Chapter 3
As time passed, Kurayami no longer felt disgust at eating his own flesh. What once filled him with revulsion now brought him comfort. Chewing pieces of his body, torn away through torture, became routine—almost a perverse pleasure. The figure his mind had once created to shield him from madness no longer appeared. It had vanished, like the freedom he longed for.
One day, the woman who tormented him came down carrying a cage covered with a cloth. Her steps were light, almost playful, as though she were bringing a gift. She stopped in front of him, smiled wickedly, and slowly removed the cloth.
Inside the cage, there was only a crow.
Without saying a word, the woman opened the cage and let the bird free. Kurayami, confused, felt a shiver crawl down his spine. His body and mind, as if they were one, sensed an imminent danger.
The woman lunged forward, pried his eyelids wide open, and forced him to stare at the crow. Kurayami didn't understand what was happening until the bird softly landed on his forehead.
"Have you heard the saying…?" the woman whispered mockingly. "Raise crows… and they'll peck out your eyes."
The crow stared at him… then, with a sudden thrust, began ripping out his eyes and devouring them mercilessly. Kurayami screamed in agony, his cries tearing through the darkness, until he was completely blind. Then the woman unleashed a new round of punishments. With a whip, she struck his body without pause… until he lost consciousness.
He awoke hours later. The sting of the lashes still burned on his flesh, but something was different…
His eyes had not healed.
Desperation engulfed him, and he screamed in fury. But in the midst of the darkness, he noticed something else:
He was no longer tied down.
For the first time in what felt like ages, there were no chains, no shackles, no immediate pain. He stood unsteadily, took a few steps, touched his body… and felt calm.
But then, a voice emerged before him.
A familiar voice.
"Even without chains… you're still bound."
Kurayami opened his blind eyes, instantly recognizing who that voice belonged to.
"Brother? Daichi… is that you? Where are you?"
Yes. It was the voice of Daichi, his elder brother. But Kurayami knew his mind could be deceiving him.
"Don't worry, brother. Even if you're bound… I know you can fly high, like a bird," said another voice.
It was Mei, his sister.
The voices kept changing. One by one, the people he cherished most began to speak to him.
"You're strong, Kurayami. I know you can overcome all evil in this world," added Aiko firmly.
Kurayami fell to his knees, feeling small before those words.
"I am not strong… I need to be stronger!" he cried, burying his face in his hands.
"Yes, you are," the voices answered in unison. "You are."
Through tears, Kurayami felt those words lifting him up. But then…
a different voice, warmer, more longed for, resonated softly:
"You are a good person. Your smile… is the most beautiful I've ever seen. My son… stay that way. Never stop smiling."
It was his mother.
That voice, that melody he had longed to hear for so long, filled him with peace. And as if his soul responded to that love, his eyes regenerated. And in the darkness of his mind, he could see a figure… blurred, yet unmistakably hers.
However, that brief moment of light did not last.
A sword pierced through his stomach without warning.
"Sweet dreams, Kurayami. I enjoyed playing with you all this time… but if I don't finish you off today, he will notice you're still alive in this forest. And I don't want trouble," the woman whispered, caressing his face with twisted affection.
From the wound, his body began to turn to stone. The sword, it seemed, had the power to petrify.
Kurayami struggled to rise. He looked around… he was no longer in the dungeon.
He was standing in the middle of a forest.
He tried to move, but his legs were already stone. His torso too. Only his face remained alive. In front of him, the woman watched, satisfied.
And with one last defiant smile, Kurayami turned into a statue of stone.
Sealed.