The city had changed.
Even though the sun still shone above Tokyo's jagged skyline, a tension gripped the streets like the calm before a typhoon. Patrols of armed hunters roamed the main districts more openly now, their uniforms marked with different crests — independent groups formed after the rise of the Hollow threat. Some wore sleek black armor, others bore rust-colored jackets and antique weapons, like relics brought back to life.
Kazuki walked beside Ayame, the goddess in human form, her steps light, barely touching the concrete beneath them. She had changed from her ceremonial garb into something more modern — a long cream coat over a fitted indigo shirt, tight slacks, and a slender belt holding a small charm pouch at her side. Her silvery-white hair remained braided, though loose strands fluttered in the breeze like ethereal silk. No one paid her any mind. To them, she was just another beautiful woman.
To Kazuki, she was a constant storm of power — ancient, focused, and barely concealed beneath a veneer of calm.
"You're drawing attention, " he muttered as they passed a group of boys gawking openly at her.
She glanced at him, amused. "Would you prefer I wear a veil? "
"I'd prefer if I didn't have to walk beside someone who looks like a magazine cover. " He tried to keep the edge of sarcasm in check, but her presence made him uncomfortable in ways he didn't know how to explain.
"Is it jealousy, or are you afraid they might see through me? " she asked.
"Neither, " Kazuki replied flatly. "I'm just not used to… this. " He gestured vaguely at everything — the crowds, the hunters, the unease twisting in his stomach.
Ayame slowed her pace slightly, her expression becoming more serious. "The world senses what's coming, even if the people don't. That tension in your chest — it's not just yours. It's the echo of Kaera's essence reacting to the shift in balance. "
He stopped walking, his eyes narrowing. "Kaera… He's still inside me. I can feel him more now. Not like before. It's like… he's watching. "
Ayame tilted her head slightly, her voice gentle now. "He always was. But the more you synchronize with his essence, the more aware you become. That is the cost of power, Kazuki. Awareness. "
He didn't respond.
She let silence fall between them before continuing, "You'll start seeing things you didn't before. Hearing thoughts that aren't your own. You must remember who you are. That's your anchor. "
He nodded reluctantly, but inside, doubt gnawed at him.
When they reached the outer district of Akiruno, the scent of flowers drifted faintly from Yurika's flower shop — the place Kazuki called home. But it wasn't just familiarity that greeted him; it was also the distant voice of Aoi.
She was standing near the shop entrance, her uniform blazer hanging from one arm, her long dark hair ruffled by the breeze. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw him. And then… she saw Ayame.
Their eyes met.
For the briefest second, something unreadable passed through Aoi's gaze — a flicker of tension, or perhaps unease. Kazuki wasn't sure.
"Hey, " he greeted, stepping closer to her.
"You're back, " Aoi said softly. Her voice was steady, but her eyes kept drifting toward Ayame.
"I didn't know you were coming by, " Kazuki said. "I thought you had extra club activities today. "
"I skipped, " she said, avoiding his gaze for a moment. "I just… I needed to see you. "
Ayame remained silent, observing from a short distance, her arms crossed loosely, the wind playing with the edge of her coat.
"I can come back later, " Aoi offered, though her tone made it clear she didn't want to.
"No, it's fine, " Kazuki said quickly. "Ayame was just… helping me with something. "
Ayame stepped forward and bowed slightly. "A pleasure. You must be Aoi. "
Aoi blinked, startled by the formality. "Uh, yes. And you are…? "
"Ayame, " she replied simply. "A… friend of Kazuki's. From a long time ago. "
Aoi nodded slowly, clearly unconvinced. But she didn't press.
"I'll be upstairs, " Kazuki said to Ayame.
She nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to walk down the street, her presence melting into the city like mist vanishing in the light.
Kazuki led Aoi up the narrow stairs of the building, his apartment quiet as always. The faint scent of incense lingered — Ayame must have lit something while waiting earlier.
Aoi stood near the window, watching the streets below. "She's… different. "
"Yeah, " Kazuki admitted, closing the door behind them.
