KUROGANE ENMA:CRIMSON SYNC

The Offer

---

The gate to Floor 1 slammed shut behind him with a sound like a coffin closing.

Enma stood alone in a circle of white light.

The arena was bigger than F-Block. Bigger than the 12 buildings they crammed 4000 D-Class into. The walls were 20 meters high and made of black glass. Above him, a dome showed the sky. Fake sky. Programmed clouds. Nobles watching from floating boxes.

A million voices chanted his name, but not his real name.

"NULL! NULL! NULL!"

Enma didn’t move. He was counting. Breathing. Rule 1: Don’t die.

The floor vibrated.

From the opposite gate, something came out.

*GOLIATH-CLASS BRUTE. DESIGNATION: B-07.*

Three meters tall. Shoulders like tanks. Chains wrapped around its fists. No face, just a steel mask with one red eye. It had been built to break D-Class for sport.

On the screen above, the odds flashed: *1 to 47.*

The crowd laughed.

A voice came over the speakers. Old. Smooth. Enjoying this.

"Contestants! Welcome to Floor 1: The Gauntlet. Rules are simple. Fight. The last one standing advances. The loser... feeds the floor."

The Goliath roared and slammed its chains into the ground. The impact cracked the white tiles.

Enma’s wrist device beeped. *CRIMSON SYNC: 0%*. The red lines were gone. Faded to scars.

He could still feel it though. Under his skin. Waiting.

_“Use me,”_ the King whispered. _“One hit and it’s over.”_

Enma ignored it.

The Goliath charged.

It moved fast for its size. One step and the ground shook. The chain came down like a meteor.

Enma rolled. The chain missed by inches and shattered the tile where he’d been standing.

The crowd booed. They wanted blood.

Enma stood up. The Goliath was already turning, bringing the other chain around.

He ducked under it. Got inside its reach. Drove his fist into its knee.

Nothing. The thing was armored plating and hydraulics.

It backhanded him.

The hit sent him flying 10 meters. He hit the wall and slid down. Pain exploded in his ribs. He tasted copper.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 5%*

The red lines flickered at his collarbone.

"Pathetic!" the announcer laughed. "Is this what D-Class brings us now?"

The Goliath walked toward him, slow. Enjoying it. It lifted one foot, aiming to crush him.

Enma pushed himself up. Blood on his lip. Rule 1.

The foot came down.

He caught it.

The arena went silent.

Enma’s arms were shaking. The red lines were crawling up his neck. The weight of the Goliath was impossible, but he held it. For 2 seconds. 3.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 15%*

Then he threw it.

The Goliath flipped and crashed on its back. The glass walls shook.

Enma didn’t stop. He ran. Jumped. Landed on its chest and drove both fists into the steel mask.

Once. Twice. Three times.

On the fourth hit, the mask cracked.

On the fifth, it caved in.

The Goliath went limp.

Silence. Then the crowd erupted.

*WINNER: KUROGANE ENMA. TIME: 1 MINUTE 12 SECONDS.*

The white light faded. A door opened on the side of the arena.

Enma was already walking toward it. He didn’t look at the body. Didn’t look at the cameras. His hands were trembling. 15% Sync was bleeding off, leaving him cold and empty.

He stepped into the hallway and the door shut.

The noise of the crowd vanished.

There was one person waiting for him.

Aoi Kazehara. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed. She looked him up and down. Blood on his jacket. Bruised ribs. Eyes clear.

"Huh," she said. "You’re not dead."

"Disappointed?" Enma asked.

"A little. Makes betting harder."

She pushed off the wall and started walking. "Come on. Kuroda wants to see you."

"Kuroda?"

"Headmaster. Also the man who owns you now."

They walked in silence down a hallway that was too clean. White floors. White walls. No D-Class here. Only S-Class guards who looked at Enma like he was dirt on Aoi’s shoe.

Finally they stopped at a black door. Two guards.

Aoi knocked once and entered without waiting.

Inside was an office bigger than Enma’s whole block. Floor to ceiling windows showing the Wall. A desk made of some dark wood. And behind it, a man.

*HEADMASTER KURODA.*

He was 60. Maybe. Hard to tell. His hair was white but his eyes were sharp. He wore a gray suit that probably cost more than F-Block made in a year. He wasn’t looking at Enma. He was looking at a screen showing Enma’s fight on loop.

"Sit," Kuroda said, without looking up.

Enma didn’t.

Aoi sat.

Kuroda finally looked at Enma. Then at the scars on his neck.

"Crimson Sync," Kuroda said. "Thought that was a myth."

"Don’t know what that is," Enma said.

"Of course you don’t." Kuroda steepled his fingers. "Do you know why you’re here, boy?"

"Because your bots tried to kill my brother."

Kuroda smiled. "That. Yes. Protocol 7-B. Cull the nulls. Keep the population stable."

He said it like he was talking about trimming a garden.

Enma’s fists clenched. The scars burned.

"But then," Kuroda continued, "you did something interesting. You survived. And not just survived. You synced."

He stood up and walked around the desk. Stopped in front of Enma.

"You’re D-Class. You’re supposed to be nothing. But inside you, there’s something that eats pain and turns it into power. Do you understand what that means?"

Enma didn’t answer.

"It means you’re valuable," Kuroda said softly. "And it means you have two choices."

