*Osamu*

I stared at Tabiki after the Five Knights of Prophecy had fallen into their slumber.

"Why are you really here?" I asked.

He cross his arms and chuckled. "Ever the suspicious one, huh? I merely came to see the Order of the Five. After all, your nation isn't the only one invested in their success."

I narrowed my eyes. He truly was like that 'Kuroshi'. Had Takeshi adapted aspects of Tabiki when crafting that personality? How exactly had he splintered off for me to see him with the other deceased knights? Or, maybe that really was nothing more than an illusion played by my dying mind.

"You were the one who killed Takeshi, correct?" I asked.

He crossed his arms and smiled. "Why bring this up again? That guy survived regardless of whether it was my doing or not. That said, remember, you are no match against me alone."

I scoffed. "I did a fair job holding you at bay."

He laughed. "I wasn't even trying. If I were, I would've superheated the air around me and boiled you alive."

"You did try, or did you forget already? Old man."

He waved his finger. "My, my. What a big shot you became. But you're still no less a brat than the one that faced me in the palace with his dying friend years ago."

I lowered my head. He tried to get under my skin to provoke me, but there was some truth to what he said.

"My brother was mature as a kid, though. So he doesn't have much room to grow up," Azami said, putting an arm around me. He chuckled.

I sighed. He tried to cheer me up, but he must've known as well as I did that my bratty attributes from childhood remained. Well, not that Azami had changed much, either. Apart from when he went downhill. But that wasn't the kind of change anyone would want.

Perhaps he didn't realize it after all. The guy could be dense. But at the same time, it was an act half the time at minimum.

Tabiki laughed. "Indeed. He is ever so stern. Hard to believe he is the son of my archnemesis. That guy has more in common with that peasant knight." He stared at the sleeping Tetsuya.

Did he know the connection between Tetsuya and my dad? Or was it intuition? The king was rather intuitive.

He shook his head. "To think he would go from the highest in the land to being a member of its lowest social ranking. You Kuroriku really don't know how to treat family."

I turned away. My aunt was the one who decided not to depend on our family. She wanted to break away from Grandfather's shadow. Even when Father took over, she didn't want to depend on him for help. It must've been hard on Father. Having witnessed Azami in the streets, all dirty, and yet refusing my aid, I could relate. My big brother would've taken the sandwich and eaten it with gusto as a kid. So it felt as if I were staring into a parallel world. Out of us three, I was the proud child.

Then there was Takeshi's family. Grandfather had exiled his younger sister after she married Tabiki's uncle, Prince Rekkamaru. And Kasai no Ki monarchy, being in disarray couldn't provide for their wayward prince. As such, Tulia and her brother grew up in a small farm, living as peasants despite being royals from not one, but two nations.

Father resented Grandfather for harming the family. I didn't have the spine to do anything about it. If anything, I had made things worse by having Takeshi keep his survival a secret from his children. I was a coward. Unlike Father. He braved the battlefield himself and was open about stuff, with a few exceptions. He never gave up, even when he was dying. His stubbornness kept me going too. It was my goal to continue his dream of making Kuroriku a great nation. Except, I didn't think of erasing Kasai no Ki from the map. We had lost too much trying to do so.

"And you're a family man? You were exiled by your oldest son and don't strike me as close to your other children besides Koukyuu. Plus, you didn't hold back against Takeshi despite him being your own blood."

He sighed. "True. But at least I didn't use any of my children as guinea pigs."

"Setty volunteered," I mumbled.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Really?"

***

[Years Ago]

I stared at the black stones that Takeshi had recovered from that other world. The one that the Sky Father was fascinated with. Or rather, the one with the people he cared for.

There was a strange energy coming from them. A primordial one, not too different from that of the vajra.

"So these are the stones you got a few years ago?" I asked.

Kuroshi touched the stones and nodded. "Yeah, sadly, the angel's power is splintered among these stones. But, if I can get them together, they'll make a force that can be reckoned with."

I sighed. "You really think that giving that girl that kind of power is a good idea? You saw how she is a moment ago."

He laughed. "Yeah, she did threaten to fight me." He turned away. "She's a lot like her mother and her uncles."

I crossed my arms. "Indeed, and that's what worries me. Sofia and Sebastian both perished, and my brother's not exactly in the best of situations." I curled my arms into fists. "Giving her Alma would mean putting her in the line of fire. While I wish for her to be strong, I can't risk her life either."

Kuroshi patted my shoulder. "Aww. What a good papa!"