"Are you okay? " she asked suddenly, turning to him. "You seem… distant lately. Ever since that night—"
"I'm fine, " he said too quickly.
"You're not, " Aoi insisted. "I'm not stupid, Kazuki. Something's changed. Your energy… your presence. It feels—"
"Wrong? " he interrupted, bitter.
"No, " she said, stepping closer. "Not wrong. Just… heavier. Like you're carrying something huge. And you're scared I'll see it. "
He looked down, unable to meet her eyes.
She reached out, gently touching his arm. "You can tell me. I'm not afraid of who you are. I never was. "
That hit him harder than he expected. Her words, quiet as they were, sliced through the fog in his mind.
Before he could say anything, a tremor rippled through the ground beneath them. It was faint — just a subtle shift, like the city had exhaled in pain.
They both froze.
Another tremor. Then a sudden, high-pitched wail — sirens — echoing from several blocks away.
Kazuki rushed to the window. Smoke curled into the air in the distance — something had exploded near the western boundary of the district.
Aoi moved to his side, eyes wide. "What is that? "
Kazuki's body tensed. His vision sharpened unnaturally. He could feel the pull — the wrongness — drawing him toward the source.
A Hollow.
A powerful one.
"I have to go, " he said.
Aoi grabbed his wrist. "Kazuki, wait—"
But he was already moving. The world outside had just shifted again.
And Kazuki could feel it.
The storm had begun.
The sky was growing darker, tinged with the orange glow of a setting sun bleeding into the polluted Tokyo haze. On the outskirts of the city, where half-finished construction sites gave way to abandoned buildings and forest overgrowth, a cloud of smoke erupted in a sudden shockwave. The explosion was not man-made. It was something far older. Far worse.
A crater formed in the cracked concrete as a hulking figure emerged from the debris—seven feet tall, hunched and grotesque, its skin a writhing mass of shifting shadows. Glowing crimson eyes blinked to life on every inch of its flesh, watching, twitching, devouring with their gaze. Its chest opened like a grotesque mouth, revealing rows of teeth that extended inward into nothingness. This was no ordinary monster.
This was a Hollow-class Nightmare.
The hunter team that had responded to the call—four skilled fighters in armored gear—stood frozen for half a breath before the screaming started. The creature lunged, impossibly fast for its size, and one hunter disappeared in a blur of motion and blood. Another managed to activate a barrier sigil, which cracked and failed on impact.
"He's not reacting to elemental force! " the lead shouted, backing away and firing his weapon—a charged spear of compressed plasma. It struck the creature in the shoulder and vanished into smoke. No wound. No scream.
"He absorbed it? " another gasped. "How—! "
The creature roared, not with sound, but with pressure. The air itself trembled, and the building behind the team cracked at its foundations.
Far above the chaos, from the rooftop of a distant structure, Kazuki watched. He had sensed the shift before the emergency broadcast went out—a low hum in his chest, like a bone-deep whisper urging him toward the storm. The runic scar along his right arm burned hotter than ever, as if something inside him recognized what lurked below.
He clenched his fists. His school uniform was soaked from running, his breath uneven. He hadn't come here to play hero. And yet…
He exhaled slowly, the city noise fading around him.
The moment he leaped from the building, time felt thinner.
He landed in the dust, a few meters behind the last remaining hunter, who looked at him in confusion, then recognition.
"You—You're not part of the squad! Are you insane! "
Kazuki didn't answer. The creature had noticed him now. All of its hundred eyes turned in unison. The world became unnaturally still.
The shadow on his right arm pulsed. It crept across his chest, curling up his neck. His eye—his right eye—shifted hue, glowing crimson, a mirror to the monster's gaze.
And the creature growled, but not in rage.
In fear.
Kazuki stepped forward.
"You… recognize me, don't you? " he murmured, his voice rougher, deeper.
A tremor passed through the creature's form. Its eyes narrowed, its hunched frame straightened, and for a fleeting second, it looked… reverent. Then it lunged.
Kazuki raised his arm—not to block, but to release.
A shockwave exploded from his palm, pure force rippling outward and shattering the pavement beneath him. The monster skidded back, roaring in distorted agony, clawing at the air.
