"Come on! It's so close!"

  Aeko kept running, dodging scattered debris and panicked people rushing in every direction.

  The screams from the crowd and the increasingly deafening music pounded in her ears, making her head spin painfully. Even though she was still wearing the headset, it only muffled the sound—it couldn't completely block out Miracle's song or her powerful singing voice.

  The growing dizziness made Aeko accidentally trip over her own foot. She crashed hard to the floor.

  "Argh! Damn it! Come on, Aeko! Get up! Get up!" she shouted, pounding the floor with her fists before forcing herself back to her feet.

  Her legs trembled violently, but she pushed forward toward the blinding bright light at the end of the increasingly dark corridor.

  By now, Aeko was teetering on the edge of mental collapse. Miracle's song sounded unbearably loud despite the headset. Her head throbbed, her body felt weak and heavy—she was seconds away from blacking out.

  Step by step, she staggered on until she finally reached the wall near the light. Leaning against it for support, she carefully peeked outside.

  Her eyes widened in shock.

  A massive, sprawling concert stage stretched out before her, filled with thousands—no, millions—of fans cheering wildly, singing every lyric in perfect unison, their voices rising like a tidal wave of pure ecstasy.

  Aeko stared, mesmerized. This was Miracle’s world—her overwhelming success as a pop idol. Even if every single fan was under mind control, this was exactly the dream Aeko had once chased: thousands of people screaming her name, singing her songs with all their hearts.

  But… could she really do this?

  One wrong move and everything would be over. The risk was enormous.

  She pulled back from the edge, looking down again, trying to steel herself.

  “Mom… ever since I lost you, I’ve always doubted myself. Tell me, Mom… should I keep going forward?”

  Aeko covered her eyes with both hands, trying to wipe away the endless stream of tears. The pounding headache and crushing doubt wrapped around her like a suffocating fog.

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  Should she just give up now and stop feeling this pain forever? Or keep fighting, even if it tore her apart?

  Both choices felt hopeless.

  In the middle of her despair, she suddenly felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

  “Aeko Josei… that’s the name I gave you when your father desperately wanted a daughter. A daughter strong enough to change how the world sees women.”

  The voice was so familiar it made Aeko’s heart stop.

  She whipped her head to the side.

  “M-Mom!?”

  There, standing right beside her, was her mother—long gone, yet somehow here.

  “Do you remember when you first started your career? Only a thousand views a month on that little music platform? Who kept fighting through those dark days? You did. Only you can save yourself, Aeko.”

  “Even when you hated me during your depression—because I was too busy working with your father to help you—you still stood up. You fought. You kept going. As a strong woman, I want to see every woman start becoming strong… beginning with you.”

  Aeko peeked out once more. “But the situation—”

  When she turned back, her mother was gone.

  “…is different now,” Aeko finished quietly, a small, determined smile forming on her tear-streaked face. “Thank you, Mom.”

  With clenched fists hard as stone, Aeko pulled herself up onto the stage and strode forward.

  She locked eyes with Miracle—pure hatred burning in her gaze, face still wet from crying. No more hesitation. No more running.

  “This is for my career!” Aeko roared as she launched her fist straight toward Miracle’s face.

  Miracle instinctively turned toward the shout—but the moment she did, Aeko’s furious punch slammed into her cheek with devastating force.

  The impact carried every ounce of pain, sadness, rage, and loss Aeko had bottled up for years. The blow landed like fire.

  Miracle staggered back a step, spitting in disgust. “What the hell are you doing here, Rockie?”

  Aeko wiped the snot from her nose with the back of her hand, breathing heavily. “My name is Manace. And the real rookie here… is you.”

  Miracle glanced up at Aeko’s head and smirked. “Oh? Still using the old tricks, huh? Blocking my voice with a headset? Cute. Too bad my magic gets stronger the longer you listen.”

  Aeko raised both fists, fighting through the throbbing headache. “I’ll finish this fast—before you can take over my mind.”

  “Oh, Rockie,” Miracle sneered, twirling her microphone. “Who wants to listen to your screaming rock garbage? Everyone loves pop. Your music only hurts people’s ears.”

  Without warning, Aeko lunged again. “This is for my mother!”

  Another fiery punch crashed into Miracle’s cheek, snapping her head to the side.

  “Rockie! You really don’t know when to quit!”

  “I’ve already lost enough! You can take my career, you can take my mother—but I won’t let you take my friends!”

  Miracle raised her microphone high, pointing it directly at Aeko with terrifying confidence.

  The crowd’s screams grew louder, wilder, more obsessive. Even through the headset, the sound felt overwhelming—like the headset wasn’t even there.

  In seconds, the fans below the stage began climbing up—not one by one, but in waves. Hundreds, then thousands swarmed onto the platform like a human tsunami, ready to crush Aeko under sheer numbers.

  Aeko’s eyes widened in terror, just like Azura’s had earlier when he saw the iron bull man’s massive fist hurtling toward his face. Just like Azura, she felt hopeless and squeezed her eyes shut.

  But at that exact moment—

  Several glowing daggers shot past Azura from both sides and above him.

  Right as the bull man’s fist was about to smash into Azura’s face, a powerful gust of wind swirled around Azura’s body.

  When Azura opened his eyes again, he was suddenly sitting on the rooftop—right in front of the hole Kazuha had crashed through earlier.

  “Wh-where am I?” Azura muttered, looking around in total confusion.

  He looked up—and his heart stopped.

  Kazuha was falling back down at high speed, gripping a shining green dagger in both hands. He was in a seated position, eyes razor-sharp and focused downward.

  The iron bull man, confused about where Azura had vanished to, suddenly felt excruciating pain explode in his skull.

  Kazuha had driven the glowing green dagger straight into the top of the bull’s mechanical head with brutal force.

  “This going to be fun!” Kazuha roared, refusing to let go as he pushed the dagger deeper.

  A stream of glowing green energy surged out—from the Kazuha's right eye, down his right arm, through his hand, and into his fingers.

  “Feel the neutralize!”