The scent of smoke lingered in the air, faint and bitter — a fading memory of the training grounds Kazuki had left behind.
He stood atop a rocky ridge just beyond the valley, overlooking the mist-draped forests of western Akiruno. From this height, Tokyo's distant skyline shimmered like a ghost, barely visible through the layers of fog and dusk. The world below felt smaller now. Quieter. As if nature itself held its breath.
Kazuki adjusted the strap of his dark jacket, the runic pattern beneath his shirt pulsing faintly against his chest — a constant reminder of what now lived within him. Zetsugan hung at his side, its presence almost weightless, yet radiating with restrained hunger. A blade not made to be sheathed, but contained — barely.
He had been silent since the moment he left Soleina's domain.
Not because there was nothing to say.
But because the words he once clung to — fear, doubt, hesitation — had burned away in that final trial. What remained was something colder. Sharper. Ready.
A gust of wind blew across the ridge, carrying with it the faintest sound — not natural, not wind.
A whisper.
Kazuki's eyes narrowed.
He crouched instinctively, placing his hand to the ground. The earth was warm… unnaturally so. The trees swayed below, but not in rhythm. Something stirred them from within. Something wrong.
Then — a scream.
Human.
Far off, but not far enough.
Kazuki moved without hesitation, boots crunching against the gravel before launching himself down the slope. The wind screamed in his ears, the forest rushing up to meet him like a collapsing wave.
He didn't hesitate.
He didn't need to anymore.
Deep in the forest, beneath a canopy of trembling leaves, two young hunters stumbled backward, their blades cracked and their clothes torn. One of them — a girl no older than seventeen — clutched her shoulder, blood seeping between her fingers. Her partner stood in front of her, shielding her with a broken weapon and a glare full of defiance.
Before them stood the creature.
A Nightmare-class demon.
It was massive — over three meters tall, with limbs that seemed stitched together from smoke and bone. Its face was a cracked, eyeless mask, and from its mouth seeped black mist that burned the grass beneath its feet. Its claws scraped against the ground, hungry.
The girl whispered, "It wasn't supposed to be this strong—"
Her partner didn't answer. He knew it wouldn't matter.
The demon let out a hiss, a sound that vibrated in the lungs, not the ears.
And then — it lunged.
But before it could reach them, something dropped from the canopy above like a shadow.
A single flash.
A streak of black and crimson.
The demon recoiled — its claw swiped the air where the girl had been — and missed. In its place stood Kazuki.
His right eye glowed red. Half of his face was shadowed by the runic pattern now etched into his skin. Zetsugan was drawn — not with flourish, but with quiet certainty. Smoke curled off its blade like breath in cold air.
Kazuki didn't speak.
He moved.
In an instant, he was behind the demon. A blur.
Blood — dark and steaming — spilled from a fresh slash across the demon's back.
The two hunters blinked in disbelief.
Kazuki turned slowly, his face unreadable.
The demon roared and charged again, claws flashing with speed. But Kazuki didn't dodge this time — he caught the strike on his blade, and the ground beneath him cracked. Sparks danced around his feet as his boots dug into the dirt, and Zetsugan sang with pressure.
Kazuki exhaled once.
Then he twisted.
The blade carved clean through the demon's arm — not just slicing flesh, but undoing it. The limb turned to ash mid-air, disintegrating as if its very existence had been rejected.
The demon staggered, howling — and for the first time, it feared.
Kazuki looked up, his expression empty, yet burning.
"Run, " he told the two hunters behind him.
They didn't move.
He didn't repeat himself.
The demon attacked again, more desperate now. More erratic.
Kazuki met it head-on.
The forest exploded in noise — steel on claw, flame against shadow, power tearing through trees and soil. Each clash shook the air. Birds scattered. Light bent.
But Kazuki never faltered.
Not even once.
He was no longer hiding.
He was the flame in the ash.
And tonight, the Nightmare would end.
The sky outside the temple had deepened to a charcoal gray, the kind that threatened thunder but held its breath. Inside, the air was dense with incense and the electric trace of divine power. Kazuki stood in silence before the ancient shrine wall, eyes fixed on the shifting crimson light that now danced across his right arm. The veins beneath his skin pulsed unnaturally, glowing a deep red, like lava running beneath a surface too fragile to hold it.
