SAI SHINU
He didn't rise, not immediately. Instead, he turned his head slightly, as though my presence was no more than a whisper of wind at his back. "I know what you've lost. I know the hatred that sits in your chest. And yet…" His hands lowered slowly, deliberately. "…do you think you can truly kill me, boy?"
My rage cracked through me like lightning. I wasn't going to waste breath arguing.
I vanished. Shadow Step.
The floor folded beneath my feet as I reappeared behind him, my blade cutting through the stillness of the void. A perfect arc, aimed at his spine, meant to end this before he could even rise from his false prayers.
Steel met nothing.
The air itself seemed to lurch as my blade was caught—not by steel, but by a veil of blood that seeped from his very skin, wrapping him in a crimson shroud. My strike shuddered against it, sparks scattering into the dark void sky.
He rose at last, turning to face me. His eyes were steady, almost pitying.
"This," he said, tapping a gauntlet of hardened blood that pulsed around his hand, "is the Red Veil. Do you see now? Rage will not break it. Desperation will not pierce it. As long as blood stains this world, I cannot be harmed."
I stumbled back a step, my teeth clenched so tight I thought they'd break. My blade quivered in my hand. He had stolen my first move, crushed my momentum.
For a moment I could only stare, breathing hard, fury boiling over with every exhale. I forced myself still. I couldn't lose myself—not yet.
I whispered to no one but myself, "Calm down. Think, Sai. Don't give him what he wants."
And in the silence between us, I realized he was letting me breathe. Letting me compose myself, as if confident that no plan I formed could undo him. That smile—faint and mocking—burned more than fire.
His blood-red armor pulsed faintly, like a living thing, drinking in the silence of the Astral dimension. I could feel its rhythm, beating in time with his heart. He didn't rush forward. He didn't even lift his sword. He just stood there—watching me, letting me stew in the weight of his presence.
It was unbearable.
"You're mocking me," I said at last, my voice low. "You think you've already won."
His lips curved, not quite into a smile but close enough to ignite the fire in my chest.
"No," he replied calmly. "I'm teaching you. Every step you've taken tonight is born of vengeance. That path has only one end."
I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. "Don't speak to me like you understand. Don't—don't dare say her name or pretend you know what it means to me!"
His eyes narrowed just slightly. "Your mother begged. She wept. But she also understood inevitability. Tell me, boy… will you make her mistake and cling to hope? Or will you accept that some chains cannot be broken?"
I raised my blade and pointed it at him. The fury inside me flared hot, but I forced my breathing steady. He wanted me reckless, blind. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Chains can be broken," I said, each word ground out between my teeth. "And tonight, yours break with you."
For the first time, he chuckled. The sound was dry, humorless, like gravel grinding together.
"Then let us see."
He spread his arms wide. The Red Veil pulsed once—then again. The floor of the Astral plane trembled beneath us.
And then the blood spilled.
It seeped into the pristine white marble at his feet, spreading like veins across the infinite floor. The ground shuddered. From the cracks, shapes began to crawl forth.
Claws. Wings. Eyes that glowed with a sickly light.
One. Ten. Fifty. A hundred.
Until there were thousands.
Chimeras.