, weaker.
"Thank you… for making it mean something."
Riku reached forward, placing a single hand on Zeru's shoulder.
"You did more than slow it down," he said. "You reminded it what honor looks like."
Zeru's eyes closed.
And he fell.
Silently. Proudly.
Behind them, the black throne creaked as Akuma Kurogane rose fully, arms outstretched.
"Beautiful," he said, voice cold and vast. "I couldn't have asked for a better overture to the end."
Riku stood slowly, the silver-white aura of his Triad Divine Avatar flickering like a controlled storm.
No words.
Just resolve.
Only one left now.
The one sitting on the throne of ruin.