His body had begun to change again—subtly at first. His senses sharpened. His breath echoed louder in his ears. He could feel the faintest vibration in the floor, the minute flickers of candlelight on his skin. And more than anything, he could feel… something else. Watching. Listening. Stirring.
Behind him, the Goddess approached silently, her footsteps making no sound against the sacred stone.
"You feel it now, don't you? " she said, voice low and calm. "The Crimson Vein is awakening. You've taken Kaer's essence deeper than any mortal before you. "
Kazuki nodded slowly. "It's… different this time. It's not just energy. It's like the flame is alive inside me. "
The Goddess stood beside him, her golden eyes narrowed as she observed the patterns of red that curled and shimmered over his flesh like divine tattoos. "It is alive. Kaer's power was never inert. It was sealed. Dormant. Now that the runes have fully resonated with your soul, it is no longer a flame. It's a consciousness. A memory that wants to become real again. "
Kazuki turned toward her, uncertain. "What happens if it takes over? "
Her expression darkened. "Then the world will have two Kaers. And only one will survive. "
He inhaled sharply. That possibility had always lingered in the back of his mind, like a whisper from the abyss. But hearing her say it aloud made it real.
"You're still you, Kazuki, " she said gently, stepping closer. "But you must remain grounded in who you are. These veins—" she touched his arm, the red light shifting in response—"they are not a prison. They are a path. Follow it, and you'll understand the truth of your connection. "
A faint shiver ran through him at her touch—not of fear, but something deeper. Reverence? Connection? He didn't know. All he knew was that she wasn't just guiding him—she was watching him with something almost human in her gaze.
"I'll follow it, " he said, his voice steady. "But I want to know what's waiting at the end. "
She looked into his eyes. "Your destiny. Or your destruction. The two often wear the same face. "
A flash of memory hit him then—Aoi's face, filled with wonder and fear the night she saw him fight. Her trembling fingers reaching toward the blackened side of his face. Her whispered words: "You're still you, right…? "
That memory became his anchor. The Goddess seemed to sense it.
"Hold onto her, " she said. "She might be your only link to the life you're trying to protect. "
A distant tremor rumbled through the earth beneath the temple. Not natural. Not distant. The kind of quake that heralded something rising.
The Goddess snapped her gaze to the temple doors. "They've found you. "
Kazuki turned, instinctively letting the runes spread further across his skin. "More Hollow? "
"Something worse, " she replied. "A creature born of corrupted divine blood. A Revenant. This temple… it's built atop one of the battlefields where Kaer once bled. "
Kazuki's heart slammed in his chest. "You're saying the earth itself remembers? "
"It does more than remember, " she said, stepping away and drawing a gleaming, ethereal spear from thin air. "It revives. "
Outside, the clouds cracked with lightning. A deafening roar followed—a sound not of beast or machine, but of something in agony and fury, rising from the soil.
Kazuki stepped forward. "Then I'll remind it who still guards this world. "
The Goddess gave him a look of fierce pride, and—for the first time—a hint of fear. "Show me, Kazuki. Show me if you are Kaer's successor… or his mistake. "
The damp air of the underpass choked the breath in my lungs. Stone arches above us wept with condensation, each drop falling like a whisper from the past. The further we descended into the forgotten ruins beneath the city's surface, the more I felt it — not just the pressure of the earth, but something older, something watching.
Aoi was just behind me, her breathing steady, even though I knew she must feel it too. The lantern Haruki carried flickered despite there being no wind. Each step echoed too loudly, swallowed too quickly by the darkness. The stone beneath our feet was slick and cracked, engraved with symbols long erased by time.
"Are we getting closer? " Haruki asked, voice lower than usual. His typical energy was gone, replaced by tension he couldn't hide.
"I don't know, " I muttered, scanning the shadows, "but the runes are changing. "
They were. The further we went, the more intricate the markings became. The language etched along the walls shifted from crude script to something elegant, sacred, something only the runa within me could truly recognize. Kaer's tongue. The tongue of gods.
