Brothers

Itsuki woke early, the manor still quiet in the pre-dawn hours. He made his way to the main hall, finding the decision from last night still unresolved. Crystalport, Luminara, or the Capital. Each had merit.

His debugging vision activated unconsciously as he pondered, and for a moment he saw something strange in the manor's code. A notification queue that had been suppressed, waiting.

[UNREAD SYSTEM MESSAGE - 3 DAYS OLD] [SENDER: UNKNOWN] [PRIORITY: URGENT]

Strange. He focused on it, and the message expanded:

[DIMENSIONAL BREACH DETECTED - CRYSTALPORT REGION] [ANOMALY CLASS: UNPRECEDENTED] [RECOMMENDATION: INVESTIGATE]

"You're up early," Olivia's voice came from behind. She was already dressed, book in hand as usual. "Still thinking about our destination?"

"Something like that." He showed her the message. "This came through days ago but was hidden somehow."

Her eyes sharpened with interest. "Dimensional breach? That's not demonic corruption. It's something entirely different." She paused, considering. "The timing is suspicious. Right after we defeated Darius."

"Morning!" Rina bounced into the room, somehow energetic despite the early hour. "Are we discussing plans? Because I had an idea about modifying our wing configurations for longer flights."

Clara appeared last, fully armored despite just waking up. Old habits from noble training. "We should decide soon. The longer we stay in one place, the easier we are to track."

"Actually," Itsuki said, "I think the decision's been made for us." He explained the hidden message.

"Crystalport it is then," Clara said decisively. "If there's an anomaly, we should investigate."

"Plus, the libraries there are supposedly incredible," Olivia added with barely concealed excitement. "Original texts from before the current magical system was implemented."

"And the artificer quarter has experimental workshops!" Rina chimed in. "I heard they're working on devices that can interface directly with the world's underlying structure."

They prepared quickly. Maria fussed over them leaving so soon, loading them with packed meals and making Itsuki promise to return regularly.

"Master always says he'll come back but then he's gone for weeks!" she pouted.

"We'll be back, Maria. The manor is our base now."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

As they stood on the manor's landing platform, wings materializing, Itsuki noticed something. Each of their wings had subtly changed since yesterday. Clara's flames burned brighter, more controlled. Rina's mechanical wings had new configurations she must have added overnight. Olivia's divine wings seemed more elegant, more efficient.

And his own dark wings felt different too. Stronger. As if the combination attack against Darius had evolved them somehow.

"Three days to Crystalport if we pace ourselves," Clara said, taking point naturally.

"Let's stop at Windspire Guild first," Itsuki suggested. "Daily commission."

"You and your routines," Olivia teased, but she was smiling.

They took off together, the morning sun catching on their wings. Below, the refugees from Meridian continued their exodus in long lines. In a few days, the city would be completely abandoned, left to collapse into history.

As they flew, Itsuki found himself thinking about the message. Who had sent it? Why was it hidden? And what kind of dimensional breach warranted an 'unprecedented' classification?

"You're brooding again," Olivia noted, flying closer. "Share with the class?"

"Just wondering what we're flying into. A dimensional breach right after demonic corruption seems like too much of a coincidence."

"In my experience," Clara said from ahead, "coincidences in noble politics are never actually coincidences. Someone's moving pieces on a board we can't see yet."

"Cheerful thought," Rina said brightly. "But hey, at least it won't be boring!"

The Windspire Guild appeared ahead, and Itsuki felt the familiar comfort of routine. Whatever waited in Crystalport, at least some things stayed consistent.

As they landed on the guild's platform, he noticed several adventurers staring and whispering. Word of yesterday's void rift stabilization had already spread.

"The Monochrome Knight returns," the silver-haired receptionist greeted them, a slight smile on her usually stern face. "Your daily commission, I presume?"

"Always."

"Then you'll be interested in this." She produced a sealed scroll marked with official guild stamps. "Came through the emergency network this morning. Crystalport's guild branch is requesting immediate assistance with an unidentified phenomenon."

Itsuki exchanged glances with his companions. Another coincidence that wasn't.

"Details?" Clara asked.

"Minimal. They describe it as 'reality distortion of unknown origin.' They've lost three investigation teams already." The receptionist's expression grew grave. "They're specifically requesting high-level parties with experience in anomalous events."

"We'll take it," Itsuki said.

"I thought you might." She handed over the scroll. "Fair warning - this is being classified as beyond extreme danger. Even the guild's assessment teams won't approach the affected zone."

As they left the guild, commission in hand, Olivia looked thoughtful. "Reality distortion, dimensional breach, investigation teams vanishing. This is sounding less like a random event and more like something is actively trying to break through."

"Break through from where?" Rina asked.

"That's the question, isn't it?" Olivia's smile had a sharp edge. "Something from outside our reality entirely? Another world trying to connect? Or..." she glanced at Itsuki, "something related to how you arrived here?"

