Chapter 26: Hot Pursuit

The sun hung lazily over Tokyo when Schwartz Helmut and Erika Lakia slipped into Kanata’s hospital room.
Kanata lay half-awake, his right arm bandaged, eyes still tired from the chaos of the week.

“You’re awake,” Schwartz said quietly.
“Good. We need to talk.”

Kanata blinked. Again? Can’t a guy rest for one day?

Erika crossed her arms, expression serious.

“Something’s off about that man—Solomon Caine.”
“The air around him... it wasn’t normal mana. It felt warped, like it was rewriting the world itself.”

Kanata frowned.

“Maybe you’re just not used to him. Caine’s powerful—he’s the Grand Archmage, after all.”

“No,” Schwartz cut in. “We’ve met dragons stronger than him, and none of them felt like that. He was … bending something. Reality itself.”

Kanata hesitated, then told them what Caine had revealed about the man named Abraxas.
But both dragons only looked confused.

“Abraxas?” Erika tilted her head. “Never heard of him. That name smells fabricated.”

A chill crept down Kanata’s spine.
If even dragons didn’t know that name, then maybe Caine’s entire story was a lie.

Then why didn’t he or his guard react when they saw my arm? Even the Elite officers acted like they already knew…

Something larger was moving beneath the surface—something that smelled of manipulation.

Naomi Kaname appeared at the doorway, her arms folded.

“I heard every word,” she said, voice calm but heavy. “You three are planning to kidnap the most dangerous being in existence?”

Kanata sat up. “We don’t have a choice, Aunt Kaname. Don’t you find it strange? None of the elites, not even Caine, looked surprised by my arm. It’s like… they’ve seen it before.”

Naomi paused. Her gaze drifted downward, mind racing.

“Now that you mention it… yes. Something is wrong.”

Then her eyes widened slightly, as if a buried memory had resurfaced.

“There is a forbidden spell, one capable of altering fate and reality itself. They call it <Destiny>. Only the strongest mages can cast it — and whoever controls it can rewrite everything.”

Silence filled the room.

“So you’re saying someone behind Caine… or Caine himself… is using Destiny to control the world’s flow?” Schwartz asked.

Naomi nodded slowly.

“If that’s true, then every event we’ve seen—the seal, the trial, even Envy’s fall—was scripted.”

The three of them exchanged a grim look.
And so, they decided.
They would “stage” an attack—make it appear as if the terrorist group ACID had struck again—using the confusion to free Envy and uncover the truth behind Caine’s manipulation.

The next morning, explosions shook the Tokyo Mage Headquarters.
Gunfire rang through the corridors.
Panic spread fast.

“Get down!” shouted one of the guards as bullets flew toward the command center—but none of them landed. Each round froze mid-air, dissolved, and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Caine received the report within seconds and slammed his fist onto the table.

“The ACID again?! Send the Elite Corps immediately!”

But by the time reinforcements arrived, it was too late.
Envy had escaped.

All across Japan, emergency alarms blared.
Searches began in every district.
Even the Academy was placed under lockdown.

Far from the chaos, under a quiet bridge along the riverbank, four figures hid in the shadow of the concrete beams—Kanata, Schwartz, Erika, and Envy herself.

Envy exhaled softly, relief in her voice.

“I knew you’d come for me, Black Dragon.”
She leaned against Kanata’s shoulder, smiling faintly.

Erika instantly pulled her away.

“Hey! Stop hugging people you barely know!”

“Fine, fine.” Envy pouted, crossing her arms. “But you asked for my story, didn’t you?”

Kanata nodded. “Then start from the beginning.”

Envy’s eyes dimmed with old pain.

“The Red and White Dragons weren’t slain by me.”
“They were killed by someone else — a mage who broke the Sacred Pact with the White Dragon itself.”

The others listened in silence as she spoke.

“That mage stole their power. I didn’t believe it at first — until I found their lairs. They were both dead … their bodies torn open by draconic claws.”

Her voice trembled.

“And then he appeared — silver-haired, hands covered in blood. It was Solomon Caine.”

Schwartz clenched his fists.

“Caine… killed them himself?”

“Yes. And when Obsidian arrived, he was already under the influence of a distortion spell. He thought I was the murderer. That’s when everything fell apart.”

Kanata’s mind raced. So that’s what <Destiny> really does… it rewrites memories, truth itself.

Before they could say another word, a familiar voice echoed from above.

“Tendou Kanata.”

They looked up to see Tendou Nagisa, sword drawn, eyes glowing faintly with orange sigils.

“I knew it. You were the one who freed the prisoner.”

“Nagisa, wait! You don’t understand—”

“Silence!” she roared. “You’ve disgraced the Tendou family. From this moment on, you’re a traitor.”

Erika stepped forward, aura blazing.

“She’s being controlled! That’s not the real Nagisa!”

From the shadows, Aine and Itsuha emerged as well, eyes glowing the same unnatural color.

“Four against one,” Schwartz muttered. “Not exactly a fair fight.”

“They serve the Great Lord Caine now,” Envy whispered. “He’s using Destiny to turn them into his puppets.”

Lightning cracked above.
Thunder split the sky.
Naomi Kaname herself appeared, hair whipping in the wind, her expression empty.

“Naomi… No…” Kanata whispered.

The air shimmered with unbearable pressure.
And just as the first spell was about to strike—

A portal of blue light burst open.

“Kanata!”

It was Haqua, his adopted sister, standing within the swirling vortex.
Her eyes burned with determination.

“Get in! Now!”

The blast of Naomi’s lightning struck the ground a second later—but Kanata, Schwartz, Erika, and Envy were already gone, swallowed by the portal’s light.

They fell through a spiraling void — destination unknown — while behind them, the world they knew began to twist under the will of the false god named Solomon Caine.