The night sky above Kagemura Village was an ink-black sheet, darker than any Hiroto had seen in his fifteen years. Even the moon refused to show itself, hiding behind thick clouds as if frightened of the world below.
The crows were the first to scream. They burst from the cedar trees at the edge of the village, hundreds of them, shrieking wildly as if chased by unseen flames. Hiroto dropped the bundle of firewood he was carrying and looked up as the swarm passed over him.
Strange… They never fly at night.
A cold prickling crawled along his spine.
"Hiroto!" a familiar voice called. His little sister, Yui, ran toward him, barefoot, hair flying wildly in the wind. "Mama said you need to come inside! The shrine bell won't stop ringing!"
"What? Who's ringing it?"
"No one!" she cried. "It rang by itself!"
The bell of the old mountain shrine never rang unless a monk pulled the rope by hand.
Bad omen, Hiroto thought.
He grabbed Yui's hand and ran toward home, but halfway there, the ground trembled. The wooden houses rattled. Dogs barked. Babies cried. A pressure, thick and almost physical, seemed to press against the entire village.
Then the wind stopped.
Completely.
Not a leaf moved. Not a candle flickered. Everything froze all at once—except Hiroto's heartbeat, which pounded louder and louder until he thought his ribs would split.
"Hiroto…" Yui whispered, squeezing his hand. "Is it an earthquake?"
"No," he said, voice shaking. "Something worse." A dry click echoed from the forest.
Then another. And another. Footsteps.
But not normal footsteps—these were too heavy, too deliberate, each one making the ground tremble. Shapes emerged from the darkness between the trees. At first, Hiroto thought they were soldiers—maybe bandits. But the moment they stepped into the faint torchlight of the village lanterns, he felt the breath leave his lungs.
They were… wrong.
Clad in black armor, their faces hidden behind masks shaped like snarling demons, the figures seemed to swallow the firelight around them. Their armor wasn't metal—Hiroto could tell instantly. It was too dull… too dark… as if forged from shadow itself.
Shadow soldiers.
Just like the old stories the elders whispered about. Except those stories were supposed to be legends.
They're real…?,Yui whimpered beside him. "Hiroto… their eyes…",A shiver traveled down his spine. For behind the demon-masks, where normal eyes should've been, were two burning embers—red as blood, glowing like coals pulled fresh from a furnace. One soldier raised a massive cleaver.
"Burn the village," a hollow voice commanded from within the mask. "Leave no survivors."
The first house went up in flames. Screams tore through the night.
"Hiroto! Yui!" Their mother's voice rang out as she ran toward them. Her hair was disheveled, her kimono half-tied. "Get inside! Now!"
But before Hiroto could move, one of the shadow soldiers stepped into their path.
His mother froze.
The soldier lifted his arm. Black mist coiled around his gauntlet, forming a blade as if made from pure darkness.
Hiroto instinctively stepped in front of Yui.
"N-No… stay back…" he stuttered, though he had no weapon, no strength, nothing to stop the creature in front of him. The soldier brought the shadow blade down and the world exploded in black light.
A deep thrum vibrated through the air, knocking the soldier backward as if blasted by a cannon. The shadow blade disintegrated.
And something… awakened inside Hiroto.
A searing pain tore through his chest—a burning, twisting sensation like molten metal being poured into his heart. He collapsed to his knees, clutching himself.
"What—what's happening—?" he gasped. Black wisps seeped out from his arms.
From his fingertips.
From his shadow.
His mother's eyes widened. "No… It can't be… Hiroto, look at your hands!", He looked.
Dark mist was swirling around them.
Shaping itself.
Forging itself.
Into a blade.
Not a sword.
Not a dagger.
Something in between—shifting, jagged, alive.
A weapon made from shadow.
The moment it fully formed, Hiroto heard a whisper—like a voice inside his skull.
"Shadowforge Core—awakened."
He didn't understand the words.
But the soldiers did.
Their leader stepped forward, posture stiffening. "Impossible. A Shadowforge… here? The boy must be taken. Alive."
His mother gasped in horror. "Hiroto… run!"
The soldiers lunged.
Hiroto moved before he even realized he was moving. The shadow blade in his hand cut through the air with unnatural ease, slicing through the first soldier's armor like paper.
Black sparks burst out.
The soldier fell.
Dead.
Hiroto froze, staring at the blade in disbelief.
"What… what did I just do…?"
His shadow flickered behind him—longer, darker, alive in ways it should not be. His mother grabbed his shoulders, shaking him back to focus. "There's no time! Hiroto, listen to me— they will hunt you. Never stop running. Take Yui. Go!"
"Mama—"
"GO!"
She shoved him.
A flaming beam crashed down between them as another house collapsed.The last thing Hiroto heard as he dragged Yui away was his mother's scream—and the soldiers' voices echoing behind them:
"Capture the boy!
The Shadowforge must not live!"