The thought hadn't occurred to him. Could this breach be connected to the system that brought heroes from Earth? Was someone else being transported?

Or was something trying to follow him through?

"Only one way to find out," Clara said pragmatically. "We go to Crystalport, investigate the breach, and handle whatever comes out of it."

"Simple as that?" Itsuki asked.

"Nothing's ever simple," Clara replied. "But standing around wondering won't get us answers."

They took off again, the commission adding urgency to their flight. Three days to Crystalport, to answers, to whatever was breaking through the walls of reality itself.

Behind them, the receptionist watched them disappear into the distance and made a note in her ledger: "The Anomaly and companions accepted Crystalport emergency commission. May the goddesses help us all."

High above, invisible to mortal eyes, a figure in flowing robes observed their departure. But as they began to fade, another presence materialized on the guild's platform below.

The party had barely taken off when Clara shouted, "Someone's behind us!"

They turned mid-flight to see a man standing on the platform they'd just left. He wore dark armor that seemed to flicker between solid and translucent, as if he wasn't fully there. His face...

Itsuki's blood ran cold. "Kenji?"

His brother stood there, older, his face twisted with years of bitterness. The same sharp features, but hardened by rage.

"Hello, little brother," Kenji said, his voice carrying despite the distance. "Surprised to see me?"

Itsuki landed hard on the platform, his companions following. "How are you here? This shouldn't be possible."

"A lot of things shouldn't be possible," Kenji replied, walking closer. His form flickered, stabilizing with obvious effort. "Like my worthless younger brother becoming the chosen hero. Like you succeeding even with a banned account."

"Kenji, what are you talking about?" Itsuki stepped forward, but stopped when his brother laughed. It was an ugly sound.

"Do you know what it's been like?" Kenji's voice cracked with years of suppressed emotion. "Living in your shadow? Pretending to be the supportive older brother? Playing games with you when every victory you achieved felt like another knife in my chest?"

"I never knew you felt—"

"Of course you didn't know!" Kenji screamed. "Perfect Itsuki, naturally gifted Itsuki! Everything came so easy to you. Every game, every challenge, every single thing you touched turned to gold while I had to struggle for scraps of recognition!"

"Kenji, that's not—"

"I wished you had died at birth!" The words hung in the air like poison. "Every day, watching you succeed, having to smile and pretend I was proud. It was agony, Itsuki. Pure agony. That's why I banned your account. I wanted you to fail for once. Just once!"

Olivia stepped forward, magic gathering around her staff. "Itsuki, something's wrong with him. His presence is unstable."

"BUT EVEN IN THIS WORLD YOU'RE STILL WINNING!" Kenji's form solidified completely, dark energy swirling around him. "You have companions, power, respect. Even with every handicap I gave you, you're still the hero! I'M SICK OF YOU, BROTHER!"

Before anyone could react, Kenji drew a pale sword that materialized from nothing. Black ooze dripped from its blade, sizzling where it hit the ground.

"Enjoy this permanent debuff, brother." Kenji's voice was cold now, empty. "Just another gift on top of your banned status."

He moved faster than should have been possible. The pale blade pierced through Itsuki's armor like it wasn't there, sliding between his ribs. Black corruption immediately spread from the wound, veins of darkness crawling across his skin.

[CURSED WOUND INFLICTED] [STATUS: SOUL CORRUPTION - PERMANENT] [HEALING BLOCKED] [STAT DEGRADATION ACTIVE]

"ITSUKI!" Multiple voices screamed at once.

Olivia's magic lashed out, but passed through Kenji harmlessly. Clara's blade met the same fate. Rina's explosives detonated around him with no effect.

Maria appeared from nowhere, having somehow followed them from the manor. "MASTER!" She caught Itsuki as he collapsed, black blood pooling beneath him.

Kenji stumbled backward, his form beginning to dissolve. "No... not yet..." He screamed as pieces of him turned to static. "I can never stay in this world too long. You're lucky my physical body in the other world is dying."

His eyes locked onto Itsuki's fading consciousness. "I will end you eventually, brother. This is just the beginning."

With a final scream of rage, Kenji dissolved completely, leaving only the echo of his hatred behind.

"Itsuki! Stay with us!" Olivia pressed her hands to the wound, divine magic flaring, but the black corruption rejected everything she tried.

"It's not working!" Clara helped support his weight. "The wound won't close!"

"Master, please!" Maria was crying, her usual cheerfulness completely gone. "Don't leave Maria alone!"

Rina was frantically pulling potions from her inventory. "One of these has to work! There has to be something!"

But Itsuki's vision was already going dark. The last thing he saw was four faces looking down at him with desperate concern before everything went black.

[SYSTEM ERROR: SOUL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED] [ENTERING EMERGENCY STASIS] [TIME UNTIL CRITICAL FAILURE: UNKNOWN]