Kazuki charged. The wind twisted around him, his body moving with unnatural precision. Each step a blur. He ducked under the creature's swipe and delivered a palm strike to its abdomen. A black mark flared on contact—an ancient rune ignited—and a portion of the Hollow's body dissolved into ash.
Behind him, the remaining hunter stood dumbfounded.
"What the hell is he! "
Back at the edge of the city, Aoi watched the news feed in a small rest station with Haruki. A public screen showed blurry drone footage of the monster attack.
"There's another signal, " the broadcaster said. "A new energy signature… unknown origin. It's—wait, it's overpowering the Hollow. "
Aoi stood up, heart pounding. She didn't need to see his face. She felt it.
Kazuki.
Haruki turned toward her, blinking. "You okay? "
She nodded, but her fingers trembled.
"I need some air. "
As she stepped outside, the wind carried with it the distant echo of something ancient. Something divine. A presence both terrifying and familiar.
Kazuki stood among the dust and debris, his breath heavy, eyes dimmed to normal. The creature lay in fragments, its core—a pulsing orb of red light—slowly fading into the earth.
He stared down at it.
Then he whispered, "You weren't even the worst of them, were you? "
He turned and vanished before the emergency team arrived.
Only footprints remained—burned into the pavement like a brand.
The transmission had ended, but the ripples it caused hadn't even begun to settle.
Haruki stared at the black screen, frozen. His fingers still hovered over the keyboard as if waiting to rewind what couldn't be undone. His jaw clenched. His heart thudded in his chest—not just from fear, but recognition. That figure. That flame. That presence. It was him.
Kazuki.
He didn't say a word.
Aoi, beside him, said even less—but her trembling hand was clenched so tightly around the edge of the desk that her knuckles had gone white. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, breaths shallow. She knew. Deep in her core, she knew.
And yet… she couldn't understand how.
The boy who walked silently through the corridors. Who sat at the back of class with distant eyes. The boy who once smiled quietly when she dropped her pencil, who handed it back without a word. The boy who now stood alone in that ruined facility, covered in ash and blood and power—a god cloaked in shadows.
"Kazuki…" she whispered, and it felt like the syllables burned on her tongue.
Haruki turned his head slowly toward her. "You knew? "
"No, " she said. "I… I suspected. But I didn't want it to be true. Not like this. "
The video had shown it all. Not just the explosion, not just the dark energy warping through the air like a raging storm—but the eyes. That single, glowing red eye and the right half of his body draped in darkness. The monstrous energy radiating from his frame. The unshakable calm in his movements.
The kind of calm only someone inhuman could carry.
"I have to find him, " she said suddenly.
"Aoi—wait, " Haruki said, standing as she stormed toward the door. "You can't just run out there! What if that thing… if that wasn't Kazuki? What if—"
"I know what I saw. " She looked back at him, eyes filled with something between fear and loyalty. "He saved all of them. If he wanted to hurt people, he had the chance. He didn't. He protected them. Just like he protected me. "
Haruki's mouth fell open slightly, remembering her words from weeks ago. The night she came home shaken, silent. She never said what had happened. She only said, "I owe someone everything. "
Now it made sense.
"I'm going with you, " he said.
"You don't have to. "
"I know. But I want to. "
—
The sky over Akiruno was growing darker, streaked with burnt clouds and silent winds that carried the scent of scorched metal. Kazuki stumbled through the alleyway behind the flower shop, his body heavy, soaked with dried blood and broken pain. Each step felt like dragging stone. His muscles cried out, his right arm still pulsing from the overwhelming surge of divine power he had unleashed.
He had pushed it too far.
He had touched something again—something vast, ancient, dangerous. And it answered him.
Kaer's voice had not returned since the Hollow disintegrated into mist. But Kazuki still felt the echo of his presence ringing in his bones.
You're growing stronger, boy. But strength has a price.
The bell above the flower shop door chimed softly as Kazuki stumbled inside, leaning on the wooden frame. Yurika, arranging fresh lilies in the corner, gasped and rushed toward him.
