Ashborn
Smoke poured from the Vein Pool like breath from a sleeping giant.
Tsukihana hovered above the stone floor, her body glowing with ember veins running wild across her skin. Her hair had turned a deep crimson, rising with the heat that pulsed from her bones. The old robes burned away, revealing markings that hadn't been there before—ancient script carved like scars.
Renjiro stepped back, hand gripping the hilt of his blade.
"Tsuki…? You there?"
Her head turned slowly, eyes still golden. No answer.
A gust of heat knocked him back a few steps. His boots cracked the temple tiles.
She finally blinked.
And when she spoke, her voice was mixed — hers, and something else.
"The fire remembers."
Flame Unbound
Master Senzoku stood near the shattered scroll table, eyes narrowed.
"So… the Ashborn has returned."
Renjiro turned sharply. "What does that even mean?!"
The old man didn't answer right away.
He looked at Tsukihana—no, through her.
"She's not just awakening," he said. "She's burning apart. Her soul is fusing with the original flame. The one from the time before the Veins."
Renjiro frowned. "That wasn't supposed to happen, right?"
Senzoku said nothing.
Because it wasn't.
Kira's Silence
Somewhere deep in the shrine, Kira sat alone, knees pulled to her chest.
The shadow that had taken root in her heart since the last encounter with Akarui still pulsed quietly.
She heard the sound of wind tearing at the shrine's walls — no, not wind. A storm. Fast. Unnatural.
"It's coming for her," the voice whispered.
"It was born from broken Veins. Just like her. But colder."
Kira pressed her hands to her ears.
"Get out of me."
But it didn't leave.
Because now, it lived there.
The Hollow King's Weapon
High above the earth, among black clouds twisted like wolves' mouths, a storm moved with purpose.
It didn't roll or roar like a normal storm. It hunted.
Lightning inside it moved in patterns — shapes. Like runes or eyes.
This was Raikan, the Hollow King's newest creation. A living storm built from corrupted wind Veins and old souls.
It didn't speak. But it understood only one command.
"Burn the girl."
Within the Fire: Memory Reborn
Inside the Ashborn realm — a place that was not physical — Tsukihana wandered alone through a city made of ash.
Everything here had burned already.
Homes. Temples. People.
And in the middle of it all stood a giant flame, surrounded by figures in cloaks.
They knelt to the fire, chanting in a forgotten tongue.
And at the center—
A little girl.
Herself.
But younger.
Alone.
Screaming.
"Why did you make me this?!"
"Why did you choose me?!"
The fire responded in her own voice:
"Because you didn't run."
"You burned back."
The Sky Breaks
Back in the real world, clouds churned into spirals over the shrine.
Lightning cracked the sky open.
Raikan had arrived.
The storm didn't roar — it screamed.
A bolt struck the mountainside, tearing half of it loose. Boulders fell like teeth. The shrine trembled. The ancient trees bent as if trying to crawl away.
Renjiro grabbed Tsukihana's wrist. "Snap out of it! This thing's gonna wipe out everything—!"
She opened her eyes.
The gold was gone.
Now they burned blue-white.
"I remember it now," she said softly.
"The world we came from. The city of Veins. The gods we killed."
Renjiro blinked. "What—?"
"I'm not just the Seed of Ruin," she whispered.
"I'm the last ember of the first fire."
She looked at her hands.
"And I don't know how to stop it."
Cliffhanger: The Sky That Bleeds
The storm dropped lower.
Its winds tore stone from the shrine walls. Statues shattered. The ancient flame altar cracked down the middle.
Kira burst through the door, eyes wide.
"It's here! It's—"
A lightning strike hit the roof. The world flashed white.
When the light faded—
Kira lay unconscious.
Renjiro was pinned beneath rubble.
And Tsukihana stood, arms wide, as the storm circled above her like a predator.
Then it spoke.
For the first time.
"Ashborn."
"Burn with me."