I touched one of the markings gently. The moment my fingers met the stone, I felt a spark shoot through my hand and into my chest. Not pain — resonance. A soft voice, feminine, ancient, whispered inside me.
"Do not wake what sleeps. "
I staggered back, heart thundering. Aoi caught my arm.
"What happened? "
"The runes… they're alive. " I looked at my hand. The black patterns that traced my skin were faintly glowing now, as if the symbols on the walls were speaking to them.
"Wait, " Haruki said suddenly. "Do you hear that? "
We froze. A low hum. Not mechanical. Organic. It reverberated through the walls, through our bones. A heartbeat? No… it was too slow. Too massive. Like the breathing of something ancient beneath stone.
Then, silence.
Aoi took a cautious step forward and lifted the light toward an archway. The hallway ahead was lined with broken statues, their features eroded beyond recognition. Some looked like gods. Others like demons. Each one had its head broken off, deliberately destroyed.
"They feared being watched, " Aoi whispered.
Or silenced them, I thought.
We moved deeper into the tunnel until we came to a chamber — circular, vast, hidden from time. In the center stood a pedestal, black as obsidian, and on it… a fragment of something. Not a weapon. Not a crown. A piece of armor.
A gauntlet.
Black, pulsing faintly.
I took a step toward it, and the air in the room shifted. The walls trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling like ancient tears.
"Wait, Kazuki, " Aoi warned.
But it was already calling me. Not like the runa had — this was different. This piece wasn't Kaer. It was something else. A remnant of something that had fought beside him, or against him.
I reached out.
And as my hand drew close, a roar erupted behind us.
From the tunnel we came, shadows twisted into form — something emerged, dragging itself across the stone like a wounded beast, yet impossibly fast. Its body was made of stone and bone, fused together by black sinew. Hollow eyes burned with violet fire.
Class: Revenant. Subtype: Ruins Guardian. Threat Level: Obsidian-Class.
It lunged.
Haruki reacted first, throwing himself in front of Aoi. The creature struck, missing by inches, its claw carving deep into the stone floor. I flared the runa within me — my right arm immediately shrouded in dark flame, shadows coiling around me like serpents.
I moved.
Faster than thought.
I slammed into the beast's side, knocking it off balance, but its body was heavier than it looked. It shrieked, an unholy sound that clawed into my skull. Aoi fired a burst of light — her power was smaller, raw, but it struck the Revenant's chest, momentarily blinding it.
The creature turned its gaze toward her.
No.
I won't let it touch her.
The flame in my veins surged. My skin cracked along the right side, black energy leaking through. I raised my arm and called upon Kaer.
"By the oath of shadow and flame — lend me your strength. "
The world bent.
Dark wings unfurled from my back, ephemeral, made of heat and night. I leapt, higher than humanly possible, and came down on the creature's back with a roar. My fist — engulfed in flame — struck its spine.
Stone shattered.
It screamed.
I struck again.
And again.
Until the Revenant collapsed beneath me, twitching in its death throes, bones hissing with dark steam.
Then silence.
My breathing was ragged. The runa pulsed against my chest. I looked back — Aoi stood with wide eyes, hands trembling.
Haruki slowly straightened, dust coating his jacket. "What… what was that? "
I didn't answer. I looked at the gauntlet.
It was glowing now.
And I knew — it had awakened.
Something deeper waited beneath these stones. Something Kaer had once faced, something that hadn't died.
Something watching.
I wasn't just here to awaken power.
I was being tested.
The creature towered above them, armored in layered plates of bone and obsidian steel that pulsed with a sickly green light. Its eyes—if they could be called eyes—were hollow sockets swirling with shadows. It didn't walk. It slid forward, the mist parting for it like water before a leviathan.
Kazuki felt it in his bones. Not just danger—but memory. As if the presence of the Wraith stirred something in the very core of his being.
"It's feeding on the mist, " Aoi whispered, backing closer to Kazuki. "It's not just hiding in it. It's growing stronger. "
Reina spun her daggers once, grinning despite the tension. "Then let's make sure it chokes on it. "
Haruki inhaled sharply and moved first—rushing ahead with reckless speed, his blade glowing with a faint silver hue. He slashed across the Wraith's leg, but his sword merely scraped the surface, leaving a thin white mark. The Wraith didn't even flinch.
