The night was still.
The stars that once shimmered brightly above the sacred cliff now flickered like dying embers. The air felt heavier, the wind colder — as if the mountain itself mourned something unseen.
Tenkei stood before the ancient altar, his hand pressed to the ground where the golden relic once rested. "Something's wrong…" he muttered, his voice low, his breath fogging in the chill air.
Reishin closed her eyes, feeling the lingering trace of AN Roku's power. "It was pure... at first," she whispered. "But now—it feels tainted."
Seigan knelt beside them, his eyes glowing faintly, searching for spiritual distortion. "There's movement beneath the earth… a presence, like Eien Ryoku twisted backward."
They all turned as the forest behind them groaned, the trees bending unnaturally. A black mist seeped through the ground, curling like smoke. Out of it crawled shapes — distorted, human-like, but hollow-eyed and trembling.
Reishin gasped. "Are those…?"
"Kuzuremono," Seigan finished grimly. "Souls that lost their balance... consumed by their own darkness."
Tenkei clenched his fists, light forming around his arm. "AN Roku's blessing… it awakened them?"
Before they could act, a shadow darted from the mist — swift, unnatural. Tenkei's hand moved on instinct, summoning a radiant seal that burned through the dark. The creature shrieked, collapsing into ash. But for each one that fell, more emerged, crawling, whispering, hungry for the energy that sustained the living.
Reishin raised her hands, forming a barrier of pure light. "They're endless!"
"They're drawn to the Eien Ryoku," Seigan realized. "They seek what they lost."
And then — a familiar voice echoed from the forest. Calm, steady… but wrong.
"You shouldn't fight them," it said.
From the shadows stepped Kage no Michi — his robes darkened, his eyes reflecting the same void that birthed the creatures. "They are not enemies," he said, smiling faintly. "They are truth. What we were never meant to deny."
"Kage…" Tenkei's voice trembled with disbelief. "What have you done?"
"I accepted what AN Roku showed me," Kage said, raising a hand. The mist swirled around him like loyal servants. "Balance is a lie. There is only the shadow — the origin of all strength."
The air rippled, light clashing with darkness as Tenkei's seal flared again. "If this is your truth," he said, his eyes burning with resolve, "then I'll protect ours."
As the first battle between light and shadow began, the mountain trembled under the weight of destiny — and the world of Eien Ryoku was forever changed.