The air in the first layer of Noxar was heavier than usual. With every step the party took through the tunnels, the world around them seemed to breathe with them... but with a cold, creeping, lifeless air.
The moment was silent. The only sound was the scrape of feet on the cracked gray floor and the clang of weapons clenched in nervous hands.
Then...
He appeared before them.
A humanoid figure, but unmistakably "something else."
He was about the height of a human, but his head was misshapen, his open mouth reaching all the way to his ears, as if his jaw had been broken long ago and never mended.
Teeth were long, irregular, sharp as needles, and black tentacles snaked behind him.
Chains wrapped around his arms, sliding along the floor and making a low, tense sound.
The figure stood there, motionless, before speaking.
But his voice wasn't barbaric. It was calm and steady... like a wise man contemplating the desolation:
"You were searching for answers in the dead land...
But, don't you know?
The earth doesn't whisper secrets, it buries them."
The team exchanged silent glances as the creature began to walk slowly toward them.
"Every step in Noxar is a question...
And every cry of those who came before you was the answer."
"I am a shadow... seen only when your ugliness is brought to light."
Some backed away cautiously, while Hana and Seiya stood rigid.
Kaito's father slowly loosened his grip, his eyes following the tentacles' movement, while Minamoto pulled something from his pocket... a small chain, but as it touched his hand, it expanded and swelled, revealing ancient symbols that slowly began to glow.
At that moment, Kaito fell to his knees, placing his hand on his head.
"Ah... what is this?"
He said in a hoarse voice.
Scattered images rained down on his mind:
He was in a narrow hole, deeper than anything he had ever known.
Chains stretched from every direction, pulling him along and bleeding his flesh.
Symbols... engraved on the walls, glowing and shattering.
Broken weapons littered the floor.
Featureless corpses...
The sound of incomprehensible whispers, rising and rising...
Then...
A clear inner voice, clearer than silence itself:
"You opened the door... You broke the seal."
Kaito raised his eyes in surprise, sweat dripping from his brow.
Kaito's father had put on his steel gloves and said in a low voice, "Let me punch you to death."
As for Minamoto, he wrapped the chain around his hand and said,
"Don't hope to be like them... We won't even give you a scream."
The creature didn't laugh, didn't scream... He just smiled faintly and said,
"Then... let's break the masks."
"Then... let's break the masks."
Then the creature spoke, its faint voice echoing off the walls of the tunnel like a warning heard only by those nearing its end.
No one was slow to respond.
Minamoto moved first, his thin body disappearing into the dust as if merging with the ground itself. Almost at the same moment, Taiko( Kaito's father )swooped down with his iron-clad fists, directly at the creature's chest.
Before the blow could land, the creature calmly raised its left hand, and dense tentacles and black chains emerged from it, coiling like an organic shield in front of its body. The massive fist collided with them, and a shockwave of energy erupted in all directions.
A tremendous rumble echoed through the tunnel, and small pebbles flew from the ground, while Tsuki, Hiro-shin, Hana, and Saya were thrown backward violently, as if struck by a wall of violent air.
Everyone fell... except Kaito.
He was still standing there, his clothes rippling around him, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the scene, as if his feet were tied to the ground.
As for Taiko, he stepped back lightly, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, smiled, and said in a voice filled with enthusiasm:
"Your boxing is fun, Carradale..."
The creature raised its head and, for the first time, said its name:
"Carradale... That is the shadow you have created. I am but a mirror of your actions."
His voice was calm, unfurling, as if fighting meant nothing more to him than an experience.
Suddenly, from beneath Carradale's feet, the dust exploded, and Minamoto emerged, his hands holding the chain glowing with strange symbols, facing the creature.
The final echo of the chapter was the sound of metal scraping against stone, and a gray flash pierced the darkness...
And then...
The chapter ended.