I blushed and removed his hand from my shoulders. "Well, she is my heir, and Rosa's my only spare. I would prefer Rosa not have to deal with court matters. She's too caring to the point of naivety."

He chuckled. "I think someone is just being a tsun again."

I huffed. "Are you here to tease me or to show me how the body of Alma's coming along?"

"Oh, yeah!" He held out his leather-gloved hands and summoned what looked like two white maces covered in diamond and linked by a platinum chain.

"Yeah, I'm not letting that wild child use that thing."

"Aww, why not?"

I shook my head. "Clearly, you don't know her still. With that thing, she'll destroy the place."

"Is she that wild?"

I sighed. "She's destroyed multiple vases with her 'playfulness'."

He laughed. "She sounds like me when I was a kid!"

I tilted my head. "You were like that? Thought you were a shy kid."

He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Yeah, but I had a playful and curious side too."

Was that it? Well, seemed his playful and curious side from childhood came back out. Why was he so different from the Takeshi I knew? It was as if they were different people. What if they were? No. He knew things only the real one would know. Unless, the one before me is the person who killed Takeshi and took on his body and memories. Kuroshi couldn't be trusted.

"Whatever. Give the shield you're making to my daughter. That's less harmful."

He rubbed his neck again. "Well, about that..."

"I don't want a lame shield! I want that swingy thingy!" a voice called out. Setty ran into the room. So, the rumaging sound from earlier was her after all.

I crossed my arms and stared her down. "You won't be getting it, especially with that attitude, missy!"

She puffed her cheeks. "I'm not going to destroy the place!" She crossed her arms and scoffed. "I'm not a little kid anymore."

Kuroshi laughed and patted her head. "I'm not so sure about that, squirt."

Setty spun around and bit his hand, causing him to yelp.

I covered my mouth with my hand. Nice going, Setty. You make your old man proud.

"Yeah, I can see why you're afraid of this one. She's as bad as my dracoling."

Setty's eyes glistened. "Oh, you have a baby dragon? Can I meet it?"

Kuroshi laughed. "You will eventually." He picked up the stones with his other hand and held them out to here. "Now, about Alma. Let's see if you're worthy or not."

Setty took the stones. "What are these? Meteorites?" She gasped as white light radiated from them. "W-what's going on?"

Kuroshi removed his mask slightly, revealing a smirk. "So, the first knight is born."

***

['Present']

I sighed. "I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen."

He chuckled. "Sounds like a certain someone I know." He eyed Tetsuya again.

Did he mean Father? Well, he wasn't wrong. Setty eventually learned to channel that hardheadedness of hers toward noble goals just as he had done. Although, some of her childhood rebelliousness stuck around. But that may have been a good thing. Setty had to be headstrong to take on the parliament. I only feared she would be too reckless and provoke another civil war.

"Say, the meeting is going to start soon. What will you do if they don't awaken before then?" Tabiki asked.

"I'll have to leave them to my brother," I said, eyeing Azami.

Azami smiled. "Hope I still remember my computer skills!"

I frowned. He was joking, right?

"Hyo," Kohri said, staring at his older brother. His brows were furrowed.

Hyosetsu and the others grimaced. Except for Eiichi. But he, too, would succumb as the experiment went on.

Tabiki gripped his left arm and winced. Small golden sparks danced around it. Vajra energy? How?

"Are you okay?" Azami asked.

Tabiki clenched his teeth. "I told you it was a mistake. Yet, you still went ahead with it."

I eyed the containers. Setty shook her head, making my heart clench. But when we were up against monsters like Daisaru, what other options did we have? Plus, this wasn't the shortcut Tabiki thought it was. All of the training Takeshi and I had the knights do was building up to this point. If they failed, it would've been because it wasn't enough.

The once-exiled king of Kasai no Ki coughed as energy sparked around his left arm.

"You underestimated the power of the vajra," Tabiki said, falling to one knee.

My eyes widened. Why was he reacting like that?

I ran over to the computer and glanced over Kohri's shoulder as he tapped away. "What's going on? Did you mess something up?"

Kohri shook his head. He glanced up at his agony-filled brother. The face he made was a lot like Tabiki's. Wait, the energy was flowing in the king's left arm. The same arm that Hyosetsu wielded Baldo with. Was there something between them?

"Then what's going on?" I asked.

"The pace is going as planned. The big wave hasn't hit yet. Like His Majesty Kasai no Ki said, the power of the vajra was underestimated."

I gasped. "Wait, the big wave hasn't hit them yet?"

