"When Heaven forgets fear… the Abyss remembers."
✦ Bedtime Warning ✦
Night in Heaven hummed like a heartbeat.
Mother stroked my hair, lullaby trembling beneath her calm:
Yumi:
"Stay near the light, Haise.
Never wander where shadows breathe."
I tried a tiny laugh.
Me:
"Shadows don't breathe."
Her eyes darkened — starlight smothered by fear.
Yumi:
"Some do.
And they hunger for children who shine."
Her kiss lingered… but her grip stayed tighter.
The Queen of Heaven was afraid of the dark.
Back then, I didn't know why her hands trembled — but Heaven already did.
✦ THE DUTY OF THE DEAD ✦
Soul Bridge — Frontline Guard POV
A road of light guided new souls upward — their last hymn whispered toward the Crystal Heart.
Sentinels marched beside them — armor glowing like sunrise.
Captain:
"Standard escort! Keep the walls bright!"
Then — something pulled all warmth out of existence.
Fogged visors.
Frost on halos.
A scream cut short.
A shadow rose behind a soldier — hands of broken halos dragged him into oblivion.
I wasn't there to see it, but Heaven still remembers that night in static — the moment light learned what forgetting costs.
Armor hit the floor — empty.
Captain:
"DEMONS! HOLD THE LINE!"
But the line was already gone.
The Hollow Angels Emerges
They crawled from fractures between stars —
Twisted angels
wings torn backwards
halos bent into hooks
voices singing scrambled prayers.
Whispers like dying hymns:
"Light… forgot us…"
Not death. Erasure.
Souls vanished
before Heaven could claim them.
✦ Hollow Angels — Mesmerize & Mind Collapse ✦
A low hum rippled across the Soul Bridge — not sound, not breath —
a vibration inside the skull.
Sentinel #1 blinked, swaying.
"W-What… song is that…?"
But there was no song.
There was only them.
From the fractures in the star fog, Hollow Angels emerged —
black wings dragging, eyes glowing with inverted white flame.
Their halos—shattered rings—hung like broken moons.
One stepped forward and lifted its head.
And the world… shifted.
Hollow Angel – Mesmerize:
The creature's eyes spiraled inward, white iris expanding like a blooming eclipse.
Sentinel #2 gasped, weapon shaking.
Sentinel #2 (voice dulling):
"My… heartbeat… isn't mine…"
Sentinel #3 dropped his spear.
Sentinel #3 (slurred, hypnotized):
"I… remember a light… calling me…"
The Hollow Angel whispered —
two voices layered into one empty harmony:
Hollow Angel (double-tone whisper):
"Be still… let us finish the memory…"
A wave of black light burst outward.
Sentinels froze — bodies rigid, eyes glazing.
Their wings drooped.
Their halos dimmed.
One fell to his knees, trembling violently.
Hollow Angel — Mind Collapse:
The white in its eyes turned pitch black —
a signal.
A psychic snap cracked through the bridge.
Sentinel #1 screamed — hands clutching his helmet.
Sentinel #1:
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
These aren't my memories—STOP—!"
His body convulsed, mind short-circuiting under the pressure.
Sentinel #4 tried to rush in.
Sentinel #4:
"Captain! They're invading their memories—!"
Too late.
Another Hollow Angel grabbed the side of his helmet —
one gentle touch.
Light drained from his eyes.
Sentinel #4 (monotone breaking into a sob):
"M-Mom…?
I'm… forgetting her…"
His halo cracked.
The Hollow Angel leaned in, whispering:
Hollow Angel (soft, hungry):
"Let go.
We will remember for you."
A pulse of void rolled across the bridge.
Half the battalion dropped instantly —
minds collapsing like glass under a hammer.
The Hollow Angels advanced, steps silent.
The Sentinels could do nothing but choke out one final warning—
Captain (horrified):
"They're taking their memories—
THEY'RE STEALING THEIR LIVES FROM THE INSIDE—!!"
The bridge shook.
Light faltered.
And Heaven finally understood:
Hollow Angels don't kill.
They erase.
✦ Spirit Wardens Reinforce ✦
Haru Mikazuchi Enters
A calm killer walked into chaos.
Twin blades
— one bright as newborn starlight,
— one black as a grave unmarked.
Barriers strained.
Sentinels screamed.
The line was seconds from breaking—
Haru Mikazuchi.
Spirit Wardens — 1st Lieutenant.
"Soul Art — Echo Sever."
A demon lunged — and ceased.
The demon's scream died before it was born.
Just absence.
Haru (bored execution):
"These souls belong to Heaven."
High Demon hiss:
"The one who cuts the song…"
Haru:
"Good. You remember."
Twin arcs — two demons erased.
A flare of hope flickered—
then ignited.
✦ Renji Kurozume — Flame Counterstrike ✦
Fire cracked Heaven open.
Renji dropped from the sky — sword first.
His weapon wasn't a normal blade.
It was a Black-Flame Katana, forged from the first fire Heaven ever feared —
glowing like it was pulled from a newborn star.
Renji shouted, voice shaking the smoke:
"Wardens! BACK! Black Flame takes the front!"
