After Taeko's departure, a deathly silence fell over the place.
The air felt too heavy to breathe, as if time itself had stopped in reverence for his soul.
Kaito stood there, clutching the sword his father had handed him moments before.
His hand trembled, but his eyes remained steady, lost in the void, holding nothing but anger and astonishment.
He slowly turned his head toward Meral, who stood calmly behind the bound Hana.
Minamoto rose from his knees, his eyes devoid of mercy.
One look from him was enough to make the air around him boil with hatred.
Korole stood with deadly calm.
His breath was cold, his inner voice murmuring a sad tune he had yet to finish.
Hairu Shin remained seated beside Taeko's body,
his eyes frozen, his hands covered in blood.
He was still wearing his taiko gloves, clutching them to his chest as if they were the last remnants of safety in this cruel world.
Suddenly, a sharp, tearful voice broke the silence.
Hana was screaming from behind Meral, her face pale,
her blue eyes shining with panic:
"Don't you understand?! His death was necessary! Meral promised me...
If we sacrifice one, you'll spare the others!
His death... was the key to all of our survival!"
Breaths froze.
Even Kaito couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Minamoto took a step toward her,
shadows of anger reflected in his bulging veins, his voice low but deadly:
"And your death... will be the key to our revenge."
The ground shook softly,
and his chains slammed from his wrists like monsters emerging from an iron cage.
The chains suddenly swelled, hissing like the creak of approaching death,
as if preparing to pounce on the first person who breathed.
Kaito slowly raised his head, his eyes beginning to darken again,
and the slits on his face lit up with a glowing black light.
The darkness in his eyes wasn't just anger...
but the beginning of something deeper.
Miral smiled, as if completely satisfied with what was happening,
while Korol whispered to himself in a voice no one could hear:
"The Blood Curse has begun to stir again..."
Miral stood calmly, unshaken, her cold smile never faltering. "Yes," she said in a gentle, combative tone, as if teaching an obvious lesson. "Of course I promised. But I changed my mind."
She approached the bound Hana with deadly coldness, placing her hand on her face like a ring on a finger, and whispered short words whose meaning could only be understood by those who lived in the shadows of the shrine. Hana's eyes widened, she let out a single, soft cry, and then… her mouth began to fill with blood, dripping down her chest, and she collapsed to the floor, motionless and breathless. A terrible silence filled the hall for a few moments, then the sound dissipated as if it had never existed.
Miral turned slowly toward their gathering Kaito standing with his sword in his hand, Minamoto deliberate, Kurol unwavering, and Hiro Shin sitting near Taeko's corpse; Then she spoke with cruel sarcasm:
"Are you happy now? I have gotten rid of the one who betrayed you."
No one responded. Everyone was wrestling inside with astonishment, anger, and fear.
Suddenly, everyone moved at once:
Kaito leaped toward her like a sloping arrow, his sword shining like a drop of parsimony. Minamoto unleashed his chains like snakes. Kurul raised his scythe in one powerful move three strikes at once. They rushed at Meral like a raging storm.
Meral danced between the two attacks with eerie agility, dodging the blows like a feather in the air. But their gazes lingered on a split cheek on the side of her face, lightly streaked with blood. Meral was not afraid; instead, she raised her head with frightening heroism and shouted in a voice that shook the place:
"You bastards! You scum!"
In the blink of an eye, they thought devastation might erupt, as the earth around the shrine split open on all sides, and countless creatures rose up thousands of monsters, of varying shapes and sizes, red and black objects, and distorted masks, crawling out of the shadows like hordes emerging from the earth's womb. Their numbers surpassed anything they had seen on their journey.
Then Miral raised her voice loudly, filled with anger and malice:
"My shrine will be your grave!"
The announcement echoed like a cold tomb in their ears, as if the shrine itself was smiling in anticipation of another feast.
In a flash, the party gathered to protect each other; but now the danger was no longer in one direction, but in every direction. The hall had transformed into an endless ring of eyes and fangs; and the crowd was about to rush.
Before the ranks could rise, Kaito noticed the facial scratch on Meral up close it was larger than it appeared, and behind it was a flash of something deeper. The black slashes on his cheek trembled, and his sword glowed a faint violet, as if the blade had remembered its promise and its becoming.
The sound of fighting drew nearer, but something in Kaito's chest something other than anger seemed to be awakening. The black vortex swirled around his slashes, and the air grew heavier.
The monsters roared. The hall exploded with a monstrous shriek, and invisible shadows materialized in the corners… But amidst the din, Meral's will still rang out:
"Your grave…"
Shadows descended upon them, and the sword began to slice, the chains clanged, and the scythe slashed—and amidst it all, Kaito stood; his gaze never left Meral's, as if something decisive would happen between them in the next moment.
End of Chapter