Chapter 30 – Chains in the Fire
The battlefield was chaos.
Flames raged in broken arcs where Yamiyo's katana carved the night. Crimson embers clung to the ruins, eating wood and steel alike, turning the ground into a living inferno. The air stank of burning flesh — not human, but the remnants of Yamiyo's summoned beasts. Suzuya's chest heaved, the Crimson Fang still burning in his grip, Akane's faint voice steadying him like an anchor.
"Don't lose yourself, Suzuya… I'm here."
Her words carried through the bond, soft as silk but strong as tempered steel.
Then, with a metallic scream, the battlefield shuddered. A thousand black links tore through the flames like fangs of the abyss. Chains — endless, coiling, alive. They slammed into the earth and snapped tight around Yamiyo's fire. Sparks hissed as the flames strangled under their grip.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward. His eyes glowed pale silver under his hood. Yasha.
"Enough of this circus, Yamiyo." His voice was calm, yet behind it was an edge sharp enough to slice silence. Chains slithered at his command, wrapping the burning beasts Yamiyo had unleashed. "Your chaos disgusts me."
Yamiyo turned, lips curling into a grin. "Yasha, the Chain Contractor… I should've known you'd crawl out of the dark eventually. Still playing the lapdog of your Entity?"
A rumble came from behind Yasha, deeper than thunder. The shadows around him rippled, shifting unnaturally until they pooled at his feet like ink. From within the darkness, a voice whispered — cold, hollow, infinite.
"…consume… bind… eclipse…"
The Shadow Entity was awake.
Chains whipped in anticipation, and for the first time, Suzuya felt it — the oppressive weight of another Contract in full resonance. His Crimson Fang flickered, reacting instinctively to Yasha's aura.
"Akane…" Suzuya muttered through gritted teeth. "What… what is this?"
Her voice came through the bond, urgent yet steady.
> "This is what we are, Suzuya. Contractors. Every pact between a human and an Entity is a Contract — ours, his, Yamiyo's. But each bond is different. Yours is forged in rage and trust. His… in control and hunger."
Suzuya's eyes widened as Akane's words filled his mind, her voice painting the rules of a system he had only stumbled into.
The Dominant Aspect of Yasha's Contract was Chains of Binding. Pure control, unbreakable suppression.
The Resonant Aspect, born of Shadow's hunger, was Consumption. With every soul Yasha bound, his chains grew stronger, feeding on their essence.
Yamiyo laughed as the chains lashed around his flames, hissing violently. "Chains against fire? You'll smother for a moment, Yasha, but fire always finds a crack."
He swung his blade and an eruption of fire surged upward like a tidal wave. Chains clashed against it midair, exploding into sparks. The night lit up as two Contractors collided: Yamiyo's chaotic destruction against Yasha's cold suppression.
Suzuya staggered back, shielding Akari's unconscious body from the shockwave. His crimson blade vibrated in his hand, trembling with rage, begging to be unleashed.
"Akane, we can't… we can't just stand here!"
"I know, Suzuya. But you must listen. If you force the Crimson Fang without me… it will consume you. A Contractor's strength isn't just the Entity — it's the bond between us. That's our Resonance."
Her words struck him harder than the heat and chains colliding before him. His breathing steadied. He realized then: Yamiyo wielded chaos because he had surrendered to his Entity fully. Yasha wielded control because he had bent his to his will. But Suzuya… Suzuya had something they lacked.
Trust.
He closed his eyes, letting Akane's presence wash over him. The Crimson Fang steadied, no longer trembling. For the first time, it wasn't rage driving him — it was balance.
"Akane," he whispered, "lend me everything."
"Always."
The Fang erupted, brighter than ever before, crimson flames sharpened into a pure edge of soul-bound steel. Suzuya opened his eyes, and his Sigil — a burning fang etched on his arm — glowed like molten iron.
Both Yasha and Yamiyo froze mid-clash. Their heads snapped toward Suzuya.
Yamiyo's grin widened. "So, the cub bares his fangs again."
Yasha's silver gaze lingered longer, chains shifting restlessly. "…That aura. You've already reached Resonance."
Suzuya stepped forward, Crimson Fang trailing sparks. "I don't care what you two are. Contractor, Entity, monster — I'll cut through anyone who stands in the way of protecting Akane and Akari!"
The ground split beneath his feet as he charged.
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The Three-Way Clash
The battle became a storm of power.
Yamiyo's katana carved through air and fire, each strike an inferno that sought to devour Suzuya whole.
Yasha's chains snapped and coiled, intercepting flames, binding pillars, cracking the earth in iron embraces.
And Suzuya — blade blazing, footsteps echoing like thunder — danced between them, carving his path straight through the clash of Contractors.
Each swing of the Crimson Fang burned brighter, fed not by fury but by the resonance between him and Akane. He remembered Akane's words:
Manifestations were the simplest expressions. His was the Crimson Fang itself.
Arts were shaped by emotion. His rage gave him the Fang Burst, explosive arcs of crimson fire.
But now, as Akane's calm merged with him, something new stirred.
Chains lashed toward him. Flames collapsed in from the other side. And Suzuya roared:
"Resonant Break — CRIMSON OATH!"
The Fang flared, its blade elongating into a fang of pure crimson soulfire. His strike tore through Yamiyo's flames, scattering them like paper. The same arc cleaved through Yasha's chains, shattering their iron-black links into fragments of shadow.
Both enemies reeled back. For the first time, the battlefield silenced.
Yamiyo's grin faltered, his flames guttering. Yasha's chains recoiled, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"…Impossible," Yasha muttered. "A Resonant Break… at his stage?"
Akane's voice reached Suzuya in a whisper, warm against the chaos. "See, Suzuya? Our strength isn't in control, or chaos. It's in harmony."
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The Aftermath
The chains slithered back into the shadows. Yasha's gaze hardened, but there was a flicker of something else in his eyes — respect, or perhaps curiosity.
"You've proven yourself… cub," Yasha said at last. "Your bond is real. Stronger than most." His silver gaze flicked to Yamiyo, who still burned with fury. "But your fight is not with me… not yet."
Before Suzuya could answer, the shadows swallowed Yasha whole. The chains vanished, leaving only silence where he had stood.
Yamiyo roared in rage, his flames exploding anew, but Suzuya didn't flinch. The Crimson Fang blazed steady, Akane's presence anchoring him. For the first time, he didn't feel like prey before Yamiyo.
He felt like a hunter.
And the war between Contractors had only just begun.
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