Stones groaned beneath Renji's boots as he dragged Yurei through the choking fog. The altar loomed ahead, a jagged monument of black stone rising out of the fractured ground. Fissures crisscrossed its surface, glowing faintly with sickly light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Renji's lungs burned. His vision swam. Every step felt like sinking deeper into tar. Yurei leaned heavily against him, her weight growing unbearable, yet he refused to let her fall.
Mist thickened around them, pressing against his skin like icy hands. Whispers crawled into his ears, sweet and venomous.
Stop walking. Let her die. End it. Death will bring you back. Cleaner. Stronger. Lighter.
He gritted his teeth, forcing the voice down. But it never left—just circled, patient and persistent.
When they reached the altar's base, Yurei staggered free of his support, collapsing against the stone. Her face was pale, lips bloodless, eyes clouded. Still, she managed a grim smile.
"We made it…" she whispered.
Renji's gaze swept the monument. Strange carvings wound along its surface—spirals, jagged symbols, shapes that seemed to shift if he looked too long. They writhed like wounds carved into reality.
"What is this place?" he rasped.
Yurei's fingers trailed the markings, leaving streaks of blood. "A Node. One of the few left. The altar ties this world together. Without it… everything collapses faster."
Renji frowned. "Then fix it. Use it."
Her laugh was hollow. "If only it were that easy. It demands blood… mine."
His heart clenched. "Then I'll—"
"No," she snapped, weak but fierce. "Only the cursed can awaken it. Only those bound to the Mist. That's me."
Before he could argue, she pressed her palm to the stone. Blood dripped into the carvings, and the altar shuddered. Light flared within the cracks, a dull throb that spread outward. The Mist shrieked, recoiling violently, as if burned.
Renji staggered, clutching his head. Voices inside his skull wailed louder, not in defeat but in fury.
She steals from us. She delays the inevitable. But you… you belong to us.
He gasped, nearly dropping his sword. The voices had never been this clear, this sharp. They weren't whispers anymore—they were commands.
Yurei trembled, blood pooling beneath her hand. Her body shook with the effort, but she didn't let go. "Hold on, Renji… just a little longer…!"
Renji wanted to believe. But as the altar pulsed, he saw something else. Shadows flickered in the light—phantoms shaped like him, rising and falling. One Renji stabbed himself clean through the chest, smiling as he died. Another knelt in the Mist, eyes hollow, waiting for nothing. A third stood silent, no face at all, a blank shell drifting toward oblivion.
His stomach twisted. His hands trembled.
That is you, the Mist whispered. All paths end the same. Empty. Hollow. Gone.
Renji staggered back from the altar, shaking his head violently. "No… no, that's not me… I won't—"
But the images clung, seared into his mind. Death no longer looked like defeat. It looked like peace.
Kurogane's voice slithered through the fog, disembodied yet near:"You see it now, don't you? The truth of your existence. Respawn isn't survival. It's surrender. Each death strips away your chains, until nothing is left to suffer."
Renji spun, searching the mist. But Kurogane wasn't there—only his echo.
Yurei collapsed, her hand sliding from the altar. The glow dimmed instantly, cracks paling. She slumped against the stone, consciousness slipping.
Renji caught her before she fell completely, panic searing through him. "Yurei! Stay with me!"
Her eyelids fluttered, voice barely audible. "Don't… listen… fight it… Renji… fight…"
Then she went limp.
Renji froze, the weight of her in his arms. The whispers surged, wrapping around his heart.
She's gone. Let her go. End yourself. Respawn stronger. Protect her the next time. This cycle is mercy. This cycle is freedom.
He lifted his sword, almost without thought. Its edge gleamed in the altar's dim glow, pressing lightly against his chest. One thrust. That was all it would take.
The Mist hushed, waiting.
For the first time, Renji couldn't tell if he wanted to die.
Blade kissed Renji's chest. Cold steel, steady in trembling hands. His breath came ragged, heart hammering against the edge as though begging to be pierced.
Mist hushed, its whispers no longer chaotic but unified, harmonious.Yes. Do it. End this farce. Shed your weakness. Each death is a gift, each return a rebirth. Step through the door. Leave behind the weight of fear.
Renji's eyes glazed. The thought of falling—just once more—was sweet. Yurei's limp body rested beside the altar, pale and still. He could come back stronger, protect her better. Couldn't he?
He tightened his grip. Muscles coiled. Just one thrust.
A low rumble shook the altar. The carvings lit again, weak but insistent. Stone vibrated beneath his knees. From the cracks spilled not light, but images—visions clawing straight into his skull.
He saw himself impaled, sword jutting from his chest. He saw the world flicker, his body dissolve, and then—rebirth. But wrong. His eyes were blank, movements mechanical. Yurei reached for him, tears streaking her bloodied face. She called his name, again and again. But the hollow Renji only turned, drifting silently into the Mist.
Her screams followed him. But he never looked back.
Renji's hands shook violently, the blade slipping against his chest, drawing a thin line of blood.
"No…" His voice cracked. "That's not me. That won't be me!"
Kurogane's laugh bled through the fog, echoing like steel dragged over stone."It is you. Every Respawner thinks they can fight it. But the Mist always wins. You're not living, Renji. You're decaying. Each death strips you apart. What returns is less… until nothing remains."
Renji's knees buckled. He dropped the sword, clutching his skull. The voices swarmed like locusts, each whisper gnawing at the edges of his sanity.
Die. Die. Die.
His throat tightened. His will cracked.
Then—a faint warmth.
He blinked. Yurei's hand, weak and trembling, had closed around his wrist. Her eyes half-opened, clouded with pain but burning with something unyielding.
Her voice was a rasp, barely breath. "Don't… let it win… Renji. Even if… you die a thousand times… fight. Always fight."
Her touch burned like fire through his despair. The whispers faltered. For the first time, the Mist recoiled.
Renji dragged in a shuddering breath, vision clearing. He forced himself to look at her. "Yurei…"
She managed the faintest smile. "You're… still you. As long as you choose to be."
Something inside him broke—but not into weakness. Into defiance.
Renji seized his sword from the ground, gripping it until his palms split and bled. He raised it high, not against himself, but toward the fog.
"YOU WON'T HAVE ME!"
His roar tore through the silence. The altar responded, its cracks blazing with sudden violent light. The Mist shrieked, convulsing, lashing out with tendrils of black that whipped across the stone.
The light flared brighter, pushing the darkness back. For a heartbeat, Renji thought it might be enough.
But then Kurogane's voice thundered, louder than the altar itself."You delay the inevitable, boy! Between life and nothingness, the Mist is patient. And patience always wins."
The ground split open. A wave of darkness surged, slamming into Renji and Yurei. He clutched her tight, but the force tore them from the altar's base.
They were hurled into the abyss.
Falling. Tumbling. Light and dark tangled until Renji couldn't tell which was which. Yurei's weight in his arms was the only anchor, but even that felt like slipping sand.
The Mist whispered one last time, softer than a lullaby:You are mine, Renji. Even if not today… soon.
His vision faded.
And in the void, he could no longer tell whether he was dying...or simply becoming part of the Mist.