VAGUE

Cornelius Vague, a troubled teenager, prepares to leave for Windfall Academy, a prestigious school for training Kingsmen, protectors of the world. He's motivated by a desire to find his sister, Saturn, who's now a powerful and ruthless figure. After a tumultuous goodbye with his father, Cornelius meets his friend Coral, but their reunion is cut short when a mysterious woman kills Coral. Cornelius discovers he has unique abilities and is recruited to Windfall Academy, where he's thrust into a deadly competition among 200 students vying for just 10 spots. The chapter ends with Cornelius and 21 others preparing for a battle royale to determine who will become the next Kingsmen.

In Chapter 2 of VAGUE, Cornelius faces off against Maddy in a tense battle where he easily overpowers her, demonstrating his strength and disdain for her weakness. Despite Maddy’s fierce attacks, Cornelius remains unfazed, dismissing her as unworthy of his full power. As he prepares to deal a potentially fatal blow, Charlotte intervenes, stopping him and testing his resolve. The confrontation highlights Cornelius’s inner turmoil and cruelty, revealing his cold and damaged nature, while Charlotte’s intervention introduces a new dynamic and power struggle between them.

Jintero Crimson, the World Church's deadliest enforcer, leads a meeting discussing the annihilation of Island Pira, which refused to conform to the Church's teachings. He demonstrates his power by brutally killing a dissenting member. Later, Jintero and his partner Danielle engage in a violent and sexual relationship, revealing their twisted dynamic. When a survivor of their massacre tries to escape, Danielle brutally kills him, prompting Jintero to ponder the nature of evil and whether it can be beautiful. The chapter explores the dark themes of violence, power, and morality.

As Cornelius's dark past threatens to consume him, a chance encounter with Charlotte and a mysterious key ignite a spark of hope, but will it be enough to redeem his broken soul?

Cornelius agrees to go on a date with Charlotte, but his excitement is short-lived as he's transported to the underworld realm of Tophet. There, he's confronted by the whispers of lost souls, which stir up his guilt and self-doubt. The voices question his ability to protect those he loves and whether finding Saturn, his twin sister, will bring him peace or more pain. The chapter ends with a flashback to Cornelius's childhood, where he's playing with his mother, Merissa, before a sudden and tragic event changes everything.

Chapter 6 revolves around Cornelius's struggle to cope with the loss of his mother and sister. His desperation to find Saturn leads to a rift with his father, and he runs away, seeking solace in the forest, where he meets Coral.

Cornelius is thrown into chaos when an imp with a hauntingly familiar face—his sister Saturn's—delivers a cryptic warning: his sister’s fate and humanity’s survival are bound by a cruel choice. Desperation fuels a fierce battle, leaving Cornelius battered but determined to uncover the truth behind the ominous prophecy. Back in the safety of his dorm, his fragile world is upended when Charlotte storms in, demanding answers. A tense confrontation reveals shared scars and vulnerabilities, but her knowledge of forbidden realms raises unsettling questions. In the haze of exhaustion and raw emotion, their connection deepens in an unexpected moment of intimacy, offering Cornelius a fleeting reprieve from the shadows closing in. But as he lays beside her, the weight of unspoken truths and the imp’s chilling words linger. Beneath the fragile peace, danger looms. Forces beyond their understanding align, and Cornelius must confront a harrowing truth: freedom comes at a price, and the cost may be everything he holds dear.

Tensions erupt in the training room as Charlotte dominates spar after spar—until a near-lethal move reveals just how dangerous she really is. Banter turns personal when the squad teases her connection to Cornelius, but things take a sharp turn when Miss Charlie drops the bomb: the campus is on lockdown. A vigilante is on the loose—violent, calculated, and maybe just a little too familiar. And then Cornelius strolls in—late, high, and defiant. A fight brews not on the mat, but between him and Charlotte, and when words finally cut deeper than fists, everything breaks. By nightfall, Cornelius is gone—into the shadows of District 0, whispering promises to the dead and hunting ghosts with vengeance in his veins.

Cornelius finds himself in his mind with Coral, his deceased best friend, where they share a tender, bantering moment. Coral gently challenges Cornelius’ self-destructive behavior, calling out his obsessive grief and refusal to move forward. Her words hit deep, especially when she asks him what part of himself is left if all he clings to is pain. Cornelius admits that letting go feels like letting go of her. Despite his resolve for revenge, Coral’s parting wish is simple yet heartbreaking: “I want you to live.” That fragile peace shatters when Cornelius wakes in a blood-soaked slaughterhouse interrogating a dying man. He’s soon confronted by Belarus, a brutal, arrogant enforcer linked to the World Church. Their battle erupts violently, crashing through the Market District. Cornelius fights with cold precision, but Belarus proves unnervingly strong, despite barely registering any Interna. When Belarus names Rose as Coral’s killer, Cornelius is shaken. The fight escalates again, forcing Cornelius to confront a terrifying truth: this man may not have power in the traditional sense, but he’s still beyond what Cornelius understands. Flashbacks to Miss Charlie’s lesson about Interna highlight the disturbing impossibility of Belarus’s strength. The chapter ends with Belarus glowing with twisted glee, eager to “play,” while Cornelius is left reeling, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Cornelius continues his battle with Belarus, a powerful and eccentric assassin working for Mr. Jintero. Belarus taunts Cornelius, questioning his strength and convictions. The two engage in an intense battle, exchanging blows and showcasing their unique abilities. Cornelius uses his Blood Arts to create a bomb and regenerate his wounds, while Belarus uses his interna to densify his arm into armor.

