"Everyone ready?" Yoh said. Everybody nodded.

"Then let’s go!" Exile said.

The crew immediately left the city and arrived in a deep forest outside of the town. As they entered the forest, Exile cringed. A clearing appeared in front of them.

"It’s here." he said.

"Where?" Horo Horo said. "This is just a clearing. I don’t see any break." A giant hole then burst from the clearing. "Uh...."

"So, this is the tear between realms?" Yoh asked. Exile nodded and began to walk toward it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ren yelled. "We’re not going in there, are we?"

"We can’t fix it from the outside." Exile replied. "The human realm has too many physical boundaries. In the spirit realm, the laws of the world don’t apply." Everyone took a deep breath and watched him go in. Kirol and Suke ran in after him. After a few moments, Yoh and Anna followed, then Ren, Ryu, Lyserg, Jeanne, and Horo Horo. Pirika and Tamao frighteningly were last to enter.

Inside the spirit realm, there was a bright light surrounding them. Vibrant colors flashed everywhere, and there appears to be no floor. Everyone was standing on air.

"Like I said, no rules here." He walked on the invisible path like he’d seen it before.

"So, this is the Spirit Realm." Yoh said. He gazed around at the infinite abyss of color around him.

As they continued to walk down the non-existent path, Exile froze.

"Everyone get back." he said. Everyone was confused with what he said. Right then, a giant spirit dropped from above. It had a completely lurid appearance, having weak, straggling arms and wearing a torn red cape. Its face was just horrific; its eyes shooting out of its face and having the other facial features completely out of place.

"What is that thing?" Ryu said, stepping back. Exile flared his oversoul.

"That is a spirit, but not just any spirit." Exile said. "Remember that realm between heaven and hell I told you about? Well, that is the result of being sent to that area and never coming out. You become an irregular being, or as I call it, a Distorted Spirit." Tamao, Pirika, and Kirol were struck with total fear. Exile leaped up and slammed his gigantic weapon into the spirit. The creature howled in pain. Exile landed in front of it. The monster was crying in complete pain, but it immediately began to attack everyone. The shamans activated their oversouls and rushed at the monster. Bursts of furyoku burned the Distorted Spirit. It continued to reap in pain. Yoh jumped down from the monster.

"Everyone! Get back!" Yoh yelled. Exile and the others leaped away from the monster. "Shinkuu Buddhagiri!" Yoh slashed his oversoul sword and a wave of air tore into the creature, causing it to disappear.

"Nice work, Yoh!" Horo Horo said.

"Yes, Chief. Well done!" Ryu said. Ren scoffed at Yoh.

"Very good, Yoh!" Lyserg said.

"What was that?" Exile asked.

"My Shinkuu Buddhagiri, or should I say Amidamaru’s Shinkuu Buddhagiri. Quite powerful, don’t you think?" Yoh smiled.

"Yes, it was powerful. Those things usually take much more than a few attacks to bring down."

"But, how do creatures like that become so horrific in the first place?" Lyserg asked.

"Simple." Anna joined the conversation. "Exile said that the area between heaven and hell is complete darkness. That spirit was obviously completely shocked at the insane amount of strain in that area. It’s spiritual figure was also strained as well."

"Correct, Miss Anna." Exile said. "These monsters are not like this by choice. The insane amount of pressure manipulated their spiritual structure. That thing was once human, and the realm between heaven and hell changed its spirit from its normal state to that thing."

"That’s terrible!" Pirika said.

"I know. But, there is nothing we can do about that now. Right now, we must save the human and spirit realms." Exile said, as he began to walk on. Kirol and Suke continued to follow, and so did the rest of the group. "If we encounter any more of those, we must finish them quickly. There is no time to hang around fighting." Everyone nodded and walked along with him.

After what seemed like hours, Exile stopped. He did not activate his oversoul like he did with the many Distorted Spirits they encountered. He just froze.

"What is it?" Yoh asked.

"We’re here." he replied.

"This is it? It looks like everything else in this place." Horo Horo said. Exile just stood there, completely focused on the unknown in front of them.

"I don’t see it." Ren said. A giant pillar then rose from the ground, as if to counter their thoughts. Everyone was wide-eyed, except Exile. He rose his hand to the pillar.

"This pillar is made up of furyoku." Anna calmly said.

"It’s so much furyoku. It’s hard to believe it could all be concentrated into this one area." Yoh said. Exile’s hand began to glow and the furyoku from the pillar drew a thin stream of it into his palm. The pillar then broke the stream, disappeared, and was replaced with another portal.