Instead, it swung one arm in a wide arc. A massive blade of condensed shadow extended from its wrist, catching Haruki mid-air and launching him against the wall.
"Haruki! " Kazuki called out.
"I'm—fine—! " Haruki groaned, sliding down the stone, blood at the corner of his mouth.
Kazuki clenched his fists. The black corruption along his arm thickened, crawling up his neck like a second skin. The flame inside him burned hotter.
But something held him back.
Not fear.
Control.
She's watching. Aoi. Just behind him. He didn't want her to see that part of him again—not so soon.
The Wraith lunged forward.
Kazuki reacted without thinking. He twisted, summoned a lance of flame-dark energy, and hurled it. The impact sent a shockwave through the chamber, staggering the Wraith but not destroying it.
Aoi raised her staff and chanted a quick incantation. A shimmering barrier spread in front of them just in time to absorb a retaliatory strike.
Reina moved like lightning—flashing through the fog, slashing across the Wraith's exposed flank and disappearing again before its blade could reach her. She fought like a shadow given life, graceful and deadly.
"We can't keep this up forever! " Aoi shouted. "It's adapting! "
Kazuki knew. The creature's movements were sharper now, less sluggish. With every attack, it learned. With every wound, it hardened.
He stepped forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet.
"Stay back, " he said without looking at them.
"Kazuki—" Aoi began.
"I said stay back. "
His voice was different. Deeper. Not angry—determined.
The blackness covering his arm surged outward, forming tendrils that wrapped around his right leg and chest. His eye burned red. The runes on his body glowed, and the Wraith stopped.
For a brief moment, it hesitated.
Because it recognized him.
Kazuki lifted his hand.
The shadows responded, forming a long, jagged blade that pulsed like a heartbeat. The Wraith hissed, its form shaking.
Then Kazuki vanished—reappearing mid-air above the monster, sword raised high.
The blade came down like judgment.
A sound erupted—high-pitched, shrieking, like metal screaming in pain. The Wraith howled as its mask shattered, revealing a distorted, twisted face beneath. The wound bled not blood, but mist—soul mist—escaping like smoke from a broken vessel.
Kazuki landed in a crouch, sword still in hand.
The Wraith staggered.
Then it charged.
But this time, Kazuki didn't dodge.
He caught the blade with his bare, blackened hand.
And crushed it.
The shock rippled through the entire corridor. The creature convulsed, then exploded in a whirlwind of spectral fragments and shrieks that echoed for what felt like forever.
When the dust settled, Kazuki stood alone.
Chest rising and falling.
Eyes red.
The others slowly approached.
"…Kazuki? " Aoi said carefully.
He turned his head toward her—and for a moment, his face was unreadable. Empty. Lost.
Then his eyes softened. He let out a shaky breath and collapsed to one knee.
"I'm… fine, " he muttered. "Just… needed to end it. "
Aoi knelt beside him, resting her hand gently on his shoulder.
"You didn't have to do it alone. "
"I know, " Kazuki said. "But sometimes… I feel like I already am. "
The silence that followed wasn't just heavy. It was full—of unspoken truths, of shadows yet to come, and of wounds deeper than anyone could see.
The battle was over, yet silence did not bring peace.
The flickering remains of fire danced across the shattered marble floor, licking at the crumbling stone as if trying to warm what was already gone. The scent of scorched stone, blood, and divine embers clung to the air, heavy and sacred. Haruki leaned against the far wall, arm wrapped around his wounded side, watching Kazuki with wide, uncertain eyes.
Kazuki knelt on the ground, his hand trembling as it reached for the runic fragments embedded in the cracked altar. His breath was shallow, the right side of his body still faintly glowing with the dim crimson of Kaer's fading power. Aoi was already by his side, her fingers barely grazing his shoulder, uncertain whether her touch would ground him or shatter him further.
