The penthouse apartment was as cold and precise as its owner. Every book on the shelf was aligned to the millimeter; every piece of sheet music was stacked by era and tempo. But in the center of the living room, Shino Koko sat in a designer chair, staring at her right hand.
The bandages were slightly unraveled. Even without the adrenaline of battle, the tremors were there—a tiny, rhythmic twitch in her index finger that mocked her every time she tried to hold a pen.
"Koko-sama..." Zephyr hovered near her shoulder, his green wings casting a soft, worried glow. "Please, you must rest. The battle at the park... the anger... it has strained your nerves. Your heartbeat is out of sync."
"The rhythm was ruined years ago, Zephyr," Koko said, her voice a flat, hollow echo. "I thought if I collected the cards, I could force the world into a shape that made sense again. But I’m just protecting the person who broke me."
"Mahiru was—"
"I don't care what she was!" Koko snapped, her emerald eyes flashing. "The result is the same! The music stopped!"
Suddenly, the temperature in the room plummeted. The precise rows of books began to vibrate, and the air smelled of ozone and ancient, rotting parchment. A ripple of violet distortion tore through the center of the room, swallowing the light.
From the rift stepped a figure of terrifying majesty. He was draped in obsidian armor that seemed to absorb the very shadows around it. His helmet was a fractured silver metronome, the needle swinging slowly in a rhythmic, hypnotic tick... tick... tick...
The Void King.
"Shino Koko," the King spoke. His voice didn't come from his throat; it vibrated inside her skull. "The girl who seeks a perfect world because her own is shattered. A tragic, beautiful discord."
Koko tried to stand, her hand reaching for the Card of Speed on the glass table. "You... the one behind the rifts."
"I am the one who brings the Great Silence," the King whispered. He raised a hand, and the silver needle on his helm began to swing faster. "Why struggle, little conductor? Your hands hurt. Your heart is heavy with a grudge that has no end. Give me the card, and I will give you a world where the accident never happened. A world where your hands are whole."
Koko’s hand froze inches from the card. She looked into the rhythmic swing of the metronome. Tick. Tick.
"A world... where I can play?" she murmured. Her emerald eyes began to cloud over, the vibrant green fading into a dull, glassy white.
"Koko-sama! No! Don't listen to him!" Zephyr screamed, diving toward her.
But Koko didn't hear him. The King’s influence was a velvet weight, pressing down on her trauma, smoothing out the jagged edges of her memory until only the "Silent Command" remained.
"Yes," Koko whispered, her voice devoid of will. "The finale... must be perfect."
She reached down, her movements fluid and mechanical, and picked up the emerald card. With a steady hand, she held it out to the King of the Void. The "Perfect President" was gone; only a puppet remained.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmNDrQJ6KO
and then Add to home screen.