The Inheritance of Fire
Smoke twisted through the shattered hallway like a ghost.
Tsukihana stood frozen in the doorway, watching as Kira—her closest companion, her only sister in this cruel world—raised her hand, and that twisted black Vein energy coiled in her palm like a serpent ready to strike.
"Kira," she whispered.
No response.
Kira's eyes weren't red anymore. They were empty sockets of silver-blue flame.
Not hers.
The Hollow King was inside her now.
Renjiro groaned behind Tsukihana, clutching his bleeding side. "Get back," he muttered. "She's not herself…"
But Tsukihana didn't move.
She couldn't.
Because deep down, a part of her still believed Kira was in there… fighting.
Possession
The air snapped like a broken bone.
Kira stepped forward slowly. The Vein around her swirled violently — dark and cold, laced with sparks of red and black lightning.
But Tsukihana didn't raise her fists.
Instead, she said one word.
"…Remember."
Kira's body shuddered.
For a brief moment, her face flickered — her lips parted.
"Tsuki…?" she said, voice trembling.
Then her eyes widened in horror. Her own hand flew toward Tsukihana — faster than any strike she'd ever seen from Kira.
But it stopped inches from her face.
Kira's whole body trembled violently, her knees buckling.
She screamed — a raw, shattered sound as her own soul battled the Hollow King inside her.
"Run…!" she begged.
"I'm losing—!"
The shadow burst out of her back like smoke.
It roared.
And then everything exploded.
Escape and Fire
Tsukihana barely managed to shield Renjiro before the wall behind them shattered and flame surged through the corridor.
Something in her snapped — her Hollow Vein burned hotter than ever before.
But this time, it wasn't just purple.
It was streaked with gold.
Renjiro looked up through blurred vision. "That… that's not the Hollow…"
"No," Tsukihana whispered. "It's something else."
Her hands shook.
For a moment, she felt like her body was full of fire. Not the kind that destroys — but the kind that frees.
She pulled Renjiro over her shoulder and sprinted through the collapsing hallway as Kira's scream echoed behind them.
She didn't look back.
She couldn't.
Not now.
Refuge Beneath the Temple
They found shelter beneath the temple ruins — in a forgotten chamber with glowing stones and Vein scripts carved on the walls.
Renjiro collapsed to the ground. "You saved me…"
Tsukihana placed him gently against the wall and sat beside him.
She said nothing for a long time.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"That energy you used. It wasn't from the Hollow King."
Tsukihana looked down at her hands.
"They felt… mine," she said.
Renjiro nodded slowly. "That's because it was. You've awakened something that hasn't been seen in centuries."
He pointed to the glowing carvings above.
"The Infernal Vein."
The Infernal Vein
Once, long ago, there was a sixth Vein — lost in legend.
Neither dark nor light.
Neither Hollow nor Sacred.
A wild flame that responded only to one thing: raw emotion.
Rage, love, sorrow — it drank from the purest feelings and turned them into unstoppable force.
"But it was unstable," Renjiro said. "It nearly destroyed those who carried it. That's why the monks tried to erase it."
Tsukihana clenched her fists. "And now it's inside me."
He looked at her. "Maybe it always was."
They sat in silence again.
Kira was gone.
Possessed.
And the only way to save her…
Was to confront the Hollow King.
A Message in the Fire
That night, as Tsukihana slept, her dreams turned to ash and light.
She stood in the ruins of her past — her old home, her mother's voice, Akarui's last words…
And then she saw the younger version of herself again.
The one from the Hollow King's memory.
The girl turned and whispered something Tsukihana had never heard before:
"When you burn… do not fear it."
"That's when you're most alive."
She woke up gasping.
Her hands were glowing gold and purple again.
And next to her on the stone floor…
A single feather.
It was burning — but it didn't turn to ash.
It pulsed like a heart.
Cliffhanger: The Hollow King's Warning
Far away, in a tower swallowed by mist and shadow, the Hollow King stood at a balcony of bone.
Kira knelt behind him, body bound by invisible chains, her eyes flickering between pain and nothingness.
He spoke to the wind.
"To burn without control is to destroy."
"But if she learns to wield it…"
He smiled.
"…then she may become my greatest mistake."
He turned toward Kira and placed a cold hand on her shoulder.
"It's time to bring the others out of hiding."
"Let her see what it means… to be the cage."