"Kazuki! What happened! "
He didn't answer. Just smiled weakly.
"I… tripped. "
"You look like you survived a bomb blast! "
He wanted to laugh, but couldn't. She helped him upstairs to his room, where he collapsed onto the futon, barely managing to untie his blood-soaked shoes. Yurika didn't press for answers. She rarely did. Perhaps she knew, in her own quiet way, that Kazuki carried things no boy should have to carry.
She placed a warm towel by his side and closed the door.
Alone, in the fading light of evening, Kazuki stared at the cracked ceiling. The events replayed behind his eyes—the Hollow's roar, the explosion, the ash. And them. Aoi. Haruki.
They saw.
They know now.
He didn't know what terrified him more—that he had lost control, or that someone had finally witnessed the thing he was becoming.
Or worse—that they might not look at him the same again.
He closed his eyes.
"I didn't ask for this, " he whispered.
But the mark on his chest burned with divine heat.
—
Meanwhile, across town, chaos had already begun to bubble beneath the surface.
The footage from the Hollow facility had been leaked. The hunter organizations—those unofficial groups that had risen from the ashes of humanity's desperation—were scrambling.
Who was the unidentified male?
Was he a new experimental weapon?
Was he a threat?
A savior?
And more importantly…
Was he human?
One of the senior hunters—a man with sharp eyes and a scar running down his neck—rewound the footage again and again, freezing it at the moment Kazuki's right hand dissolved into black flame. He zoomed into the eye. The aura. The crimson flicker.
"This isn't a mutation, " he said coldly. "This is something else. Something old. "
"Sir, " said a younger hunter, voice shaking, "should we classify him as a priority threat? "
The man paused.
"No. Not yet. But keep every camera in the city watching. Whoever he is… he won't stay hidden forever. "
—
Night fell.
And in the forest outside Akiruno, where the runes had first whispered to the boy with nothing, a figure stood among the trees, her cloak glowing faintly with celestial energy.
Long silver hair danced in the moonlight. Eyes like starlit fire. A presence older than time.
The goddess watched the stars shift above.
"He's awakening, " she whispered.
"And soon… he'll remember who he truly is. "
The school felt different the next morning.
Not just because of the unease in the air, or the whispers that followed Kazuki through the halls like shadows. It was something deeper—subtle, but sharp. As if the entire building had taken a breath and was waiting for something to shatter.
He walked through the corridors with his usual silence, head lowered, hands in his pockets, eyes distant. Yet every movement was watched. Every step he took left a trail of curious glances and nervous murmurs behind him.
Students passed him with stiff shoulders and held breaths.
"Did you see the video? "
"That guy… that wasn't human, right? "
"Some say he's a weapon. "
"Others say he's a monster. "
Kazuki didn't need to hear the words to know they were about him.
The timing was too precise. The figure in the video. The red eye. The blackened arm. The flame that consumed shadows and left only silence behind.
It was him.
And they all knew.
But none of them had the courage to ask.
None of them—except her.
"Aoi, " he said, voice catching slightly as she stepped out from behind a classroom door.
She stood in the hallway, her hands folded behind her back, a nervous energy trembling in her fingertips. She looked up at him—not with fear. Not with doubt. But with something far more dangerous.
Understanding.
"Kazuki, " she whispered, just loud enough for only him to hear.
He stopped in his tracks, their eyes locking like two old memories colliding.
She stepped closer. Her voice was calm. Deliberate.
"Come with me. "
—
They ended up on the rooftop. It was quiet, as always. The wind carried the scent of morning dew and electricity. The city stretched endlessly below them—so loud, so blind.
He leaned against the railing. She stood beside him, close, but not too close.
"I saw you, " she said. "That night. In the facility. "
Kazuki's breath caught. He looked away.
"You shouldn't have been there. "
"And yet I was. "
Silence.
The wind stirred again. Kazuki's fingers tightened around the edge of the metal.
"I didn't want you to see me like that. "
"You mean… like a hero? "
He flinched. "That's not what I am. "
"No. You're not. But you saved them anyway. "
He turned his head slowly toward her. There was no judgment in her voice. No fear. Just warmth. A quiet storm.
