"Eve was silent. Beautiful, cold, distant.
I never thought silence could scream so loud… until that night."
Outskirts of Kyoto Sector – Derelict Church Grounds
11:27 PM
I'd seen creepy places before.
This one? Top five.
The old church stood crooked on a hill like it had tried to escape its own foundation. Stained glass shattered. Wooden beams rotted. The bell tower was missing its bell, and the ground around it was soaked with black mist.
Even the moonlight refused to touch it.
I parked the R6 at the gate. It hummed, uneasily.
Eve stepped off her silent black glider, eyes scanning the ruin.
She wore a long, flowing combat coat that moved like smoke. Her aura pulsed quietly—calm but… too calm. Like death that hadn't decided who to take yet.
"The relic is below the chapel," she said, her voice soft, flat, nearly emotionless.
"Under it?" I asked. "Not ominous at all."
She didn't laugh. Not even a twitch.
Tough crowd.
Inside, the church was worse.
Old blood on the walls. Pews shattered. Candles still burning, even though no one had lived here in decades.
And then came the whispers.
Low at first. Almost mistaken for wind. Then louder. More persistent.
"…slave of light…""…she will betray…""…you are not chosen…"
I clutched my head. "You hear that?"
Eve kept walking. "Ignore them."
"Easy for you to say. Your brain's probably locked behind seventeen mental firewalls."
She turned slightly. "The relic feeds on your insecurities. On your memories."
Great.
Then it got worse.
As we reached the crumbling stairwell beneath the pulpit, everything around me flickered.
I blinked—and suddenly, I wasn't in a haunted church anymore.
I was… back in my apartment?
Unwashed hoodie on the floor. Half-eaten instant ramen on the desk. Dim LED lights flickering like a dying nightclub. My favorite anime paused mid-scene.
"What the hell—did I just get isekai'd… back to my own house?"
I sat on the bed. The remote was still warm. Phone screen said 3:00 AM.
Then the lights went out.
Something creaked.
And a voice whispered from the cracked bathroom door.
"You don't belong. You're not chosen. You're disposable."
I looked at the door, unfazed.
"Great. My intrusive thoughts have moved in permanently."
I got up, walked to the mirror—and instead of my reflection, saw a version of me with blackened eyes and a noose around his neck.
Dark Kaito hissed:
"You were nothing before the goddess. Just a parasite. And you will be again."
I folded my arms. "Buddy, if I wanted to see disappointment, I'd just open my bank account."
The reflection grinned. Chains slithered out of the mirror, lunging toward me like vipers.
I reacted on instinct—summoning my blade and slicing through the illusion mid-sentence.
"Sorry," I said, kicking over the TV stand, "but mental breakdowns are scheduled for Thursdays. Today's for exorcisms and property damage."
The apartment exploded into smoke.
And I was back in the crypt stairwell—sword still glowing, lungs heaving.
Eve stood at the bottom step, staring.
"You… cut your illusion?"
I wiped imaginary dust off my jacket. "If reality's gonna mess with me, it better bring better writers."
She blinked once.
A tiny, microscopic twitch at the edge of her mouth.
I might've made her almost-smile. Win.
The stairwell led into an ancient, underground crypt—massive and suffocating. Mold coated the walls. Cracked statues of forgotten saints lined the passage like frozen mourners. Chains hung from the ceiling like the ribs of a decayed beast.
At the center of the chamber, surrounded by sigils and eerie blue flames, sat the relic:
A stone coffin, sealed in place by four divine anchors and wrapped in black aura like smoke trapped under glass.
Eve stopped beside me, her voice low.
"This is it. The soul-bound coffin of Aeson the Betrayer."
"Who?"
"A slave who tried to break his contract… by stealing the heart of a goddess."
"…Ballsy," I said.
"He failed."
"Still ballsy."
I stepped forward. The air thickened like syrup.
My divine sigil pulsed against my chest.
It's reacting…
Suddenly—crack.
One of the divine seals broke.
The flames flared blue, then turned blood-red.
And something inside the coffin laughed.
"…Another dog of the divine?"
Chains lashed outward from the coffin in all directions—slamming into the ground, the walls, the ceiling.
Then the coffin cracked open—and the shade emerged.
It stood eight feet tall, vaguely humanoid, with twitching fingers made of bones and blade fragments. Its face was a shattered mask, half-covered in soul wrappings. From its back sprouted six twitching chains, glowing with hatred.
Eve stepped forward, scythe in hand.
"Kaito. No hesitation. This thing is—"
The shade roared.
"I AM THE BROKEN PROMISE!"
It lunged before she finished.
I tackled Eve sideways as a chain slammed into the spot we were just standing. The floor exploded in shards.
We rolled apart and stood ready.
I activated Aura Pulse and deflected the next incoming chain with a flicker of divine energy.
"Good news," I shouted. "It hates us!"
Eve blurred past me, her scythe glowing dark violet. "Less talking."
She landed the first hit—cutting deep into the shade's chest—but it didn't bleed. Instead, it let out a scream that fractured the pillars around us.
My turn.
I dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of sword strikes—slashing at its arms, legs, and torso. Sparks flew.
"C'mon, ghost freak," I growled. "You want a second chance at life? Try harder."
It spun with unnatural speed—one of the chains wrapped around my leg and flung me across the chamber.
I hit a broken statue and collapsed in the dust.
"KAITO!" Eve shouted.
"I'm fine," I coughed. "Just dislocated my everything."
The shade turned to Eve and roared again.
"Your silence is your prison, little doll. You follow because you fear what happens if you lead."
Eve faltered for just a second.
I saw it—and so did the shade.
A chain shot toward her heart—
"EVE!" I shouted, pushing off the ground and sprinting forward.
I tackled her to the floor, the chain slicing inches above us and embedding into a pillar.
We landed hard. Her hair fell over my face.
Her eyes met mine.
"…Thank you," she said softly.
I grinned. "No problem. Just repaying the favor for when you didn't let me die two nights ago."
"Don't get used to it."
We got back on our feet.
"I've got an idea," I said. "Just need ten seconds of cover."
Eve nodded and charged the shade, unleashing a flurry of impossible-speed slashes that tore chunks of soul-stuff out of its frame. She kept it spinning, off balance.
I drew both sword and pistol, igniting them with pure divine aura.
Alright, freakshow. Showtime.
I dashed in from the side, slid under a chain, and fired three blessed rounds into the shade's head.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
It screamed. Eve's blade came down like the hand of a god.
We struck at the same time.
BOOM.
The entire chamber exploded with a burst of black light—and the relic's core shattered.
The shade gave one final gasp—
"…She… will betray you… too…"
And vanished into dust.
Silence.
Only the crackle of broken chains remained.
I dropped to one knee, catching my breath.
Eve stood beside me, her aura slowly fading, her hair settling.
She offered me her hand.
I took it.
"You okay?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes."
"…You fought like someone who's already died once."
"I have."
I blinked. "Wait, what?"
But she was already walking toward the stairwell.
I stood, sword across my back, bones sore, heart heavy.
That shade knew something. About betrayal. About… the gods.
And now I wanted to know too.