Kohri furrowed his brow at the screen. "No, but it's getting there."

The sparks slowed. It seemed Eiichi was doing what I told him to.

My nephew-in-law smiled. "Hyo's fine!"

Tabiki panted. "It's too early to celebrate."

"You sure? Everything seems fine. Vital signals have returned to normal, and mana is circulating around the weapons evenly while it was erratic prior."

Tabiki sighed. "You really are an optimist."

Kohri blinked. He laughed. "Hey, you sounded just like big bro for a sec there!"

Tabiki smiled slightly. "Well, he might be grouchy, but he's a smart one. Just like your king here."

I frowned. Why did he feel the need to drop a sideways insult at this time?

"I'll go get Serra, just in case!" Azami said, running for the stairs.

Serrano? What help would he be in this situation? Wait, Aventine could enter the dream realm at will! Seemed even my thick-headed big brother could come up with good ideas every now and then.

Kohri jumped as sparks flew from the computer.

Tabiki dropped to the floor again and let out a bestial growl like a fox.

"What now?" I asked. The screen fritzed.

"Think the big wave just hit them."

"S-stop it," Tabiki said.

All five sparked, including Eiichi.

I gulped. "I can't. It could hurt them or worse. All we can do is keep the machine from imploding." I held out my hands and drew some of the stray mana toward me. It lingered in the air. The knights needed all of the energy they could get. Takeshi had made sure that their cores could handle it, but given how much more was coming out, perhaps absorbing it myself was the better choice. Letting it get worse would not only hurt the five of them. It could also have leveled the entire city and its surroundings. Or worse.

Kohri stood up from his chair and did the same. The computer screen stabilized. He was right. It appeared to be the peak energy output. My eyes widened as Setty's pod showed a spike in energy.

"Setsuko, don't do it!" I yelled.

Her pod cracked as energy poured out from beneath her.

"Alma's at her limits!" Kohri yelled before the computer fritzed again.

I clenched my teeth and focused on her. Damn. That girl was reckless like her uncle! She should've left the energy gathering to Eiichi!

"We're back! I brought Serra! And Rosa and Yuko," Azami said. "Nori and Xime too."

"Get out of here, Rosa! It's too dangerous!" I yelled as the energy began to push me back.

"What's going on?" Rosa asked. Her eyes widened as Setty's pod cracked further. "Sis!" She ran, but Serra grabbed her by the arm. 

"Listen to your dad! I'll help them as Dad suggested," Serrano suggested as he held his sword in his other hand.

"S-Serrano's right," Tabiki said as he pushed himself up. "Get away from here, Rosa, Yuko!"

Xime blinked. "Why is he only saying that to those two?" she whispered.

Indeed... Tabiki was behaving very strange. He was certainly hiding something.

Rosa shook her head. "That's too much power for them and you to handle!" She held out her hand and brought out one of her drones.

Yuko jumped in front of her and formed a wall of sand as wayward mana flew at my daughter. "Careful, Princess. Let Yuko handle this." She lowered her wall of sand and called forth a drone just like Rosa.

How could that girl use angel tools? Was it truly because of her sharing a soul with Rosa? Or had Takeshi infused her with angel DNA during one of his experiments? But if that were the case, wouldn't he have cured her of the genetic illness she had? Or maybe he only did enough to keep her alive this far. The guy didn't care for Yuko. She was but a guinea pig in his aim to save Anis. That lingering sentimentality was proof enough that the man called 'Kuroshi' was, in fact, the real Takeshi.

Sentimentality, how it could make one go above and beyond in doing good or evil for the sake of others, was frightening. While I wasn't immune to it by any means, I preferred to be rational. Allowing the heart to lead one in its entirety was folly. The heart could be deceitful. As the holy scriptures said, one had to guard it to keep evil from entering and exiting from it. Something that I had sadly failed to do despite my best attempts.

"Wait, allow me to help, at least!" Rosa yelled.

Yuko shook her head. "No, Rosa has Baby in her tummy! Yuko-" She gritted her teeth as she, too, was pushed back. "Yuko can handle it." She smiled. "Plus, I'm sure that the knights will succeed." She glanced up at the ceiling and smiled. "Also, He is with them after all."

Nori nodded.

I gasped as Yuko's drone easily absorbed the stray energy. Who did she refer to by 'He'? My eyes darted upward. Wait, did she mean...

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Had hoped to get it out by Thanksgiving, but got too into playing Pokemon Scarlet.**