**Chapter 13: Into the Ash Realm**
The night the portal opened, the world went silent.
No wind. No sound. Just the faint hum of the Spirit Edge — trembling in Aiki's hand, as if afraid of what lay ahead.
Sakura's voice echoed behind him. "Once you cross that threshold, we can't follow."
Aiki turned slightly, rain dripping down his face. "I know."
He looked at Enji and Sen — both bruised from the last training session. "If I don't come back… finish this without me."
Enji smirked, hiding the shake in his voice. "You're not dying before I do, idiot."
Sen rolled his shoulders. "You better come back with souvenirs or something."
Aiki smiled faintly — a brief spark of warmth before the abyss. Then he turned toward the rift.
The **Ash Realm** waited beyond: a swirling void of black and crimson, whispering like a thousand dying voices.
He stepped through.
The world changed instantly.
The ground beneath him was made of cracked mirrors, reflecting twisted images of his friends — smiling, bleeding, laughing. The air tasted like burnt iron. Towering structures rose and fell like breathing lungs, each pulse echoing with a dull *thud*.
And in the distance, through drifting ash, stood **Seno**.
Aiki tightened his grip on the Spirit Edge. "I came for you."
Seno turned, his cloak dissolving into the air. His eyes — one human, one burning red — glimmered with amusement. "You came for yourself," he said softly. "You still don't understand what you are, do you?"
"I'm nothing like you."
Seno chuckled, walking forward slowly. With each step, the ground behind him turned to shadow. "You *are* me, Aiki. The moment the Spirit Edge chose you, it gave you my curse. My hunger. My hatred."
Aiki swung his sword, the blade glowing bright gold. "Then I'll tear that part out."
Their swords clashed — gold and crimson — light bursting through the cracks in reality. Each strike sent waves of ash swirling, the world itself warping under their power.
Seno parried easily, smirking. "You're stronger, but you still fight like a human."
He vanished — and appeared behind Aiki, slashing across his chest. Aiki stumbled, gasping.
Pain shot through him — but he refused to fall. "If being human means protecting them… then that's fine by me."
He lunged again, his aura flaring violently. The Spirit Edge screamed — a chorus of ancient voices rising with him.
For a moment, gold overpowered red.
Seno's grin faded. "So you *can* wake it."
Aiki's body glowed with divine light, his wounds sealing instantly. His eyes turned brilliant white, energy streaming like fire from his veins.
But inside the light, his voice trembled. "This power… it feels—"
> "—alive, doesn't it?" Seno interrupted. His smile widened. "Now you see. Every time you use it, you feed me."
Aiki's aura flickered — his body shaking as the red energy mixed with gold. The Spirit Edge pulsed between them, torn between its two masters.
> "You can't kill me," Seno whispered, appearing face to face, hand pressed to Aiki's chest. "You *are* me."
Aiki roared, driving his sword straight through Seno's heart.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then Seno's body dissolved into ash — and the world around Aiki began to crack apart.
He fell to his knees, the Spirit Edge glowing violently. His reflection in the shattered ground looked up — and smiled.
It wasn't his own.
> "You're one step closer," the reflection whispered. "Soon, we'll be the same."
The world shattered, and Aiki's scream echoed as he was pulled back into the light.