LightReader

Chapter 5 - Chapter 5 - The Rain Rebels

The rain had returned in sheets, battering the city like a drumbeat of fate. East Kagura had become a maze of waterlogged alleys and shattered neon. Ren moved cautiously, guided by faint whispers of memory, echoes the Order could not see.

> "Stay close," Aira said, her tone unusually tense.

"We've received reports of an Ethereal in the industrial district… but there's something different about this one. Shouma's people are involved."

Ren's stomach tightened. He had heard the name before, whispered among the older members of the Order as a kind of dangerous legend.

---

They arrived at the factory district just as a horde of Ethereals surged through the abandoned warehouses. But these weren't ordinary spirits. Their forms were chaotic, jagged, almost alive and yet someone had restrained them.

A voice echoed above the chaos:

> "Step back, Order dogs. This one is ours."

A figure emerged from the rain, tall, slender, eyes glowing faintly gold. His presence seemed to bend the downpour, halting it midair.

> "Shouma Rindo," Aira muttered.

Ren froze. He had only glimpsed the man on rooftops before, a shadow in the city. And now he was real.

Shouma smiled faintly, tilting his head.

> "Ah… the boy. The one who touches the past."

Ren felt a strange pull in his chest. The air around Shouma was heavy with sorrow, but not angry sorrow. Pain that had been accepted.

> "These Ethereals," Shouma continued, "aren't monsters. They're voices. Voices that the world refused to hear. And the Order… you want to silence them."

Aira stepped forward, weapon raised.

> "They're dangerous! Stand down!"

> "Dangerous?" Shouma laughed softly. "Perhaps. But you fail to see the cost of your 'cleansing'. You erase their pain… and their existence."

Ren felt something he had never felt before, confusion, curiosity, and fear all at once.

> "I… I don't want to hurt anyone," he said quietly.

Shouma's eyes softened.

> "Then come with us. See what the Order refuses to show you. Learn why grief is not a sin to be erased."

---

The choice came suddenly.

The restrained Ethereals struggled, flickering violently. One surged forward, breaking free of its bindings. Aira fired, energy ripping through the rain.

Ren reacted instinctively. He reached out, hand glowing violet, and absorbed the Ethereal's pain, forcing it into his own chest.

It screamed, memories, regrets, and fleeting happiness pouring into him. His vision blurred.

Shouma watched, smiling faintly.

> "Yes… that's it. Feel it all. Only then will you understand."

The Ethereal dissolved into shimmering fragments, unharmed, but now free. Aira glared at Ren.

> "What did you just do?!" she demanded.

"You could've lost control!"

Ren's chest heaved.

> "I… I didn't destroy it. I… felt it. And it… it was alive!"

Shouma stepped closer through the rain.

> "Exactly. That is the power they fear. That is what makes you special. You have a choice now, continue to follow orders blindly or see the truth."

Ren looked at Aira, then at Shouma. The rain fell heavier, drumming against the cracked concrete, as if the city itself was waiting for his decision.

> "I…" he began, voice trembling, "…I need to see."

Aira's jaw tightened. She didn't speak. She simply nodded slightly, a warning in her eyes.

> "Good," Shouma said softly. "Come with us. The Refrains will show you what the world is trying to forget."

And for the first time, Ren realized, the rain wasn't just crying. It was calling him.

---

End of Chapter 5

More Chapters