Akira, Ryozen, and Ashurael escaped through collapsing fragments of reality. The void sealed behind them with a thunderous collapse.
But someone else had already slipped through earlier.
Shade — the most silent of the Twelve.
He slithered through cracks and shadows, unnoticed, undetectable. He entered the human world in a whisper.
Akira arrived home exhausted. Rina had gone ahead earlier and hid inside his room, terrified from the chaos outside. She sat in the corner, eyes covered, hands shaking. The world had gone quiet.
She didn't hear the window unlatch.
She didn't hear the breath behind her.
She didn't hear the whisper:
"…Found you."
A single glowing violet eye opened in the darkness behind her — watching.
The chapter closed there.