She reached into her pocket and pulled something out—a small, broken charm. It looked old, fragile, half-burned on one edge.
"You dropped this, " she said, offering it to him.
He stared at it, surprised. It was the charm he wore around his neck—the last thing he had from the orphanage. It must've torn off during the Hollow's collapse.
He took it carefully. His hands trembled.
"I never told anyone about this, " he said.
"You didn't have to. "
Her voice softened. "I always knew there was something different about you. Not in a bad way. Just… something heavy in your eyes. Like you were carrying a world no one else could see. "
His heart squeezed. His throat tightened.
"You're not afraid? " he asked.
Aoi smiled, gently. "Of you? No. Of what's coming? Maybe. But not if you're still here. "
He turned to face her fully now.
Their eyes met again, and something cracked in the space between them.
Not a secret.
Not fear.
But connection.
Real. Fragile. Human.
"I don't know how long I can keep hiding it, " he said. "People are watching. Hunters are watching. They'll come after me eventually. "
"Then let them come. "
She stepped closer, her fingers brushing his—barely there, like a whisper of comfort.
"You're not alone anymore, Kazuki. "
His breath hitched.
And in that moment, standing on the rooftop with the city trembling below and her presence beside him, Kazuki felt something rare.
Peace.
Even if just for a second.
Even if the storm was already on its way.
By the time Kazuki stepped off the school grounds that afternoon, the sky had begun to shift. Clouds swirled above Tokyo like silent witnesses to something ancient reawakening. A storm was coming—not just of thunder and rain, but of something deeper. Something not born of the sky.
He felt it in his bones.
The presence. The pressure.
As if the world itself was holding its breath.
His phone buzzed.
A message from an encrypted number:
"Unit Gamma mobilizing. Hollow-class anomaly detected. Location: Akiruno Valley. Estimated threat level: Nightmare. "
Nightmare.
Kazuki stared at the word, his blood turning cold.
That wasn't a random attack.
It was too close.
Too intentional.
He pocketed the phone, his heart pounding.
Behind him, he heard footsteps—quick, light, familiar.
Haruki.
"You saw the message too? " Kazuki asked without turning.
"Yeah, " Haruki replied, stopping beside him. "Nightmare class. That's above anything we've handled before. "
"You shouldn't go. "
Haruki looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Seriously? You're saying that now? After everything we've been through? "
Kazuki hesitated. Haruki wasn't ready. Not for this. Not for what was waiting in that forest.
"You don't know what's out there. "
"And you do? "
Their eyes locked.
Haruki didn't press further. He didn't need to. The silence between them was thick with unspoken truths.
"I'm going, " Haruki said finally. "Whether you follow or not. "
Kazuki closed his eyes.
Then nodded once.
—
The forest was darker than before.
Not just in light—but in feeling. The trees seemed twisted. The air was thick and unnatural, carrying the faint metallic taste of something dead… or dying.
It was the same forest where the rune had fallen.
Where everything began.
He stepped ahead of the others, silently moving through the shadows, his senses sharp.
A crack.
A whisper.
Something moved in the darkness.
Then—
It emerged.
The monster was unlike anything they had seen.
Tall. Gaunt. Its body looked like it had once been human, but had been hollowed out and stretched beyond its limits. Bones jutted through translucent, pulsating skin. Its eyes were empty voids that screamed in silence.
And its aura—
Unmistakable.
Nightmare-class.
Two junior hunters behind Kazuki immediately froze.
Haruki drew his weapon, breath shallow.
Kazuki didn't move.
The creature tilted its head, like it recognized him.
And then—it spoke.
Not in words. Not in voice.
But in thought.
"Kaer…? "
Kazuki's eyes widened.
It knew.
It recognized the god inside him.
"What did it just—? " Haruki stepped back, startled.
Kazuki raised his arm.
The air around him shimmered.
The black energy surged again, climbing up his right side, twisting into sharp, burning markings that pulsed with divine heat. His eye flared red.
"I'll handle it, " he whispered.
"Kazuki—! "
"Stay back. "
And then he vanished.
