The sky was slate-gray, silent and unnatural — as if even the clouds feared what was coming.
Eiríkur and Akira stood in the shrine courtyard, eyes fixed on the thing approaching from the treeline.
It didn't walk.
It glided.
Nine feet tall. White-skinned. Kagune fused with iron along its spine, giving the impression of armor — or a cage. Eyes dead. Mouth sewn shut. A machine made from Draugr flesh and Kanou's hatred.
KJ-Husk.
Akira stepped forward, pistol drawn.
Eiríkur extended one arm — frost curling from his fingers.
"It's not alive," he said. "It doesn't feel."
Akira nodded. "But it can still die."
The First Strike The Husk launched itself at them with terrifying speed.
Eiríkur met it head-on, frost-kagune snapping out like coiled serpents. Fimbulbrand activated instinctively, the temperature plummeting. The ground cracked.
But Husk didn't slow. It tore through the frost field with inhuman efficiency, its kagune-blades spinning like drill bits of bone and steel.
Eiríkur grunted as it cracked his side open in one swing.
Akira fired multiple rounds into its exposed chest — nothing.
Eiríkur grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back behind the shrine wall.
"We can't beat it head-on," she hissed.
"We don't have to," Eiríkur said — his voice deeper now. Two-toned. Hjalgrím was close.
The Whispering Begins As the battle raged, Hjalgrím began reaching out — not to Eiríkur.
But to the Husk.
"You are made of my dead. My blood. You are hollow. I will fill you."
The Husk hesitated.
Its movements slowed — just for a second.
But the seed had been planted.
Reinforcements Arrive From the far treeline, another RC signature flared.
Eiríkur's head snapped around.
He whispered, "…no."
Kaneki. Touka. Hinami.
They rushed in — drawn by the frost pulses and the rumors of a second Draugr. Hinami's eyes widened with horror at the sight of Husk.
"Eiríkur?! What is that?!"
Eiríkur moved to warn them — but the Husk reacted to the new heat signatures.
It howled silently.
And charged.
Two Draugr, One Choice Eiríkur stepped into its path — eyes glowing frost-white, runes pulsing down his neck and arms. Hjalgrím surged to the surface — not in control, but alongside him.
Eiríkur's voice carried in two tones now:
"Stay away from them."
And unleashed Fimbulbrand: Second Phase.
His new ability — born from the pact — erupted outward like a glacier collapsing.
Frozen sigils hovered in the air, forming a barrier between the Husk and the others. Every strike the Husk made against it slowed its kagune further — while Eiríkur moved faster inside the field.
The Final Moment Eiríkur reached the Husk's core — and didn't destroy it.
Instead, he placed a hand over its chest.
And spoke — not as man, not as ghoul, but as Draugr.
"You were made from death. I choose life. That makes me stronger than you."
And froze the core from within.
The Husk seized — twitched — and shattered in place.
Ice dust drifted over the shrine like ash.
The Aftermath Silence.
Hinami clung to Touka's coat.
Kaneki stared — not in fear. In sorrow.
Eiríkur turned, barely standing.
He met their gaze.
"I didn't want you to see me like this."
Touka stepped forward.
"And yet here you are."
Akira watched, silent. Arms crossed. Torn between pride and fear.
Kaneki finally said, "You're not a ghoul anymore. You're something else."
"I'm still Eiríkur," he replied.
"But for how much longer?" Touka asked.
Eiríkur had no answer.