As battle engulfs the city, Cornelius faces off against Belarus in a clash that shatters more than just concrete, it shakes the very air with the weight of conviction. Through a storm of fists and memory, Cornelius confronts not just an opponent, but the question Raelynn once asked him: What do you believe in? With echoes of the past, foolish dreams, and a hilariously honest answer, Cornelius taps into something raw, absurd, and frighteningly powerful. But when the dust settles, it’s not just victory that awaits, it’s betrayal, and a silent figure stepping from the shadows. The Rose is about to prick.

Amid the devastated Downtown, Miss Charlie and Conan investigate a catastrophic Interna clash, an Ideological Overload, while signs of deeper geopolitical tensions emerge with the discovery of a Northern royal crest near a sunken ship. Cornelius, battered and emotionally fractured, is confronted by Charlotte, whose brutal honesty forces him to reckon with his self-destructive grief. Flashbacks reveal his long-standing guilt and obsession with loss, particularly his sister Saturn. In the aftermath, with Charlotte’s painful compassion and Miss Charlie’s quiet guidance, Cornelius begins to face the terrifying prospect of healing, and moving forward.

In a rare moment of peace, the girls bond over painted nails, shared memories, and quiet confessions. Haven champions softness as strength, while Charlotte reflects on her tragic past and the resilience of femininity amidst survival. She opens up about her complex relationship with Cornelius, what began as a physical connection rooted in shared pain has deepened into something unspoken and real. Meanwhile, the boys play rugby outside, laughter masking buried wounds. A joke from Hisenne about Cornelius’s family ignites a brutal fistfight, revealing Cornelius’s raw grief and self-isolation. The group intervenes, confronting him with honesty and unconditional acceptance. Cornelius breaks down, silently weeping in the dirt, no longer alone. Charlotte watches from the window, believing, if only briefly, that maybe he’ll be okay. Then, a cryptic message arrives on her phone… one that signals the return of something far more dangerous than anyone is ready for.

The chapter opens with the Future Kingsmen enjoying a rare day off on the sunny southern coast of the Central Region. The group’s playful banter culminates in a competitive race to a nearby island, where Cornelius and Charlotte steal a moment alone. Their flirtation deepens into a vulnerable conversation about trust, grief, and their undefined relationship, with Cornelius affirming he wants to live again, not just survive. Their intimacy is interrupted when a wounded, shackled giant crashes onto the island. The stranger, Christopher, speaks Cornelius’s name and claims Coral foretold their meeting. The rest of the group arrives, shocked but willing to help despite uncertainty about his origins. That night, Cornelius stays to watch over Christopher, who shares that Coral once visited him in a hidden city above the clouds and warned of a Central Region siege targeting Cornelius in two years. He also warns that Charlotte may have been sent by the Lords to kill Cornelius, citing a prophecy from Coral. Before they can speak further, both are knocked unconscious by an unknown figure. The chapter ends with the next morning’s shocking sight: alarms blaring across the Central Region as a massive, foreign ship, marked with graffiti roses, appears overhead, casting its shadow over the city.

Chief of Police and Kingsman agent Skai Ledger meets with her mentor, Miss Charlie Crown, late at night. Over wine, Skai confides her growing disillusionment with the World Church, revealing her investigation into assassins of the Rose Network, smuggling routes tied to a dangerous drug, and the Church’s complicity in both. A flashback with Detective Conan confirms suspicions: the Rose Network manufactures killers, rebels handle smuggling, and the Church shields the operation. Skai then discloses her most troubling discovery: Charlotte Vairm, one of Charlie’s students, is a fabricated identity. Her real name is Charlotte Snö, who matches the description of Rose, the Queen of Death, the infamous assassin blamed for past massacres. Yet, inconsistencies suggest Charlotte may either be hiding her past or being used as a scapegoat. Before Skai can act further, Miss Charlie executes her in cold blood, vowing to protect Charlotte until the right time. Charlie leaves the police headquarters in flames, observed silently by Charlotte herself. The chapter closes with a cut to an airborne Rose Network council, preparing to invade the Central Region. Detective Conan is revealed to have been captured and executed, confirming the network’s ruthless advance.

A squadron of assassins from the Rose Network storms the Central Region, leaping from warships and terrorizing civilians across all ten districts. Their elite leaders, the Roses, declare their mission to burn the world’s hub in service of their “Big Sis.” At Windfall Academy, Ren and the other trainees argue over laundry before being thrust into the chaos, reluctantly but eagerly preparing to fight. The Central Region’s top Kingsmen Jintero Crimson, Ignacia Coleman, Sister Marrow Isabella, and Pineapple Indra are introduced one by one as they mobilize to counter the invasion. Simultaneously, Miss Charlie activates her World Church strike unit, DM-Beta, with orders to eliminate Cornelius Vague and Charlotte Snö. On Kuka Island, Cornelius awakens with Charlotte, now clad in gothic red, and carries her across a blood bridge toward the mainland. She recounts a parable of a crow, a dove, and a raven, revealing Cornelius as the crow, Coral as the lost flockmate, herself as the dove, and Miss Charlie as the raven who betrayed them. The chapter ends with Miss Charlie confronting them directly, confirming the truth and setting the stage for conflict.