The echoes of battle still reverberated through the ruined bunker as the first sirens wailed in the distance.
Within minutes, the scene was flooded.
Flashing red and blue lights bounced off cracked walls and shattered metal, casting flickering shadows across the debris.
Ambulances screeched to a halt outside the entrance, paramedics rushing inside with stretchers and medical gear. Reporters with cameras and microphones pushed through a growing crowd, hungry for answers.
And amidst it all stood Riku Hayashi—the calm eye in the center of the storm.
His coat was torn, dirt smudged his face, but his eyes gleamed with that unmistakable fire—still burning bright with the aftertaste of battle.
A swarm of reporters closed in, shouting questions and snapping photos.
"Riku! Riku! Who did you beat this time? Another terror brought down by you?"
"Can you tell us what you faced? How many?"
"Is this the end of the threat? Are we finally safe?"
Riku's lips curled into a faint, knowing smirk.
He raised a hand, silencing the sea of voices with an effortless wave.
"Who did I beat?" he echoed, amusement flickering in his eyes. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
The cameras zoomed in, hungry for a scoop, but Riku only shook his head.
"Let's just say... I cleared the way."
Behind him, the paramedics and a small contingent of Essence Warriors—the elite protectors trained for these kinds of threats—worked quickly.
They carefully gathered the bodies of the fallen foes, the five strange warriors who had come to challenge Riku in the bunker.
Each figure was unique, bearing marks and armors unlike anything the world had seen before.
The paramedics moved cautiously, aware these were no ordinary enemies.
But when they reached for the last body—Akuma Kurogane's massive, imposing form—a strange thing happened.
The moment a pair of gloved hands made contact, the body disintegrated.
It wasn't a collapse into ash or dust but a sudden unraveling, like a fading shadow.
Fragments of essence and energy evaporated into thin air, leaving behind nothing but scorched concrete and a faint, lingering hum.
Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"Did you see that?" one Essence Warrior whispered.
"Where did it go?" another asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
The reporters scrambled, trying to capture the moment, but the cameras only caught the empty space where the body had been.
Riku's smirk deepened.
"Looks like some things... just don't want to be caught."
No one knew the truth behind the battle they had just witnessed.
They didn't understand the hierarchy of powers or the codes that defined the strength of those who fought.
But they felt the weight of the moment—the arrival of a new era where legends walked among them.
As the crowd buzzed with speculation and awe, Riku turned away, his eyes already scanning the horizon.
The fight was over, but the world's balance remained fragile.
And somewhere in the shadows, other forces were stirring.