**Chapter 4: The Price of Power**
Silence.
That was the first thing Aiki felt — no sound, no breath, just the still hum of nothing. Then came the pain. It rolled through him like fire under his skin, every nerve screaming.
He tried to move. Couldn't.
The ground beneath him was soft… wrong. Ash. Endless, black ash.
He opened his eyes and saw it — an empty horizon stretching forever, the sky split in half: one side golden, one side void-black.
The **Spirit Edge** was buried a few meters away, glowing faintly like a dying heart.
He pushed himself up, gasping. "Where… am I?"
The answer came as a whisper behind him.
*"You're where your soul bleeds."*
He turned.
Standing there, barefoot in the ash, was **Seno** — or what was left of him. His body was cracked like stone, fragments of him floating apart, his eyes dimming.
"You pushed too far," Seno said softly. "You called on it without understanding what it costs."
Aiki stumbled forward. "Where's my team? What did you—"
Seno's smile was tired, sad even. "They're still alive. For now."
He stepped closer, his form flickering. "You think the Spirit Edge is your weapon? It's not. It's a gate. And now you've opened it wider than anyone before you."
The air shifted — a low rumble from beneath the ash.
The ground began to crack, golden light seeping through.
Aiki's pulse spiked. "You're lying."
"I wish I was." Seno looked down at his hands as they turned to dust. "You've seen what it does, haven't you? It feeds on intent. The moment you wished to *kill* me… it began to eat you too."
Before Aiki could answer, the world tore open.
The ash erupted upward — tendrils of shadow and gold twisting together into a colossal form. A face began to emerge from the light — not human, not anything that should exist. Its voice thundered through the void:
*"Chosen Vessel. The blade remembers."*
Aiki's body convulsed. His vision blurred. Memories flashed — Seno, his team, laughter, fire, blood — then nothing but the sword's voice.
*"Let me in, Aiki. Let me finish what you started."*
He dropped to his knees, gripping his head.
"Get… out!"
But the Spirit Edge was already glowing, golden cracks running up his arms. His heartbeat no longer felt like his own — it felt like a second pulse, deeper and heavier.
Then — a flash of light.
---
When Aiki opened his eyes again, he was lying on a cold hospital cot.
The room flickered under dim lights. His head throbbed.
**Sakura** sat beside him, eyes red from crying but still trying to smile. "Welcome back, idiot."
He blinked, trying to focus. "Where's… Seno?"
Enji leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "Gone. Rift collapsed. But…" — he hesitated — "…you didn't walk out of there alone."
Aiki's stomach dropped. "What do you mean?"
Sakura reached out and touched his wrist.
For a second, the golden veins flared — glowing faintly beneath his skin.
Aiki stared in horror.
Sen, sitting on the window ledge, finally spoke. "You might've won, man… but whatever that sword did to you—" he met Aiki's eyes, expression grim — "it's still doing it."
The air grew colder.
Aiki looked down at his hands. The Spirit Edge leaned against the wall, pulsing softly — like it was breathing with him.
And somewhere deep inside his mind, the voice whispered again — quiet, almost gentle:
*"You opened the door, Aiki. Now keep it open."*