Death is not the end—only being forgotten is.
When the "revived" spirit particles began to unravel a second time, the lofty nobles finally remembered the terror that once dominated them. Familiar faces were wiped away one after another, consumed and dissolved by the branching black shadow until not a trace remained.
Expressions twisted in horror. The curses spewing from their mouths turned into desperate pleas.Some even forced out nonexistent tears, hoping the boy before them might show mercy.
But instead of saving them, their pitiful display only hastened their second death.
"Akira, do you really hate these nobles that much?"Aoi Ren—calm as ever—stood at his side, watching quietly. "You don't seem to have any personal grudges with them."
At that, Kisaragi Akira's hands paused for the briefest moment. He sighed lightly.
"It's not that I hate nobles as a whole.""In any group, there are good people and bad people—nobles are no exception.""I've seen murderers in the Reversal District who take pleasure in cruelty… and I've seen nobles who genuinely carry kindness in their hearts.""I simply despise people with rotten personalities. That's all."
Even as he spoke, Akira continued manipulating the ink-black, branch-like shadows, re-dismantling the spirits at the slowest, most agonizing pace possible.
This was different from their first death.Letting these wretched people die only once felt far too generous.
So he chose to offer every last one of them to the One-Eyed Great Deity—Mimihagi.
To strip them of reincarnation entirely.To cast them into eternal, inescapable darkness.
As for the assembled members of the Shichijō clan holding their "meeting" nearby, he didn't bother paying them any mind. The power granted by the ritual would vanish soon enough—taking them with it.After all, gathering the dead's lingering spirit particles only created an imitation of life, never true resurrection.
Aoi Ren watched Akira—fierce, merciless, almost monstrous—and his tense expression eased slightly.
For all his usual carelessness, this guy… wasn't truly evil at heart.Maybe this was the only way someone like him could live as happily as possible.
In the Abandoned Dungeon
Dark stone walls were mottled with decades-old bloodstains. The floor, paved with massive slabs, still held remnants of long-dried flesh. Ever since the nobles seated on the high platform were massacred in brutal fashion, the Central Forty-Six had ordered this execution ground sealed off.
For decades, no soul had stepped foot here.
Until now.
Two figures dressed in white appeared at the dungeon's entrance.
One wore the spotless haori of a squad captain.The other wore a tattered prisoner's uniform.
But their attitudes were the exact opposite of what their clothes suggested.
Captain Shichijō Sōya clenched his sweating palms, staring at the familiar—yet impossibly distant—face before him. He had never felt this nervous, not even when facing the previous Kenpachi head-on.
"…S-Soya?"
The girl blinked in confusion. She didn't seem to understand her current state, nor why the man before her felt so familiar.
Without hesitation, she stepped closer and gently wrapped her thin, scar-scarred fingers around his larger hand.
And in the next moment—
The girl smiled.
Soft, warm, and heartbreakingly gentle—like a ray of light piercing through the dungeon's suffocating darkness.
"It really is you, Soya.""Your hand got so much bigger… and you've got calluses now. You really did keep your promise to your big sister."
Her words shattered him. Soya's lips trembled, wanting to respond, but his throat felt sealed shut. All the things he had wanted to say over the years tangled together in his chest.
"It looks like… many years have passed."The girl raised a delicate hand to his cheek. "Carrying so many burdens all this time must've been so hard for you."
"I shouldn't have said what I did back then.""The dead… should be allowed to stay gone. Forcing them to remain only brings pain."
"Whether it's glory or hope… what matters is that you lived. That means they kept their promise. Being able to see you again… makes me so happy."
...
He didn't know how long they talked.
But the moment Soya finally croaked out his first words, everything inside him burst free. He spoke endlessly, pouring out years of pain, regret, memories—everything he had held inside.
Until—
The girl's form slowly rippled.
Both of them froze.
Silence filled the dungeon.
Then she smiled again—calm, accepting.
"Looks like… my time is up.""What a shame. I still haven't heard the story of how you became a captain."
Light shimmered across her frail body. Snow-like fragments drifted away, dissolving into countless spirit particles.
"Don't be sad, Soya.""Seeing the person you grew into… I have no regrets."
Her faint figure began to fade.
"This time… let's make one last promise.""Soya. Live well."
And with that—
Her light shattered.
Gone.
Soya's heart ruptured. The pain overwhelmed him, erupting like a volcano. His animal-like cry filled the dungeon, echoing with unbearable grief, tearing him apart from the inside.
Back in the ritual chamber, Kisaragi Akira blinked, glancing toward the direction of the anguished roar.
"…Ren, I think that guy just broke completely.""You sure we didn't go too far?"
Aoi Ren let out a tired sigh."Please replace 'we' with 'you.' You made the plan. You acted on it. I offered several suggestions—you ignored all of them."
Sometimes, Akira was stubborn to the point of being mule-like.
"Okay, okay, Ren."Akira kept effortlessly manipulating the shadowy branches."You really did go a bit overboard.""Just this once though. Next time, absolutely not."
Ren fell silent.
Akira straightened his posture slightly, voice low and solemn.
"In the name of the Kisaragi Shrine, I offer this sacrifice to the One-Eyed Great Deity—Mimihagi…"
Spirit pressure materialized thickly around the altar, sketching the deity's cold, unblinking eye.
"I offer the dead… and release the Hidden Sight buried within the Reversal District."
A black shadow congealed into a right hand with a staring eye embedded in its palm. Countless particles of light gathered there.
A crushing force swept through the execution ground.
Akira's face reddened as he strained to guide the shadow's power toward the ritual bell on the altar.
"Ren…!"
Spirit pressure exploded like a collapsing mountainside.The black hand compressed under the force, completing its final step—falling entirely into the bell.
A pitch-black eye slowly opened across the bell's surface.