**Chapter 11: The Price of Power**
The air was still, heavy with ash and memory. The battlefield where the Crimson Wraiths had fallen was silent now — a graveyard of twisted metal and scorched stone. Aiki stood at the center, his Spirit Edge buried in the cracked earth, its glow faint and flickering.
Sakura approached quietly. "You haven't moved in hours."
Aiki didn't look up. "If I move, I'll fall." His voice was low, hollow. "Every time I use that power… I can feel something inside me breaking."
Enji knelt beside him. "You're overthinking it. You saved us all, Aiki. That's what matters."
Aiki's hands trembled. "That's what scares me. Every time I awaken… it feels less like *me.*"
Before anyone could answer, the wind shifted. The faint sound of bells echoed across the ruins — soft, distant, impossible.
Sen's eyes widened. "That sound… I've heard it before. It means—"
A black ripple tore through the air behind them. The sky darkened as **Seno's presence** seeped into the world — not his body, but his will, his spirit.
Aiki looked up, heart pounding. "Seno."
The world around them warped, twisting into a landscape of endless crimson and shadow. His friends vanished, their voices fading into echoes.
Now it was just Aiki and Seno — face to face in a void of burning red.
Seno smiled, his eyes cold. "So, you've finally realized it. That power of yours… it isn't human."
Aiki gritted his teeth. "Then what is it?"
Seno's grin widened. "A piece of me."
Aiki froze.
Seno stepped closer, his aura suffocating. "Did you really think power like that appears from nowhere? When I crossed the realms, part of my essence merged with yours. Every time you fight… every time you *bleed*… you feed that connection."
"No… that's not true."
"Isn't it?" Seno tilted his head. "You've felt it — the voices, the rage, the hunger to destroy. That's *me*, Aiki. You're not awakening power… you're awakening *me.*"
Aiki fell to his knees, clutching his head. "No… no, I control it!"
Seno's voice echoed, booming through the void. "You can't control what you *are!*"
Aiki screamed, the crimson void pulsing around him. Flames burst from his body, red and gold colliding in chaotic light. The Spirit Edge reappeared in his hand, but its glow was unstable — flickering between divine brilliance and hellish crimson.
Then, through the storm of energy, a familiar voice broke through.
> "Aiki! Snap out of it!"
It was Sakura's voice — distant, but real. Aiki gasped, forcing his eyes open.
Seno smirked. "Your friends can't save you. But I'll give you a choice — embrace the power, become what you're meant to be… or stay human, and die the next time we meet."
The air cracked.
Aiki looked up, face drenched in sweat and blood. "If being human means protecting them… then I'll stay human forever."
Seno's smile faded. "Then you'll suffer."
Aiki raised his Spirit Edge, golden light overpowering the crimson around him. "I already do."
He slashed downward, the blade splitting the void itself. The crimson world shattered, dissolving into fragments of light.
---
Aiki awoke on the ground, gasping for air. Enji was beside him, shaking his shoulder. "You're back! You were… gone, like completely gone!"
Sakura's eyes were wet with relief. "You stopped breathing for almost a minute."
Aiki sat up slowly, his eyes still faintly glowing. "I saw him. Seno. He… he's part of my power."
Sen clenched his fists. "Then we destroy him before he destroys you."
Aiki stared at the horizon — the faint shimmer of the Ash Gate flickering in the distance. "No," he said quietly. "If Seno's inside me… then the only way to beat him…"
He stood, gripping the Spirit Edge, its light steadier than before.
"…is to master the monster he left behind."