"You shouldn't have used so much, " she whispered, voice low but thick with emotion. "That flame… it wasn't just power. It was… more. "
Kazuki's lips parted, but no words came. His throat was dry, his thoughts tangled between the rush of divine energy and the echoes of voices that were not his own. He had heard them again — the whisper of Kaer, not as a god of war this time, but as a guardian, a protector. The flame had spoken, not to destroy, but to shield.
"It was him, " Kazuki finally said, voice hoarse. "Kaer. He… shielded me. "
Aoi's eyes widened. "What do you mean? "
"He took over for a moment. Not like before, not rage. It was something else. A memory… or maybe… a choice, " Kazuki said, struggling to find the words. "He didn't want to kill. He wanted to save. That power wasn't mine. "
A moment passed in silence.
Aoi knelt in front of him now, eyes searching his face, and Kazuki couldn't look away. "Then maybe, " she said gently, "you're not just a weapon. Maybe you're here to finish what he couldn't. "
He wanted to believe her. Wanted to trust that whatever destiny he was caught in, it wasn't just a continuation of Kaer's vengeance — but something else. Something that could save rather than destroy.
Haruki's voice broke through the silence. "Kazuki… when you changed… it wasn't just terrifying. It was beautiful. That flame—it made me believe that something greater was watching over us. "
Kazuki gave a quiet, humorless laugh. "It wasn't beautiful from my side. "
He stood slowly, Aoi helping him balance. The cave's ceiling had begun to collapse inward from the force of the divine eruption, but the three of them stood at its center like survivors of something ancient.
"What now? " Haruki asked. "We just go back to school like nothing happened? "
Kazuki shook his head. "No. This changes everything. "
Outside the cave, dusk had painted the sky in shades of molten orange. The air was calm. Too calm.
As they emerged, something shimmered behind Kazuki's eyes. Not the flame — but a memory. A vision. A battlefield, long ago. A figure kneeling in broken armor, holding a dying child in his arms, whispering words of forgiveness to gods who no longer listened. That vision had come from Kaer — and it was not the last.
Aoi watched Kazuki from the side, her fingers brushing against his for only a moment. "I saw it too, " she said quietly. "When you changed… I saw who he was. The god. And I saw you. "
Kazuki looked at her, startled. "You saw inside the flame? "
She nodded slowly. "I don't know why. Maybe because I've been close to you. Maybe because you let me. "
That truth hit him harder than any blow. Maybe she had always been the one meant to see him.
"You're not alone in this, " she said, stepping closer. "Even if you try to push everyone away. I'm not leaving. "
Kazuki didn't answer. He couldn't. But something shifted in his chest — a fragile warmth pressing back against the void. Perhaps it was hope. Or maybe just the echo of the divine flame.
And for the first time since the runa had embedded itself in his body, Kazuki didn't feel like a vessel. He felt like a bridge — between what was lost, and what still could be saved.
The silence in the cavern had returned, thick and heavy like dust settling after a collapsed monument. What remained of the Nightmare-class Hollow was a mangled, steaming carcass, sprawled in jagged pieces of obsidian-like bone and crumpled sinew. But the true weight didn't come from the beast—it came from the looks.
Kazuki stood still, his breath shallow. His right hand trembled as residual heat sparked off his skin. The faint glow along his forearm faded, but not before a few of the hunters noticed.
"You—! " someone hissed.
He turned slowly. A group of them had begun to form a loose semi-circle, weapons lowered but eyes sharp. One of the younger men, lean with spiked brown hair and a scar over his temple, pointed.
"That wasn't standard weapon-grade output. You didn't just hit it—you incinerated half the cave! "
Kazuki said nothing. His heart thudded with a slow, dull pressure. Not from fear. From knowing this moment would eventually come.
"I saw it too, " another hunter said, a woman with a serrated glaive resting on her shoulder. "His hand—did you see that black shimmer? The way it… shifted? "
Aoi stepped in before anyone else could add to the accusations. "Stop it, " she said, her voice firm. "You all just survived. We should be thanking him, not interrogating him. "
Her presence had weight, her aura calm but commanding. A few of the hunters turned away, ashamed. But others didn't.
Kazuki felt her hand brush his wrist—light, barely there—but grounding.
"I'm fine, " he muttered under his breath.