He held up one finger.

"Choice one. We take you apart. Figure out how Crimson Sync works. Your brother gets a comfortable cell. You won’t feel anything."

Second finger.

"Choice two. The Wall. You climb. Floor 1 to 100. If you reach the top, you get one wish. Anything. Money. Freedom. Your brother back."

He dropped his hand.

"Which will it be?"

The room was quiet. Even Aoi wasn’t breathing.

Enma looked at Kuroda. At his clean hands. At the way he said "comfortable cell" like it meant something.

Then he thought of Jin. Alone. Running.

"Choice two," Enma said.

Kuroda nodded, like he expected it. "Good. The Wall needs new blood. You start tomorrow. Floor 2."

"Wait," Aoi said. "He just fought. He needs—"

"He needs to climb," Kuroda cut her off. "That’s the deal. He slows down, he dies. That’s the entertainment."

He turned to Enma. "One more thing. Crimson Sync has stages. At 100%, you won’t be you anymore. You’ll be the King. Understand?"

Enma nodded.

"Good boy." Kuroda smiled. "Dismissed."

---

They didn’t talk until they were outside. In a courtyard with real grass. Fake sun.

Aoi sat on a bench and patted the space next to her.

Enma sat. Careful. Like moving too fast would hurt.

"You’re an i***t," Aoi said.

"Thanks."

"No, I mean it. You could’ve picked option one. Quick. Painless."

"Jin would’ve died."

"Yeah." She sighed. "That’s why you’re an i***t. And why I’m here."

Enma looked at her. "Why are you?"

Aoi picked a blade of grass and tore it. "Because I’ve watched 200 D-Class die on Floor 1. None of them threw a Goliath. None of them had Sync."

"So?"

"So I’m curious." She glanced at him. "And because when I saw you stand in front of that bot for your brother, I remembered what it felt like to care about someone."

The words hung there.

Enma didn’t know what to do with that. No one had talked to him like he was human in years.

"What’s it like?" he asked finally. "Up here?"

Aoi laughed, but it wasn’t happy. "Empty. My house has 40 rooms. I know the names of 3 people in it. My father, my tutor, and the maid who brings me tea."

She looked at him. "You have a brother. That’s more than I have."

Enma looked down at his hands. The scars were still there. Faint red.

"I’m going to get him out," Enma said. Quiet. Certain.

"I know," Aoi said. "That’s why I lied to the guards. Said I didn’t see you activate Sync. If I hadn’t, Kuroda would’ve taken you tonight."

Enma stared at her. "Why risk that?"

Aoi stood up. "Because someone should."

She started walking. "Floor 2 is in 18 hours. Get food. Get sleep. And Enma?"

He looked up.

"Don’t hit 50%," she said. "The King gets louder. At 60% you stop hearing me."

She left him there with the fake sun and the real grass.

---

Enma didn’t sleep.

They gave him a room. Bigger than F-Block. Bed. Shower. Food that didn’t taste like paste.

He ate anyway. He showered. He laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

The King was quiet. But not gone.

_“She’s lying to you,”_ it whispered. _“They all lie. Only I’m honest. Only I want you to be strong.”_

"Shut up," Enma muttered.

_“At 100% I can get your brother back in one second. No climbing. No pain.”_

Enma closed his eyes. Rule 2: Don’t break.

He thought of Jin’s face when the bot aimed at him. He thought of Aoi’s hand, steady when she pulled him away.

Rule 3: Don’t forget.

At 4 AM, his wrist device beeped.

*FLOOR 2 IN 2 HOURS. OPPONENT: TRINITY MAGES. ODDS: 1 TO 33.*

There was a knock on the door.

Aoi. In training gear this time. No sword.

"You look like crap," she said.

"Thanks."

"I brought you something." She held out a small bottle. Red liquid. "Sync suppressant. Takes the edge off. Don’t use it in the fight or you’ll die. Use it after."

Enma took it. "Why?"

"Because I said don’t hit 50%." She studied him. "And because you looked at that Goliath like it was nothing. That scared me."

"You’re scared of me?"

"I’m scared of what happens when you stop being scared." She shrugged. "Come on. I’ll walk you to Floor 2."

They walked through the halls. Guards saluted Aoi. No one looked at Enma.

At the entrance to Floor 2, there was a screen. His face was on it. D-Class. Null. The bottom of the odds.

Aoi stopped him before he went in.

"Enma," she said.

He turned.

"If you die, I’m going to be really annoyed," she said. "I just found someone interesting."

For a second, something in her face softened. Not S-Class. Not noble. Just a girl.

Then it was gone.

"Go," she said. "Climb."

The gate opened.

Floor 2 was different. No arena. A maze. Fog. And three voices whispering from different directions.

*TRINITY MAGES. SYNCHRONIZED CASTERS.*

Enma stepped in. The door closed.

The fog closed around him.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 0%*

_“Let’s begin,”_ the King whispered.

---

Ten floors up, in a room with no windows, Kuroda watched the feed.

"Interesting," he murmured to himself. "The null has willpower. And the Kazehara girl is attached."

He pressed a button.

"Prepare Protocol 9. If he reaches Floor 10, we take the brother."

On the screen, Enma disappeared into the fog.

Kuroda smiled.

The game had started.

*END CHAPTER 2*

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