500 years ago
Something… is dancing.
White bodies… many… moving in a circle.
Eyes dimmed… or perhaps opened far too wide.
No sound…
No sound at all…
Only a silent noise, as if someone is laughing inside the skull.
A woman laughs… then the image freezes.
Blood…? No, not blood—
Something like it… seeping from their mouths like ink.
Fingers clap, then detach from the hand.
Paper fans spin, then melt…
And the moon… the moon is long tonight—longer than it should be.
Then—
Emptiness.
A flash again… 200 years ago
A child is crying.
But the crying is reversed, pouring out from his feet…
The air is still, yet it beats like a pulse.
A circle… carved into stone,
Symbols ignite, fade, then ignite again—but in a different color.
No one is around…
But there are breaths.
Many breaths… breathing from beneath the ground.
The child does not know his name.
But the circle knows him.
Then nothing.
Then…
"A sound… like a name, but unspoken."
((Hallucination)) ((Cursed Images))
---
25 years ago – December 5, 1999
In the heart of Naha City, the walls of the old courthouse rose like the ribs of a sleeping stone beast. Cracked stone columns jutted from the ground like bound limbs, and from the rotting ceiling hung pale lamps that gave off a faint hum, barely touching the faces of those present with their gray light.
The air inside the hall was still, yet burdened with an unseen weight… a muted dread, as if the room itself was about to swallow everyone whole.
Eva (exhaling coldly, her gaze toward the council steeped in contempt):
"Am I to bear it?… Should a mirror be judged for the faces that look into it? The killer you speak of… is no longer among us, not since the world chose to erase his name from memory. You are not judging me… you are fleeing from a confession that should have been made years ago."
Council member (rising, voice trembling between rage and fear):
"Enough of your hollow philosophy! You are the last priestess of a house doomed to extinction—you will not escape your crime! You have been sentenced… and all blood tied to you has been sentenced as well! You are the serpent's head!"
Another member (laughing a lifeless, empty laugh):
"We are so skilled at playing justice… isn't it amusing? We condemn you only because someone must be condemned. We all know who fired the first shot… but we prefer to place the blame on whoever is left standing."
Eva (lowers her head for a moment, then raises it slowly, voice sharp as glass):
"You're not looking for the truth… you're looking for a scapegoat to shield your faces from being burned by scandal. But let me tell you something: when a wolf is cornered, it does not negotiate… it tears."
She steps forward, chin lifted, her calm gaze steady.
"Ban… he killed the president, yes. He claimed we were with him, that the family blessed his crime—didn't he? But tell me… did he leave a single piece of evidence behind? A trace? A witness? Nothing… only words from a man who died burned alive. And that was the end of it."
Council member (cold voice, as if reading from a paper buried deep in his soul):
"We need no proof, Eva. We do not judge because we seek justice… we carry out what must be carried out. This council does not listen to the truth… it writes it."
Another member (mocking tone, almost enjoying the ruin):
"Ban is dead. His mouth closed, but he opened doors you tried to keep shut. And now… you will be executed. Balance… isn't that right? A death for a death."
Eva (a quiet laugh—short, but soaked in bitterness):
"And so judgments are written in this world. Not by truth, but by desire. You don't pass sentences because you're certain… but because you're afraid he was right."
A judge (sharply):
"Silence! Enough of this nonsense! The trial is over—what remains is only the burial of what's left of you."
In the moment silence fell inside the courthouse—
They all heard the first crack.
A faint sound… but it split skulls like a lightning strike.
The chains shattered. No—evaporated.
The hall's walls exploded with a deep resonance, like drumbeats in some ancient hell.
The rhythm of blood began to pound, as if the earth's heart had opened beneath their feet.
The iron rings that bound the Odjin family flew into the air,
Spinning for a moment before falling to the ground…
And bleeding.
---
The family's escape, the streets turning into a river of fire, the slaughter, the eerie silence—
Then, at the Taemen Temple, the OgA Squad appeared.
Three silent figures watching from the rooftops:
Oga—the leader, eyes unblinking, gaze of one who has faced every kind of death.
Amada—expressionless, hands behind her back like she's waiting for the outcome of a lab experiment.
Kaizo—pale boy, terrifying in his stillness, watching the fugitives as if this scene had played out in an old dream.
The trap was set. The path was blocked.
Ki Tai stepped forward, whispered: "Close your eyes."
A black dome of frozen shadow grew around him—
From it, colossal hands emerged, each carrying the intent to kill.
They struck with impossible precision—
Breaking bones from the inside, snatching bodies from the air, splitting enemies without a drop of blood.
The battle spiraled into chaos—
Until oga moved.
Oga stepped onto the dome, the hands froze.
Ki Tai opened his eyes—
And knew the real death hadn't even begun.
"No time…", he murmured—
And shattered the dome outward, shielding his family with the last of his strength.
Eva, in the temple, was chanting—
Words not meant for human tongues, each syllable extinguishing a star.
Black tears streamed from her eyes as she summoned the Wandering Demon.
The ground recoiled, a gateway opened—
Not of stone, fire, or matter, but a trembling wound in perception itself.
It swallowed sight, thought, and air.
In an instant, the Odjin family vanished—
Leaving only blood-stained emptiness,
And a silence like the pause before a storm.
On the roof, OgA watched—
Oga broke the silence with a slow, predatory laugh.
"They ran? Good… this will be more fun than I thought."
Her voice dripped with threat,
And the night felt shorter for it.