In a blur of shadow and fire, he launched himself at the monster.
Blow after blow.
The creature screamed without sound, retaliating with claws of bone and smoke. It moved with unnatural speed, regenerating where Kazuki struck.
But Kazuki—he was faster.
His body became a blur of shadows, the runic energy forming spears of flame and raw divine power. The ground trembled beneath their battle.
Behind him, Haruki and the others could only watch—helpless, stunned.
This wasn't human combat.
This was something else.
Something divine.
Kazuki was being consumed by the power.
And he knew it.
But he couldn't stop.
Not now.
Not with their lives on the line.
Not with the creature calling him—
Kaer.
The battlefield crackled with tension. Trees bent under the pressure of the runic energy pulsating from Kazuki's body. The Nightmare-class creature staggered, its limbs regenerating slower now, twitching with every pulse of Kazuki's blows. It shrieked again, the sound tearing through the minds of those present—not heard, but felt.
And then—
The storm broke.
Rain poured from the heavens in violent sheets, soaking the earth, the trees, the skin of the hunters watching in awe.
But Kazuki…
He didn't feel the rain.
His right arm was no longer human. The dark energy had twisted it into a sharp, almost armored form—like a blade sculpted from divine shadow. The red glow in his eye pulsed with a rhythm not of this world.
His voice was no longer just his own.
"You call me Kaer…" Kazuki said, though his voice was deeper—echoing, layered with something ancient.
"But I am only the shell. The vessel. "
The creature fell to its knees.
"Forgive… me…" it rasped, clawing at its own chest, as if the sight of Kazuki's form had unraveled what little sanity it possessed.
Then came the silence.
And then—the scream.
But this scream came from the sky.
Lightning struck the earth nearby, so close the explosion of sound knocked several hunters off their feet. Haruki stood his ground only barely, shielding his eyes from the brightness.
He turned to Kazuki—
And what he saw would haunt him forever.
The markings on Kazuki's body had now spread to his face, climbing like dark vines of glowing scripture. His body radiated light and darkness at once. Around him, the rain didn't touch the earth—it evaporated before landing. He was in a void of his own making.
An eye opened.
Not his.
Above him.
In the sky.
A giant, blood-red eye.
Watching.
A fragment of Kaer's divine consciousness.
The creature tried to crawl away, sobbing like a broken child.
Kazuki raised his arm.
"Return to the flame. "
With a final pulse of energy, black fire erupted from his hand, engulfing the monster completely. The light was blinding—and yet cold. It did not burn. It erased.
When the fire receded, there was nothing left.
No ashes.
No body.
No scream.
Only silence.
Kazuki lowered his arm, breathing hard. The divine markings slowly began to fade, the red in his eye dimming.
The others didn't dare approach.
Only Haruki moved.
"Kazuki…" he said cautiously.
But Kazuki didn't respond.
He stood there, staring up at the sky.
At the fading image of the divine eye.
And whispered,
"You're watching me now, aren't you? "
The storm began to die.
The clouds broke apart.
But the tension remained.
Haruki took a hesitant step closer. "What the hell was that thing? Why did it call you Kaer? "
Kazuki finally turned to him.
His voice was barely audible.
"I think… I think it remembered him. "
Haruki blinked. "Him? "
"The god. "
Kazuki touched his chest—right over his heart.
"He's not gone. He's inside me. "
Haruki stared in disbelief. "You're saying… you're a god now? "
"No. " Kazuki shook his head. "I'm his echo. His last flame. "
Far off in the distance, another lightning bolt danced across the sky. But this time, it felt distant. Unrelated.
Kazuki turned away.
"We need to leave. Before something else comes. "
Haruki nodded slowly, still trying to process what he had just seen.
As they walked back through the soaked forest, Haruki glanced at him again.
"You really scared me, you know? "
Kazuki gave him a faint smile. "I scare myself sometimes. "
They emerged from the trees just as the first rays of sun began to pierce the dissipating storm. Behind them, the place where the battle had taken place looked untouched—like nothing had ever happened.
But something had.
And the world would never be the same.