A demon wearing a child's grin stepped through the ash.
Demon:
"Forsaken Black Flame… still burns?"
Renji's eyes narrowed — no hesitation.
Renji:
"Soul-Art — Black-Crimson Slash."
His blade ignited, splitting the air itself as he cut.
The demon combusted mid-laugh, erased in a burst of holy fire.
But every slash drained him — Black flame dimming faster than it should.
Renji (low):
"Burning myself… again.
Fine.
Then I'll burn every forsaken thing that touches Heaven."
✦ Lifesong Intervention — Kaoru Itsugami ✦
Silver-green healing sigils spiraled through smoke.
Kaoru knelt beside a dying Sentinel — she refused the concept.
Kaoru (commanding mercy):
"Breathe.
Your story isn't allowed to end."
A silver-green artifact unfolded on her wrist — a Lifesong Bracer, shaped like a blooming sigil.
Kaoru pressed her palm to the fallen soldier's chest.
Kaoru (chanting):
"Lifesong: Renewal Surge."
The sigils spun violently.
Ryvane rushed.
Breath returned.
Kaoru (rage cracking):
"They're not just killing... They're erasing… memories… souls…"
She stood, bracer glowing like a small sun.
Kaoru:
"Soul-Art — Everbloom Field."
A soft mist burst outward — peaceful to angels,
but demons hissed, melting where it touched them.
Only then did she notice the hollow-eyed soldiers nearby.
their memories already being peeled away like petals.
Kaoru:
"You don't get to unmake my people."
Then she saw the hollowness in others — souls half-ripped away.
Kaoru (voice breaking):
"They erase the memory of pain… they erase the right to remember suffering…"
Her grief snapped.
Healing became war.
✦ Dream of Earth — "A Day That Never Broke" ✦
The world softened—
colors warming into gentle gold.
Just a small sunlit park behind our old apartment—
rusty swings, uneven grass, the smell of cheap instant noodles from the window above.
I was eight again.
Ray was Ten.
Ray pushed me on the swing, not too hard, not too soft—
just enough to make the wind feel like laughter.
Hatoru (giggling):
"Higher! Higher!"
Ray (mock-serious):
"You go any higher and you'll hit the moon."
Hatoru:
"I wanna hit the moon!"
Ray snorted and shoved a little harder.
Ray:
"Fine. But if you break it, you're fixing it."
The chains rattled.
Sunlight flickered between the trees.
My legs kicked the air like I could actually touch the sky.
Ray stepped beside me and caught the swing gently, slowing it down.
"Whoa there," he said, wiping sweat with his sleeve.
"You'll fly away one day, I swear."
I hopped off, running across the grass.
Hatoru:
"Catch me!"
Ray:
"Oh, it's like that? Come here, you little gremlin!"
We ran in circles—
me laughing so hard my sides hurt,
Ray pretending to be slow then suddenly grabbing me from behind.
Ray (lifting me):
"Gotcha!"
Hatoru (laughing loudly):
"No fair! You're too fast!"
Ray set me down and knelt so our eyes were level.
Ray (smiling warmly):
"Good. I'll be fast enough to catch you every time."
We sat on the grass afterward, sharing a melting ice pop
—the cheap blue kind that dyed your tongue like poison.
Ray:
"Stick your tongue out."
Hatoru:
"Why?"
Ray:
"Let me see the damage."
I stuck my tongue out.
Ray squinted dramatically.
"Yep. Blue. Absolutely fatal."
I laughed, collapsing onto his side.
He rested a hand on my head.
And for a moment—
the world was perfect.
No shouting.
No dread.
No empty nights.
Just us.
Ray (soft, content):
"Days like this… I wish they'd last forever."
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, painting everything gold.
Hatoru (murmuring):
"…Maybe Heaven is the dream… and this is real."
Ray turned to me, smiling like he understood more than he said.
Ray:
"If this is real… then it's a good place to be."
Warmth.
Grass.
Laughter.
Home.
A dream with no cracks.
A memory that didn't hurt.
Just… happiness.
The kind you forget you ever had.
✦ Shion Arakami — THE CROWNKEEPER of 5th Legion ✦
A soft ring echoed through the smoke —
a sound only souls should hear.
Shion was already on the bridge, sword drawn, standing between the demons and the survivors.
His eyes glowed faint silver —
Soul-born ability: Soul Perception.
He saw the fractures in every corrupted spirit.
A demon lunged.
Shion (calm):
"Soul-Art — Veil-Cut."
His blade sliced the space between the demon and its shadow —
the demon collapsed instantly, hollowed.
Another demon charged from behind—
but Shion turned before it moved.
He sensed it.
Shion:
"Your presence is loud."
He slid his ring off — the tiny silver band floating in midair.
It expanded…
shifted…
morphed…
His chest sigil ignited.
The ring unfolded like blooming metal, floating above his heart.
A final click—
the Lantern of Souls manifested in full form.
Light roared.
Shion finally lifted his head:
Shion:
"Judgment begins."
The bridge bowed to him.
✦ End OF CHAPTER 6 — The Night Heaven Forgot to Breathe ✦