"You're not, " she replied, so quietly only he could hear it. "But you will be. "
From the shadows, Haruki observed. Not from fear, not from jealousy—but from confusion.
Kazuki's flame. That impossible wave of power. It wasn't just raw force—it carried presence. Haruki had trained his whole life to be respected, admired, to protect those around him. Yet in that moment, he'd felt utterly outclassed.
His heart twisted, not with hate, but with something worse.
Admiration.
And something deeper—something older. That strange pull he'd always felt around Kazuki… was it a memory?
Or fate?
He looked down at his own hands—shaking—not from exhaustion, but realization. The world wasn't what he thought it was. And Kazuki… wasn't who he pretended to be.
Kazuki noticed Haruki's stare. Their eyes met across the cavern—one filled with confusion, the other with warning.
"Don't, " Kazuki's eyes seemed to say. "Not yet. "
A faint rumble passed through the stone underfoot. Not from another Hollow—but from the earth itself, like the cave exhaling.
"We need to get out, " said one of the older hunters. "Before it collapses. "
The group started moving, but slowly. Warily. Like soldiers walking beside something they didn't yet trust.
As they climbed toward the light filtering through the cracked ceiling, Kazuki felt something sharp behind his ribs. Not pain. Guilt.
He hadn't lost control. But he'd cracked.
A piece of the mask was gone.
And once people see through it, they rarely forget.
Aoi stayed beside him, never questioning, never demanding answers.
But her eyes—warm, deep, sad—held all the questions he wasn't ready to answer.
Not yet.
The silence after the storm was unsettling.
Kazuki stood in the middle of the ruined square, breathing heavily. The last of the corrupted beast had turned to ash, swirling upward like dust caught in a sunbeam. Around him, the members of the hunting party sat or leaned against shattered columns and broken walls, patching wounds and exchanging tired glances. The city hadn't just been damaged — it had been violated. The air still stank of burnt flesh and magic, and no one spoke of the eerie whispers that had echoed through the battle, not even Haruki.
Kazuki kept his hood low, the right side of his face still shadowed. Even in rest, the remnants of Kaera's power pulsed faintly beneath his skin — as if the god within him refused to fully retreat.
Aoi approached, clutching a bandage against her shoulder. "You're not going to say anything to them? " she asked quietly.
He shook his head. "The more they know, the more they're in danger. "
Aoi looked at him for a moment — truly looked — as if trying to see past the boy in front of her and into the storm that raged beneath his skin. "You know… they're already in danger. We all are. "
"I know, " Kazuki replied. "But if they start seeing me as something else — something not human — they won't trust me. They'll fear me. Or worse… try to use me. "
Aoi took a slow breath. "You're afraid they'll see you the way you see yourself. "
He didn't answer.
Across the plaza, Reina — dirt-smudged but still somehow poised — was laughing quietly with one of the lieutenants, but her eyes flicked toward Kazuki more than once. Another girl, the red-haired scout who had helped during the first wave, watched him too, chewing her lip thoughtfully.
Even now, he felt the weight of their gazes. Curiosity. Fascination. Perhaps even admiration. But none of them knew the truth — not really.
Kazuki turned away and began to walk toward the broken archway that marked the edge of the battlefield. Haruki caught up to him a moment later, limping slightly.
"You planning to disappear again? " Haruki asked.
Kazuki hesitated. "I need time. There are things I need to understand. Things I need to face… alone. "
"Bullshit, " Haruki muttered. "You think you're the only one with ghosts? "
Kazuki gave a soft chuckle. "No. But mine scream louder. "
Haruki reached into his coat and handed Kazuki a folded cloth — the same sash Kazuki had dropped when his power surged. It was burned at the edges, but still intact.
"I'm not going to pretend to understand what's going on with you, " Haruki said. "But you're not as invisible as you think. "
Kazuki took the sash and nodded. "Thanks. "
As he stepped beyond the arch, he glanced back once more.
Aoi was still watching. Her expression was unreadable, but her presence alone gave him strength.
He vanished into the night, heading toward the edge of the city — toward the place where the goddess waited.
The time for answers had come.
The next chapter would not be written in blood alone, but in truth, pain, and the shattering of illusions.