"What happened?" Tamao asked. Exile didn’t answer. He just signaled everyone to follow him into the portal, which they did.

Inside was much brighter. The sky was visible, as if it was the real world again. But, everyone knew where they were.

"Heaven?" Lyserg asked. Exile nodded.

"Correct. This is heaven." he replied. Everyone began to turn around and view the area. It was bright, vibrant, and full of life. Spirits roamed freely with their given halos, doing as they pleased. It seemed perfect. As everyone was looking around, nobody noticed that Exile had disappeared. Everyone except for Yoh. Yoh began to look around for Exile. After wandering in the light and asking countless spirits, Yoh discovered Exile, speaking with one of the haloed spirits.

"I’ve been fine." the angel said.

"Excellent, and I am pleased that you have forgiven me." Exile replied.

"No problems, friend. Your cause was just. It is good that I sacrificed my life for the earth below."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." Exile said. He then realized Yoh was watching. "Yoh, where are the others?"

"They’re still exploring. But, what did that angel mean "sacrificed their life"? You...didn’t kill them...did you?" Exile was silent, but then spoke up.

"I’m sorry if this hurts you, but I have killed in my lifetime. But, I fought for the realms."

"Your whole life? How long have the realms been broken?"

"Since I was born."

"What?!"

"Yes, my life is the cause of the tear in the barrier."

"How?!" Yoh asked.

"I shall tell you, but you cannot tell anyone, especially Kirol." Yoh nodded. "Fine. I am the cause of this all because I am a half-spirit. I communicate with both sides."

"But isn’t that what all shamans do? Shamans exist on both planes. What is so wrong with that?" Yoh asked, confused.

"Shamans and half-spirits are similar, but overall, they are very different. I am truly half-dead. Half of my blood is living, the other dead. I am half-spirit."

"You’re half dead? How?"

"My father was a shaman, like the most of us. My mother was too. They lived happily in the world. Until, one day, something happened. My mother went into the area between heaven and hell, in order to strengthen her powers. She died inside. My father was alone. But, in some strange way, my mother did not become a Distorted Ghost like we saw. She kept her original form. With her original form, she could send messages to my father through trances. She told him to wait. I was never born, but I was given life by my deceased mother, and her own spiritual energy, through my father’s trances. That, in combination with my father’s furyoku, was able to create me."

"Wow...I’m sorry." Yoh quietly said.

"But, my combination of living and dead blood was too much for the planes to take. To gather both types of energy from both parents and both planes, a door had to be opened. This door is the tear in the barriers. Demons from hell began to slip through the tear. To make it so the barrier could not be closed, the demons killed my father. But, I didn’t die. My father carried enough furyoku to keep me alive up to now."

"But, how could you live so long without human energy?"

"I discovered a way. I needed to gain more furyoku to live. So, I began to claim other spirits as my allies, one being Suke, my guardian. I held hundreds of spirits as allies and gained enough furyoku from many oversouls to live. As I grew older, I wanted to gain the strength my mother could not. I entered the Dividing Area. Unbelievably, I came out in one piece. I eventually realized that the Dividing Area doesn’t make you stronger, but it makes your furyoku last longer. By repeatedly entering the abyss, I could get more furyoku. But, each entrance nearly destroyed my human blood. You should know, you traveled through Tartarus."

"I guess."

"But the problem still rose. I had the energy, but the door was letting fierce monsters into the human world. These monsters were ruthlessly attacking people and I just couldn’t stand for that. I had to close the door."

"But wouldn’t closing the door end your life?"

"Maybe. I’m not sure. But, I can’t let this all go on. These monsters are getting out quicker than we all know. A few years ago, two extremely strong entities escaped and began attacking villages. They nearly killed everyone."

"Everyone except for Kirol." Exile sighed.

"She told you, didn’t she? Oh well. She’s known for that."

"If you do leave, Kirol will be heartbroken." Exile looked away.

"I can’t let her suffer. But, I can’t let this rampage continue. She wouldn’t want the world to be in such chaos." Yoh began to walk away.

"Don’t worry. Everything will work out."

"Well you’re optimistic." Exile said, sarcastically.

"I’m not being optimistic. I know it will all work out." Exile caught up to him.

"Remember, don’t tell anyone." Yoh grinned at him.

"I won’t." The two walked back to the group.