A chill wind swept over the valley, dragging with it the scent of ozone and ash. The skies above Kazenari Rei's sanctuary had darkened into a brooding canvas, thick clouds forming unnatural patterns, pulsing slightly like a sleeping beast dreaming of war.
Deep beneath the earth, where sunlight was a myth and silence reigned like a tyrant, Rei sat cross-legged within a hollow chamber of obsidian crystal. Carvings of ancient script glowed faintly along the walls, forgotten symbols older than even the gods of the current age. Before him, a fragment pulsed—a shard not of flame, but of silence itself. The Void Fragment.
> [System Notice: Void Fragment — Resonance Incomplete. Compatibility Index: 29%]
Karasu's voice whispered through his mind like ink bleeding through parchment. "This one is alive in a different way. It does not scream. It listens, and in listening, it consumes."
Rei extended his hand slowly. The Void Fragment responded, its dark light folding around his fingers like the breath of a ghost. Cold. Not in temperature—but in concept. The fragment wanted nothing.
Not power. Not purpose.
Only oblivion.
Rei closed his eyes and leaned into the contact. Visions did not explode into his consciousness this time. Instead, the world around him vanished into soundless gray.
In that silence, he heard it.
Weeping.
---
In the upper sanctum, Mireille and Noira stood before a vast arcane map that displayed real-time disturbances in spiritual networks. The threads, once flowing cleanly, were now choked with static and unknown sigils.
"Three sites corrupted," Noira said, her voice grim. "Leylines fractured. Someone is harvesting energy at catastrophic levels."
Mireille folded her arms beneath her chest, thoughtful. "Could be connected to the Void Fragment's awakening."
"Or someone trying to stop it."
Just then, the room's temperature plummeted. A ripple tore through the fabric of the sanctuary, emanating from below.
"Rei," Mireille whispered.
They moved without a word, their steps synchronized, descending through shifting passages and stairwells that rewrote themselves at will—an architectural reflection of Rei's growing power.
---
Within the void chamber, Rei trembled. His body remained still, but his mind drifted far beyond the realm of flesh.
He saw a child, alone in the rain. He saw a battlefield where heroes fell without names. He saw a woman—a Spirit unlike the others—sealed in crystal, her tears suspended in time.
Then, a voice cut through the grey:
"Why do you chase power if not to destroy what destroyed you?"
He did not answer.
Because he did not know.
---
When Noira and Mireille arrived, they found him floating. Not standing. Floating.
Rei's eyes were pitch-black, devoid of light, and his body was encased in a web of violet energy. The Void Fragment hovered above his chest, spinning slowly.
Mireille raised her voice. "Rei! Come back!"
Noira extended a hand, aura flaring. "We pull him out together."
They poured their spirit energy into the field. The darkness resisted, curling like serpents around their limbs, whispering doubts into their ears.
He doesn't need you.
He will outgrow you.
He will forget.
But they held fast.
And then—a crack.
Light.
A blinding burst erupted from Rei's chest, shattering the fragment's shell. A scream of silence echoed across dimensions. The chamber shook. The world twisted.
Then, stillness.
Rei collapsed forward, coughing, his hand pressed to the stone.
Noira caught him. "You idiot."
He looked up at her, eyes clearing. "I heard her."
Mireille knelt beside them. "Who?"
Rei's voice came softer than a whisper.
"The First Spirit."
---
That night, Rei stood beneath the stars, the fragment now embedded within his left hand. The air around him warped subtly. Silence followed him like a shadow.
Eirenne joined him, a quiet presence.
"She's waiting," he said.
"For you?"
"No. For all of us. For what we become."
The Spirit of Cataclysm nodded. "Then we'd better become something worth the wait."
Behind them, the sanctuary pulsed with the breath of a sleeping dragon, and in the far distance, the veil between realms grew thinner.
The next move belonged to them.