The Depths were still — not lifeless, just... holding its breath.
The three of them sat in the ruins of what must've once been a church. The walls were half-swallowed by the stone of the Deep, roots curling up where pews once stood, and the altar long cracked into pieces. Faint motes of energy hovered in the air like dying fireflies.
Reinhart sat at the edge of a broken dais, his boots scuffed, his hair hanging loose from its tie. His greatsword, dark and heavy, was propped against the wall behind him.
He closed his eyes.And sang.
"Down below, the bells don't ring...Only shadows hum and silence sings...If I return, will they still know my name...Or just the sound of falling flame..."
The sound was soft — low enough to blend into the ghostwind of the Depths.
But it wasn't background noise. It cut through the silence.
Julius, lying on his side nearby, blinked. "...Yo. Reinhart, what the hell?"
"I think he's singing," Subaru said, almost in disbelief.
Reinhart didn't stop.
"Ash and bone, the hallways mourn...We walk like men who were never born...We bleed like gods that no one prayed to...We fall for names that never stayed true..."
Julius sat up. "Okay, but like—why?"
Reinhart's voice faded. He looked toward the ceiling, if it could even be called that — just a vast stretch of blue-tinted haze above them.
Then, quietly, he answered, "I used to hum this when I was little. My brother hated it. Thought it sounded cursed."
Subaru tilted his head. "...It kinda does sound cursed."
"That's why I liked it."
Before the moment could deepen any further—
"Yo! Shut up, would you?!"
A freshie.Probably level 1.Hair spiked with Depthwater, chest armor three sizes too big, and a sword that looked like it was salvaged from a training dummy.
He stood at the base of the ruins, arms crossed. He looked pissed.
"You tryna serenade the monsters or somethin'? You're not in a tavern, pal."
Julius laughed. "Damn, we really attracted a stray."
Reinhart stood but said nothing.
The freshie went on. "Seriously, man. All this brooding is embarrassing. You sound like you think you're the protagonist of the world. Get real—"
CRACK.
Subaru was in front of the kid before his sentence finished. A gale burst from the step where he stood. The wind pressure alone nearly sent the kid stumbling.
In one breath, Subaru's hand was at the kid's throat. In the next, he slammed him into a moss-covered pillar.
The kid crumpled, wind knocked out, eyes wide.
"You talk about my crew again," Subaru hissed, "and you won't get a second warning."
Julius muttered, "Here comes the Viksan part…"
Subaru dusted off his sleeves, scowling. "I've met bandits more respectful."
But that's when everything turned. A quiet rustle behind them, and a new voice.
"Do you know who that was?"
Three figures emerged from the edge of the overgrown ruins. One stepped forward — older, regal in posture, with an aura that seemed to slow the very air around him.
He was wrapped in silken robes etched with jade sigils.His mask was carved of red wood, antlers rising from his crown.
Reinhart's breath caught.
Julius stopped chewing.
The figure's voice was like a bell tolling.
"That boy you just struck... was the only son of Huakai the Jade Flame, one of the Seven Severances."
A pause.
Then Subaru said, "...He looked like a damn intern!"
"Intern or not," the masked man intoned, "you've insulted a Severance. You've invoked a blood price."
Subaru blinked.Then blinked again.
He turned back to Reinhart and Julius.
"...I'm so sorry."
Then — gone.
Wind howled, debris kicked into the air, and Subaru vanished in the direction opposite the masked figures, legs pumping like a madman.
Later, at Camp
Julius sat chewing his last half-wrapped Megurger, looking miserable.
"Can't believe he dipped on us."
"He made the right call," Reinhart said, quietly sharpening his blade. "We just can't afford to make another mistake."
Julius looked at him, frowning. "You're talkin' like someone who already knows what mistake's coming."
Reinhart didn't reply.He stared into the flickering Depthsflame at the center of the ruin. The song still played in his head.
"If I return, will they still know my name…"
No one answered.