The forest grew colder with every step.
Hitachi's legs trembled beneath him, but he didn't stop. His bloodstained uniform clung to his skin, heavy with dried sweat and fear. Branches scratched at his arms, roots tugged at his feet, and the wind whispered things he didn't understand. Yet he kept moving, following the narrow path carved between the trees.
The night refused to end. Hours might've passed—maybe only minutes. Time didn't feel real anymore. Everything smelled of damp earth and something older… something like ash and stone.
He didn't know what he expected a temple to look like.
But when he reached the clearing, he knew.
It wasn't made of gold or marble or any of the things human temples were built from. No, this one had no doors. No walls. Just three obsidian pillars arranged in a triangle around a sunken platform covered in strange red symbols. The symbols pulsed faintly, like veins in stone, glowing with a sick, rhythmic light.
At the center of the platform was a pool—shallow, black, and still. It didn't reflect the sky. It didn't reflect anything.
Hitachi stood at the edge of the circle, unsure if he was supposed to step in. Then the shadows moved again.
The same figure from the woods emerged, no longer hiding. It didn't speak. It didn't need to.
"You brought me here," Hitachi said quietly. "Now what?"
The figure pointed at the pool. "Step inside."
He hesitated. "What is it?"
"A mirror. A cage. A key."
"Is it safe?"
A low, hollow chuckle escaped the figure. "Nothing about this is safe."
Hitachi swallowed hard. His heart was hammering again—but it wasn't fear anymore. It was something closer to hunger. Curiosity. Need.
He stepped into the circle.
The moment his foot crossed the glowing symbols, the world shifted. The trees around him faded into shadows, the stars above blinked out. Even the cold air seemed to vanish.
He stepped into the pool.
It wasn't water. It felt like ink—thick and warm, wrapping around his ankles and pulling him deeper, even though he didn't move. He gasped, but it didn't hurt. It didn't drown him.
It welcomed him.
The blackness rose past his waist. His chest. His throat.
Then it swallowed him whole.
—
Hitachi opened his eyes.
He was no longer in the forest.
He was… nowhere.
Just endless black, stretching in every direction. A sky without stars. A ground without texture. He stood, somehow, yet had no shadow.
Then something flickered in the distance.
A small light. Like a dying ember.
He walked toward it.
With each step, the voices returned—quieter now. More focused.
"Weak…"
"You ran…"
"You spilled blood…"
"You liked it…"
He didn't answer. He couldn't.
The ember grew larger. Brighter.
And then he saw it.
A mirror.
Floating in the dark, taller than any man, wrapped in chains that pulsed with red runes. Its surface shimmered like liquid silver, but his reflection wasn't what stared back.
It was… the other him.
The one he didn't want to admit existed.
The eyes were darker. The grin sharper. Blood stained the lips and fingers, as if they had just finished feeding.
"You're not me," Hitachi whispered.
The reflection tilted its head.
"Aren't I?"
The voice came from the mirror, but it echoed inside his skull.
"I'm the part you hide. The part you bury. I'm the strength. The rage. The truth."
Hitachi stepped closer. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"No. But you didn't reject it, either."
The mirror's surface rippled. The reflection reached forward—its hand pressing against the glass.
"Let me in."
"No."
"Let me show you how to survive. Let me show you what power truly is."
"I've already seen what power does. It destroys everything."
The voice grew sharper. Hungrier.
"Then destroy. Burn them. Crush them. Make them kneel. You are a god in the skin of a boy. Stop pretending to be small."
Hitachi's fists clenched.
Something inside him cracked.
Not broke—just… opened.
He stared into the mirror, and the reflection smiled wider.
"You're scared of me because you know I'm right. You've always known."
Hitachi reached out slowly—hand trembling as it hovered just above the glass.
"Who are you?"
"I am the key. I am the blood. I am what the Shadow King left behind."
A pause.
"And I am you."
The mirror shattered.
But instead of falling, the pieces spun around him—each shard reflecting different memories. Hospital rooms. His grandfather crying. The bullies at school. The agents on the floor. His own face, screaming. His own hands, shaking.
The shards flew faster and faster, until they became a storm.
And then—
Silence.
He stood alone again.
Except… not alone.
Behind him, he felt it.
A heartbeat.
Not his own.
He turned.
And there it was.
A creature made of shadow and smoke—taller than any human, with eyes like burning coals and wings that stretched into the void. It didn't speak. It didn't move.
But he understood it.
It was the first.
The one sealed inside him before the others.
The commander of the ten thousand.
The ancient one.
It bowed.
Not mockingly.
Respectfully.
Hitachi stepped forward.
He didn't feel afraid anymore.
He felt seen.
He felt… ready.
The creature reached out a clawed hand—not to hurt, but to touch.
Its fingertip tapped his chest.
And suddenly, the black world shattered like glass.
—
He gasped, falling backward out of the pool.
The forest returned.
So did the night.
But everything felt different.
His body buzzed. Not like adrenaline. Like something inside him had awakened. Like something ancient had finally stretched its limbs after a long sleep.
The figure stood beside the pillars, watching.
"You saw him," it said.
Hitachi nodded slowly.
"I saw myself."
The figure handed him something.
A black chain. Thin, simple, and cold.
"Your first bond. Wear it. It marks the beginning."
Hitachi took it and wrapped it around his wrist.
He didn't know what came next.
But for the first time, he wasn't scared to find out.
He looked toward the horizon.
And for the first time in days, he saw the faint hint of morning light.